KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Last week, Royals manager Ned Yost leaned back in his office chair and pondered the question that had just been posed to him: “What is the goal right now?”



He paused his typical quick wit to think, tapping on his chair with his right hand.



“I look at trying to win today and have our players continue to get better,” Yost said. “Keep developing.”



Yost’s response revealed the obvious short-term goal in the most coach-speak manner possible: Have young hitters such as Hunter Dozier, Adalberto Mondesi, Jorge Soler, Nicky Lopez and now Bubba Starling adapt to big-league pitching and preparation. Help young pitchers such as Brad Keller, Jakob Junis and others become more consistent with their command.



That all makes sense. No reporter pushed back after Yost finished speaking. But silence swarmed the room. A few seconds passed. Yost then leaned forward and threw the coach-speak out of the...