KC Royals: An outsider’s perspective of Dayton Moore and fan frustration

As someone who does not watch a ton of baseball or follow it as closely as some of the other major sports, I can’t say I’m an expert on the Royals even though I do claim to follow then and will cheer them on.

I’m a football guy. Most of my work is revolved around the Chiefs and Mizzou football. However, I still have a pretty good vibe for where they Royals are at as a team and I will read about the Royals quite often from our other great community writers.

That being said, I view myself as an outsider looking in when it comes to the Royals and being a casual fan. So, I’m going to give a crack at summarizing what exactly we’re seeing with the Royals and why fans are so frustrated.

The KC Royals are a dumpster fire

First of all, the Royals just haven’t been good at all for the last few years despite building up the roster to be competitive. That’s tough to witness as a fan. When you think they’re going to be good, to have them look good for a stretch, then see them completely fall apart all while multiple players take huge steps back such as Jorge Soler and Hunter Dozier who were once seen as potential cornerstones. That’s not appealing to watch.

A lot of the blame seems to be going towards the coaching staff. Specifically Mike Matheny who once seemed to have proved the doubters wrong. Now, things are starting to look eerily similar to his Saint Louis Cardinals exit.

As someone who resides in Saint Louis, I do have a good feel for the Cardinals as an organization as well so I saw how Matheny went out up close. It was always typical reassuring answers from him after every loss. He seemed to struggle when it came to connecting with players and rallying the troops. His methods were frowned upon quite often as well.

I liked the Matheny hire when it first happened. I was glad he was given another opportunity because I like the guy personally. He just doesn’t seem to posses managerial traits, though. I know it’s hard to blame Matheny when the players he’s been dealt all seem to be bad, but also someone has to take the blame for so many players taking a step back.

Then there’s the front office and Dayton Moore. Even though the Royals have been doing bad they have the draft for fans to get excited about. Hopefully they select someone to help lead the franchise in the right direction, right? Wait, who did they select? The 50th best prospect at 7th overall?

I mean, seriously? I get sometimes you have to make an unpopular pick of you think you have something special in a prospect, but selecting a high school pitcher who absolutely no one had going in the first round over Kumar Rocker who many saw as the best pitcher in the draft as he lit up the College World Series is just asinine.

I said it when it happened, but this just screams Royals version of the Breeland Speaks pick for the Chiefs. Just a total overdraft.

Like I said, I’m not a huge baseball guy. I don’t know all the ins and outs, but from what I could gather, the Royals save money by making this bizarre selection. I really hope that’s not the reasoning. If it is, Dayton Moore’s seat has to be really hot.

Given the Chiefs recent success despite being a small market team with a salary cap, the Royals can’t keep feeding the fans the same junk about being strapped for cash anymore. If you want to win, you have to be willing to spend. The Royals front office doesn’t seem to be willing to spend. I’ve had my concerns with Brett Veach as a general manager, but what the Royals have with Dayton Moore makes us all that much more thankful for having Brett Veach. That’s just sad.

Royals fans are tired of mediocrity. They’re tired of making the playoffs once or twice over fifty years. The empty stadium gets embarrassing sitting right next to Arrowhead which packs 70,000 fans on a consistent basis.

I don’t know what has to be done, but there needs to be some kind of change and when someone who isn’t a die-hard fan like me ends up feeling really bad for Royals fans, you know it’s bad.