Last year's midseason additions Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist are gone. So is reliable innings-eater Jeremy Guthrie and closer Gregg Holland, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery.
All that would be bad news for some teams, but the Royals are still the class of the AL Central. When Alex Gordon turned his back on the free agency and re-signed with the Royals, that reunited the AL's best offense and defense. The Royals grind out runs offensively and prevent runs from scoring on defense.
There are questions about the rotation led by Edinson Volquez, Yordano Ventura and Ian Kennedy, but there were questions last year.