Monday, May 24, 2010

Royals roundup: Dayton Moore accepts his fate

Posted by David Martin on Mon, May 24, 2010 at 8:00 AM

click to enlarge Dayton Moore hopes he gets to see Eric Hosmer transform from prospect to All-Star.
  • Dayton Moore hopes he gets to see Eric Hosmer transform from prospect to All-Star.

Royals G.M. Dayton Moore has entered a new phase: fatalism.

Phase One featured optimism. Moore took the job with assurances that David Glass would make an effort to stop being the worst owner in professional sports. Buoyed by the success of the Atlanta Braves, for whom he had toiled for 10 years, Moore was picking the World Series parade route before making his first trade.

Defensiveness marked Phase Two. Moore discovered that brush-cut professionalism could undo only so much dysfunction. Unaccustomed to criticism, Moore lashed out at the observers who first- and second-guessed what he liked to call "the process."

The firing of manager Trey Hillman was a sad event for Moore. Hillman was the first manager Moore hired. The two seemed to share a tight-ass, Fox News view of the world.

When Hillman departed, Moore lost a friend as well as a scapegoat. Moore's comments over the last two weeks indicate a realization that he's the next to go, should the Glass family decide to hang another baseball man on the clearance rack.

click to enlarge Dayton Moore doesn't have a scapegoat anymore.
  • Dayton Moore doesn't have a scapegoat anymore.
Once so confident, Moore has begun to sound like the general managers of other small market teams: men who come by the hard wisdom that dry seasons outnumber the bountiful ones.

Moore is now talking about dreaded windows of opportunity. He's suggested that the Royals may not be able to field a truly great team until 2013. By then, it's hoped, farmhands Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer will be doing reasonable approximations of Evan Longoria and Adrian Gonzalez.

Moore knows he may not last long enough to see it. He told 810 WHB-AM that "we" -- he -- may run out of time.

Moore wants fans and ownership to believe that champions take eight to 10 years to develop. He may be right. Problem is, a 10-year plan wasn't being sold when he arrived.

The Royals played last week like a team that doesn't want to see anybody get fired, going 4-3. The highlight was a three-game span in which the club drubbed opponents by a collective margin of 26-9. Beleaguered reliever Kyle Farnsworth even got in a fist pump!

As it stands, the Royals are 18-27, "good" for fourth place in the American League Central.

click to enlarge José Lima sang the national anthem at Dodger Stadium, an event his then-wife Melissa helped to publicize by standing next to him.
  • José Lima sang the national anthem at Dodger Stadium, an event his then-wife Melissa helped to publicize by standing next to him.
Lima Time comes to an end: Former Royal José

Lima died

suddenly on Sunday. The Dominican-born right-hander will be

remembered for the season he won 21 games, his love of salsa music and

the noticeable

women who flocked to his side and, on one occasion, sued when a sore developed.

Lima played for the Royals in 2003 and 2005. The 2005 team was awful

beyond awful. This was the club that Tony Peña quit on after being accused of having an affair with his neighbor. A pre-sabbatical Zack Greinke posted an ERA of 5.80.

Lima was the team's No. 2 starter. Yeesh.

Next up: Texas, @ Boston.

Image of Eric Hosmer via chriswish's Flickr; home page image via the Pitch's Flickr Pool: Rock Chalk Jayhawk Cartographer

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