The Royals may be on their way to their ninth consecutive losing season, but they've made at least one important fan in MLB this year.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland, in the middle of a heated pennant race with the White Sox, was full of compliments for the Kansas City roster after his team won, 2-0, on Tuesday (courtesy of the Detroit Free Press):

"They're on the verge of becoming very good," Leyland said. "[Perez] has got a chance to be special. [Moustakas] played the hell out of third base against us. He's made some unbelievable plays. [Hosmer] will probably have a huge year next year and settle in to really be the player you think he's going to be at the major league level."

Of course, that's easy for Leyland to say, especially since he has five more games with the Royals over the next week -- games which may end up deciding the Tigers' season.