Two trips to the World Series, including a championship, finally convinced the doubters that the Kansas City Royals were an elite baseball team.
Now what are we supposed to think?
All those chalk talks from the analytics crowd that used to dismiss the Royals as a statistical aberration have come back to haunt the reigning champions.
Six weeks into the season, Kansas City are just another losing team, wallowing in third place in the American League Central behind the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians.
Seven teams in the AL have better records.
Unlike the last two years, when their hybrid formula for success served them so surprisingly well, the champs just look awkward.
It is still early, so Kansas City have time to regroup. But it already feels like a different sort of season.
“We didn’t really deal with anything like this last year,” first baseman Eric Hosmer told the Associated Press this week. “This will be a good test for us to see what we’re made of.”
What they have been made of for two years is a bit different than other winners. They built their team around defence, contact hitting and an airtight bullpen.
The bullpen is still effective, but the starters have stopped handing them leads. Newly acquired right-hander Ian Kennedy has been reliable with a 3.25 earned run average. The holdovers – especially Yordano Ventura, Chris Young and Kris Medlen – have been terrible.
The starters lead the league in all the wrong things. Young has given up the most home runs and Ventura the most walks. Medlen’s 2.05 walks-and-hits-per-inning is the worst of any pitcher with at least six starts. Young and Medlen went on the disabled list Thursday, not entirely bad news.
The vaunted defence has dropped from third in MLB to 12th in defensive efficiency rating.
And that charming offence that built rallies around singles and clutch hitting? Not so much anymore.
While statisticians insist that getting hits with runners in scoring position is more random occurrence than specific skill, Kansas City supporters always claimed their boys’ nerves were steelier when the game was on the line.
That “skill” has left them. Last year, the Royals batted .281 with runners in scoring position. This year they are at .239.
The stat geeks are not letting up. They point out that the Royals’ negative run differential (-15) is an ominous sign that they are not even as good as their 16-18 record
No doubt, Kansas City deserved their championship and earned baseball’s respect. They are a small market team that drafted wisely, built a team to fit their ballpark and rose to the top of the baseball universe without any major, high-salaried stars.
Not that they do not have All-Stars, technically. Last spring, Kansas City fans proved adept at online voting, massively clicking away to place outfielders Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon, shortstop Alcides Escobar and catcher Salvador Perez in the AL starting line-up.
Whether all four players were truly the best at their positions was highly debatable, but the All-Star Game was just one more thing that went remarkably well for Kansas City in 2015.
If the happy times are going to continue, however, they will have to do it the old-fashioned way – clicking again on the field of play.
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The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Power: 272hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 331Nm from 5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.7L/100km
On sale: now
Price: Dh149,000
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Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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