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

By Johnathan Houser

Kansas City Royals owner David Glass, right, visits with general manager Dayton Moore and team president Dan Glass during batting practice before action against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, June 13, 2012, at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/MCT via Getty Images)
Kansas City Royals owner David Glass, right, visits with general manager Dayton Moore and team president Dan Glass during batting practice before action against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, June 13, 2012, at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/MCT via Getty Images) /
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Manager Ned Yost #3 of the Kansas City Royals, left, reacts as Kansas City Royals owner David D. Glass holds the Commissioner’s Trophy (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Manager Ned Yost #3 of the Kansas City Royals, left, reacts as Kansas City Royals owner David D. Glass holds the Commissioner’s Trophy (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

At the time, the KC Royals were in no way ready for college aged players.

Instead Moore aimed for top level high school players that he could build around. Those names included Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer.

They also invested money into the international scene, which netted them Salvador Perez. This was also paired with two of the best trades in Royals’ history (Zack Greinke for Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi). Along with the Wil Myers for James Shields and Wade Davis (Rays) trade.

While painfully slow, the result of investing resources in building the organization and the farm and then reinvesting any profits back into the team resulted in the two World Series appearances and a World Series championship.

Glass and Moore tried to keep that team together and have follow-up trips to the playoffs, but those trades and offseason expenditures did not translate to success. Instead, Glass and Moore started in 2017 rebuilding the farm by drafting young high school players like MJ Melendez and Nick Pratto.

They then went after college pitchers in 2018. They have signed number five overall Erick Pena this year to couple with arguably the best high school player in this year’s draft Bobby Witt Jr.

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