​On June 27, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery (12) slides into third base against Kansas City Royals third baseman Nick Loftin (12) during the ninth inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images. Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a cross-MLB fan survey. Throughout the year, we poll the most engaged Royals fans and fans nationwide. Sign up to receive the weekly emailed surveys. Earlier this week, we asked who most deserves the blame for the Royals becoming the AL’s worst team by the halfway mark. The results are intriguing. The plurality blames roster construction, though it’s one of the smallest pluralities I’ve seen at 37%. Poor management earned 27%, poor coaching 23%, and the players 13%. It’s not surprising that management is high, but even when separating coaching from managing, many still hold the coaching and other on-field issues as greater problems than lineup decisions or bullpen usage. It was close, but many still pin some responsibility on Matt Quatraro. I’ve argued before, and I’ll say again: you can’t fault a manager for bad bullpen decisions when there aren’t good ones to make. Yet lineup issues remain a major frustration. I understand missing projected starters, but Salvador Perez batting fifth or sixth every night despite a .568 OPS is hard to comprehend. I share the majority view that roster construction is the Royals’ biggest downfall in 2026, but I suspect that ownership, specifically John Sherman and the ownership group, should shoulder more of the blame than GM J.J. Picollo. The Royals made only two major-league free-agent signings before the season, adding Lane Thomas and Starling Marte, and also made trades for Nick Mears, Isaac Collins, and Matt Strahm. Obviously, the trades haven’t paid off as hoped. It’s worth noting that Collins has posted an OBP above .330 in every month this year; if the 2025 Royals had had an outfielder performing at that level last season, they might have reached the postseason. Free-agent signings have been decent given their cost, totaling about $6 million, with Thomas currently slumping while starting nearly every day since Kyle Isbel’s injury, yet contributing roughly half a WAR, and Marte providing comparable value at a fifth of the cost. The challenge remains that the Royals had only $7 to work with.