KC Royals: Five Worst Managers In Team History

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Manager Trey Hillman #22 of the Kansas City Royals (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Worst Royals Manager – Trey Hillman

Trey Hillman didn’t have the worst winning percentage, a 100-loss season, or finish in last place while manager of the KC Royals. He came to Kansas City after taking the Nippon Ham Fighters to the Japan Series two seasons in a row, winning the title in 2006.

So, why do I think he is the worst manager in Kansas City Royals history?

I can sum it up in two words: Gil Meche

In 2007, general manager Dayton Moore signed free-agent starter Meche to what still is the biggest contract in franchise history: 5-years for $55 million.

The move was a gambit to accelerate the KC Royals return to respectability by landing a top of the rotation pitcher. The problem was, the then 28-year-old Gil Meche had yet to pitch to that standard in his career.

Moore got blasted by numerous pundits for giving Meche a desperate over-pay. At the time, Meche had flashed good stuff, but had compiled a mediocre career ERA of 4.65 in six seasons for Seattle. Meche’s career ERA+ was 96, which suggested he was a slightly below league average starter.

But, damned if Dayton Moore wasn’t right.

Meche came to Kansas City in 2007 and made the All-Star team. He threw a career-high 216.0 innings for a 3.67 ERA, good for an ERA+ of 125 (25% better than league average). In short, he was the Royals clear ace.

Meche followed up that season with a 14-11, 3.99 ERA campaign in 2008 after Trey Hillman took over as the new manager. While not as good as 2007, Meche showed his improvement was no fluke. He threw 210.1 innings, took the ball for 34 starts, and notched a solid ERA+ of 109.

In short, he looked destined to be a solid no. 2 man behind staff ace-in-waiting Zack Greinke.

Then came 2009.

That year, Dayton Moore thought he might steal the A.L. Central title after the team finished with a surprising 75 wins in 2008. He signed RF Jose Guillen as a right-handed power bat, traded with the Marlins for 1B Mike Jacobs, who had hit 32 home runs in the National League. And, Moore topped off the winter by signing CF Coco Crisp and setup man Juan Cruz.

That series of moves appeared to address most of the club’s holes and the team jumped out to a 17-7 start that put them in 1st place at the end of April.

Zack Greinke bolted out of the gate on a mission, winning his first five starts and so thoroughly dominating teams that he landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Gil Meche also started the season well, complementing the otherworldly Greinke with a solid 3.77 ERA in five April starts. On June 16, Meche threw what turned out to be the only complete game shutout of his career by shooing Hillman back to the dugout before he finished off the Diamondbacks. Meche’s ERA stood at 3.11 after that 5-0 victory, but he threw 132 pitches.

He never was the same after that game.

Meche complained of a “dead arm” after two terrible starts that ballooned his ERA to 4.27, but Hillman then allowed Meche to throw 121 pitches and 114 pitches in consecutive starts.

Meche landed on the disabled list by August, and finished the season with a disappointing 5.09 ERA in 129 innings.

If that wasn’t enough, Hillman let Meche throw 128 pitches early in 2010 when he had an unsightly 9.89 ERA.

Needless to say, Meche never recovered.

To summarize, not only was Hillman dumb enough to demolish his 2nd best pitcher with his most expensive contract in 2009, he repeated the same mistake one year later. Three days after that debacle, Dayton Moore came to his senses and fired Hillman.

Trey Hillman is the worst manager in Royals history because his samurai baseball damaged the talent that the front office gave him.

Hillman’s sins, however, extend well beyond destroying Gil Meche. He ran CF Coco Crisp into the ground by playing him for weeks while he struggled with an apparent injury in 2009. He allowed closer Joakim Soria to pitch despite a “twinge” in his elbow (Soria later tore his Ulnar Collateral ligament for the 2nd time in 2011), and SS Mike Aviles to play for a month with an injured forearm.

While the team’s medical staff certainly bears much of the responsibility, Hillman was making the decisions in the dugout.

Aside from running many players into the ground, he also failed to identify his talent. Hillman never figured out that Luke Hochevar was a dominant reliever, rather than a starter. He couldn’t help Alex Gordon unlock what we now know was All-Star talent, and watched one of the franchise’s prized prospects come within an eyelash of washing out of baseball.

Trey Hillman couldn’t prevent Zack Greinke from becoming so despondent, that he demanded a trade to get out of Kansas City after the 2010 season. That the trade became a springboard to 2014’s pennant-winning season had nothing to do with Hillman. We shouldn’t give him a pass because Dayton Moore turned lemons into lemonade.

In short, Trey Hillman is the worst manager in Royals history because his samurai-style baseball damaged the talent that he was supposed to nuture.

I just wrote a freaking book about Hillman’s sins, and still haven’t gotten to his bush league showboating in his first spring training as KC Royals manager in 2008.

Blogger Rany Jazayerli had this to say about the incident:

"The signature moment of the spring for Hillman came when, immediately after Ryan Shealy ended a game with a walk-off homer, he called the entire team onto the field and lectured them about running the bases for ten minutes. It had the potential to be a divisive moment for the team, having their manager lecture them like little leaguers in front of a large crowd immediately after they had won a game."

Trey Hillman went 152-207 for a .423 winning percentage in his two-plus years as KC Royals manager.

He finished 4th in 2008 and ’09, and the team finished in last place in 2010 after Hillman got fired in early May for a 12-23 start.

Perhaps the KC Royals weren’t ready to win while Trey Hillman was their manager. What makes him the worst skipper in Royals history is that Hillman would have ruined any chance they had to win as long as he sat in the dugout.

Next: Top Second Basemen In Royals History

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