GM: John Schuerholz
1985: World Series champions · 91–71. Ranks are vs the 26 teams that season.
Each position lists its starter then backups by games (so platoons & bench show). Starters (mound) & bullpen (left, foul territory) are ranked by WAR; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Brett | 32 | FA-elig | 155 | 8.3 | 1.0 | +1.2 |
| Bret Saberhagen | 21 | pre-arb | 32 | 6.2 | 0.1 | +1.5 |
| Danny Jackson | 23 | pre-arb | 32 | 4.6 | 0.1 | +1.1 |
| Charlie Leibrandt | 28 | FA-elig | 33 | 4.1 | 0.2 | +0.8 |
| Bud Black | 28 | arb | 33 | 3.6 | 0.5 | +0.5 |
| Dan Quisenberry | 32 | FA-elig | 84 | 2.7 | 1.0 | -0.3 |
| Mark Gubicza | 22 | pre-arb | 29 | 2.2 | 0.1 | +0.5 |
| Willie Wilson | 29 | FA-elig | 141 | 2.0 | 0.8 | -0.3 |
| Frank White | 34 | FA-elig | 149 | 2.0 | 0.5 | -0.0 |
| Jim Sundberg | 34 | FA-elig | 115 | 1.2 | 0.6 | -0.3 |
| Steve Balboni | 28 | arb | 160 | 1.2 | 0.2 | +0.1 |
| Lonnie Smith↔ STL | 29 | FA-elig | 120 | 1.1 | 0.6 | -0.3 |
| Joe Beckwith | 30 | FA-elig | 49 | 0.9 | 0.4 | -0.1 |
| John Wathan | 35 | FA-elig | 60 | 0.9 | 0.4 | -0.2 |
| Hal McRae | 39 | FA-elig | 112 | 0.8 | 0.8 | -0.6 |
| Steve Farr | 28 | – | 16 | 0.6 | – | – |
| Mark Huismann | 27 | – | 9 | 0.3 | – | – |
| Jamie Quirk | 30 | – | 19 | 0.3 | – | – |
| Pat Sheridan | 27 | arb | 78 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -0.1 |
| Tony Ferreira | 22 | – | 2 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Dennis Leonard | 34 | FA-elig | 2 | 0.0 | 0.9 | -0.9 |
| Michael LaCoss | 29 | – | 21 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Jim Scranton | 25 | – | 6 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Omar Moreno↔ NYY | 32 | – | 24 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Larry Gura↔ CHC | 37 | – | 3 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Buddy Biancalana | 25 | – | 81 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Dane Iorg | 35 | FA-elig | 64 | -0.3 | 0.2 | -0.3 |
| Mike Jones | 25 | arb | 33 | -0.3 | 0.1 | -0.2 |
| Jorge Orta | 34 | FA-elig | 110 | -0.4 | 0.5 | -0.5 |
| Darryl Motley | 25 | arb | 123 | -0.6 | 0.2 | -0.3 |
| Greg Pryor | 35 | FA-elig | 63 | -0.6 | 0.3 | -0.5 |
| Onix Concepcion | 27 | arb | 131 | -0.8 | 0.2 | -0.4 |
| Dave Leeper | 25 | – | 15 | -0.9 | – | – |
| Lynn Jones | 32 | FA-elig | 110 | -0.9 | 0.2 | -0.4 |
| Player | fWAR |
|---|---|
| George Brett | 8.3 |
| Bret Saberhagen | 6.2 |
| Danny Jackson | 4.6 |
| Charlie Leibrandt | 4.1 |
| Bud Black | 3.6 |
| Dan Quisenberry | 2.7 |
| Player | 1984 fWAR |
|---|---|
| — | |
What the front office was committed to as of 1985, 1985–1991. Pre-2015 has no contract-terms data — forward italic $ are realized actuals (hindsight, not commitments known then). Control labels (ARB/FA) are point-in-time.
| Player | Age | Svc | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Brett | 32 | 12.000 | $1.0M | $1.5M | $2.1M | $2.3M | $2.0M | $2.3M | $3.1M |
| Dan Quisenberry | 32 | 6.000 | $975k | $925k | $1.3M | $973k | FREE AGENT | ||
| Dennis Leonard | 34 | 11.000 | $871k | $883k | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Willie Wilson | 29 | 9.000 | $844k | $1.2M | $1.4M | $1.4M | $2.1M | $800k | FREE AGENT |
| Hal McRae | 39 | 17.000 | $800k | $650k | $110k | FREE AGENT | |||
| Jim Sundberg | 34 | 11.000 | $608k | $653k | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Lonnie Smith | 29 | 7.000 | $600k | $1.0M | $500k | FREE AGENT | |||
| Frank White | 34 | 12.000 | $545k | $485k | $875k | $825k | $1.0M | $1.1M | FREE AGENT |
| Jorge Orta | 34 | 13.000 | $450k | $450k | $125k | FREE AGENT | |||
| John Wathan | 35 | 9.000 | $425k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Joe Beckwith | 30 | 6.000 | $358k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Greg Pryor | 35 | 9.000 | $317k | $294k | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Dane Iorg | 35 | 8.000 | $242k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Charlie Leibrandt | 28 | 6.000 | $225k | $770k | $850k | $1.2M | $1.2M | FREE AGENT | |
| Lynn Jones | 32 | 6.000 | $202k | $185k | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Michael LaCoss | 29 | 7.000 | — | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Omar Moreno | 32 | 10.000 | — | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jamie Quirk | 30 | 10.000 | — | $150k | $200k | $335k | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bud Black | 28 | 4.000 | $465k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Onix Concepcion | 27 | 5.000 | $250k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Steve Balboni | 28 | 4.000 | $205k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Pat Sheridan | 27 | 4.000 | $175k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Darryl Motley | 25 | 4.000 | $156k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Mike Jones | 25 | 5.000 | $100k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Buddy Biancalana | 25 | 3.000 | — | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bret Saberhagen | 21 | 1.000 | $150k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Mark Gubicza | 22 | 1.000 | $115k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Danny Jackson | 23 | 2.000 | $95k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Steve Farr | 28 | 1.000 | — | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Tony Ferreira | 22 | – | — | ||||||
| Larry Gura | 37 | – | — | ||||||
| Mark Huismann | 27 | 2.000 | — | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Dave Leeper | 25 | – | — | ||||||
| Jim Scranton | 25 | – | — |
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Royals 1985; the black line = the league-average player at each slot that season. Staying above the line deep into the roster is the depth edge; dropping below it = holes & dead weight.
| Regime | Seasons | Win % | Playoff % | Pennant % | WS % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WINDOW | 289 | 52.2 | 30.1 | 4.8 | 1.0 |
| CONTEND | 311 | 56.8 | 63.0 | 19.3 | 10.3 |
| FORCED-SPEND | 260 | 47.9 | 8.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| REBUILD | 328 | 43.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Not enough history to chart.
'; return; } const f=+document.getElementById('yfrom').value, t=+document.getElementById('yto').value, w=+document.getElementById('win').value; document.getElementById('yflab').textContent=f; document.getElementById('ytlab').textContent=t; document.getElementById('winlab').textContent = w===1?'raw':(w+'-yr'); const dark=document.documentElement.getAttribute('data-theme')==='dark'; const ink=dark?'#cdd4dc':'#1d2630', grid=dark?'#2c313a':'#d6dbe2', refc=dark?'#5a636d':'#9aa3ad', dirc=dark?'#ffffff':'#1d2630'; const col=contrastColor(TEAMCOL,dark); function sm(a,w){const h=(w-1)/2,o=[];for(let i=0;iPick a wider year range.
'; return; } const s=sm(raw,w),n=s.length,X=s.map(d=>Math.round(d[1]*100)/100),Y=s.map(d=>Math.round(d[2]*10)/10),yr=s.map(d=>d[0]); let xa=Math.min(1,...X),xb=Math.max(1,...X),ya=Math.min(0,...Y),yb=Math.max(0,...Y); const px=(xb-xa)*.12+.04,py=(yb-ya)*.12+1.5;xa-=px;xb+=px;ya-=py;yb+=py; const k=Math.max(0,n-3), ann=[]; [['WINDOW','#15b6a0',xa<1&&yb>0,xa,yb,'left','top'],['CONTEND','#2f7ed8',xb>1&&yb>0,xb,yb,'right','top'], ['FORCED-SPEND','#ec5a3c',xb>1&&ya<0,xb,ya,'right','bottom'],['REBUILD','#f0a91c',xa<1&&ya<0,xa,ya,'left','bottom']].forEach(q=>{ if(q[2]) ann.push({x:q[3],y:q[4],xref:'x',yref:'y',text:q[0],showarrow:false,xanchor:q[5],yanchor:q[6],font:{size:10,color:q[1]},opacity:.85});}); ann.push({x:X[n-1],y:Y[n-1],ax:X[n-1]-0.5*(X[n-1]-X[k]),ay:Y[n-1]-0.5*(Y[n-1]-Y[k]),xref:'x',yref:'y',axref:'x',ayref:'y',showarrow:true,arrowhead:2,arrowsize:1.3,arrowwidth:1.7,arrowcolor:dirc,text:''}); Plotly.newPlot('orbit',[{x:X,y:Y,mode:'lines+markers',line:{color:col,width:2.6,shape:'spline',smoothing:0.7}, marker:{color:col,size:s.map((d,i)=>5+7*(i/Math.max(1,n-1))),line:{color:dark?'#1b1e23':'#fff',width:0.6}}, text:yr,hovertemplate:'%{text}