Jack's Smack: I'm all in with Dayton Moore, but cheap ownership makes for a short window for success

There's great anticipation as the Royals prepare to open training camp in Surprise, Arizona.

The locker room is already filling up.

The position players aren't scheduled to report for another nine days.

The Royals want you to know how young they are.

They have only several players over 30 on their roster.

What they don't like to promote is the size of their payroll.

It was the smallest in Major League Baseball last year.

That happens when you have a roster full of young players 25 and under.

Look, I couldn't be more excited about this upcoming season.

I'm all in with Dayton Moore. Well, almost all in.

I’m warning you though. Better enjoy it now, because we've got about a five-year window before most of the players become very good and that’s when they become very expensive and that’s when Dayton Moore has no more control.

The system makes players eligible to shop their talents to the highest bidder.

You know what that means when you have a cheap-skate owner.

Eric Hosmer has no chance of being around here six years from now.

Look, three teams in the Central Division already have payrolls of over $100 million.

Moore told me the Royals will never, ever reach a hundred million.

If you can't compete in your own division, how can you expect to win?

The Royals were at $36 million last year, and are projected to be at $55 million this year.

Moore says the Royals could probably max out, somewhere down the road at $85 million.

But even for that to happen, they would need to draw 2.5 million fans a year.

Guess what? The Royals have never drawn 2.5 million in a season, not even in the glory years.

They haven't drawn 2 million in over 20 years.

I know this. We do love our baseball around here and somehow, someway, we can only hope, someone comes forward and buys the Royals from David Glass in the next five years.

It’s of paramount importance if the Royals are to have a fighting chance of becoming a winning organization.

Cold hard facts: 27 years since the last playoff appearance and one winning season in the last 17 years.

We deserve much better.

That’s Jack’s Smack.