Heard a stat yesterday that teams with our record at this point haven't made the playoffs in over a decade.
So what. There is one more slot than there used to be.
I would also say that a majority of teams in this position end up as sellers by the deadline. With the extra spot and DM and Yost wanting to keep their jobs (they're only human) the Royals probably won't be selling. I think the average record for the teams you mentioned was something like 8-games under .500, which points to them selling and giving up.
I'm a fan. I'm not capable of wanting things on purely logical reasoning. I would be perfectly happy to make a move for a 2B upgrade, ride it out with Santana, offer 3 years/$45 mill in the offseason and rely on Duffy or another acquisition to pan out next season. Prob going to have to give up a decent reliever+ to get a 2B upgrade,

.
So basically I'm looking at:
This year: keep Santana, lose Hoch(or some other BP guy) and a prospect or two, pick up a 2B upgrade
Next year: Lose Santana, get draft pick, Duffy back into rotation, keep 2B upgrade, and hopefully get a decent acquisition for the rotation.
If you can keep Santana at a reasonable price then that is just a wet dream.