Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists and consistently look to update them when necessary and based on necessity. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2024 revision of our top 50 Kansas City Royals.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball, we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.

Please note that our algorithm has changed, which yielded minor changes throughout the baseball lists.

Last year, the Royals made a triumphant return to the playoffs, winning their Wild Card Series over Baltimore before falling to the New York Yankees in four games.  The season yielded one new entrant and one elevation.

As always, we present our top five, which saw a huge change based on the new algorithm.

1. George Brett

2. Amos Otis

3. Bret Saberhagen

4. Willie Wilson

5. Kevin Appier

You can find the entire list here.

Under the new algorithm, Amos Otis moved from #5 to #2; a showcase to how tight everyone from 2 to 5 already were.

Multi-time All-Star Catcher Salvador Perez went up one spot to #6.

The new entrant is Bobby Witt Jr., who debuts at #31.

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2023 revision of our top 50 Kansas City Royals.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in Major League Baseball.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Royals had a bad year, and there were no new entrants into the Top 50.  There was one small elevation.

As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes:

1. George Brett

2. Bret Saberhagen

3. Willie Wilson

4. Kevin Appier

5. Amos Otis

You can find the entire list here.

Catcher, Salvador Perez, moved up one spot to #7.

Pitcher, Zack Greinke, who was with Kansas City last year, failed to move up from #13.

We thank you for your continued support for our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022 revision of our top Kansas City Royals.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Royals were unable to make the playoffs, but there were some shifts in the top 50.

As always, we present our top five, which was not affected by the last season:

1. George Brett

2. Bret Saberhagen

3. Willie Wilson

4. Kevin Appier

5. Amos Otis

You can find the entire list here.

Catcher, Salvador Perez, moved up from #10 to #8.

Pitcher, Zack Greinke, moved up one spot to #13.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

Kevin Appier was arguably one of the most underrated Pitchers of the 1990s, and perhaps we can shed some light on a career that feels unknown outside of Kansas City.

After finishing 12-8 with a third-place finish in Cy Young voting in 1990, Appier was a fundamentally sound, albeit somewhat hidden, player in the small market of Kansas City.  The righthander had a great 1993 season, going 18-8, and leading the American League in ERA (2.56), ERA+ (179), FIP (2.90), and bWAR (9.3).  Appier was third in Cy Young voting, though his bWAR was more than double that of the winner, Jack McDowell of Chicago.  Appier would finally earn an All-Star berth in 1995, though it would be the only one he attended.  

In his time with the Royals, Appier had seven top-ten finishes in bWAR, five ERA top-ten finishes, and four top-five finishes in Strikeouts.  Despite these strong stats, the 1993 season was the only year that he received a Cy Young vote.

Following the Royals, Appier played for Oakland, New York (NL), and Anaheim, where he won a World Series Ring in 2002.  He returned to KC to finish his career, retiring in 2004.  Appier left the game with a 169-137 record with 1,994 Strikeouts.

The story of Kevin Appier in Kansas City is a testament to the quiet, analytical brilliance that often goes unrecognized in real-time. While he never commanded the national spotlight with 20-win seasons or a shelf full of Cy Young trophies, "Ape" was a statistical marvel who spent the 1990s dismantling American League lineups with a deceptive, high-intensity delivery. He served as a solitary lighthouse for a franchise navigating a difficult transitional era, proving that an elite arm could maintain world-class efficiency even without the support of a powerhouse roster.

Appier’s tenure in the Heartland was defined by a surgical, high-frequency dominance that modern analytics has only recently begun to fully appreciate. His best year by far was 1993, a season where he led the American League with a 2.56 ERA and paced all pitchers in bWAR. Despite finishing third in the Cy Young voting, he was the primary engine of the league's pitching ranks, leading the circuit in FIP and Win Probability Added. He was a model of specialized control, utilizing a signature "funky" motion to disrupt hitters' timing and providing the steady-state reliability of 238 innings for a team that desperately needed an anchor.

Appier showed year-over-year consistency, finishing in the top 10 in pitcher bWAR on 7 occasions as a Royal. He possessed a specialized durability that allowed him to navigate the high-leverage demands of the AL Central, ranking in the top five for ERA four times and in the top ten for WHIP six times. He proved that a player could become a franchise pillar by mastering the technical nuances of run prevention, eventually amassing 1,458 strikeouts in a Kansas City uniform, a total that currently ranks second in the club’s long history.

His primary chapter in Kansas City closed in 1999 when he was traded to Oakland, though he would eventually return for a second stint to bookend his career. He departed as one of the most statistically significant players to ever wear the blue and white, a man who arrived as a first-round pick and left as a permanent part of the franchise's foundation.

With Kansas City, Appier compiled 115 wins and 1,458 strikeouts and was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame in 2011.