The Royals' stadium follies continue

Surprise! A third site has emerged in the Royals' quest for a new ballpark. Plus, the Royals make a couple of roster moves to protect players from next month's Rule 5 draft.

It would seem that timetables, like winning, are not a strong suit of the Royals.

You know about this new stadium, right? You know that Kauffman Stadium is dying (cancer of the concrete will be on the autopsy), and as the Chairman and CEO of the Royals so succinctly put it last June, “It’s time to leave The K.” The franchise started with a handful of potential sites for their stadium and the über desirable ballpark village concept and eventually whittled it down to two—the presumed favored location in the East Village inside the downtown loop and the obligatory patsy…errrrr…second option in North Kansas City and Clay County.

When the Royals unveiled their vanilla, corporate renderings of what a stadium and ballpark village (please, do not forget the ballpark village as that is the impetus behind this entire project) for both locations, they announced they would announce their final decision by the end of baseball season in September.

The temperature may feel like late September, but my desk calendar assures me we’re a week from Thanksgiving.

That’s fine. After a process that has been filled with missteps and self-inflicted errors, it’s not like I expected the team to actually hit a deadline. They have no concrete funding plan in place, they’re squabbling with local governments and they don’t know where they’re going to get the best deal. Stadiums funded by the public are complicated ventures and even the most buttoned-up organizations would have issues navigating the red tape that goes along with getting everyone on board.

And then Sam McDowell dropped this bit of news in the Kansas City Star:

The Royals have spent recent weeks quietly analyzing the possibility of a ballpark location along downtown Kansas City’s south loop after they were approached once more about the concept, sources told The Star. The area, which currently includes the former KC Star printing press pavilion at 1601 McGee Street, is a site that was originally pitched to the team at least eight months ago.

Oh my god. For a process that has been unconventional (meaning bungled) from the jump, I’m surprised I didn’t see something like this coming.

McDowell speculates that building a stadium at the printing press location would eliminate the need for a ballpark village because that basically already exists across the highway at the Power and Light district. In fact, McDowell reports that the Royals were scheduled to meet with Brad Cordish who is a principal at the Cordish Companies, the developer of the Power and Light District.

I can see how this is a desirable location. On paper. There are plans in place to cap the highway that runs between the T-Mobile Center and the proposed site for a new ballpark. That would literally bridge any kind of gap between the new home for the Royals and the Power and Light District. Plus, the site is just north of the Crossroads and is about a block or two from the streetcar line that runs down Main. The proximity to the T-Mobile center means there is already a solid parking infrastructure in place for events. It would obviously need to expand to meet the need for a larger capacity venue, but it’s a start. Add the positives of the location altogether and it’s likely a ballpark at 16th and McGee wouldn’t cost as much as either of the other “finalist” locations the Royals have identified.

Yet when something pops up like this, I can’t help but think there’s a catch. You know, some entity is making this worth the Royals’ consideration. I wonder if Cordish is pitching something that would make this kind of move enticing for the Royals. Otherwise, why would they give up their ballpark village dream and the profits that go along with that? Cordish, on the other hand, has to be nervous that a venue in the East Village would siphon dollars from the P&L District. Remember, a new stadium does not mean new spending in the area. It means a reallocation of current spending. That’s an important distinction to make when there’s already an established entertainment district in the area. Cordish most definitely doesn’t want to compete against the Royals and their 81 dates a year.

This setup vibes less Atlanta Battery (which has been the blueprint for just about every new ballpark venture explored since it opened) but more like what they have in downtown Minneapolis with Target Field. The footprint of Target Field is incredibly small. It’s also right across the road from the Target Center, home to the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves.

I took the liberty of lifting Target Field out of Minneapolis and placing it over the printing press building. It kind of fits if you expand the site a block over to Grand. Of course, you could expand it eastward if you please. It could also slide north once the interstate is capped, but I don’t know why they would choose to replace subterranean concrete with concrete above the ground. Green spaces are where it’s at. Also, it’s important to note that I cut off the ballpark infrastructure that extends beyond right field in Minneapolis. If they were to build there, with that orientation, they would probably need to extend a block on either side.

Again, that’s just a rough placement of the footprint of the ballpark only. The Royals would need to buy up a lot of land on either side of the printing press to make this happen.

Left unknown is how this late entry in the location sweepstakes impacts the timetable the Royals have been presumably working under. A proper study of the site has to be done and infrastructure needs have to be assessed. Of course, some bland renderings need to be developed to gin up excitement. Then, there’s the question of cost. This would presumably be less expensive than building at either of the other two sites. The Royals have stated they were willing to foot the $1 billion bill for the entertainment district, so if they move to a location where said district pretty much already exists, what happens to that billion? Do we just forget about it like it was placed back under a shell and moved around? Would the Royals ask taxpayers for the same amount to fund the stadium at the printing press location?

Every move the Royals make seems to fail to answer existing questions while generating new ones. Frankly, their continued bungling of the search for a location for a new stadium is exhausting. One step forward and two steps back? They wish. Every time they move their feet, they trip. The deadline to put a sales tax question on the April ballot is in mid-January. If they are seriously considering the printing press site, I’d be shocked if they could make that happen.

Is that circus music I hear?

Man, I hate dunking on MLB Trade Rumors because it’s such an important site if you’re looking to follow the transactions and rumors and all that, but this is…well, I’ll just leave this here.

The Royals will be looking to add to their rotation, lineup and bullpen this winter, though they are likely to take a by-committee approach to the closer role.

Wait! The Royals need help in the rotation, the lineup and the bullpen?

You. Don’t. Say.

The deadline to protect players from next month’s Rule 5 draft was this week and the Royals chose to add two players to their 40-man roster: Right-hander Will Klein and outfielder Tyler Gentry, both collegiate selections in the 2020 draft.

Gentry hit .253/.370/.421 in 572 plate appearances in Omaha this year. That was coming off a season where he posted an above .400 OBP split between stops at High-A and Double-A. His power numbers were a bit down in 2023 relative to ‘22, but he did take 81 walks against 127 strikeouts. He’s a patient hitter with a good knowledge of the zone. He could challenge for a spot in the majors in spring training this year.

Klein got back on track after a rough ‘22 where a shin injury derailed his season. Baseball America details his two key pitches:

He can be dominant at times, blowing hitters away with a double-plus fastball that sits 95-97 mph, playing up in the zone with vertical movement. It’s a tough pitch to hit when he commands it. An above-average 82-84 mph hard curveball complements the fastball with its negative vertical break.

For Klein, command has always been an issue and the shin injury, which caused him to alter his delivery, made it worse. However, after walking a whopping 22 percent of all hitters he faced at Double-A in 2022, Klein got back on track with an 11 percent rate for Northwest Arkansas in 29.1 innings. He stayed on course after he was promoted to Triple-A with a 14 percent walk rate. Those rates are still too high for my liking, but if he can harness a little more command, the plus-30 percent strikeout rate could nudge even higher. Certainly worth a look.

Adding two to the roster means the Royals had to cut two. In corresponding moves, catcher Logan Porter and reliever Josh Staumont were designated for assignment. Porter is a fantastic story, but ultimately an organizational guy. On the other hand, Staumont was once a key part of the Royals bullpen when he was throwing gas, but was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and underwent surgery in July. There is no telling if he will ever pitch again. It’s disappointing because for a while, there was nothing better than watching Staumont pairing a 100-plus MPH heater with an 81 MPH curve.

It’s too bad his time in Kansas City will likely end this way.