By now I’m sure just about every Kansas City Royals fan has heard about Danny Parkins’ interview* with David Glass on the first day of All Star Weekend. Glass, of course, came off as aloof and utterly clueless as he ever has, and earned as much ire for the way he ended the interview as he did for anything he said. He sparked a Twitter debate amongst the fan base over who is more to blame, him or Dayton Moore. You know, exactly the type of thing you want to do as you begin to welcome all of baseball to your city for the first time in nearly 40 years.

* For a transcript of the interview, click here

While it was completely unprofessional for Glass to walk away from the microphone mid-interview, that really isn’t what bugged me about the whole debacle. It was this exchange here:

Parkins: What do you say to fans that wish you spend more on payroll for this team?

Glass: Uhh, Well, in a market this size you can spend a certain amount on payroll. You… You’re never going to be able to spend what the Yankees and the other big market teams can spend but our approach from the very beginning has been that we’re not looking to make money with the franchise we simply want to break even and if we have an if we have an opportunity to win we’ll step up and do whatever it takes to… to help us take that extra step. But for the most part all the money that we can generate we’ll spend on payroll and singing amateur players

We have heard this song and dance from Glass since he bought the team in 2000 and it has been the source of much debate. There are a lot of people that think professional sports owners should expect to operate at a loss, as if owning a professional team is a charity, I am not one of those people. However, I do feel like owners should at least be honest with the fans about their plan, and their motives…a look at the numbers show Glass has been far from honest.

According to Forbes annual MLB valuation, the Royals turned a profit of $10.3 million in 2011, their eighth consecutive season of profits and the eleventh out of twelve since Glass bought the team in 2000. What’s more, the team is now valued at $354 million dollars. While that may be modest in terms of the value of a professional franchise, it is $258 million more than Glass paid originally. Added to the income the Royals generated over the last 13 years, it brings a net gain of $332 million in 12 years on a $96 million investment.

To put that in perspective, if Glass had taken that $96 million back in the year 2000 and invested it, he would have had to earn 13.27% for twelve years in a row to bring in the type of money this club has for him. Does that sound like breaking even to you?

What makes everything so much worse is that Glass has turned this profit while fielding one of the worst teams in the history of baseball. In his 12+ years as owner the Royals are 847-1179 (.418). Before he took over they were 2471-2411 (.506) all-time. That’s the difference between averaging 82 wins a year and 68. But it’s getting better lately right? Um, Forbes projects 2012 as the most profitable year of the Glass era, with the team earning a whopping $28.5 million in income. This for a team that was less than 6 games out of first for a good part of June after three of its best pitchers had Tommy John surgery. How much different would this team look if Glass had signed C.J. Wilson for 5 years and $85 million dollars? He could have done that and still cleared more than $10 million in profit!

The fact is that Mr. Glass has not only tarnished, but nearly destroyed the legacy that Ewing Kauffman left with the Kansas City Royals, profited handsomely from it, and lied through his teeth to his customers as he’s done it. Glass purchased a respected franchise with a World Championship and a history of winning more than losing. He has turned it into a cash cow that doubles as the laughingstock of baseball. What can we do about it? Nothing, as evidenced by this exchange from the aforementioned interview:

Parkins: You would never consider selling the team?

Glass: No.

Parkins: What do you say to fans who would like you to sell the team?

Glass: Uhh, yeah, I’m sorry.

Sorry…I could not have said it better myself. A sorry excuse for an owner…a sorry steward of the Kauffman legacy…but one hell of a businessman.

The Royals have been one of the least successful franchises in baseball over the past two decades. They’ve been so bad that it’s hard to believe the team has only one No. 1 overall draft pick to its name.

Luke Hochevar has been the Kansas City Royals' only No. 1 overall draft pick.

(That would be Luke Hochevar. We’ll talk more about him in a minute…)

Fortunately, the future is looking brighter for the Royals. Strong young players like Mike Moustakas are on the way up. But how much better would the outlook be if the Royals had been just a little bit worse the last few years?

Instead of drafting Eric Hosmer, Aaron Crow and Christian Colon with their three most recent first-round picks, they could have had Tim Beckham, Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper with No. 1 overall selections.

The Major League Baseball Draft, just like drafts in all other sports, is designed to help the weaker teams build from the inside with the best amateur players available.

If the season ended today, the Royals would have the seventh overall pick in the 2011 draft.

That’s right. There are six teams with worse records than the Royals this season. But it would be hard to argue that any team could a No. 1 overall pick more than the Royals.

So what would be wrong with the Royals laying down the rest of the season?

They wouldn’t have to do anything blatant. Just small things – like playing Jose Guillen in right field instead of DH – that would ensure the Royals lose as many games as possible.

So instead of a situation like the 2010 draft, where the Royals had the fourth overall pick in a field with only three great prospects, the team could be sitting pretty at the top of the draft.

Would such a move be unprecedented? Who’s to say? Maybe the Nationals have taken a dive on purpose the last couple years. If they did, it was a brilliant strategic move; it netted them the best pitching prospect (Strasburg) and the best hitting prospect (Harper) of all time.

Why not the Royals?

There are some drawbacks, of course. For one, the Royals might just screw it up and select a dud with a No. 1 overall pick. (See: Luke Hochevar, selected over Tim Lincecum and Evan Longoria).

Also, if the league discovered that the Royals were doing this, there could be a sizable amount of backlash. As well as copycatting. The Orioles, for example, could probably play far worse than the Royals if they tried hard enough.

The most compelling reason, though, is that fans may have trouble living with themselves if they knew their team tanked the season on purpose. The Royals can’t afford to have any more fans lose faith.

To steal from Herm Edwards: You play to win the game.