Three Lessons The Arizona Diamondbacks Can Learn From The Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals are the feel good story of the summer. They started slow, overcame adversity, stuck together and advanced to the seventh game of the World Series.  What more they did it spending less than most of the other teams in the American League.

If you are a fan of the Arizona Diamondbacks, you shouldn’t look at the Kansas City Royals with a jealous eye. Instead you should look at the Royals with hope and a sense of what could be in store for the 2015 Diamondbacks.

Before you scroll down to the comments and type something that insults my mental status, let me be clear.  I am not predicting the Arizona Diamondbacks will be in the 2015 World Series. But what I am saying is that it’s possible considering these three lessons we learned for the Kansas City Royals this season.

Size Doesn’t Matter

Would it surprise you to hear that the Arizona Diamondbacks outspent the Kansas City Royals by nearly $20 million? That is more than the Royals paid James Shields in 2014.

The size of your payroll doesn’t guarantee success in baseball.  Just ask the Los Angeles Dodgers. The fact that money can’t buy championships has been proven time and again. Yet teams still try to but there way to the top.

So when the Arizona Diamondbacks talk about cutting payroll in 2015, don’t be discouraged.  With the right chemistry and leadership you can achieve quite a bit in this game.  Now it’s up to the Diamondbacks front office to make the right moves.

Speed Kills

Many teams choose to build their teams around the long ball.  This season the Kansas City Royals have shown that speed can be just as deadly as power.

Kansas City led baseball in stolen bases with 153.  Conversely they were dead lst in home runs with just 93.  In order to overcome this offensive unbalance the Kansas City Royals perfected small ball showing that you can win with more economical speedy players.

Bullpen Wanted

Another factor in the Kansas City Royals World Series run was their bullpen.  The Royals were tied for third in the MLB in saves (53) and lead the league in save percentage (83.67%).  In short the royals were lights out after the seventh inning. If they had a little more run production they probably would have won the AL Central.

Diamondback fans should look at the Royals as an example of what a small market team can achieve.  Luckily the Arizona Diamondbacks have Tony LaRussa, the architect of a couple of small market championships making baseball decisions in the front office.