Lack of Royal developed power?

The Kansas City Royals are a team that lacks power to a great extent. The current single season home run record holder at 36 is Steve Balboni. That has stood since the 1985 season. This lack of power tends to put Kauffman Stadium as a pitchers park, but numbers from Baseball-reference indicated that Kauffman is equally fair to both hitters and pitchers. So what is the problem? Well let's break down the single season home run leaders for the Royals.

Single Season Home run Leaders:

1. Steve Balboni - 36,29,28,24
2. Gary Gaetti - 35
3. John Mayberry - 34,26,25,23,22
4. Dean Palmer - 34
5. Danny Tartabull - 34,31,26
6. Jermaine Dye - 33,27,26
7. Bo Jackson - 32,28,25,22 
8. George Brett - 30,25,24,24,23,22,22
9. Chili Davis - 30
10. Carlos Beltran - 29,26,24,22
11. Billy Butler - 29
12. Mike Sweeney - 29,29,24,22,22
13. Jeff King - 28,24
14. Hal McRae - 27
15. Bob Oliver - 27
16. Amos Otis - 26,22
17. Bob Hamelin - 24
18. Raul Ibanez - 24
19. Willie Aikens - 23
20. Al Cowens - 23
21. Alex Gordon - 23
22. Miguel Olivo - 23
23. Craig Paquette - 22
24. Frank White - 22,22

I think the biggest problem is that the Royals can't develop power hitters, and really have never been able to do so. They must rely on trading players away or free agency to obtain these power hitters. That is an indictment of the current regime more than anything. Maybe it is time for the Royals to get a OBP strategy to their offense to win games.

How were those players aquired?

1. Steve Balboni - Trade/Yankees/1983
2. Gary Gaetti - Free Agent/Angels release/1993
3. John Mayberry - Trade/Astros/1971
4. Dean Palmer - Free Agent/1997
5. Danny Tartabull - Trade/Mariners/1986
6. Jermaine Dye - Trade/Braves/1997
7. Bo Jackson - Draft/1986
8. George Brett - Draft/1971
9. Chili Davis - Trade/Angels/1996
10. Carlos Beltran - Draft/1995
11. Billy Butler - Draft/2004
12. Mike Sweeney - Draft/1991
13. Jeff King - Trade/Pirates/1996
14. Hal McRae - Trade/Reds/1972
15. Bob Oliver - Expansion Draft/1968/Twins
16. Amos Otis - Trade/Mets/1969
17. Bob Hamelin - Draft/1988
18. Raul Ibanez - Free Agent/2001
19. Willie Aikens - Trade/Angels/1979
20. Al Cowens - Draft/1969
21. Alex Gordon - Draft/2005
22. Miguel Olivo - Free Agent/2007
23. Craig Paquette - Free Agent/1996
24. Frank White - Undrafted Free Agent/1970

Let's break that down even further. The Royals had to sign free agents or a trade for all the players that have hit 33 home runs or more. That tells me that the Royals aren't great at developing power, or at least early power in the careers of players. Carlos Beltran would be the leader in season home runs if he would have stayed. 16 of the 24 players who are in the top 50 in home runs in a season were acquired from another team via the draft, expansion draft, or through Free Agency (I put Frank White as a developed player because the Royals were the first and only team he played for) and that is exactly 66% of all the Franchise's "elite" home run hitters we not developed by the Royals. That leaves 33% for players were drafted by the Royals and developed by the Royals.

In closing, the Royals have never been a great team at finding talent with power, and may never be a team that can develop one once they do. It is time for the organization to change it's mind set and realize that you may get 10 hits a game, but if you never drive them in you aren't going to win very often. It won't matter how good of a pitching staff you have. It won't matter how great a coach you have, until they find someone who can get over 30 home runs in a season on a constant basis.