Bob Nightengale

USA TODAY Sports

SURPRISE, Ariz. — The Kansas City Royals receive standing ovations from their adoring fans simply walking off the playing field this spring.

The players still talk in reverence about their World Series parade four months ago, with downtown restaurants actually shutting down that evening because they ran out of food, never anticipating a crowd of 800,000 descending upon the city.

The Royals went 23 years without drawing 2 million fans, but this year, season ticket sales have reached 17,000, their highest total since 1993.

“You see all of this stuff,’’ says Royals All-Star left fielder Alex Gordon told USA TODAY Sports, “and you never want to leave. I know I didn’t. Even when I became a free agent, my whole goal was to come back.

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“I believe in being somewhere where you are comfortable, somewhere where you want to live, and if you’re there already, why change it? I think just about everyone here feels the same.’’

We’ll find out in two years.

That’s when All-Star first baseman Eric Hosmer is eligible for free agency. The same with All-Star third baseman Mike Moustakas. And All-Star center fielder Lorenzo Cain. And All-Star closer Wade Davis. And All-Star shortstop Alcides Escobar.

Considering the Royals are a small-market team that went 29 years between playoff berths before winning back-to-back pennants and the World Series last year, and have never paid a free agent more than $72 million, how can they possibly keep the band together?

“We know who we are,’’ Royals GM Dayton Moore said. “We’re not a big market, but we’re going to think big. We’re not going to put limitations on who we are. We’re not going to make excuses for what we can’t do.

“You can’t be so consumed with what players are going to be here for just this period of time. There’s urgency every day. We’re not going to focus on next year, two years, or three years from now. I can’t predict the future.

“We’re just going to go out there and do the best we can.’’

No one expected the Royals to keep Gordon, either. He was one of the marquee free agents, but when the holidays came and went, and he was still unsigned, the Royals snared their man with a four-year, $72 million deal, expanding their 2016 payroll to a record $141 million.

“It would have felt weird seeing him in a different uniform,’’ Hosmer said. “We knew there would be a lot of money going his way, but in the past Kansas City usually is not the organization to go out and give a lot of money.

“I think it’s a message from the front office and ownership that they want to keep this thing together for as long as we can. But at the same time, we know there’s a business side to this game.’’

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Come 2017, the Royals could have three consecutive World Series titles to their credit, and it’s still going to be impossible to keep all of their potential free agents.

They may be fortunate to retain just one of them.

“Everybody keeps talking about free agency in 2017 and losing these guys,’’ Gordon said. “That’s why I think it’s so important to keep this core group together. Once it starts splitting part, guys might think about going somewhere else.

“I know it’s going to be hard to keep them all, but these guys all came up together, and want to stick together.’’

Most of these Royals were born and raised in the organization. They endured the pain of losing together. And now that they’re finally winning, who in their right mind would want to leave?

“Just to see how life in Kanas City has changed, and to think it’s happened because of a baseball team,’’ Hosmer said, “is pretty crazy. We accomplished a lot, but if we can do this again, we can we can be remembered as one of the better teams who have ever played this game.’’

Certainly, All-Star catcher Salvador Perez didn’t want to go anywhere. The Royals, realizing his original five-year, $7.5 million contract was grossly undervalued, ripped it up and signed him to five-year, $52 million contract extension two weeks ago.

“They make me so happy,’’ Perez said. “I want to be here forever now. I think everyone does, too.’’

Cain would like to stay around, too, signing a two-year, $17.5 million extension in January that takes him to free agency. Reliever Joakim Soria returned home after being away the last four years. Moustakas and Hosmer may have powerful Scott Boras as their agent, but if the Royals want to talk long-term deals, they insist they’ll listen.

“I don’t know when it’s going to happen, or if it’s going to happen,’’ Hosmer said, “but I feel there’s enough time to figure it out. The main thing here is realizing how special of a thing we have going on. We want to keep enjoying each other and every day and make the most of however long we are together.

“What we’ve accomplished, we all kind of realize that if we continue to win and make it back to the postseason, we’re going to leave them no choice but to keep us.’’

The World Series championship certainly played a factor in the Gordon negotiations, knowing that it might have looked a little silly trying to defend the title without their most popular player since Hall of Famer George Brett. And that extra postseason money was partly used to pay for Perez’s extension, which guaranteed him an extra $36 million.

“You think of the Kansas City Royals,’’ Moustakas said, “you think of Alex Gordon. You think of the Royals, you think of Salvy. Now that those two guys are locked up, it definitely make it easier for us to stick around and see what they got.

“A lot of us are free agents in two years, but we don’t want to leave. We want to stay together and do this all over again.’’

Well, at least the next two years, while everyone still is around. The Royals may live in utopia now, but when free agency hits, money has a funny way of distorting reality.

“You definitely want to see this team try to stay together forever,’’ Cain said, “but it’s just not going to happen that way. So you try to keep it together and enjoy one another as long as possible, knowing it just can’t last.’’

Or can it?

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Just ask Royals manager Ned Yost, a member of the Atlanta Braves’ coaching staff during their historical 14-year playoff run.

“People talk the talk,’’ Yost said, “but in Atlanta when we started all of this, it was exactly the same thing. We had a core group of guys that we brought to the big leagues, and then we would insert a piece here, a piece there. So you don’t have a whole core to replace, just one or two guys down the road, and you can continue that success.

“We have a group of guys who really care for each other, love playing with each other, and have experienced the ultimate prize together. So who wants to leave that?’’