The first question (and subsequent answer) you see here was asked by another reporter. The rest of the questions and answers were a continuation of the conversation I had with Moore one-on-one in the Omaha Royals dugout on Tuesday afternoon.
Is the organization making a turn around?
Our team is better and our organization is better. You know, three years ago, we had no left-hand pitching prospects in our system. We didn’t have one catching prospect in our system. We have very little speed at all in the organization and as you know, our ballpark demands that if we’re going to be successful, we need speed and athleticism out there. All those components are put in place right now on the minor league level, and it takes time. It’s a process that you go through to get your organization turned around to be successful.
When Terry Ryan took over for the Minnesota Twins in ‘94, they already had a built farm system and six straight years [they had] 87-97 loses and in year seven they were .500. In year eight, they went to the playoffs and won their division, and they already had a farm system that was built. So, not making excuses, [it’s] just the way it is. That’s the way it works in baseball.
We’re never comfortable and satisfied with where we are, but we know we’re better.
Seven of the nine guys in the lineup for Omaha a couple of nights ago are former Northwest Arkansas Naturals. That’s different from what we’ve seen in the past here in Omaha.
That’s a good sign. Last year, our Northwest Arkansas team was comprised of home grown talent. This year it’s the same and hopefully that’s a sign that we’re doing things the right way. That’s not to say that there won’t be gaps from time to time, because there will, but you want the nucleolus of your ballclub to be homegrown players.
And having them come up through the system together – that’s a good thing, right?
Yeah, it is. It is. That’s a good point. You want them to win and play together.
You’ve certainly faced your share of criticism over the past season or two. In your first year, I heard you talk about needing to surround yourself with people who have a critical eye and not a critical spirit. First, explain the difference. Second, tell me what that looks like.
I appreciate you bringing that up. The people who work with me closely are all very outspoken and my management style encourages them to speak their mind.
People with a critical eye – you know that whatever criticism or opinion that they have, you know it’s for the best of the Kansas City Royals; not what’s best for me or them. It’s what’s best for the Kansas City Royals.
People who look at you with a critical spirit – they want you to fail.
They are rooting for it, in a way.
Yeah, they want you to fail.
I want to be the type of person who looks at things with a critical eye and not a critical spirit.
With what we’re doing in Kansas City – we knew what the challenges were going to be – I remind all our people when they come here or to stay here when we’ve extended them to be a part of the organization, this is the toughest challenge in all of sports in my opinion.
Where the Royals were, what we’re trying to do, and the economic conditions of baseball and the challenges – again it’s an eight to ten year deal to try to get this thing turned around. If everything goes perfect, it’s eight to ten years because, you take a guy like [Eric] Hosmer in the draft – it’s three to four years before they get to the major leagues and then it’s another three to four years before they become a good major league player to help your team win.
We’re not perfect people, but the group we have are passionate about getting this thing right in Kansas City.
The year [2006] the Royals took Luke Hochevar in the draft, a guy like Tim Lincecum gets passed up by nine teams and Evan Longoria was passed over by Kansas City and several other teams too. Talk to me about the hit and miss factor of the draft. But also talk about dealing with the signability factor.
Our first draft was 2007. You can look back on the same situation in that draft. [Jason] Heyward is a guy we passed on. [Matt] Wieters and [Rick] Porcello were two guys we couldn’t afford. Our budget was $6.5 million that year. Porcello signed for $7.2 million. Wieters was asking for $10 million and he signed for $6 million. We couldn’t afford them. That’s just the way it is – that’s the structure we’re under. But Heyward signed for $2 million or $2.1 or something like that. We gave [Mike] Moustakas $4 million. But that’s the nature of the draft. Moustakas is going to be a good player.
That’s why you’ve got to stay aggressive. You can’t back off. You just stay aggressive and it’ll work out. We had a good draft in ’08. We had another good draft in ’09. And we expect to have a good draft here in 2010. Internationally we’re being more aggressive. We’re doing some good things. It’s costing us more money than we’d like because of the nature of the bonuses. It only goes so far, but we’re getting our share.
Talk to me about how you view your role as the general manager of the Royals. There is a segment of the fanbase that is quite passionate about the Royals but some of them have grown skeptical in recent years.
I’m very passionate about the Kansas City Royals. They were my boyhood team. I’m very passionate about baseball. I care deeply the people who work with us. I care deeply about the players who commit to be a part of this organization because it’s all about the players at the end of the day.
I’m concerned about the impression that people have about the Kansas City Royals. I want every young boy and every young girl to grow up loving the Kansas City Royals. There is a generation of people who saw nothing but winning and now there’s a generation of people who have seen nothing but losing.
For the baseball family – or that dad or that grandfather who grew up loving the Royals and seeing them perform in all their glory days to now have a grandchild or a son or a great grandson, in some cases, who have never seen the Royals win and they root for the Phillies and they root for the Red Sox and they root for the Yankees because those are the teams that win, or they root for the Braves because those are the teams that have won, it’s got to be in a way – it’s probably not heartbreaking – I probably take it a little more serious than it actually is, but there’s some disappointment.
It’d be no different than, you know – we’re in Nebraska and [having] a family [who loves] the Nebraska Cornhuskers and suddenly somebody’s rooting for KU.
