For years, Dayton Moore made important baseball decisions for the Kansas City Royals.
They weren’t competitive for the most part during his tenure, except for three years: 2013, 2014, and 2015.
The last two delivered World Series appearances, and 2015 produced the last title in franchise history.
The Moore tenure, therefore, can be qualified as a success.
The organization decided to move on from him, though, after a series of disappointing seasons since 2016.
Now, a new era is starting in Kansas City.
“Sources indicate that Sherman is ‘extremely involved’ in who JJ is hiring, from a Tampa guy as manager to a Cleveland guy (where Sherman was part owner) as pitching coach. No judgment here, just observing,” Royals insider Jeffrey Flanagan tweeted.
Sources indicate that Sherman is “extremely involved” in who JJ is hiring, from a Tampa guy as manager to a Cleveland guy (where Sherman was part owner) as pitching coach. No judgment here, just observing. https://t.co/a9syAAmZHj
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) December 1, 2022
Sherman is John Sherman, the Royals’ owner, and “JJ” is JJ Picollo, their general manager after Moore’s departure.
Keeping Up With Modern Times
It appears the franchise wants to keep up with modern trends in the game and it shows in their hiring choices in the last few weeks.
Quatraro has worked with the Tampa Bay Rays organization for a long time and is now getting his first chance to manage at the MLB level.
He is bringing a lot of experience working in an analytics-oriented team, perhaps the one with the most marked inclination for sabermetrics and numbers in baseball.
Sweeney has worked with the Cleveland Guardians since 2017 and was their bullpen coach since 2019.
He has been working in the development of Guardians’ incredibly talented pitching staff for years, and is now getting a chance to show the world he can be an effective pitching coach.
The Royals are hoping to catch up with the rest of the league, and watching them compete may be a matter of time.
