On Thursday, Major League Baseball announced that its owners have approved the sale of the Kansas City Royals. David Glass, who had owned the club since 2000, will hand over the reins to John Sherman for more than $1 billion, according to previous reports.
Here's part of the league statement:
"I congratulate Mr. [John] Sherman on receiving approval from the Major League Clubs as the new control person of the Royals," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "John's philanthropy has benefited the Kansas City community he has called home for more than 40 years, and he has built strong ties in our game since 2016. We look forward to his leadership of the Royals."
Sherman, 64, had previously been a minority owner of the Cleveland franchise. His share was believed to be about 30 percent, according to Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star. Interestingly, Mellinger reported that Sherman "had a path to become the majority owner" of the Cleveland franchise, but opted instead to purchase the Royals, his hometown team. Cleveland's ownership has since issued a statement on Twitter, congratulating Sherman without denying or commenting on Mellinger's note.
This has been a winter of change for the Royals, who haven't topped the 60-win mark in either of the past two seasons. Manager Ned Yost retired at the conclusion of the regular season, making way for Kansas City to hire Mike Matheny as his successor. General manager Dayton Moore, for his part, is expected to receive a long-term extension to remain in place.
Otherwise, the Royals don't expect to make many splashes this winter to commemorate the dawning of a new era. The Royals are operating with a limited budget that is earmarked for Alex Gordon and perhaps a few pitching additions, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. This past year was the first time since 2014 the Royals started the season with a payroll below $100 million.