Kansas City Royals: Growing Up Before Our Eyes

Kansas City Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar (2) Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

In an era of money-ball, Saber-metrics, and luxury taxes, GM Dayton Moore’s plan to build the organization around the farm system with a focus on pitching, speed, and defense, a tried-and-true formula that the organization foolishly got away from after the departure of former Royals GM John Schuerholz.

Moore’s plan is finally beginning to bear fruit at the Major League level…it took 8 years, and he warned us right up front that it would take time, but here we are.

Moore’s plan is finally beginning to bear fruit at the Major League level…it took 8 years, and he warned us right up front that it would take time

As I sat and watched last Thursday’s  game, a 7-4 Royals victory over the hapless Colorado Rockies, I was struck by how much this team appears to have finally matured and developed an identity. The Rockies are bad…real bad, but they had the Royals on the ropes early on.

As the game unfolded, Royals ace James Shields struggled mightily giving up 2-runs on 9 hits through 7 innings. Things were not going well and I couldn’t help but think about how Royals teams in the past would have imploded. Heck, THIS Royals team would have imploded just a few months ago when faced with this type of adversity.