Kansas City Royals: Dayton Moore’s 8-year Plan

The list below contains some pretty good baseball players.  Want to hear something really cool?  They could have all been Royals.  The 20 players I list below were all 1st round picks that were drafted after the Royals made their pick.

Evan Longoria
Clayton Kershaw
Tim Lincecum
Max Scherzer
Matt Wieters
Madison Bumgarner
Jason Heyward
Buster Posey
Andrew Cashner
Shelby Miller
Mike Trout
Matt Harvey
Chris Sale
Anthony Rendon
Archie Bradley
Javier Baez
George Springer
Jose Fernandez
Sonny Gray
Michael Wacha

Dayton Moore supposedly took over as the Royals’ GM the day after the 2006 draft.  Whether you believe he had zero, a little or a lot input on the 2006 draft, facts are facts.  Instead of the players listed above, here are the players the Royals selected since Dayton Moore has been trusted with the future of the franchise…

2006 – Luke Hochevar
2007 – Mike Moustakas
2008 – Eric Hosmer
2009 – Aaron Crow
2010 – Christian Colon
2011 – Bubba Starling
2012 – Kyle Zimmer
2013 – Hunter Dozier

I’m not saying that every franchise hits the jackpot every June draft.  And the Royals are not the only team that missed out on drafting these players.  But imagine, if you will, the Royals’ drafts going like this over the past eight drafts…

2006 – Clayton Kershaw instead of Hochevar
2007 –  Jayson Heyward instead of Moustakas
2008 – Buster Posey instead of Hosmer
2009 – Mike Trout instead of Crow
2010 – Matt Harvey instead of Colon
2011 – Sonny Gray instead of Starling
2012 – Michael Wacha instead of Zimmer
2013 – Too early to tell

I have been on the front lines when it comes to criticism of Ned Yost.  I believe that Yost is not the guy you need leading a team into a deep October run.  But when you look at the players that have been selected since 2006, it’s obvious that the Royals have an even larger problem that is above Yost’s pay grade.  In the end, Dayton Moore had the final say in all of these first round draft selections.

There comes a time when it’s obvious something needs to be changed in regards to player evaluation and player development.  This is a systematic failure.

We read (and write) on this site because we all have a shared passion for the Kansas City Royals.  Sometimes we get too close to the day-to-day successes and failures of the team to realize what is keeping this team mired in this 29-year playoff drought.  Things were bad before Moore got here, no doubt.  But one season above .500 in seven years?

That’s not progress. That’s perpetuating the overall failures of the franchise. In this world where coaches are shown the door after two or three seasons, it is truly remarkable that this current regime is still in place.

Fans are losing their patience. But the organization doesn’t seem to be bothered by any of these pesky on-the-field problems. As long as the money keeps flowing into the Glass family’s bank account, everything is hunky dory. And Dayton Moore’s job will be completely safe.

As amazing as this may seem, I honestly don’t think Ned Yost and Dayton Moore are going anywhere anytime soon. As long as the Royals don’t go into a complete tailspin this season, their jobs seem safe. If Ned’s boys can hover around .500 all season, it seems as though the status quo will be good enough yet again.

Moore has a contract through the end of the 2016 season. Yost has a contract through the end of 2015. At this point, I will be stunned if there any major changes between now and then.

Love it or hate it, things look like they won’t be changing anytime soon. So, embrace this version of the Royals, fans.  Because if you’re not used to it by now, you’ll be seeing it for the next season and a half.  Have fun.