Royals demote Dayton Moore to Omaha

Fresh on the heels of demoting Mike Moustakas to the minors, the Kansas City Royals announced the demotion of General Manager Dayton Moore to AAA Omaha as well.

Longtime baseball observers have been predicting this move for quite some time, but it still caught Royals fans by surprise.

"I didn't think they would do it," said Robert Mayberry, a 43 year old Royals fan from Platte City. "When you have struggled for as long as Dayton has struggled, it's time to do something, but the Royals showed no inclination they would ever hold Dayton Moore to account."

Dayton Moore has been with the Royals for eight years, and while showing initial promise, the results just have not been there. The Royals have not finished higher than third in the division or higher than eighth in the league. Despite having a consistently high-rated farm system, the Royals have never seriously contended for a division title, and have only been on the edge of wild-card contention.

Scouts around baseball still hold out hope that Moore can develop into an above-average major league General Manager, but they agree this move is the best for Dayton.

One anonymous scout said, "The guy has all the tools you would want, like the ability to grow a minor league farm system, scout international players well, and conduct himself in a professional manner, but the results just weren't there. He needs to get out of the limelight and get back to what he does best. Something has gotten inside his dome the last couple of years."

Royals owner David Glass, in announcing the move, said, "I hope to see Dayton back here very soon, but he's been here eight years and still doesn't have any results to show for it. It's time to hold him accountable. All the tools in the world really doesn't matter if you never finish higher than third in your division and can't properly construct a major league roster. Hopefully he can be rejuvenated by general managing int Omaha, and come back here better than ever."

While Omaha Royals General Manager Martie Cordaro has been promoted to take Dayton's place, sources within the Royals organization indicate that if Dayton does well in Omaha, he could be back by the beginning of next year.