The 1997 Royals were a zombie franchise. The franchise that was once a crown jewel and a champion a decade before were now set adrift, without an owner or any sense of direction. The team was ostensibly in a youth movement, but seemed focused on adding veterans to prop up a Potemkin village for a potential new owner. The result would be one of the worst seasons in franchise history.
The 1997 Royals
General Manager: Herk Robinson
Manager: Bob Boone (36-46), Tony Muser (31-48)
Record: 67-94, 5th place, 19 games back
Say hello to: Jay Bell, Ricky Bones, Hector Carrasco, Scott Cooper, Chili Davis, Jermaine Dye, Jeff King, Gregg Olson, Dean Palmer, Scott Service, Jaime Walker
Say goodbye to: Tom Goodwin, Mark Gubicza, Bob Hamelin, Doug Linton, Keith Lockhart, Mike Magnante, Jon Nunnally, Joe Randa, Michael Tucker, Julio Valera
All-Stars: Jose Rosado
Team payroll: $31,225,000 (21st out of 28 clubs)
Highest paid player: Jay Bell, $5,000,000
Rookies: Jim Pittsley, Glendon Rusch, Jamie Walker
Top Prospect: A young 19-year old outfielder named Dee Brown was absolutely destroying the Northwest League with a line of .