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Royals KCR

198591–71 (0.562)★ 1985 World Series Champions
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GM: John Schuerholz

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1985, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$10M
Surplus $M
-0
Win %
0.562
TAB
+3.2
WAB
+8.6
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
37.9
Dead money %
27%
Depth Players
8.0
Dead WAR
-5.3

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1985 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RJim Sundberg112
RJohn Wathan49
LJamie Quirk17

1B

RSteve Balboni160
RJohn Wathan6
LDane Iorg2
LJamie Quirk1
RGreg Pryor1

2B

RFrank White149
LJorge Orta36
RGreg Pryor21
BBuddy Biancalana4
ROnix Concepcion2
Bob Hegman1

3B

LGeorge Brett152
RGreg Pryor25
LDane Iorg1

SS

ROnix Concepcion128
BBuddy Biancalana74
RGreg Pryor13
RJim Scranton5

LF

RLonnie Smith⇄147
RLynn Jones58
RDarryl Motley44
LDane Iorg13
LDave Leeper2

CF

BWillie Wilson140
RLynn Jones21
LOmar Moreno⇄17

RF

RDarryl Motley76
LPat Sheridan69
RLynn Jones32
LDane Iorg19
LOmar Moreno⇄7
LDave Leeper6

DH

RHal McRae82
LJorge Orta74
RDarryl Motley5
LGeorge Brett1

Starters

RBret Saberhagen6.2 WAR
LDanny Jackson4.6 WAR
LCharlie Leibrandt4.1 WAR
LBud Black3.6 WAR
RMark Gubicza2.2 WAR
RSteve Farr0.6 WAR
LMike Jones-0.3 WAR

Bullpen

★ RDan Quisenberry37 sv
RJoe Beckwith0 h
LMike Jones0 h
RMike LaCoss0 h
RSteve Farr0 h
RMark Huismann0 h
LLarry Gura⇄0 h
LTony Ferreira0 h

Each position shows its top 3 by games (top = starter) — click "+more" for the rest. The letter is bats/throws; ⇄ marks a player traded mid-season. Starters are ranked by WAR, bullpen by holds; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.

Key additions (new vs 1984)

PlayerfWAR
George Brett8.3
Bret Saberhagen6.2
Danny Jackson4.6
Charlie Leibrandt4.1
Bud Black3.6
Dan Quisenberry2.7

Key subtractions (gone from 1984)

Player1984 fWAR
—

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Royals. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1985; everyone else is shown as a 1985 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Bret Saberhagen 1985 +6.2 +123.3 0.1 +123.1 $0.0M 2.50× –
George Brett 1985 +8.3 +94.5 1.0 +93.5 $0.1M 1.43× –
Danny Jackson 1985 +4.6 +79.9 0.1 +79.8 $0.0M 2.19× –
Charlie Leibrandt 1985 +4.1 +71.9 0.2 +71.6 $0.1M 2.19× –
Bud Black 1985 +3.6 +63.8 0.5 +63.3 $0.1M 2.19× –
Dan Quisenberry 1985 +2.7 +56.0 1.0 +55.0 $0.4M 2.57× –
Mark Gubicza 1985 +2.2 +26.3 0.1 +26.2 $0.1M 1.49× –
Willie Wilson 1985 +2.0 +19.6 0.8 +18.8 $0.4M 1.22× –
Frank White 1985 +2.0 +13.0 0.5 +12.5 $0.3M 0.82× –
Lonnie Smith↔ 1985 +1.1 +7.1 0.6 +6.5 $0.6M 0.83× –
Steve Balboni 1985 +1.2 +5.4 0.2 +5.2 $0.2M 0.56× –
Joe Beckwith 1985 +0.9 +5.0 0.4 +4.7 $0.4M 0.67× –
Jim Sundberg 1985 +1.2 +5.1 0.6 +4.4 $0.5M 0.52× –
Hal McRae 1985 +0.8 +4.5 0.8 +3.7 $1.0M 0.69× –
John Wathan 1985 +0.9 +3.6 0.4 +3.2 $0.5M 0.52× –
Pat Sheridan 1985 +0.1 +0.8 0.2 +0.6 $1.5M 0.83× –
Dennis Leonard 1985 +0.0 +0.2 0.9 -0.7 $28.1M 0.67× –
Mike Jones 1985 -0.3 -1.8 0.1 -1.9 – 0.67× –
Dane Iorg 1985 -0.3 -2.2 0.2 -2.4 – 0.83× –
Jorge Orta 1985 -0.4 -2.1 0.5 -2.5 – 0.69× –
Greg Pryor 1985 -0.6 -2.9 0.3 -3.2 – 0.58× –
Darryl Motley 1985 -0.6 -3.9 0.2 -4.0 – 0.83× –
Onix Concepcion 1985 -0.8 -3.8 0.2 -4.0 – 0.61× –
Lynn Jones 1985 -0.9 -5.9 0.2 -6.1 – 0.83× –
Buddy Biancalana 1985 -0.2 -1.0 – – – 0.61× –
Dave Leeper 1985 -0.9 -5.8 – – – 0.83× –
Jamie Quirk 1985 +0.3 +1.1 – – – 0.52× –
Jim Scranton 1985 +0.0 +0.1 – – – 0.61× –
Larry Gura↔ 1985 -0.2 -1.0 – – – 0.67× –
Mark Huismann 1985 +0.3 +1.4 – – – 0.67× –
Michael LaCoss 1985 +0.0 +0.1 – – – 0.67× –
Omar Moreno↔ 1985 -0.1 -0.9 – – – 0.83× –
Steve Farr 1985 +0.6 +3.0 – – – 0.67× –
Tony Ferreira 1985 +0.1 +0.6 – – – 0.67× –
Total—+37.9+555.010.1+547.3—

Trades

Every graded 1985 deal involving the Royals — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 4 total.

1985 · KCR / WSN
KCR · John Schuerholz +$8.0M
Kenny Baker, Mike Kinnunen
WSN · Murray Cook −$8.0M
U. L. Washington
KCR came out ahead by $8.0M
1985 · CLE / KCR
CLE · Phil Seghi +$3.2M
Keith Creel
KCR · John Schuerholz −$3.2M
Dwight Taylor
CLE came out ahead by $3.2M
1985 · STL / KCR
STL · Joe McDonald +$10.4M
John Morris
KCR · John Schuerholz −$10.4M
Lonnie Smith
STL came out ahead by $10.4M
1985 · MIL / KCR / NYM / TEX
MIL · Harry Dalton +$48.8M
Tim Leary, Danny Darwin, Bill Hance
KCR · John Schuerholz −$1.6M
Jim Sundberg
NYM · Frank Cashen −$20.8M
Frank Wills
TEX · Tom Grieve −$26.4M
Don Slaught
MIL came out ahead by $48.8M 4-team

Current & Historical Payroll

1985 payroll
$10.2M

What the front office was committed to as of 1985, 1985–1991. Pre-2015 has no contract-terms data — forward italic $ are realized actuals (hindsight, not commitments known then). Control labels (ARB/FA) are point-in-time.

current $ guaranteed $ actual $ (hindsight) arbitration (proj) pre-arb (proj) free agent

Guaranteed / signed (18)

PlayerAgeSvc1985198619871988198919901991
George Brett3212.000$1.0M$1.5M$2.1M$2.3M$2.0M$2.3M$3.1M
Dan Quisenberry326.000$975k$925k$1.3M$973kFREE AGENT
Dennis Leonard3411.000$871k$883kFREE AGENT
Willie Wilson299.000$844k$1.2M$1.4M$1.4M$2.1M$800kFREE AGENT
Hal McRae3917.000$800k$650k$110kFREE AGENT
Jim Sundberg3411.000$608k$653kFREE AGENT
Lonnie Smith297.000$600k$1.0M$500kFREE AGENT
Frank White3412.000$545k$485k$875k$825k$1.0M$1.1MFREE AGENT
Jorge Orta3413.000$450k$450k$125kFREE AGENT
John Wathan359.000$425kFREE AGENT
Joe Beckwith306.000$358kFREE AGENT
Greg Pryor359.000$317k$294kFREE AGENT
Dane Iorg358.000$242kFREE AGENT
Charlie Leibrandt286.000$225k$770k$850k$1.2M$1.2MFREE AGENT
Lynn Jones326.000$202k$185kFREE AGENT
Michael LaCoss297.000—FREE AGENT
Omar Moreno3210.000—FREE AGENT
Jamie Quirk3010.000—$150k$200k$335kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (7)

PlayerAgeSvc1985198619871988198919901991
Bud Black284.000$465kARB 3FREE AGENT
Onix Concepcion275.000$250kFREE AGENT
Steve Balboni284.000$205kARB 3FREE AGENT
Pat Sheridan274.000$175kARB 3FREE AGENT
Darryl Motley254.000$156kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Jones255.000$100kFREE AGENT
Buddy Biancalana253.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (9)

PlayerAgeSvc1985198619871988198919901991
Bret Saberhagen211.000$150kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Gubicza221.000$115kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Danny Jackson232.000$95kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Farr281.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tony Ferreira22–—
Larry Gura37–—
Mark Huismann272.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Leeper25–—
Jim Scranton25–—

Graphs

How each 1985 acquisition stacked onto Royals's playoff-odds curve. The side table is ranked by PPA.

Rosternomics — front-office performance, roster value, and transaction history. Follow @rosternomics on X.
Decision-maker records extend to 1933; resource-controlled WAR and payroll metrics cover 1985–2026. Data sources include FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference, the Chadwick Bureau register, the Lahman Database, prospect rankings from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and FanGraphs, and public payroll records. Transaction and trade data was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Executive birth/death data via Wikidata (CC0).
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