Failure

The Royals are the anti-vax kings of MLB.

Yesterday, the Royals won a game. It gave them a winning record in the series and, ultimately, the homestand. This is probably the best stretch of baseball we’ve seen all year from the team.

Yet all the on field action was overshadowed by what was happening off the field. Or rather, what was not happening.

With the Royals set to travel to Toronto for their only trip to Canada this season, some roster issues were always going to crop up. Canada—like the United States—has a policy that foreign nationals who want to enter the country must be vaccinated. MLB has a rule in place that players not eligible for travel to the Great White North must be placed on the restricted list. They will forfeit pay and service time. Players who are called up to replace them do not need to be on the 40-man roster. Several teams have had to make moves ahead of a road series in Toronto.

The Royals transaction log is about to get busy.

Personally, I choose to believe the data that says vaccines save lives.

It’s a small thing, rolling up your sleeve and getting a shot. Still, it’s been a long couple of years and I’m tired; frustrated at what I perceive to be mixed messaging, or the inability to get any kind of clear information at times, but I understand this virus is evolving. It’s been a difficult time for everyone…Holidays spent apart. Celebrations postponed. So much quality time lost. Obviously, we are now learning to live with Covid; a kind of new reality. Masks are off and we’re getting back together, but the danger of another outbreak is never too far away. And now another infectious variant is gathering steam.

Perhaps you share my sentiment…I’m really ready for this to end.

The purpose of this newsletter is act as an outlet to come together and talk about the Royals. The wins and the losses. The highs and the lows. (So many losses and lows these last several years. So many.) Sometimes, it’s about what we’ve watched together on the field. Sometimes, it’s about what’s happening in the front office. Then there are the times politics and sport collide. These days public health and sport collide as well.

So it’s with that perspective in mind that I ask the question: What the hell is going on in the Royals’ clubhouse?

Teams have had to put players on the restricted list ahead of traveling to Toronto all season. Some teams have not. Such is life in an evolving pandemic. Remember the furor around Aaron Judge at the beginning of the season when he gave some sort of evasive answer to the vaccine question? The Yankees have made two trips to Canada and have yet to use the restricted list. The Astros went to Toronto in April and had their full roster.

Previously, the most players teams have put on the restricted list has been four. The Twins did it and so did the Reds. Just this week, the Phillies put four on the list because of vaccination status.

Four? Well, hold the Royals’ collective beer! They are placing 10 players on the restricted list. Ten!

Andrew Benintendi
Dylan Coleman
Hunter Dozier
Cam Gallagher
Kyle Isbel
Brad Keller
MJ Melendez
Whit Merrifield
Brady Singer
Michael A. Taylor

A little baseball analysis is forthcoming and let’s start with the tomfoolery the club pulled by not putting Taylor or Merrifield on the injured list. By waiting for a few days, under the rules in place for Covid, they are able to replace them with players not currently on the 40-man roster. Had they put either Merrifield or Taylor on the IL immediately, their replacement would have to come from the 40-man. That’s obviously limiting. Especially if the Royals know they will be making other moves with the restricted list in just a few days. This way, they’re able to work the system just enough. The only way this will come back to bite them is if either Merrifield or Taylor has to go on the IL after the break and they can’t backdate the move. Really, even then it only hurts if they needed two or three extra days of recovery and now need to sit out the full 10.

The fallout continues with the addition to this list of Benintendi, who is currently one of the more sought-after players as the trade deadline approaches. Now? Probably not so much. Would any team in the AL East want him, knowing he can’t travel to play a division rival? The Yankees have one more trip upcoming to Toronto as do the Red Sox and Rays. The Orioles (who have somehow forced their way into this conversation…how did that happen?) have two trips to make north of the border. The possibility Benintendi could miss a regular season series probably isn't disqualifying, given how the races are shaping up. Although I do wonder how teams will approach it thinking they may need to have him in Canada for a playoff game or two. Can you imagine an All-Star outfielder not making a postseason road game because he won’t get vaccinated?

Singer on the list isn’t a surprise given the Royals shuffled their rotation to give him the last home start before the break. He just gets some extra time on the beach. (Does he wear sunscreen if he’s on the beach? Makes you think.) Keller, meanwhile, would have been on target to start on Saturday. Pushing everyone in the rotation back a start when Zack Greinke returned allowed them to start Keller in the first game of the doubleheader on Monday where he was stacked with Daniel Lynch, which was convenient. Jonathan Heasley to the IL throws a bit of a spanner in the works, as does Lynch’s finger issue, but they can overcome that with the batch of players they’ll be bringing up.

Losing two catchers? Suboptimal. Dozier and Isbel out? I guess that becomes a chance for someone who hasn’t played in the majors yet.

This list is a bunch of names who put their “personal preferences” ahead of the collective good of the team. They cannot be counted upon. They are undependable. They are not winners.

I don’t want to be dismissive of the opportunity this is presenting some players, especially those not currently on the 40-man roster. For some, it will be their first cup of coffee. For others, this may be their one and only time in The Show. That’s important. These guys are going to be doing something so rare and difficult…playing major league baseball. It’s a reward for all the work…And for getting the shot.

Still, this series feels more like Royals Fantasy Camp than anything else. It’s a parade of players hoping to impress who will ultimately be overmatched by big league pitching. At the end of the week, they’ll go back to their minor league teams and have the memories of the time they spent in the big league clubhouse, wearing big league uniforms and eating a big league spread. That’s not written to denigrate. They’re going to have a great time and I’m truly happy for them.

It’s the circumstances that stink.

Here’s Dayton Moore as quoted by Lewis at The Athletic:

"Our guys have done an incredible job for the last year and a half - our medical team, our coaching staff, our front office personnel - of doing our best to educate everybody in our organization, and provide them with the necessary guidance, giving them the proper amount of space and grace along the way to make very informed decisions.”

A year and a half of education and guidance and nearly 40 percent of your active roster isn’t getting the vaccine? I wouldn’t say that’s an “incredible job.” Not when the going rate for teams visiting Canada is closer to 10 percent.

This is a failure from the top all the way down. It’s an embarrassment. A very public depantsing from their players. This is on Dayton Moore. This is on JJ Picollo. This is on Mike Matheny. For them to laud the education and guidance they provided and have so many not take that path tells me there is just a tremendous lack of respect from the players toward management and the front office. If the message the team was sending was that it’s fine to get the vaccine, the players were not listening. The players say they appreciate the efforts from the team and then go, “Nah, not for me,” what is that about?

More from Moore:

“But at the end of the day, it's their choice. It's what they decide to do. And we've always been an organization that promotes and encourages individual choices. Unfortunately, some of this affects the team. We're disappointed in some of that, but we realize it's part of the game and part of the world we live in. We're just really looking forward to providing these players an opportunity who are getting a chance to play in Toronto."

You can’t help but wonder…why do the Yankees have a perfect attendance record in Toronto? Why do the Red Sox miss two players per trip? The Mariners had one player on the restricted list for their trip to Canada. The White Sox two. The Orioles two as well. The players on those teams also had the opportunity to make a choice. An overwhelming majority chose the vaccine. Sure, some teams move guys around with stints on the IL and options to the minor leagues so the restricted list isn’t exactly the full picture of who’s vaccinated and who isn’t, but come on…The Royals completely blew past the benchmark here. Here’s a question: Do the players on these other teams have greater respect for their organization, teammates and fans than what we’ve seen in Kansas City?

Having to place 10 players on the restricted list raises all sorts of questions about leadership from the front office and the manager. None of the answers are good.

Say, remember that Merrifield was supposed to be in a boot for at least a week? He’s now just day to day and making miraculous progress, wouldn’t you say? How about this from Merrifield as quoted by Rogers at MLB.com:

"What I've seen and experienced, not what I've seen on social media, what I've seen and experienced, people that are vaccinated have got [COVID-19] in this clubhouse. People that are vaccinated have spread it in this clubhouse, to their families and whatnot. People have gotten pretty sick that are vaccinated. This is my opinion on it all. It's what I've come to, based on the experiences and conversations I've had, and what I've seen, this is the conclusion I've come to. Right or wrong, I didn't do it on a whim. It's been a long thought process.”

First, thank goodness he’s not using social media for his research. I think we can all agree those PhDs that Instagram hands out are worthless.

Yes, vaccinated people get Covid. Yes, vaccinated people spread Covid. He’s not wrong. And the level of illness that goes along with this virus varies and seems entirely random. I hate this damn virus.

So the bottom line is Merrifield has seen some things and talked to some people and decided the shot isn’t for him. Personal freedom in a pandemic that has impacted millions of lives and continues to cook with no end in sight. The quote from Merrifield is the basic canned response to the question of “Why didn’t you get the shot?” Merrifield expanded in his response a bit more and even mentioned a friend who died from Covid. At this point, everyone knows someone who has died. It’s a horrible virus.

But there’s more. Oh, there’s so much more…

Because I understand what Canada has in place right now. That's the only reason that I would think about getting it at this point, is to go to Canada. That might change down the road. Something happens and I happen to get on a team that has a chance to go play in Canada in the postseason, maybe that changes. But as we sit here right now, I'm comfortable in my decision, my teammates support me, support the rest of the guys in here who have made that decision, and that's that.

So the shot isn’t for Merrifield not necessarily because he’s anti-vaccine or pro-Covid or anything like that. He isn’t for the shot right now because he plays for the Royals. That’s the on-pace-for-100-losses-Royals, thank you very much. Play in Canada in October and he’s rolling up his sleeve. Play in Canada in July and—would you look at the schedule!—it’s an extended All-Star break.

Holy crap is this a bad look for Merrifield. It’s awful. Horrible. He apparently doesn’t care enough about his current team to make sure he’s on the field in Toronto for them, but he’ll damn sure make it there if he’s playing for a winner. A winner, you say? We all know that’s not the Royals.

Sure, maybe the guys in the clubhouse support his decision, but once they know he’s not really all in for them, how is that going to make them feel? I’d be there for you if you were worth it to me. If you were good enough. And that Ironman bullshit the Royals trotted out the last couple of years? All those consecutive games played because he’s a gamer and a great teammate and always shows up? That Whit Merrifield is a winning ballplayer narrative we were force-fed by the organization? Yeah…not so much.

Not only do we have to question the leadership of the front office and the manager, but there’s also the clubhouse culture as well. Goodness.

This is an absolute mess. As Merrifield says, “And that’s that.”

Is John Sherman ok with this? All this money he (and his group) invested, a desire to build a downtown stadium and this is the thanks he gets? A front office without a plan and a clubhouse in disarray. With everything that’s happened since he bought the club, it sure feels like the dream of owning a baseball team has turned into a nightmare. How is he going to drum up support among the taxpaying constituents he will need if they get a middle finger from the team in return? Attendance is already in the pits, especially as the team skids to another season where 100 losses are in play. This could make it worse.

Sherman should be furious.

No one emerges from this looking good. This moment has pulled back a curtain and revealed things we didn’t want to know about the Royals. Everyone associated with the organization should be embarrassed.

The Royals open a four-game series tonight in Toronto. The starters for all four games are listed as TBD.