The following is a quote from Bill Shanks' book Scouts Honor. Read though it once, at least, and then I will begin to break it down a few of the more interesting lines.
"I really didn't know what to think," [Bubba] Nelson admits. I have never really seen a grown man in tears before. He [Dayton Moore] was really upset. I was kinda upset too. I could tell that it was tough for him because he was talking about how we grow with the system, and he kind of grows with us too. We have this bond with each other through the system because all the coordinators and all the scouts and all those guys are involved with everything we do. They are always coming up to us and talking to us, wondering how we are doing, how the family is doing. They are always interested in everything. They are your best friends too. They are always will to help you. He said he hated to see me go and that it has been tough since Adam [Wainwright] was gone and then the two guys the day before.
Unlike Schuerholz, who as Wren described has to treat any deal with the club first in mind, Moore gets extremely close to the prospects. He scouted many of them, including Nelson, in high school, and he's been there from their first days in the Gulf Coast League to their first days of the big league camp. It's his job to get to know the players as people, so the Braves will know exactly what they're getting with every player. He's also genuinely concerned about every player reaching their potential, so when he has to tell them they're leaving, it's perhaps the hardest part of his job.
"It's difficult," Moore says. "Every time you make a decision about another person, you try to put yourself in that person's shoes the best you can. How will they react? What ill they think is the best for them? It makes it difficult. I know there's disappointment in some these kids. Adam, and Bubba Nelson, and Richard Lewis, Jung Bong and Andy Pratt. All those guys with the exception of Andy, we raised. I've been here with them since they became part of the organization and watched them develop from a very young age. I know what we went through to sign them. It's tough to let them go. But the good thing is that somebody wants them. Nobody wants a bad player. Everybody wants good players. They were wanted. We in the minor leagues are to support our major league team. We did our job. Our job is to sign and develop major league caliber players and to help our team continue to win championships. Those are two pretty good arms for guys that have limited major league time. Our organization, in the eyes of our boss John Schuerholz, who is ultimately who we trust and who we follow, thought it was good day."
I wish I had read those 3 paragraphs when Dayton was signed. I would explain a lot of his decisions, so let's pull out a few quotes.
I have never really seen a grown man in tears before. He [Dayton Moore] was really upset.
Great, I thought we got rid of Dick Vermiel a while ago.
I could tell that it was tough for him because he was talking about how we grow with the system, and he kind of grows with us too. We have this bond with each other through the system because all the coordinators and all the scouts and all those guys are involved with everything we do. They are always coming up to us and talking to us, wondering how we are doing, how the family is doing. They are always interested in everything. They are your best friends too.
Players and coaches are extremely involved in the player's lives. I am not sure if it too involved, but sure seems like one tight knit family.
He's also genuinely concerned about every player reaching their potential, so when he has to tell them they're leaving, it's perhaps the hardest part of his job
"It's difficult," Moore says. "Every time you make a decision about another person, you try to put yourself in that person's shoes the best you can. How will they react? What ill they think is the best for them? It makes it difficult.
I think the key idea to take from the reading is the pain he experiences when getting rid of players he has been involved in drafting and see grow. He doesn't seem to have a problem in getting rid of players that Allard Baird drafted (Howell) or that he traded to get (Cortez). It seemed before that he hated these guys and was just cleaning house. To me now, he didn't dislike the players from the previous regime, he is just overly attached to players he drafted. I think this is true of him bringing over the players from Braves.
He seems to have fallen in love with these player's skills and personalities when he was with the Braves and just can't let go. It will be interesting to see what he eventually does once he has purged the system of players he has not drafted and has to be using his players in trades.