MLB: Ranking the Top 10 General Managers in Baseball
By Robby Sabo
10. Dayton Moore, Kansas City Royals
- 2015 Payroll: $115,364,525 – 17th in MLB
- Assumed Position: June 8, 2006
- Royals Accomplishments: 2014 AL Pennant
Dayton Moore has done a superb job in Kansas City. For most of his tenure, the Royals payroll has been in the lower third of the game. Now, ownership has allowed Moore a little more wiggle room.
In fact, their 2015 Opening Day payroll is over $30 million more than what he had to work with at the start of the 2013 season, via Spotrac.
Perhaps the reason he made this list was his keen awareness about where baseball is currently trending. As everybody knows, power is becoming a thing of the past while other integral parts of the game are becoming more critical.
It just takes a little guts for baseball bosses to fully implement and execute this strategy, and Moore has done so.
The 2014 Royals finished dead last in the majors with a meager 95 home runs. It didn’t stop them from making the postseason and going to the World Series.
The team was built with pitching, defense and speed in mind.
Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland represented a bullpen that broke playoff records. Moore also gave manager Ned Yost the ability to throw in two speedy pinch-runners at the drop of a hat (Jarrod Dyson and Terrence Gore).
How about defense?
Time and again, the outfield came up with series changing plays. Lorenzo Cain and Nori Aoki each made a couple of beauties:
While Moore doesn’t yet have some of the accolades other general managers have, with a core of Eric Hosmer, Yordano Ventura, Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas, his Royals are only getting started.
Next: No. 9