It’s December 23rd, officially the holiday of “Festivus ” for Seinfeld fans. For those unaware of the holiday (or those who watched “Friends” instead of “Seinfeld”), “Festivus” was a holiday made up by George’s dad, Frank, to be a secular “alternative” to Christmas.
Of course, the “spirit” of “Festivus” is much different from Christmas or other holidays like Hanukkah or even Kwanzaa or Boxing Day. That can be seen in this clip below from the season nine episode “The Strike,” where a “Festivus” celebration is held at the Costanza residence.
One of the main activities of “Festivus” is the “airing of grievances,” where everyone around the dinner table shares the “problems” they’ve had with others or something from the past year. In the spirit of “Festivus,” I decided to do a Royals-themed “airing of grievances” where I would share my issues relating to the Royals from 2024. I decided on seven “grievances” that I would share in this special “Festivus” post.
Of course, Royals fans should take these grievances with a “grain of salt.” I tend to be one of the most positive Royals fans on the internet, and I try to avoid “griping” too much on this blog (since it seems to be the MO of not just Royals bloggers but sports bloggers in general). However, I am a huge Seinfeld fan, and I just figured, “Hey, let’s do something different” on this site, especially with the Royals’ “hot stove” news as warm as a town in Manitoba right now.
So, without further adieu, here are my seven “grievances” relating to the Royals on this “Festivus” holiday in 2024.
Aaron Judge Winning the AL MVP Unanimously
My analytical brain gets it. Judge hit 58 home runs and posted a 218 wRC+ and an 11.2 fWAR, which led all of baseball. He had one of the most prolific hitting seasons in baseball history, and he led a Yankees team that added another AL Pennant to their trophy case.
However, what grinds me is that Judge unanimously won the AL MVP over Kansas City’s own Bobby Witt, Jr.
Was Judge better than Bobby, based on the numbers? Yeah, he was. However, Judge also had Juan Soto hitting in front of him and Austin Wells and Giancarlo Stanton behind him. Wells was one of the most prolific offensive catchers in the American League after Salvy. Stanton has long been a power monster, and Soto earned the richest contract in baseball history this offseason (and it still doesn’t feel like enough).
As for Witt? Vinnie and Salvy were excellent, but Vinnie was out for over a month during the season’s final stretch, and the Royals failed to have a productive leadoff hitter in front of Witt this year.
If Bobby had even an average leadoff hitter in front of him, then it’s possible Witt’s numbers could’ve been closer to Judge’s (at least in the power and RBI categories). Furthermore, Witt was a far superior defensive player than Judge, as evidenced by Witt’s Def (17.5) and Gold Glove award.
Did Judge deserve the MVP? Probably, but he shouldn’t have been unanimous.
I would’ve liked to see a couple of baseball writers show some courage and make that vote for Witt since, honestly, he was arguably more important to the Royals’ 30-win turnaround than Judge was to the Yankees’ pennant-winning season.
Cole Ragans Being Snubbed From the Top 3 of Cy Young Voting
Detroit’s Tarik Skubal won the AL Cy Young unanimously, and honestly, I was more okay with that than Judge winning the MVP in the same fashion. Skubal had just as significant an impact on the Tigers as Witt did on the Royals in 2024.
The voting results after Skubal bothered me the most with the AL Cy Young.
Seth Lugo received the second-most votes, well-deserved since his 4.7 fWAR was the third-best mark in the American League for a pitcher. However, Emmanuel Clase received the third-most votes, just ahead of Kansas City’s Cole Ragans, who finished fourth.
Was Clase a dominant closer? Absolutely, and he’s been sensational for a couple of seasons now. That said, a closer only has so much impact, and manager Stephen Vogt used Clase in a pretty traditional role, as evidenced by his 74.1 IP in 74 appearances. Clase saved 47 games, which led the American League, but his 2.2 fWAR was tied for 32nd in the American League behind Michael Wacha (3.3) and Brady Singer (2.5).
As stated in the section above, fWAR isn’t everything when evaluating pitchers and hitters. Still, Ragans had a much more significant impact on the Royals, and it’s a shame that he didn’t get third-place recognition, especially since his 4.9 fWAR was the second-best mark in the AL behind Skubal.
Maikel Garcia Blocking Me on Twitter (or X)
I don’t know when it happened, but toward the end of the season, I discovered I got blocked by Maikel Garcia on Twitter. Maybe it was after a game where I criticized the hitting (as did every Royals fan in September). Maybe another incident sparked this decision (perhaps he didn’t like my love for “Bloodsport”)?
(Seriously, Royals Jun says way more derisive things about Royals players on that app, yet he gets a whole ceremony when he visits, let alone not get blocked.)
Nonetheless, I was a bit bummed to get blocked by Garcia because he’s been my favorite Royals player for the past couple of years, and I always try to defend him, especially to Royals fans who constantly say he’s too “free-swinging” (the chase rate data says otherwise).
Players have blocked me before (Ryan O’Hearn being the other one, and honestly, while I didn’t have anything personal toward him, I was okay with it). But getting blocked by my favorite player was something I didn’t want to experience in 2024.
Maikel can do what he wants, and I don’t fault him for blocking me (whatever it was for). I’m all for it if that helps him be even better in 2025. I will still cheer for him as much as I did in 2024 and 2023. Still, in the spirit of “Festivus,” I wanted to air my grievance with this, should he ever come across it (not that I imagine anything will be done).
Fans’ Consistent Hate of Garrett Hampson
One thing I never got was the Garrett Hampson disdain from Royals fans.
Matt Quatraro utilized Hampson as a bench player who would get occasional starts when the Royals faced left-handed starting pitchers (he often played center field in those matchups with Kyle Isbel moving to the bench). When the opposing team turned to the bullpen in the late innings, he often was pulled for a left-handed pinch hitter. He also made just $2 million and didn’t block anyone of note.
At the beginning of the year, I understood the frustration of the Royals fans that Nick Loftin theoretically could’ve satisfied that “Hampson” role. However, Loftin posted a -0.2 fWAR, couldn’t play CF as well as Hampson, and didn’t offer much more with the bat (50 wRC+) than Hampson (59 wRC+). Hampson posted a 0.5 fWAR in 231 plate appearances and 113 games, which is more than serviceable for a guy making just $2 million.
Hampson also came up clutch in the Royals’ lone win (in the Bronx) against the Yankees in the ALDS.
There were plenty of Royals players to be frustrated with last year (I understand the grief Will Smith and Hunter Renfroe received). That said, Hampson was far from an issue for Kansas City and got way more grief from fans than he should’ve.
The Royals Going “Old” in September
When Vinnie went down with an injury in late August, I hoped the Royals would give young guys like Nick Pratto, Nelson Velazquez, and Drew Waters a chance. Instead, JJ Picollo opted to go a veteran route for reinforcements, as he claimed Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman off waivers and signed Minor League free agent Yuli Gurriel from the Braves.
The strategy produced mixed results. Pham and Gurriel had moments but didn’t change the trajectory of the Royals lineup with Vinnie on the IL. As for Grossman, he was a non-factor during his time in Kansas City and was left off the playoff roster in both the Wild Card and ALDS.
Would the Royals still have clinched had Picollo called up Pratto, Velazquez, or Waters? Perhaps not, especially since they didn’t have that postseason experience.
However, if those three failed to do anything in September, the Royals could’ve moved on from the trio this offseason and started looking at other internal options to bring up to Omaha, who could contribute to the Royals in the next couple of years.
Instead, Pratto, Velazquez, and Waters will return to Spring Training without a great chance to make the Opening Day roster, and they could be DFA’d before the conclusion of Spring Training, meaning that the Royals will lose them to another club for practically nothing.
The Tigers Getting All the Love in September/October
The Tigers went on a crazy run at the end of the season, where they went 17-8 in September and 24-19 in the last two months of the year. The playoff-clinching run made the Tigers the darling of baseball toward the end of the season, and that continued in the postseason, especially after they swept the Houston Astros on the road in the Wild Card round.
Listen, the Tigers were a great story, and it was fun to see them surpass the Twins but still fall short of the Royals in the playoff standings. However, the Tigers finished 2023 with 78 wins and were a dark horse favorite by many experts at the beginning of the season. Instead, they underperformed for most of the season until the last two months.
Furthermore, owner Chris Illitch has the means to be an owner who can spend more but chooses not to. This man is the heir to the Little Caesars Pizza empire, for chrissakes. He can afford a big contract now and then, and he encouraged the Tigers to “sell” at the Deadline (imagine what they could’ve done had they KEPT Jack Flaherty).
Conversely, the Royals lost 106 games in 2023 and won 86, a 30-game turnaround (compared to Detroit’s eight). Kansas City also engineered this turnaround in 2024 despite a roster that still looked mediocre, according to most projections, and a farm system that had widely been panned for the past couple of seasons.
On the flip side, Detroit’s system continues to get lauded despite their obvious pick advantage in recent drafts (they have had two No. 1 picks in the past five years, and those two, Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson, haven’t done much at the MLB level).
Detroit became the month’s flavor for baseball fans in September, overshadowing the Royals and what they had done since April. That’s disappointing since the Royals’ season was much more impressive than the Tigers’, especially when looking at the year.
Quatraro and Picollo Getting Overlooked in End-of-Year Awards
I understand that people in baseball want to recognize Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt and Milwaukee’s Matt Arnold, who won the AL Manager of the Year and MLB Executive of the Year awards, respectively (there is only one Executive of the Year award).
Vogt came into a challenging situation after the previous manager, Terry Francona, retired due to health reasons. Despite these obstacles, he helped the Guardians win a division title, 16 more games in 2024, and appear in the American League Championship Series.
As for Arnold, he works under one of the cheaper owners in baseball, and he lost his longtime manager, Craig Counsell, to the rival Cubs in the offseason. Still, the Brewers cruised to 93 wins and a Central Division title, winning the division by 10 games.
However, to see both Quatraro and Picollo snubbed was disappointing.
I get that Vogt won the division, so it’s hard to pick a second-place manager at the surface level. However, Quatraro took over a franchise in the downright dumps and made them a playoff team in two seasons. The same could be said for Picollo, though JJ had the benefit of working for the Royals for years under the previous President of Baseball Operations, Dayton Moore.
Vogt took over a team that made the postseason as recently as 2022. As for Arnold, he took over a franchise that had been relatively healthy and successful under the previous president of baseball operations, David Stearns, who now runs the Mets. The Guardians and Brewers had great years, but the turnaround wasn’t as dramatic as the Royals’ in 2024.
The Royals deserved more love in the Manager and Executive of the Year voting. Hopefully, they will get more respect in 2025, especially if they continue to build on their momentum from 2024.
Then, baseball writers can’t chalk the Royals’ success as just a “fluke.”
Photo Credit: NBC
Right there with you on all of this.
Happy Festivus, Mr. O’B, and thanks for
all you do to contribute to out enjoyment
of the Royals.