Sherman Sticking to the “Evaluation” Plan With Royals; But for How Long?

I meant to post this last night or this morning but could unable because I got caught up with some other personal items.

Nonetheless, I’ve definitely been thinking a lot about John Sherman’s press conference which took place on Thursday afternoon a the Royals Hall of Fame at Kauffman Stadium.

As expected, the new stadium was the main topic of focus, as Sherman mentioned that two sites were chosen and were going to be announced at the end of the summer, with some kind of measure on the ballot coming in April, wherever the stadium should be built (either in Jackson or Clay County, should they decide to move up north).

While I certainly have opinions on the possibility of moving downtown (or north of the river), the future of Kauffman Stadium wasn’t the item that really stuck out to me from Sherman’s press conference.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Kauffman Stadium, but my visit to Oracle Park last weekend made me realize that a downtown stadium wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if done right.

Would I like it to be completely privately built? Absolutely, but that’s not happening in Kansas City or with any major professional sports team (I’m talking about MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, and even MLS). I would rather see an MLB team in Kansas City being supported by public funds than risk losing one, which is exactly what’s happening in Oakland now, even though the A’s are so engrained into the East Bay community.

Instead, what resonated more with me was Sherman’s thoughts and feelings about how this “evaluation” year has gone, as the Royals sit 23-58 through 81 games, which puts them 16.5 games behind the division-leading Minnesota Twins, going into Friday night’s games.

Let’s look at three quotes from Sherman’s press conference regarding the state of this team in both the short and long term, as this team sits at a crossroads with a vital Draft, Trade Deadline, and offseason approaching.

Surprisingly, Sherman didn’t really lead off with any platitudes or jump into stadium talk right away. He called out the elephant in the room right away:

This team has been incredibly disappointing and hasn’t lived up to expectations.

For as much grief as Royals fans have given Sherman since taking over, I do appreciate his candor and his willingness to put himself out there for public criticism. To be honest, this isn’t something we would have ever seen from the previous owner David Glass, who seemed to shy from the media as much as possible and would act passive-aggressively when confronted by media members who were overly critical of his decisions or the team.

While it’s easy for everyone to automatically categorize Sherman as another “John Fisher”, Royals fans have to remember that Glass once took away press credentials from 610 AM radio host Bob Fescoe after Dayton Moore’s opening press conference and that he and Moore essentially pressured Fox Sports (now Bally Sports) to replace Frank White with Rex Hudler after White was critical of the squad.

Sherman isn’t completely taking things laying down, as I know the Royals are definitely clapping back to a lot of the criticisms that they’re working too slowly with the stadium or not treating their union workers fairly.

That said, at least he’s the one putting himself on the line with the media regarding this club, and not letting JJ Picollo get caught in the crossfire (which in turn, helps Picollo focus on his job, which is prepping for the draft and exploring trades before the Trade Deadline). If there’s one thing Royals fans can forgive Moore for, it’s that Glass probably had Moore do more of the things with the media that Glass probably should’ve just been doing himself.

Nonetheless, one has to wonder if Sherman’s candor and frustration with how things have been going with this squad is going to put pressure on Picollo and the Royals front office to make major moves sooner rather than later. Furthermore, it also makes one wonder if Sherman will collaborate with Picollo to make some front-office moves since not many were made beyond letting Moore go and having Picollo ascend to the top spot.

While it’s a non-baseball operations position, the Royals are looking for a Chief Operating Officer, which means that Sherman isn’t shy to mix things up in management in order to turn things around with the Kansas City public.

It wouldn’t be surprising if Sherman’s disappointment with the development of this club at the Major League level sparks some kind of front-office change, whether it’s in player development or scouting, which are two areas that have received criticism since the Royals began their rebuilding process in 2018.

There’s no question that Sherman is a baseball fan who is aware of what other small-market teams are doing to find success. Sherman isn’t a Steve Cohen kind of owner who’s going to throw wads of cash to solve problems, even if it doesn’t find results. Ironically, even though Royals fans have clamored for Sherman to spend more like Cohen does with the Mets, the Mets are currently 36-45, and Cohen actually held his own press conference this week to discuss the future of the club and the team’s disappointing start.

Rather, Sherman has been adamant about trying to mold his teams like other small market or once-struggling clubs that have found continuous success over the past decade. In the offseason, Sherman constantly referred to Tampa Bay and Cleveland as models to emulate, which fueled their hire of Quatraro (from Tampa) and pitching coach Brian Sweeney (from Cleveland).

In Thursday’s press conference, he referred to the Cubs, Astros, Orioles, and Reds as clubs who suffered tremendously bad seasons before turning it around and finding more consistent success.

For reference, the Cubs won a World Series in 2016 under GM Theo Epstein after being the “lovable losers” for decades. The Astros suffered three straight 100-loss seasons from 2011 to 2013 (and a 92-loss season in 2014) before eventually winning World Series titles in 2017 and 2022. The Orioles had three 100-loss seasons from 2018 to 2021 (they would’ve had a 4th if not for COVID in 2020) before they turned it around with their young core, led by Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson. And the Reds seemed to be in the dumps in 2022 with a lousy ownership group before they turned things around this year thanks to Elly De La Cruz (both the Orioles and Reds also have more help on the way in the Minors).

It’s obvious that is what Sherman wants to build: a talented group that takes their lumps (and spends modestly), but is young enough to find their stride after 2-3 seasons of struggle. Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Javy Baez did it for the Cubs, and Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, and Alex Bregman did it for the Astros. It’s just a matter of the Royals developing that kind of group this season and next in Kansas City.

The question is this though:

Who is part of the Royals’ core that will help guide them in that next winning period?

Right now, that’s hard to tell. Bobby Witt, Jr. is the most likely candidate and has shown flashes, but he is still posting an OBP under .300 (though his expected numbers give hope that positive regression is on the way).

Vinnie Pasquantino seemed primed to get some kind of extension, but a shoulder injury has shelved him until 2024, and he’ll be 26 years old next season as well. Maikel Garcia has been a surprise and could be a long-term piece, but he’s going to need more power to stick at third base, even with his great contact skills and Gold-Glove caliber defense.

And what about MJ Melendez, Michael Massey, and Drew Waters? They have all taken big steps back after promising 2022 rookie campaigns, and it’s possible that they could be used in possible trades this offseason if they don’t show signs of major improvement in the second half of the season.

And on the pitching end of things? Everyone looks expendable, including Brady Singer, who’s regressed heavily after being tabbed as an extension candidate last offseason.

Sherman is quite clear about what he expects from Picollo and the Royals: to build a winner without breaking the bank that can compete in the long term.

Now it’s just up to Picollo and Quatraro to find the right players to carry out Sherman’s plan.

It’s not surprising that Sherman expressed his confidence in both JJ and Q a the press conference. After all, if he was thinking of firing them, it would be near impossible for the Royals to get a worthy candidate to replace either guy. Such a move would not only put the Royals back to where they were during the Moore days, but even Allard Baird ones, where Glass put handcuffing restrictions on Baird’s ability to not just get free agents, but put money into scouting and development.

I think JJ and Q have a couple of seasons at the very least to turn this ship around. Sherman knows that the draft is coming up, and I think Sherman is hoping JJ and the Royals can make a splash. Furthermore, with this being an evaluation year, Sherman is also hoping that Q continues to look long-term and give young players a shot to prove if they’re part of the long-term equation. That includes Alec Marsh, who was just called up to take the spot of an ailing Jordan Lyles, who misses his start tonight due to sickness.

Sherman has two guys in JJ and Q who are going to do what he wants to do in order to build the Royals into that “ideal” small-market winner, at least on paper. Picollo has already shown to be transactional as a GM, as he has not just been active in extending the pitching staff through numerous transactions (James McArthur was sent down after one outing to make room for Marsh), but also letting go of veterans as soon as it was obvious that they weren’t bringing value to the squad. I am not sure Moore lets go of Franmil Reyes, Jackie Bradley, Jr., and Hunter Dozier as quickly as JJ did.

As for Q, he’s not “chasing every win” like Mike Matheny, which helped Royals fans feel better but hampered the club in the long term. Royals fans are learning that veterans were played way too much, especially once who obviously didn’t have a long-term future with this club (Whit Merrifield; Michael A. Taylor; Dozier; and Ryan O’Hearn). That is not happening with Q, who’s opting to let the young guys get their shots, even if it results in some frustrating growing pains, like yesterday’s stealing of home by Jose Ramirez, which nearly won the Guardians the game.

Sherman is going to let Q and JJ do what they need to build a vision for this team that aligns with what Sherman has when this club eventually moves into a new stadium down the road. The dream is to build a club that’s the “antithesis” of what we traditionally expect from the “Royals Way” (i.e. speed, defense, and to-contact pitching), which was nice for a period of time but is in dire need of a reset.

Will JJ and Q be the ones to see that reset through though?

Sherman is showing his support now…

But if this team is still a 100-loss pace team in 2025? Well, that could be a different story, especially if the new stadium is taking slower than expected.

Photo Credit: Charlie Riedel | AP

9 thoughts on “Sherman Sticking to the “Evaluation” Plan With Royals; But for How Long?”

  3. […] Despite JJ Picollo taking over the Royals front office from former boss Dayton Moore, a restructured player development team in the Minors Leagues, and a new Major League manager in charge in Matt Quatraro, the results have been disappointing, to say the least, as owner John Sherman echoed in his press conference last Thursday before the Royals’ series fina…. […]

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