There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the upcoming Royals season, but most around the game don't expect the team to stay competitive all summer long. Depending on where you look, most projections have them winning between 70-75 games, which would obviously mean another season spent at the bottom of the AL Central. So does that motivate the group? Do they even pay attention to those things? Speaking with 610's Fescoe In The Morning on Wednesday, manager Mike Matheny explained how his team views all the outside noise.
"I really couldn't care less about what anybody projects us to do," he said. "That's the first I've heard of it because I don't go around looking for it. I don't want or need anyone else's approval except the people in this clubhouse first and foremost -- and that we're putting the kind of product out that this organization is proud of, and that keeps putting our fans in the stands and that they keep tuning in. Those are the opinions that we care about. How we go about it is really what our goal is. Is it the right kind of baseball? Are we going about it the right way in how we compete, prepare, and represent this organization? We don't get caught up in those numbers at all, and I keep trying to steer these guys away that, because I just think it's a distraction, and a big part of our job is eliminating distractions. Trying to think about what final numbers are going to be at the end of the season gets us away from what we've got to do today."
You can listen to Matheny's entire interview in the embedded player below:
