If it wasn't obvious to everyone before, it should be painfully clear now that this is Dayton's team. First it was the full-steam-a head bullpen youth movement. Next, it was white-hot Eric Hosmer over struggling Kila; which has seemed to work out for everyone except Kila. Then it was Moustakas over Betemit; hopefully it works next year but this year it has only helped the Detroit Tigers and made KC even worse. Then it was Getz over Aviles, who was subsequently recalled and then banished for speaking out against the regime. Then Dayton got serious and called-up Giovatella to replace Getz, Kyle Davies (drunkenly) fell from even Dayton's good grace, and now Dayton's prized rookie catcher has taken over the backstop for good (Pena never could get a chance with the Royals).
And if that wasn't clear enough for you, the final piece to his puzzle has been completed with the two year extension given to his love child, Jeff Francouer. For all of the obvious ways we could choose to make fun of this signing, let's first give Dayton his due credit for this and the Melky signing. It worked out, it could have gone differently but somehow both of these guys are having very good years and Dayton looks like a smart guy. On the other hand, I'm not going to sit here call Moore a genius. He signed two guys that no other team wanted because they were cheap and it still may be true that he has a CF in Omaha who's better than both of them. Who knows?
We're now all just along for the ride while Dayton conducts what will be our KC Royals for the near future. The way I see it two things will determine the success of the Dayton Moore led effort to resurrect the fortunes of the Royals...
The Youth
This might be overstating the obvious, but it is the young players who determine determine the fate of the team. Now that they have their spirited leader Frenchy inked for two more years, Dayton has placed his on the field mouth piece to lead for better or worse. In reality, what will be more important is whether Hosmer or Moustakas really become superstars. By superstar I don't mean Gordon/Melky/Frenchy-type bounce back years. I mean Fielder/Braun/Upton/Cabrera/Votto-like dominant years. It's all on Hosmer's shoulders now, but hopefully Moose still has it in him. There still isn't a great hitter on the team, there are several good ones, but finding someone who can really scare opposing pitchers is what gets a team to the next level. Dayton has done his best to sign and pay for young talent and he now has what he's spent the last few years paying for ready to go. We'll know much more at this time next year, but despite all of the small victories and signs of improvement, Hosmer and Moose have made us no better than Tehan and Buck and Duffy and Crow have not improved us from the likes of Gobble and MacDougal. So there is still a lot of work to do.
Timing
Timing does play a huge factor in youth development, but that's not what I'm referring to here; prospects will bust and get hurt, that's just how it goes. However, Dayton still hasn't shown the ability to have success making a big move, and at some point he's going to have to make trades and signings which make the Royals good in the present tense. Sure Bubba Starling might be awesome in 5 years, but the Royals are 21 games under .500 RIGHT NOW. Is signing Jeff Francouer for two more years going to change that? Did signing Melky this year change it? Don't answer. Has the Greinke trade helped the team? As it stands right now, the Royals got a big upgrade on Yuni's defense and they got one of the best pitchers in baseball. How well did Jason Kendall work out everyone? Dido on Jose Guillen. Yes, we all love the signings of Melky and Paulino, Frenchy and Chen, but there will come a time when that's just not big enough.
So everyone kick back and watch as Dayton's Reign begins.
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