For months, the impending free agency of Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, and Jason Vargas has hung over the Royals like the sword of Damocles. While Dayton Moore stressed that he wanted to extend the window past this season, having such important players possibly departing after this year put the pressure on to win this season.
When the Royals stumbled out to a 7-16 April, the script for the Royals looked finished. They would have to sell off their core and look to rebuild this July. But a funny thing happened on the way to the July trade deadline.