John Sherman Explains What Royals Can Learn From This Postseason

John Sherman does not have to look far to find the teams he wants the Kansas City Royals to learn from.

Two of them play in the American League Central, and both of them made the postseason while Kansas City headed into a long winter.

At his end-of-season press conference at Kauffman Stadium on Monday, the Royals' owner called 2026 a very disappointing season and said the work to turn things around has already started.

Sherman and the Royals do not see payroll as a restriction by itself, according to MLB.com.

Division rivals Cleveland and Chicago both made the postseason without big budgets, and the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays finished with the best records in their leagues, so Sherman wants to know what those teams are doing right.

"They've got some secret sauce we're trying to figure out here. You want to integrate and try to figure out what they're doing. We're definitely doing a lot right," Sherman said, per MLB.com.

Sherman also pointed out that the Brewers have never won a World Series even though they came into the league with the Royals in 1969, and that Cleveland has the longest title drought in baseball, going back to 1948.

On spending, he said the Royals will try to be more opportunistic this winter, and while they are not going to spend money just to spend it, he wants to work with his front office on moves that would make the team better in a key area.

The Royals went 69-93 and finished last in the American League Central, 16 games behind first place, in their first losing season since 2023.

The pitching staff had a 4.77 team ERA, which ranked 14th in the American League, and the team ended the year with seven pitchers on the 60-day injured list, including pitcher Cole Ragans and pitcher Carlos Estévez.

Those numbers explain why Sherman is studying other teams instead of pointing to bad luck.

The Guardians won the division at 85-77, and the White Sox got in at 84-78, so neither club needed a huge season to make the playoffs.

A look back at all 162 games shows how much has to change, and the gap between the Royals and the top of their division is too big to close with one move.

I think Sherman has the right idea here.

The Royals do not need to win the winter, but they do need to be smart about where they spend, and the lineup and the pitching staff both have holes.

There is a real case for adding help in the outfield, and the health of the pitching staff will decide a lot of what happens next season.

Manager Matt Quatraro could also face heavy pressure next season if things do not improve, and ownership wants results.

If the Royals can borrow even part of what has worked for Cleveland and Chicago, a return to the race in the Central is possible, because the bar to get in is not as high as their 93 losses make it look.