I don't think that Dayton Moore is a stupid man. I've seen him talk. He speaks English well. And in America, if we orate well, that is more than half the battle.
Look at our lawyers and politicians.
Barack Obama orates well. Few think of him as stupid. At the same time, he gets called 'stupid' everyday by one person or another. When we call Dayton Moore or Barack Obama 'stupid', we are not questioning their IQ, as much as we are putting to question their ability to make decisions.
This is a baseball forum, so I'll leave Obama alone.
Now then, Dayton Moore is stupid.
When the Royals spent some money, Moore went out and signed Gil Meche.
Then Jason Kendall.
Lesson learned. Do not let Dayton Moore spend money.
Without much of a budget, he goes after Yuni Betancourt types.....twice.
Moore has been brilliant at developing minor league talent and heading scouts that sign kids that seem destined to succeed at the major league level.
Unfortunately, Moore is the General Manager of the Kansas City Royals.
Not their minor league coordinator. Or Chief of Scouts.
His job is to bring the best team possible to Kansas City while keeping profits going for an ownership that seems more about profit than player.
It's a tough job.
Moore has occasional hits. He got Alcides Escobar in the trade for Zach Greinke.
He signed Melky Cabrera....but of course, traded him for Jonathon Sanchez.
His misses outweigh his hits like Otis the Town Drunk outweighs Barney Fife.
Now, Moore has traded Wil Myers and others for James Shields and Wade Davis.
And now, I don't call Moore stupid anymore.
Now, I call him stupid....And Selfish.
Moore does not make this deal with Gordon, or Moustakas, or Hosmer, or any other product that has come up through the system.
He does make it with Myers.
Not because of the good for the Royals.
It's because Moore is finally starting to be questioned by his fan base. The fan base of a team, are usually the last to know that a General Manager is not doing a very good job for their team. Until that General Manager does not show results for three or four years (or Six, in Moore's case), the fan base backs him as 'one of theirs'.
Then they turn. Losing does that.
And when they turn, two things happen.
One, ownership takes notice that all is not well in River City.
Two, this in turn makes General Managers desperate for time.
It's Wil Myers. And it's all about timing.
If Myers had come up to the Big Leagues two years ago and it was Hosmer that was in Myers shoes now, it would have been Hosmer traded.
This is a desperation trade.
Moore has done little in the way of having Major League players, especially starters, there to greet his kids that have been called up.
Jeff Francoeur has a wonderful arm in right field, but he is a fourth outfielder who is lucky enough to play with KC, where he is a third outfielder, or even second outfielder.
Second base is wide open.
Lorenzo Cain has all the earmarks of being a perennial hurting kid.
Bruce Chen has been their Ace.
Billy Butler and Alex Gordon are Major League hitters. Not Stars, as Royal fans envisioned, but very good hitters.
Hosmer, Moustakas, and Perez all still have to prove themselves. It is just too early to judge.
And a good baseball man in Ned Yost, is the Manager.
I'm guessing Moore liked Yost as a Manager, to nurture all the kids. At the same time, Yost is missing the ingredient that the Kansas City Kids, and Moore himself is missing.
They've never imparted, or been a part of winning.
The Winning Buck stops at Omaha in the Kansas City organization.
Six years of losing teams by Moore has stepped up the timetable. Dayton Moore is not Billy Beane. Beane can make deals with thoughts of other deals down the road. Beane is King of the ripple effect or chain of events.
Moore makes one move at a time. None connected with another.
Beane would be thinking about what he could get for Shields at the trade deadline in 2014.
Moore is hoping to still have the same job then.
This trade isn't horrible.
It's not Jim Hendry signing Milton Bradley desperate. It's just desperate.
It's a quick fix.
Long term growth and hope have left the building.
Baseball America said that Gordon, Hosmer, Moustakas, Montgomery, Myers, and Starling would all be Stars.
A funny thing happens on the way to the Major Leagues. It gets tougher for most kids.
Moore has not had an instant Star. No Mike Trout's or even a Bryce Harper.
Just kids feeling their way around like a boxer in the first round of a fight.
It took Gordon a couple of years. It may take longer with the others.
Moore doesn't have the time for Myers to blossom.
This trade is a Dayton Moore move with Dayton Moore benefits.
Kansas City may be possibly a couple of games better with Shields and Davis on the bump than they would with Myers in the outfield. Moore is looking/hoping to reach that 81-81 mark. While others were championing Championships by now for the Royals by this time, Moore is looking for a break even mark.
Something to hang his hat on.
The problem is that 81-81 teams are forgotten quickly. But like a well timed year by a player in a contract year, Moore will trumpet that that 81-81 year is only the beginning of things to come.
This trade earlier in his career may have changed things. If the Royals had had a Shields and Davis type two years ago instead of Moustakas, things could be different and the Royals and Moore would not be dealing from desperation.
Now, with nobody in the pipe line for two years, Moore is looking to break even and hand out hope like candy as he has done for the last six years.
For the good of the Kansas City fans, I hope it doesn't work.
Stupid and Selfish should never be rewarded.
