Many have criticized the Royals for trading prospects to the Rays for a package that included James Shields, but internally the improvement has been vast.

"We lost some prospects," Alex Gordon said. "But it seemed like we had been building prospects forever. You can't make everyone happy, but I can tell you, in this clubhouse it made us happy."

Kansas City has had just two winning seasons in 27 years, but they are talking about contending now.

"I want to win championships," closer Greg Holland said. "Win a World Series. I'm sure a lot of people want to just see us get to the playoffs. Sure, that would be a big step, but we want to win a World Series.

"I think it's silly to say we just want to be competitive. You get paid to win. We 'competed' last year. Being competitive is not the mindset. It's about winning."