The Kansas City Royals should aim for 80 wins in 2020

(Sportslogos.net; Kansas City Royals Primary Logo 2019)

The best the Royals have ever done in a full 162 game season is when they improved from 2002 to 2003 by 21 wins.

But they did improve by 40 wins in 1982 from the strike-shortened season of 1981.

So maybe the best we can actually expect them to do is win 80 games in 2020.

The Kansas City Royals finished the 2019 season with a record of 59-103 which was actually a one game improvement from 2018.

This was obviously one of the worst seasons in their history.

They have never had three straight seasons of not winning 60 games in a season.

So what can we expect from a Kansas City major league baseball team the year after winning only 59 or fewer games in a season?

In 1982, the Royals won an additional 40 games compared to the previous year and also lost 19 additional games. They finished with a record of 90-72.

In 2005, Kansas City won 56 games and finished two games worse than 2004. In 2006, they won 62 games and improved by six games.

And in 2019 the Royals found a way to not finish last in their division and were 42 games back of first place. The 2005 team finished 43 games back and did finish in last place (5th) within the division.

So Kansas City is guaranteed to win (should win) at least 57 games in 2020 and will more than likely improve if previous history of winning 59 or fewer games is any indication.

The 2020 Kansas City Royals likely can do what the 2006 team did and improve by at least six games. So 65 wins is what the team should strive for. Any wins beyond that is probably a bonus.

The good news for them is that they have made it at least to the American League Championship Series every time they have made the postseason except for the labor strike season of 1981 when the season was broken up into two parts.

If things would have been different in 1981, the Royals wouldn’t have made the postseason as they are the only team in MLB history to make the playoffs and have a losing record.

And in their three playoff appearances in the last 35 seasons, 1985, 2014 and 2015 they have won at least three World Series games in every World Series. Kansas City won the World Series in 1985 and 2015.