The Kansas City Royals are finally good after many years of being bad.
Same with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
How'd they do it?
Spoiler Alert: With a few exceptions, they built their teams in the 2004-2009 drafts.
And they are finally good ... now. In 2013.
And there are lots of win totals that start with "6" or "7" in between (and a few that start with "5" -- ugh).
| Royals | Pirates | |
| 2004 | 58-104 | 72-89 |
| 2005 | 56-106 | 67-95 |
| 2006 | 62-100 | 67-95 |
| 2007 | 69-93 | 68-94 |
| 2008 | 75-87 | 67-95 |
| 2009 | 65-97 | 62-99 |
| 2010 | 67-95 | 57-105 |
| 2011 | 71-91 | 72-90 |
| 2012 | 72-90 | 79-83 |
Let's start with KC, and look at their top 10 offensive players by wOBA (since we wouldn't want to seem too old school). Minimum 200 PAs. Draft picks identified by round, and then overall (so "1-3" means 1st round, 3rd overall pick).
| Player | wOBA | How acquired | |
| 1 | Eric Hosmer | .352 | 2008 draft 1-3 |
| 2 | Billy Butler | .350 | 2004 draft 1-14 |
| 3 | Alex Gordon | .331 | 2005 draft 1-2 |
| 4 | Salvador Perez | .324 | IFA 2006 |
| 5 | Jarrod Dyson | .313 | 2006 draft 50-1475 |
| 6 | David Lough | .309 | 2007 draft 11-336 |
| 7 | Lorenzo Cain | .299 | via Zach Grienke (2002 1-6) |
| 8 | Mike Moustakas | .283 | 2007 draft 1-2 |
| 9 | Chris Getz | .255 | roundabout via Carlos Beltran (1995 2-49) |
| 10 | Alcides Escobar | .246 | via Zach Grienke (2002 1-6) |
And now their top 10 pitchers by xFIP (ditto). Minimum 40 IP, but with a bonus pick. Starters indicated in bold.
| Pitcher | xFIP | How acquired | |
| 1 | Greg Holland | 1.51 | 2007 draft 10-306 |
| 2 | Kelvin Herrera | 2.85 | IFA 2006 |
| 3 | Luke Hochevar | 3.22 | 2006 draft 1-1 |
| 4 | Ervin Santana | 3.65 | Angels salary dump |
| 5 | James Shields | 3.83 |
via Wil Myers (2009 3-97) & Mike Montgomery (2008 1-36) |
| 6 | Aaron Crow | 4.12 | 2009 draft 1-12 |
| 7 | Wade Davis | 4.17 |
via Wil Myers (2009 3-97) & Mike Montgomery (2008 1-36) |
| 8 | Tim Collins | 4.38 | via minor trade |
| 9 | Jeremy Guthrie | 4.59 | via minor trade, re-signed (2 yr/$20M) |
| 10 | Luis Mendoza | 4.79 | via minor trade |
| Bonus | Danny Duffy | 4.61 | 2007 draft 3-96 |
Now let's move on to Pittsburgh ...
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