The Kansas City Royals fired longtime front office executive Dayton Moore on Wednesday, ending a tenure that began with turning the team from 100-game losers to World Series champions only to see the organization slip again.
Royals owner John Sherman, who purchased the team before the 2020 season, said change was necessary after the Royals regressed this season.
“I think the bottom line here is it’s time for change, and Dayton actually agrees with that,” Sherman said hours before the Royals played the Twins at Kauffman Stadium. “This has been a very difficult decision.”
The Royals hired Moore in 2006 to revive the franchise, and he did just that, though it took time. Moore largely followed the blueprint of the Atlanta Braves, where he served as assistant general manager, in rebuilding the Royals farm system and making huge gains in signing Latin American players.
In 2011, Salvador Perez, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas all made their MLB debuts, and in 2013 the Royals posted their first winning record in 10 years. The Royals continued their charge to the top of the American League, winning the AL pennant in 2014 and 2015 and the World Series in 2015.
No small-market team except the Royals has won the World Series since the strike in 1994.
“Dayton resurrected this franchise,” Sherman said. “It was not in a good spot. He rebuilt the farm system, player development, rebuilt the international business and rebuilt the team in a way that culminated in back-to-back American League pennants and a World Series Championship in 2015. And so today I want to make sure that as we make this change, my feeling is gratitude for Dayton Moore and all that he’s done in this organization.”
Following the departures of Hosmer and Moustakas, Moore was tasked with rebuilding the franchise again but this time, time ran out. The Royals lost 100 games in 2018 and 2019 and finished 74-88 last season.
In the offseason, Sherman changed the structure of the front office and Moore was elevated to president of baseball operations and J.J. Picollo was named general manager. The move yielded little results as the club entered Wednesday’s game 30 games below .500.
“In baseball, when you don’t win enough games change sometimes is required,” Moore said. “It’s a part of it, and we know that, and we accept that.”
Picollo will stay on as general manager and assume Moore’s baseball operations duties.
