Reason for optimism: Flags fly forever, and the newest ones won't show signs of aging for years.
Reason for pessimism: The roster, on the other hand, showed unmistakable signs of aging last season.
Pssssst! The two-time American League pennant winners and 2015 World Series champions were bad last year.
Outwardly, they didn't finish above .500 for the first time in four seasons, so that assessment shouldn't come as a total surprise. But a look inside the results reveals a steeper decline. Not only did their run differential turn decisively negative (-37), but even that level of below-average play masked an even worse performance helped by fortunate sequencing, or cluster luck.
The Royals allowed 71 more runs than the year before, but it probably should have been closer to 100 more. After some spectacular performances in years past, the bullpen regressed to merely above-average, posting a 3.45 ERA. That's still top-tier, good for fifth in the majors, but it represented three-quarters of a run more per nine innings. When your bullpen throws as many innings as Kansas City's does, it adds up to 46 more runs.
