The Kansas City Royals have seen some difficult results in recent memory. Including 2005, it will be 20 years since the franchise's last playoff appearance. From the end of the strike in 1994, K.C. has enjoyed only one winning season. And in the last few seasons, the Royals' small market stature forced the team to sell off its best talents.
Johnny Damon landed in Oakland via a trade after the 2000 season. Jermaine Dye, picked up in a trade with Atlanta in 1997, ended up joining Damon midway through 2001. Carlos Beltran took a detour south to Houston for last year's stretch run.
Now, with the Royals plodding through another insignificant homestretch, a player that's stuck by the team in this pretty miserable run needs to move on. He might have started as a catcher in 1995, but Mike Sweeney has provided consistency in the field and at the plate since converting to first base.
Before the 2002 season, the K.C. front office made a commitment to Sweeney, signing him to a five-year, $55 million extension. The club also tried to make a stance on their losing ways. They promised the first baseman that he could opt out of the contract if the franchise didn't field a team with a winning record by the end of 2004.
Sweeney has continued to deliver pretty well on his end, hitting .309 and averaging about 24 doubles, 19 home runs, and 74 RBIs in those three-plus seasons. However, the new attitude of the Royals has barely come to fruition.
The team showed its two worst results (in franchise history) in '02 and '04, losing 100 and 104 games, respectively. Unfortunately for Sweeney, sandwiched in between those two dreadful seasons was one of mediocrity — enough mediocrity that K.C. ended up 83-79. That meant Mike would have to honor the rest of his extension.
And as far as anyone knows, he's not going to back down from his promise. He's the face of the squad, does bundles of charity work, and is apparently content to stay in town. All that being said, this guy deserves a shot at a winner. There will be no chance for him to do that as long as cheapskate David Glass is in charge.
Call me a hater. Call me callous. Call me Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock. (Then again, scratch that last one. Even I have my standards.) In the end, I think Sweeney should be moved to a place that's much closer to the brass ring.
Just think of what his steady bat (.316 BA, 25 2B, and 15 HR this season) could do for a contender in need of some offense. He could especially cause waves inside the division. It would be interesting to see him DH for the Twins or (uh, I can't believe I'm saying this) White Sox.
In the Star on Wednesday, columnist Joe Posnanski showed the argument of why the Royals should keep Sweeney around Kauffman Stadium for as long as possible. I'm a Royals fan. I'd love to see him keep producing clutch hits in the K.C. humidity. But in sports, there's always a stigma that the nice guys finish last.
When baseball's trade deadline comes up on Sunday, the organization should do the right thing. Let him play — somewhere else.
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