September 23, 2023
By Fred Liggett
sports.lstribune08@gmail.com
On Thursday, Sept. 21 the Kansas City Royals enjoyed an off day until a team meeting in the afternoon followed by a plane trip south to Houston. As the Royals ventured to the home of the Houston Astros the Royals knew just 10 days are left and nine games left to be played in the 2023 season.
Just three of the final nine games of the season will be played at Kaufman Stadium where the Royals on Wednesday, Sept. 20 just completed a three-game sweep of division rival Cleveland. The Royals left town with a record of 51-102. Getting so close to the end of the season means a number of changes will soon be made. Traditionally the last week of the season has been the norm for a number of big decisions being announced.
Just a year ago on Sept. 21, 2022 the Royals announced the firing of long time General Manager Dayton Moore. Two weeks later on Oct. 5th the Royals front office let Manager Mike Matheny go. Going back even further to Aug. 30th 2019 is when the Royals announced that team owner David Glass would be selling the team to current owner John Sherman.
A number of big decisions loom ahead for the Royals franchise both on and off the field. The Royals revealed on Sept. 20th the team will not be revealing the site selected for their next stadium. At one time the goal was to have an announcement by end of September. Now team officials are taking more time before making the big decision that will impact the franchise for many years to come.
The team’s front office will soon have end of the year meetings with manager Matt Quatraro and his coaching staff. The result could be a shake up on his coaching staff going into year two. Then a series of meetings will be held to determine what to do with a number of players on the active roster. Veteran pitchers like Brady Singer and Brad Keller ended the year on the disabled list. Will Zach Grienke return for one more year? Recent call ups like catcher Tyler Copley and the feel good story of Logan Porter who hopes to stick on the major league roster in 2024.
The final day of the 2023 regular season for all MLB teams will be on Sunday, Oct. 1. After that baseball fans will need to stay tuned as these big decisions are made and revealed to the public.
