Much Moore To Come

By Broadside Sports Editor Brian Chan

Twenty years ago, a 22-year-old George Mason University second baseman was selected All-Met by the Home Plate Club. Today, he has worked his way up to the big leagues, not as a player, but as the general manager of the Kansas City Royals. That individual goes by the name of Dayton Moore.

Moore is entering his third year with the Royals after being hired by the organization on May 30, 2006. The now 42-year old is 144-180 in his two seasons, but the team improved their win total by six games and clawed their way from the cellar of the American League Central division to fourth place last season.

Moore’s starting point was in his hometown in Wichita, Kan. where he grew up rooting for the Royals. Back in the heyday, the Royals were stocked with the young Bret Saberhagen and the mighty George Brett.

“I had family in western Kansas, so I grew up pulling for the Royals. It was the team I was most acquainted with as a young person. George Brett was the player that a lot of young baseball people in my generation that certainly pulled for the Royals. The thing that I most remember about him was his quest to 100,” said Moore.

After playing baseball at Garden City Community College, Moore came over to the East Coast to play baseball for Mason.

“I played in the Clark Griffith League one summer and when I was finishing my junior college playing experience, Billy Brown offered me a scholarship,” said Moore. “I had never been out East before and I was very impressed with Billy Brown and the baseball program at [Mason], so it is a place where I felt was a good place to continue with my playing career and continue with my education.”
In his two seasons with the team, Moore started all 110 games.

“When Dayton came to the program, you knew he was going to be, at that point, a special kid. He really was above his peers in understanding the game and his passion for the game. No one ever played the game harder because he just cared so much about baseball,” said Moore’s former Head Coach Bill Brown, who still coaches Mason baseball.

He helped lead Mason, who went 34-27-1, to a CAA title in 1988 after posting a .254 batting average, .355 on-base percentage, and seven stolen bases. In that season, Moore started all 62 games, which remains as the school’s single-season record for games started. He also holds the single-season record with 187 assists on defense.

“I can remember from a coaching standpoint with him, when we were on the bus [in one particular situation], running up and down the aisle, yelling and hollering with just a ton of energy,” said Brown, recalling his favorite memory of his time with Moore.

Mason was quickly eliminated after qualifying as one of the 48 teams in the NCAA Tournament, losing to the Florida Gators 7-0 and the Stetson Hatters 2-1.
Even though the team suffered a losing season in 1989 with a 23-25 record, Moore raised his batting average to .307, and posted a .378 on-base percentage and .483 slugging percentage. He recorded five home runs and four triples in 176 at-bats. Moore continued with his phenomenal defensive play, committing just four errors for a .981 fielding percentage.

After graduating from Mason with an undergraduate degree in physical education and health, Moore served as the school’s assistant coach under Brown from 1990-1994. Moore was also one of Brown’s pupils as a player.

“He was one year on the road scouting and next thing he is in the front office; he was on the fast track. At some point, you knew he was going to become a general manager. People around him realized that he had the knowledge and passion for the game, which helped him get into scouting. It was a natural progression for him,” said Brown.

Moore also received a master’s degree in athletic administration from Mason in 1992.

From 1994-2006, Moore worked with the Atlanta Braves. Before working in the front office in 1996, Moore joined the organization as a scout. He was promoted to assistant director of scouting in November of 1996 and became the assistant director of player development in 1999. In 2000, Moore was the director of international scouting, which eventually led to his promotion to director of player personnel in 2002. Moore finally landed the position of assistant general manager/baseball operations in August of 2005. Moore was part of an organization that won 11 consecutive division titles, three National League pennants and the one World Series title in 1995 during his time with the Braves.

Moore earned the 2005 Executive of the Year award by the Mid-Atlantic Scouts Association and was also named as one of the Top 10 Up-and-Coming Power Brokers in Major League Baseball by Baseball America in that season.
According to an ESPN report from May 31, 2006, former Braves General Manager John Schuerholz tried to convince Moore to stay with the organization for he may someday find himself in Schuerholz’s shoes. Schuerholz eventually lasted one more year as the general manager before resigning to his successor, Frank Wren.

However, news broke out from Kansas City that the Royals had an open slot for general manager after the team fired Allard Baird. Owner David Glass, who was already taking the heat from the fans, turned to Moore to revamp the once-prominent ballclub.

“Right before that happened, Dayton came by and Dr. [Dave] Wiggins had him come talk to graduates. We were playing against Northeastern, and Dayton was in the dugout for a couple innings and at that time, I thought he was going to become the first GM with the [Washington] Nationals once it changed over and was bought. It ended up with the club not being sold until later on. It was announced that he was going to take the job in Kansas City and that I just kind of found out through the grapevine,” said Brown.

Since his arrival in Kansas City, Moore inherited several former top draft picks. The Royals are equipped with 25-year old’s third baseman Alex Gordon and pitcher Luke Hochevar. Gordon was the second overall pick in the 2005 MLB Amateur Draft and Hochevar was the top pick in 2006.

“Luke is going to begin the season in Triple-A Omaha and we expect him to continue to improve and hopefully be in our rotation at some point in time,” said Moore.

In 2007, Moore selected shortstop Mike Moustakas, who is currently the 11th top prospect according to MLB.com, with the second pick.

“We liked [Matt] Wieters a lot, but his asking price was beyond our budget at the time. Last year, we ended up taking a different strategy, combining our international budgets and knowing that [Eric] Hosmer was going to cost an awful lot, we just took the best available player,” said Moore.

He drafted first baseman Eric Hosmer with the third pick last season. Unlike Gordon and Hochevar, Moore used his picks in the last two drafts on high school ballplayers.

“We picked number two and number three in the country in those years and our decision in picking those players were where we felt they were the best available players at the time,” said Moore. “It is not a high school versus college thing since you want a mix, a nice blend of college and high school players, but when you are picking number one in the first round, you just want to take the best available talent, the talent that is going to impact your team the most when he gets to the major leagues.”

The Royals added several key players in the offseason with power-hitting first baseman Mike Jacobs, the speedy center fielder Coco Crisp, and the utility player Willie Bloomquist. He also brought in relief pitchers Juan Cruz and Kyle Farnsworth to accompany one of the league’s top young closers in Joakim Soria.

Moore is also known for bringing a couple of his Mason teammates to the Royals organization. Former catcher J.J. Picollo joined the Royals in August of 2006 as the director of player development and is currently the assistant general manager of scouting and player development. Last season, Moore hired former shortstop Lonnie Goldberg as the director of baseball operations.

After turning a few heads with their season-opening sweep over the Detroit Tigers last season, the Royals dropped to 75-87. Despite suffering their fifth consecutive losing season, they concluded the 2008 season with 13 wins in their last 16 games. With Moore at the helm, the team continues to rise as they look to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 1985, the year they won the World Series.