Recent Kansas City Royals history has been elation or misery, with very little in between. The franchise won the 2015 World Series and won the 2014 American League Pennant. But since 2018, the Royals have been the definitive worst team in Major League Baseball.
When majority owner John Sherman fired Dayton Moore, the architect of those World Series teams from almost a decade ago, he stated that it was not only important for the Royals to win. Sherman wanted the Royals to avoid huge valleys of losing, stating (emphasis mine):
“The objective is to return to form, to compete for a championship on behalf of our great fans, to be playing meaningful baseball at this time of year.