Franchise Timeline

Beltran Makes His Mark: The Royals tied the franchise record with 97 losses as they finished in fifth place in the A.L. Central, 26 games behind the division champion Cleveland Indians. The last place finish was the first for KC since 1997 and its seventh straight losing season. Prior to this stretch, the club had only logged back-to-back losing seasons in the first two years of the franchise (1969 and 1970). Another slow start doomed the season from the beginning as the Royals stood at 7-15 and 9.5 games out of first by April 27. The club had a 34-53 record at the break (21 games out) and fell to a season-low 35 games under .500 on September 25.

Player of Year: Carlos Beltran was named the Royals Player of the Year after leading the club with a .306 average, 106 runs, 101 RBI and 31 stolen bases. He became the youngest player to win the award since George Brett in 1975 and 1976 at the ages of 22 and 23. He ranked among the American League leaders in 11 offensive categories as well as outfield assists (T2nd) and led the league in stolen base percentage, going 31-for-32 (.969). He earned back-to-back Royals Player of the Month honors in August and September.

Pitcher of Year: Jeff Suppan won his second consecutive Pitcher of the Year Award, posting a 10-14 record with a 4.37 ERA in 34 starts. Suppan led the Royals in wins, innings pitched (218.1) and strikeouts (120). He was also the Royals Opening Day starter for the second straight year.

New GM Moore: The 2006 season was one of change, as the Royals hired Dayton Moore, who assumed the duties of General Manager on June 8. Moore made a series of moves to reshape both the roster and the front office. On the field, the Royals could not avoid their fourth 100-loss season in five years as they finished 62-100. An 11-game losing streak in April and a 13-game drought in May pushed the club to a 16-47 mark through June 13. The team regrouped to post a 46-53 record the remainder of the season.

Player of Year: Mark Teahen was named the Royals Player of the Year after a breakout sophomore season. Teahen struggled early with a .195 average that resulted in a demotion to Omaha on May 5. He recovered to finish the season at .290 with a team-leading 18 home runs, 69 RBI, 10 stolen bases and seven triples in only 109 games. Teahen posted .517 slugging pct. 2006 after recording just a .376 pct. in 2005. That .141 increase was second-highest in baseball and a Royals record for a player between their rookie and second seasons. His .874 on-base-plus-slugging pct. was second among all A.L. third basemen.

Pitcher of Year: Mark Redman returned from knee surgery in Spring Training to post a team-leading 11 wins. Redman won six-straight decisions from June 4th to July 6th, earning his first trip to the All-Star Game in July. He threw two complete games, including a 2-0 shutout of Minnesota on August 29th. His 11 wins were the most by a Royals lefty since 1988 (Charlie Liebrandt, 13, and Floyd Bannister, 12).

Rookies Debut: After almost three years as manager, Buddy Bell announced on Aug. 1 that he would step aside when the season ended. He'd had a bout with cancer at the end of 2006 and wanted to scale back. The Royals finished last in the AL Central for the fourth straight year but avoided 100 losses, posting a 69-93 record and landed 27 games behind first-place Cleveland. After an 8-18 start, the Royals improved to 51-49 over the next 100 games but they faded back to fifth place in September. The pitching staff made dramatic improvements, going from dead last to seventh with a team ERA of 4.48. But scoring runs continued to be a problem and they were second to last in the league. Several rookies made their debuts including Billy Butler, Alex Gordon and Joakim Soria. Starter Brian Bannister's staff-best 12 wins put him in contention for AL Rookie of the Year. In his final KC season, team captain Mike Sweeney again battled injuries and played just 74 games.

Player of Year: Second baseman Mark Grudzielanek batted .302 as overcame two surgeries on his left knee, one in Spring Training and another on June 15. Determinedly, he toughed it out and played 116 games. In July he returned to bat .429 for the month and in his final 64 games he hit .332. Grudzielanek also continued his excellent defense work with just six errors.

Pitcher of Year: Right-hander Gil Meche signed a five-year, $55-million contract and gave the staff solid leadership. His record was just 9-13 but he notched a fine 3.67 ERA, best by a starter since Kevin Appier's 3.40 in 1997. Meche suffered from the worst run support in the AL but pitched a career-high 218 innings. He was the Royals' representative at the All-Star Game.

Coming of Trey: After a successful five-year stay in the Japan League, Trey Hillman was hired to beome the Royals' 15th full-time manager. Also a former manager in the Yankees' farm system, this was his first Major League job. Hillman got the Royals out of the last place for the first time since 2003. The club finished with a rush, notching an 18-8 record in September - the most victories in any month since July 1994. There was also a promising start, with a three-game sweep at Detroit over the powerful Tigers. However, after reaching first place with an 8-5 mark on April 14, things bogged down. A 12-game losing streak May 19-30 was devastating and the team never really recovered despite winning 12 of 14 games in a June stretch. Despite hitting for a higher average, the Royals scored fewer runs (691) than in 2007. Newcomer Jose Guillen led the club with 20 home runs and 97 RBIs. Gil Meche was 14 games, most since Paul Byrd's 17 in 2002, and Zack Greinke won 13. Mark Grudzielanek reached the 2,000-hit milestone and David DeJesus led the Majors with a .419 average with runners in scoring position.

Player of Year: Rookie shortstop Mike Aviles wasn't called up until late May but he soon made his presence felt. He led all Major League rookies with a .325 average and the mark was the highest ever for a Royals rookie. Aviles also socked 10 homers, had 51 RBIs and played well defensively. After he became the regular shortstop on June 6, the team had a 52-50 record.

Pitcher of Year: Joakim Soria, in his second full season, established himself as one of the game's top closers. He had 42 saves in 45 opportunities and a 1.60 ERA, holding opponents to a .170 average. He opened the season with 16 1/3 scoreless innings as well was 13 straight saves, a club record. For the first time since the heyday of Jeff Montgomery a decade before, he gave the Royals a feeling of ninth-inning invincibility.