The Royals dropped below .500 after being swept by a Boston team that is six games below .500, and fourth from the bottom in the American League. Dayton Moore still controls the team, and by all accounts, fighting to save his job. His fight may come at the cost of the entire Royals fan base.
Beyond any potential threat that Dayton Moore could destroy any semblance of a minor league system, we should take a look at the system Moore has created, and the products of that system.
Luke Hochevar: I included Hochevar on this list because Moore was involved in the process, but not officially serving as General Manager. As the number one overall pick Hochevar has been a bust of epic proportions. The only shining light performance of his career is one year as a relief pitcher/setup man.
Mike Moustakas: 1620 at bats, 47 home runs with a .235 career average from a number 2 overall pick? Nuff said.
Eric Hosmer: 2075 at bats, 56 home runs, .276 career average who has regressed every year in the power department since coming up to the majors… Sure he has a gold glove and is currently on a 16 game hit streak, but 6 home runs on the year is unacceptable for any first basemen, I don’t care who you are.
Aaron Crow: Another lackluster pitcher who was thought could start, but even most teams didn’t think he could. He has been a solid relief pitcher, but still bad considering he was picked in the top of the first round.
Christian Colon: Number 4 pick who doesn’t seem able to stick with the club, but the Royal’s front office can’t seem to get away from him? Make a mistake, fine, make another mistake by refusing to admit you made a mistake to begin with, also unacceptable. See Moustakas, Hochevar, and Hosmer as exhibit A, B, and C.
Bubba Starling: Number 5 overall… are you impressed? I’m surely not.
Kyle Zimmer: Wasn’t he supposed to be healthy? He isn’t currently; will he ever be the same? Do we even know what we are getting? The track record of pitchers Moore has picked hasn’t been all that good really.
The last two years of prospects are far too young to look at, but we can look at some of Moore’s successes.
Danny Duffy appears to be the pitcher we were told he would be. It almost looked like Duffy was destined to be a Hochevar like mental case. Loads of talent, but lacking the mental makeup to be a starter. Duffy was taken in the third round of the 2007 draft, as of right now I would call him a success.
Greg Holland was drafted in the same draft as Danny Duffy, but in the tenth round. Holland was a stud in high school and at the beginning of his career in college, but an injury forced him under the radar and into the hearts of fans all across Kansas City. That injury, a broken jaw which forced his mouth to be wired shut, and when you’re on a liquid diet you tend to lose weight, and strength. Whomever broke that jaw, thank you.
Salvador Perez was a miracle find in the international market, you know, that thing that seemed like an advantage until the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, and Cardinals discovered it and they sucked that well dry. Perez is a potential hall of famer, he was a Dayton Moore find, but does he offset years of ineptitude?
Yordano Ventura was another international free agent signing by Dayton Moore, and he appears to have that “Ace” stuff you look for in a pitcher. He is still young, but he might be one of the best pitchers to ever put on Royal’s blue, and that is saying something.
Moore did turn Zach Grenkie into Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, and in a way, two years of James Shields. While Cain can’t stay on the field for 120+ games a year, he is a defensive star, and has developed a decent offensive game. Escobar is a future gold glove short stop, and he is second on the team with on base percentage, so I give credit where credit is due.
However, these moves can’t polish the turd of Moustakas, Hosmer, Crow, Colon, or Starling. I’m not even mentioning the three hundred something players Dayton Moore has signed/drafted and have never been heard from again. Not only is it a mistake to continue with Dayton Moore’s “process,” it’s to the point of criminal. The Glass family needs to realize their mistake, even if it’s a few years too late, and remove the man who is desperate enough to make bad decisions into colossally horrid decisions with effects that reach far longer than they should have. Dayton Moore could set a new regime back four or five years, just as Allard Baird did.
