Kansas City Royals: Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?

The problem was David Glass did not know how to run a baseball franchise.

He supported the notion of raising the young Royals players they had into young stars and then selling them for players who had recognizable names but either were passed their prime (like Juan Gonzalez and his ugly salary versus production) and negative-fueled attitudes like Jose Guillen.

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Along with poor trades of Carlos Beltran for Mike Wood, Mark Teahan, and John Buck in a three-team trade that never panned out in the Royals’ favor, or the ill-fated Neifi Perez (Colorado) for Jermaine Dye.

These poor trades and results coupled with past-their prime players with big names and adults who acted more closely to children on a playground than adults added to some of the lowest points in Royals’ history.

This evidence points out Glass tried to maximize his dollars by going for old time names at a reduced price (versus paying guys like Dye, Beltran, and Damon) to keep fans interested. This would seem like a Walmart esq move (cheap for cheap).

But then how did Walmart become a household name and employ over two million people worldwide if all they did was operate on the cheap side of things?

Sam Walton built Walmart around ten chief rules that made his company a success. Walton’s rules would be pressed deeply into his top leaders and decision makers. In the eighties, David Glass was Walmart’s CFO (Chief Financial Officer) before being promoted to Walmart’s first Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Glass then took Walmart global by a joint venture with Mexico’s Cifra (see previous link). By Glass continuing innovate, exceeding expectations, controlling expenses, and committing to the business Glass helped turn Walmart into the giant it is.