A Rule 5 Draft choice from the San Diego Padres, Joakim Soria was brought in and immediately found a spot in the Royals’ bullpen.  Soria saved 17 Games in his rookie year and in the next three seasons he would save 30 or more games while going to two All-Star Games.  In those three years he would post an ERA of 1.84 with a 1.005 WHIP and in 2010 he finished second in Win Probability Added and Saves while also finishing tenth in Cy Young voting.

Eric Hosmer was a highly touted rookie and the former third overall pick would finish third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2011.  Hosmer would show steady numbers and a gradually increased power game, as he would belt 25 Home Runs in his last two years in Kansas City (2016-17).  A member of the 2015 World Series Championship Team, he would be named an All Star in 2016 and in 2017 would earn his lone Silver Slugger as a Royal while putting up a career high .318 Batting Average.

Kevin Seitzer’s best season of his Major League Baseball career was in his rookie season where in 1987 he was the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year and was the co-leader in Hits.  Seitzer put up what would be career highs in Home Runs (15) and bWAR (5.8) while also boasting a .323 Batting Average and a trip to the All Star Game.  Seitzer never duplicated that year, but he still would put up three more 165 Hit seasons and would have a .294 career Batting Average over his six years in Kansas City.

In the mid-1970’s it was expected that Steve Busby would have an incredible career and for a couple of seasons that was certainly the case.  In his rookie year, Busby won 16 Games and was a 22 Game winner in his second season (1974) and would go to his first of two straight All-Star Games.   1975 would see Busby net 18 Wins and at this point, it was believed that Steve Busby was considered one of the top ten Pitchers in the American League.