The Kansas City Royals shocked the baseball world by announcing the firing of president of baseball operations Dayton Moore.
Moore had been the general manager from 2006 to 2021, and was promoted to POBO last September.
Evidently, owner John Sherman wasn’t satisfied with the 59-89 2022 Royals (so far) and decided to make a change.
That change, a major one, had an impact on the franchise and all of baseball.
JJ Picollo was promoted to VP and general manager of baseball operations following the news, and will now be in charge of making important baseball decisions for the future.
The first one could be whether or not Mike Matheny will return in 2023 as the Royals manager.
For now, though, Sherman is prepared for new times in Kansas City.
After playing for .500 in 2016, the Royals have had six straight losing seasons, all resulting in high draft picks.
Sherman doesn’t want that happening again.
“’I’m tired of picking high in the draft.’ – @Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman” the KC Sports Network tweeted on Wednesday afternoon.
“I'm tired of picking high in the draft." – @Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman
pic.twitter.com/IOYMU3fiiu— KC Sports Network (@KCSportsNetwork) September 21, 2022
Sherman Doesn’t Want To Lose Anymore
It’s clear that Sherman got tired of losing, and is ready to hand the franchise’s keys to Picollo, barring a surprising announcement in the short-term.
The Royals have a good foundation in place for the future.
All-Star catcher Salvador Perez is signed for the long-term, they have rookies Bobby Witt Jr. and MJ Melendez already producing, and other young players such as Nick Pratto and Vinnie Pasquantino are accumulating valuable MLB time.
The problem for the Royals is that their pitching foundation is not very good, and player development is still subpar.
These will be areas to improve for Picollo and the new staff.
Brady Singer (3.07 ERA) remains the only pitching cornerstone in the franchise.
NEXT: Royals Manager Mike Matheny Is Now On The Hot Seat