Kansas City Royals Rearranging the Deck Chairs?
The Kansas City Royals ownership announced this week that GM Allard Baird had been replaced with Dayton Moore, a former assistant GM with the Atlanta Braves. It’s not entirely a surprise, as Royals owner David Glass, disgusted with his team’s performance, had recently indicated that he would soon be making “significant changes”. We can only assume that bringing in a new GM was just the first of those changes, as it certainly won’t be a cure all on its own. In fact, one has to wonder if it will be any kind of improvement at all.
Not to take anything away from Mr. Moore, who, at 39, brings both youth and years of training under the guidance of Atlanta’s renowned GM John Schuerholz to a desperately struggling Kansas City franchise. Given the Braves track record under Schuerholz there is every reason to believe that his protégé will be able to revitalize the Royals roster. Having learned from the master, Moore certainly knows what makes for a successful franchise. The problem isn’t in Moore’s ability but rather in the franchise itself.
Having grown up in the 70’s and 80’s, I was among the many baseball fans who grew up loving George Brett. Brett came to symbolize the Royals franchise and I remember those teams as being proud, talented and even a bit cocky. The task set before Dayton Moore is returning the Royals to their former luster, and it will be no small feat. First off, the Royals face the specter of revenue sharing, or the lack thereof. In a baseball reality where the NY Yankees sport a budget several times larger than their nearest competitor and more than twice the size of the Royals operating budget, merely keeping your head above water becomes nothing short of a Herculean feat.
Aside from the lack of parity, there is the lack of veteran leadership to contend with. With the departure of Carlos Beltran two years ago, the Royals were left with a total lack of star power, a deficiency they have yet to address. When the most recognizable names on your roster are Sanders, Grudzielanek and Mientkiewicz, with all due respect, you know you’re in trouble. Not that those players have been shirking their duties, all have put up decent numbers thus far but decent numbers from second tier veterans is not what drives a competitive team. Moore will have to find that most elusive of prey, a big name willing to take a big risk by signing with a seriously revamping team.
Of course, Moore could always decide to take the route that helped make the Braves so successful and build from within. However, the Royals farm isn’t exactly offering a bushel of riches at this point either. There may be some talent out there, but it is down the road a bit at best. In fact, the first serious step the new GM might want to take is aggressively addressing the up coming draft in order to help build up that farm system. The key, as for any team interested in becoming competitive, is to think pitching, pitching and more pitching. The Royals may well be able to reap a rich harvest, but not without putting in a lot of hard work first.
As for David Glass, his next move may well be to fire manager Buddy Bell. Bell is a nice enough guy, but his track record leaves a lot to be desired. He seems to have a penchant for choosing teams which are going nowhere fast, and he hasn’t had much luck in helping them turn around. If the Royals are to make any progress, some new leadership in the manager’s office may well be as important as new leadership on the field.
The goal of all this reconstruction is to bring fans back to the ballpark, and with this initial announcement, the Royals may have just given their beleaguered fan base some light at the end of the tunnel. It remains to be seen whether the Royals will be able to avert disaster or whether they’ve just given themselves and their fans a new view of the iceberg ahead. Let’s hope, for their sake, that this is one ship which can find a way to right itself.
