The results of this season, win-wise, are clearly not acceptable to me or to Royals fans. But instead of the optimistic enthusiasm offered by my good friend George Steinbrenner in his recent statement, I am releasing this statement to ask Royals fans for their continued alliegance and patience as we push forward through this arduous rebuilding period.

Because of the string of losing seasons suffered by Kansas City in recent years, the Royals organization has benefitted from Major League Baseball’s revenue sharing program. Thanks to Commissioner Bud Selig’s commitment to leaving no team behind, the Royals, and other teams in similar standing, receive financial help from those teams that are better equipped to compete in today’s baseball marketplace. In 2006, Kansas City received $32 million, money that was spent on (among other things) increasing the team’s payroll to a competitive level, making improvements to an already world-class minor league farm system, and providing those working behind the scenes with the best in modern amenities, such as Windows 2000 computers with 64 MB of RAM and access to the Super Information Highway.

The signing of superstars like pitcher Gil Meche and second basemen Mark Grudzielanek, and the emergence of would-be stars like Alex Gordon and Tony F. Pena, are just the beginning of what I hope to be prosperous times in Kansas City. With hard work, dilligence, and a modicum of luck, the proposed sales tax increase will make a good-as-new Kauffman Stadium a reality. The revenues garnered by these improvements, combined with revenue sharing monies, will help make the Kansas City Royals as profitable a franchise as my former company, Wal-Mart. That’s what I want, and I hope you do, too.

David Glass bought the Kansas City Royals in 2000 for $96 million. According to Forbes‘ annual ranking of MLB team valuations, the team is now worth $282 million.