Great analysis all around, but (IMO) the most important point you made is also the simplest. This Royals team is fun. It's unreasonable to expect championships every season, no matter who you root for, and no team is going to even be in contention every season, but I don't think it's too much to ask for your team to at least be entertaining. And the Royals have fallen well short of that bar since 2017 (and frankly, most of my adult life, but we don't have to get into that), and 2023 might have been the lowest of the low. Even with Witt and the midseason addition of Ragans, last year's team was even worse than not fun. They were excruciating and infuriating to watch. And keep in mind, I think I have a healthy perspective on sports— I know there are far more important things in life and I don't let a game I have no control over affect my general outlook, but damn the 2023 Royals were a massive buzzkill. I've seen a lot of bad baseball in my life, and it wasn't all on the '23 team (they were carrying the weight of all that bad baseball), but few teams/seasons have crushed my enthusiasm for my favorite game the way that team did. So yeah, I'm still not fully convinced this team is a playoff team— it's a long season, but they look the part so far, so you can't ask for anything better at this point— but this team is definitely a lot of fun to watch, which is a giant step forward in its own right.
Great analysis all around, but (IMO) the most important point you made is also the simplest. This Royals team is fun. It's unreasonable to expect championships every season, no matter who you root for, and no team is going to even be in contention every season, but I don't think it's too much to ask for your team to at least be entertaining. And the Royals have fallen well short of that bar since 2017 (and frankly, most of my adult life, but we don't have to get into that), and 2023 might have been the lowest of the low. Even with Witt and the midseason addition of Ragans, last year's team was even worse than not fun. They were excruciating and infuriating to watch. And keep in mind, I think I have a healthy perspective on sports— I know there are far more important things in life and I don't let a game I have no control over affect my general outlook, but damn the 2023 Royals were a massive buzzkill. I've seen a lot of bad baseball in my life, and it wasn't all on the '23 team (they were carrying the weight of all that bad baseball), but few teams/seasons have crushed my enthusiasm for my favorite game the way that team did. So yeah, I'm still not fully convinced this team is a playoff team— it's a long season, but they look the part so far, so you can't ask for anything better at this point— but this team is definitely a lot of fun to watch, which is a giant step forward in its own right.