KC Royals: Five Reasons To Be Thankful
Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore waves to fans -Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
2) Dayton Moore
One of the people Royals fans should be most thankful for this holiday season is none other than general manager Dayton Moore. Moore made all of this possible. He put together a team that had the drive and the will to win. He put together a team that did not quit.
In 2010, Moore traded Zack Greinke to Milwaukee. While Greinke was the one who wanted to be traded, Moore was able to get Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar from the Brewers, and these two guys have since been dubbed as the American League Championship MVPs (Cain in 2014, Escobar in 2015).
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In 2012, Moore traded Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi, and a few other guys to Tampa Bay for James Shields and Wade Davis. At the time, this was looked at as the “James Shields trade” and people were sad once Myers had the season he had in 2013.
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Instead, Shields’ pitching and leadership abilities helped get the Royals all the way to the World Series in 2014. Wade Davis went on to have a terrific role in the bullpen as the setup man for Greg Holland, and posted a 1.00 ERA in 2014 and a 0.94 ERA in 2015.
Lastly, Moore was responsible for acquiring Johnny Cueto, Ben Zobrist, and Jonny Gomes during the 2015 season. While the other two trades listed above have worked out, this one was one that people were skeptical of.
Cueto had his moments, but when it came down to it, he pitched the way fans expected him to and that got the Royals their first World Series championship in 30 years. Zobrist also contributed greatly, and let’s not forgot Gomes with that “Not on our team… We beat him!” speech he had at the rally.
The point being that Dayton Moore has done a solid job getting this team to the promise land. He doesn’t overspend and knows what he’s doing when it comes to trading away and trading for players and prospects.
Fans should absolutely be thankful for Dayton Moore because without him, we’d still be World Series-less.
Next: Last, but not least