Royals name Sweeney as Special Assistant to Baseball Operations
By Jeff Adcox
The Kansas City Royals announced that the club has named former first baseman Mike Sweeney as its Special Assistant to Baseball Operations.
“We’re thrilled as an organization that Mike will be joining our baseball operations department,” Royals Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations/GM Dayton Moore said. “He’s a tremendous leader and I’m confident that he will impact our players and staff in positive way.”
Sweeney was a five-time American League All-Star with the Royals, whom he played with from 1995-2007 after being drafted in the 10th round in 1991. Sweeney was a .297 career hitter with 325 doubles, 215 home runs, 909 RBI and 759 runs scored. He also played for the Oakland Athletics (2008), Seattle Mariners (2009-10) and Philadelphia Phillies (2010).
“It’s a great honor to have played in the Kansas City organization for 20 years. To be welcomed back by the Glass family, Dayton Moore, Ned Yost and the entire staff is a dream come true for me,” said Sweeney. “The only thing I was unable to accomplish during my playing days was to bring October baseball back to Kansas City. With this new position, my goal is to do as much as I can to help the Royals get back to being one of the prized organizations in baseball, as it was in the 1980’s.”
The club record holder for RBI in a season with 144 in 2000, Sweeney ranks in the top six all-time in Royals history in 17 offensive categories, including second in average (.299) and home runs (197).