by Eric Angevine

Created on: February 11, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

I'm not one of those malcontents who thinks that running a Major League team is easy. I can't even fathom the type of chemistry you have to find to mold a 40-man roster into a team that can win consistently over a 162-game season.

That being said, a few teams do it every year, and they aren't always the teams with the most money from the biggest markets. So why not my Kansas City Royals? The Royals and I were born in the same year - we have history. I fondly remember the days of George Brett, Sabes and Cone, Bo Jackson, and my underdog fave, Jim Eisenreich (every fan has to have one of those, right?).

Those days are gone, but many great players have come through the Royals' system since then and gone on to win rings elsewhere. The short list includes Johnny Damon (Red Sox), Jermaine Dye (White Sox), and Jeff Suppan (Cardinals). I suspect Carlos Beltran is on the cusp, as well.

So how do we get the bandwagon back on track? My five point plan:

Let The Wookie Win - Every year the Royals take two out of three from a contender, and the locals go nuts. There's very little benefit to beating the Yankees in August. I don't care if the Royals beat the Yankees at all right now. What I want to see is a team that can win the AL Central. It's not like the division is locked down. The White Sox and Tigers have recently rotated to the top, and the Twins are always in contention. Cleveland is solid. There is no big dog outspending KC in this division - they should be able to win it, and soon.

Apply Miracle Grow - The boys in blue have been sitting on high draft picks all decade. In addition, they wisely obtain talented youngsters when they are forced to trade highly-paid stars to contenders. But they need to speed the development of the kids in the farm system, because it's pretty much a given that, if they're any good, they won't stick around when they become free agents. Spend money on good coaching in the minors, so studs like Alex Gordon and Luke Hochevar can help out in the show now, rather than five years from now.

Give A Guy A Chance - I know it's convenient to blame the Manager and GM when the team loses 100 games (again), but owner David Glass needs to take a little bit of that heat himself - Missourians know where the buck stops. Dayton Moore could be a good GM, but if Glass is going to hamstring him financially and have him looking over his shoulder, he might as well toss the Royals into his Wal-Mart Bargain Bin. This team needs some continuity. If the Steelers can wait

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