FanGraphs’ projection for the Royals isn’t too rosy either

While the Royals don’t start playing games for another couple of days (the Cactus League opener is Saturday), it seems the prognosticators see little hope this season.

FanGraphs’ forecast for the Royals is a third-place finish in the American League Central with a 75-87 record. According to this projection, the Royals would finish one game ahead of the Twins in the division.

A year ago, FanGraphs predicted the Royals would finish with 77 wins, and they exceeded that slightly, finishing with an 81-81 record.

Here is how some other predictions for the Royals for the 2017 season:

Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter sees the Royals finishing with a 77-85 record. That would be good for third place. “The Royals are on the downswing and potentially set to blow things up at the trade deadline,” Reuter writes.

You may recall that earlier this month Baseball Prospectus forecast a 71-win season for the Royals, which would be a last-place finish in the Central. The gaming site Bovada recently put the Royals’ odds of winning the World Series at 33-1.

The one positive note comes from USA Today, which predicts the Royals will finish with an 83-79 record.