That would help his reputation and the team.

Therein lies the one of the problems. Has Dayton ever made one?

Without reading other responses first, here are some short ideas.

A couple qualifications: While the PR/press stuff pisses me off, it’s really just the cherry on top of the -- sundae. I’d still be angry if they did it and were succeeding, but then again, they wouldn’t need to if they were suceeding. I’m also not going to deal with the Hillman issue, since it’s just another symptom of the deeper organizational problem that traces directly back to Moore.

i won’t cover everything.

Personally, while I think that statistical approaches are indispensable and its clear that the Royals are one of the most stastically backwards teams in the league (I’d say the most backwards, but you never know), but frankly, I don’t care if they’re explicitly using hte stuff or not — many teams that aren’t as oriented to modern approaches get good results by getting to the same point by different means, and that’s a whole ’nother discussion.

Honestly, I’m just going to cover this next offseason. And that’s not enough. Moore actualy did well in his first offseason (Meche, Soria, etc.), and that turned out to be some sort of deviation… and it’s going to take more than one offseason of competence (and it’s gong to take more than competence to turn this situation around) to win me over. So this just wins him a “stay.” And this is just a sampling, I can’t hit every issue.

The main thing Moore needs to realize is that this team is not going to be “in it.” It requires a genuie rebuild. If he’d started doing this in 2006 when he came aboard, the team might actually, just not (maybe 2009, more likely 2010) being be a dark horse contender for the AL Central crown. Now, even if he does everything “right” starting right now, I’d say 2012 is the earliest.

In other words, he needs to start leveraging his assets now. And that means trading players. And he can’t be a “fan” about it. Fans sometimes think that “blowing a team up” means trading everyone who is bad. Um, well, okay, but most of the other teams know that Cruz, Farnsworth, Jacobs, Guillen, Betancourt, etc. suck, too. That’s not going to rebuild the team.

GoBabies!! and others have covered this in other posts. What fans and, more importantly, Dayton, need to realize is that the Royals are at a stage when no one is off the table in principle. Now, in reality, some guys are off the table. But, yes, if the Royals were offered (whatever huge package) for Zack Greinke, they should do it, no questions asked. Zack is one of the best, if not the best, pitcher in baseball and signed to a great deal. Guess what? In 2012, the earliest year I can imagine the Royals contending given everything going “right,” he’ll be in the last year of his contract. IN practice, of course, given his skill, age, and contract, I can’t think of any team that could given the Royals back in trade enough for Greinke that their own team wouldn’t be seriously disabled so as to make the trade a zero-sum game. The Royals should definitely jump on a offer of Longoria, Jennings, and Brignac for Grienke (and as I’ve said before, given the contract, Longoria would be more than enough). The Rays would be crazy to offer that, though.

But the point is that Dayton need to look at who is going to be around when the team is ready to contend. But anyone should be available to be leveraged for young, team-controlled talent. I’m not here to quibble over who it should or shouldn’t be — we can argue about what would or wouldn’t be a proper offer for Greinke, Soria, Butler, or Gordon (very different players, just “core” exampes) all day. That isn’t the point. The point is that Moore can win me over a bit by showing he recognizes where the team is at.

This doesn’t mean give them away. Butler obvious is coming into his own. Gordon, not so much – maybe wait and see if his value can rise or if he’s a keeper (I sitll think he’ll be a very good player, but that’s a whole different issue). I don’t know, that’ s not the point. Personally, I’ve been among those who think that, if soria is just a closer at this point, with his great contract, he’s the one who coudl be moved for several good young players. It doesn’t matter what positions they play. The Royals just need to be accumulating value at this point.

Away from the core — there are other realms of players. Whether you like or hate DDJ, he needs to be gone (and probably should have been before the deadlnie this seeason). Not because he sucks. In fact, because he’s good and his contract (and prime) don’t extend to when the team might contend. The longer the Royals wait, the less value he has. they aren’t even going to get much back now, but like GoBabies and others have said — he need to bring back something for when the Royals are good. He probably has the most value of the players over 27 on the Royals.

More than Meche? Yes, actually, without getting the spreadsheet out, probably. Meche was a great value for the Royals. But going intot he last two years of his contract, he’s less likely to produce a “surplus” like DDJ does. Meche needs to be gone to anyone who will take his salary and offer a prospect in return. It’s too bad. I like Gil, but he’s not going to be around when the Royals are ready to win.

Banny’s an iffy proposition. His value probably wn’t ever be higher… well, except he got hurt. Shop him, although he’s cheap.

Other than that, it’s a crapfest. Cruz has been worse than expected. Farnsworth has been better than expected. Old, replacable guys. GMDM needs to ship these guys out to the first team that will take any of their salaries.

Guillen and Jacobs: they might still help the team int he short term as a platoon DH combo, but what’s the point? Jacobs should be shopped briefly to see if there’s someone as dumb as Dayton Moore out there, then be non-tendered. Guillen should be shopped to anyone who will taken any portion of his salary. If not, DFA. It’s a waste of time for the Royals. right-handed platoon DHs, some of whom could even play defense somewhere, are a dime a dozen. It’s a sunk cost Frankly, the Guillen/Jacobs “decision” is a total no-brainer. either one of them coming back is about as close to the point of no return as you can get — a sign Moore doesn’t get it.

Sure, Kila might suck, but there’ s no risk there for 2010.

They waited too long on Teahen. Trade him for whatever you can get. Should have been gone at the deadline. People who said last season that he should be a non-tender were wrong. Now, he might be too expensive… I still don’t think he should be non-tendered, but a C prospect would be a good return given the Royals situation.

Blomquist: gone to the first team willing to pick up at least .015 of his salary.

Oh, one more big one: realize that the biggest single hole on the team is at SS. The team can live with Robinson TEjeda as the setup man, or Kyle Davies as #5 SP, or MITCH as CF, or Brayan Pena as C. But Betancourt’s upside is bench player. It’s a massive problem. This is a bigger no-brainer than Jacobs/Guillen, actually. Thinking that Betancourt has filled that hole and doing nothing about it for next season should be grounds for dismissal for gross incompetence. I’m not joking. It’s that obvious to everything. If he can’t figure that out, he can’t run a team. Many of these things are just “signs” that he may or may not get it. This one’s a dealbreaker, ladies.

And so on. This is too long an incoherent as it is. The point is that Moore needs to 1) Understand the team’s situation. They aren’t "A CF and a SP away,’ to say the least. [really, they’re a GM away — sorry, couldn’t resist the truth]. 2) realize that the only thing to do is the Pirates plan.

it’s late. I’m not going to proofread. This isn’t a plan. Just a wish list. And Dayton needs to do most of it to get some of my good will back for one season.

Who’s got the over/under?

Resign.