The Baltimore Orioles have come close in recent years to matching the Kansas City Royals performance in the AL basement year after year. The Seattle Mariners have also been there as well. Tampa Bay Rays have risen from the ashes and other teams have come by for a visit. But if the Royals are going to have any help from being viewed as the worst team in the American League year after year, it’s coming in the form of the Houston Astros with the word coming today that the team’s new owner Jim Crane has agreed to switch leagues.
The Astros have not only performed poorly in the last few years in the NL, but last year was a benchmark with 106 losses and a win percentage of .346. To top it off, the level of talent in both the majors and the minors, from the pitching staff to the line-up is low. This team, in other words, is horrible.
As the Royals rise with the ascension of their celebrated farm system, the arrival of the Astros could not have come at a better time to take the reins as the American League’s worst team. They’ve been a team with no real direction for some time and now the AL will get to feast on their horrible pitching and swiss cheese line-up. And that sigh of relief you hear is the sound of the Kansas City Royals knowing that they’re better than someone else.