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Today's Royals look like what Phillies can be in a few years

Last year's AL champs took years to get that way, and Phillies will likely have to take the same course.

NEW YORK - A writer from Philadelphia was skulking around the visitors' clubhouse at Yankee tadium Tuesday afternoon as the Royals prepared for that night's game.

"Madson and Blanton?" a member of the Kansas City media said to the unfamiliar face.

It was a good guess, and it would have been accurate if Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. hadn't shown up in a neighboring borough and dealt a crushing blow to the relevance of such a story. As it was, Tuesday was all about the word "process," kind of like the Sixers' Process, except with a lowercase "p," and less math.

Serendipitously, the Royals clubhouse was a good place to stand and think about such things, as guys such as Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas milled around the room. With a 28-17 record in its follow-up to last season's American League title run, Kansas City looks a lot like the team the Phillies have in mind when they tell you everything they are doing is for your eventual benefit. Gordon, Hosmer and Moustakas - the top three hitters on a team that entered yesterday averaging the second-most runs in the majors - were all drafted by the Royals in a 4-year span. They are supplemented by a pair of players acquired in the kind of back-to-the-future trade the Phillies hope to orchestrate for Cole Hamels (centerfielder Lorenzo Cain and shortstop Alcides Escobar, acquired from the Brewers in exchange for Zack Greinke).

The rest of the Royals' roster looks a lot like a Pat Gillick special, heavy on low-cost veteran additions (Edinson Volquez, Ryan Madson, Jason Frasor, Kendrys Morales) and a trio of electric late-innings relievers (Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera, Greg Holland). If all that sounds good to you, well, it should. But here's the part the Phillies kinda hope you figure out on your own, so they don't have to say it in explicit terms (although passive-aggressive terms apparently aren't a great strategy, either):

It ain't happening before 2018. Probably not before 2019. And 2020 or beyond isn't out of the question. Building a team the way the Phillies need to build theirs requires either a great deal of luck or a great deal of patience. Which is why there is zero benefit to rushing Aaron Nola to the big leagues this season.

Just look at the Royals' trajectory:

Gordon was drafted in 2005, meaning the first member of the Royals' core was in the organization for 8 years before they had a winning season, and 9 years before they made the playoffs. Moustakas was drafted in 2007. Hosmer, 2008. All three of those players were selected with the Nos. 2 or 3 overall pick in the draft. Yet they spent years in the organization's minor leagues before their collective presence translated into a winning season.

This isn't the NBA, where a team can reinvent itself in two offseasons. The Astros are finally competitive, but only after nine straight seasons out of the playoffs. Their top three hitters joined the professional ranks in 2007 (Jose Altuve), 2009 (Jake Marisnick) and 2011 (George Springer). Their top two pitchers arrived in 2008 (Collin McHugh) and 2009 (Dallas Keuchel).

The Mets are riding a streak of six straight seasons of fewer than 80 wins. The Pirates took a similar length of time before they were competitive.

Even if Maikel Franco and J.P. Crawford turn out to be stars, count the positions where the Phillies need to find a player who projects to be a first-division regular 3 years from now: leftfield, centerfield, rightfield, second base, first base, catcher. That would be all of them, besides third base and shortstop.

Tuesday, Madson stood in a corner of the clubhouse and talked about his new team in terms that might make you nostalgic.

"The first couple of weeks I was here, when I walked into the clubhouse, I thought, 'This is like the '07 Phillies,' " Madson said. "The atmosphere, the energy, the players - they all played together in the minor leagues, and now they are experiencing this together."

But think about how long those players were together before they experienced that success. Think about the number of years between the date they were drafted and the date they made the playoffs.

Amaro would be wise to choose his words more carefully, which he spent most of Tuesday acknowledging. But judging by the trajectories of other teams that started from the bottom and now are here, the fan base would be wise to recalibrate its timetable.

Blog: ph.ly/HighCheese