Royals owner: GM Moore ‘absolutely staying’
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After the Royals won their first American League pennant since 1985, Royals owner David Glass said they are “absolutely” keeping GM Dayton Moore, a rising star who is reportedly a potential target of the Atlanta Braves, where Moore grew up in the game.
“Absolutely, he’s staying,” Glass said to CBSSports.com in the afterglow of the Royals’ 2-1 victory that punched their ticket to their first World Series in 29 years. “We’re all part of this together.”
Moore has been reported to be a potential target of the Braves, who are currently being led by interim GM John Hart, who hasn’t decided yet whether he will take the job permanently. Moore and well-regarded Braves’ assistant GM John Coppolella are seen as the most likely GM candidates if Hart, who als works as an analyst for MLB Network, decides he’d rather move back into a consulting role for the team.
Moore has purposely kept his his comments limited to his current team during his Royals team’s wonderful ride, which has captured the imagination of a great baseball city waiting patiently for a championship like this — they were good last year, and better still this regular season, but no one could have imagined they’d sweep their way into the World Series with eight straight postseason victories.
Afterward, Glass paid tribute to Moore, who got some heat in his early years in Kansas City and was oft-criticized for the trades of Zack Greinke, and expecially Wil Myers, trades that yielded Alcides Excobar, ALCS MVP Lorenzo Cain, James Shields and Wade Davis. He came up as a scout, and he hasn’t hardly been a darling of the sabermetric crowd — though KC is still seen as scout heavy, it does have a sabermetric department.
“He’s done a great job,” Glass said about Moore. “He’s as good as it gets as far as a general manager.”
It’s only natural there’s speculation about the Braves now, as Moore is especially close to Braves president John Schuerholz (coincidentally, the Royals’ GM for their 1985 World Series championship) and also Braves Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox, who along with Hart comprise the GM search committe there. Moore spent his whole baseball career with the Braves before taking the job as Royals GM June 8, 2006. He has been extended twice, and his current contract runs through 2016.
The contract isn’t the only reason it seems like Moore will stay, as Glass said. His family is established here, his older daighter is in college near here, and much of his baseball family came with him to Kansas City from Atlanta, or at least spent time with him in Atlanta. Those folks include assistant GM Dean Taylor, scout Donnie Williams, manager Ned Yost and many others.
The Braves seem to have a ready-made GM there in Coppolella. As for Moore, why leave this town he has grown to love to clean up someone else’s mess?
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