Sad news: Royals announce the departure of six players….

It was, by all accounts, a magical season in Kansas City. From 56 wins in 2023 to 86 and the postseason in ‘24. Bringing playoff baseball back to Kauffman Stadium for the first time since ‘15. The marvelous season of shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and an incredible pitching turnaround fueled by one of the best rotations in baseball.

All of that doesn’t mean there can’t be disappointment for how it ended.

The Royals’ season closed Thursday when they lost, 3-1, in Game 4 of the American League Division Series to the Yankees at Kauffman Stadium. A series of tight games and close calls ended with the Royals losing the final two games, both at home.

As the Royals filed out of the dugout into their home clubhouse, one stayed, hanging over the railing and watching the Yankees celebrate a trip to the ALCS.

Bobby Witt Jr. was the last Royal to go inside.

“It just kind of feels like you let a lot of people down,” Witt said postgame, still in his jersey. “Something that will light a torch in you. Now, for Kansas City Royals baseball, this is what we want. This is what we’re going to do every year.

“It’s not how we’re going to get [to the postseason]. It’s how far we’re going to go.”

Certainly, the expectations have been raised after the Royals’ 2024 run. From the start of Spring Training, the goal inside the clubhouse was getting to October baseball, despite all the projections that had the Royals as a sub-.500 team at the time.

In the end, they won 86 games for a 30-win turnaround and became the third team in Major League history to make the postseason following a 100-loss season. And then the Royals swept the Orioles in the AL Wild Card Series before facing the Yankees in the ALDS.

“We knew we were going to be able to surprise some people,” Michael Massey said. “At the end of the day, we proved to ourselves more than anything that we’re capable of being a really good team. I think it creates a different buzz around the clubhouse.”

And as Witt repeated Thursday, “motivation” for the future. For all they showed this season, the Royals will have things to fix for 2025. The offense disappeared the final month of the regular season and for most of the postseason.