Heyman: Dayton Moore to receive “long extension” once sale is approved

The sale of the Royals to local businessman John Sherman has left many unanswered questions, but one of the most important questions is who will be leading the baseball operations going forward? While General Manager Dayton Moore was thought to have a job in Kansas City for life under the Glass family, new ownership made that proposition less certain.

However according to MLB Network reporter Jon Heyman, the Royals could be committing to Moore for a bit longer. Appearing on the Big Time Baseball podcast, Heyman discussed the sale of the Royals (go to the 40 minute mark), praising the succession plan laid out by David Glass as a “positive thing.” As for Moore, Heyman says that the Royals GM will be in Kansas City for quite a long time.

“But John Sherman, from what I understand, knows Dayton Moore well...is an admirer of Dayton Moore, according to league sources. My understanding is that Dayton Moore, once this is approved, will receive a long extension and be there for a long time.”

Heyman questions reports that have Moore’s contract as running through 2020, saying that he understood that Moore had already received an extension when the Braves were interested in contacting him for their GM opening. He is unsure of what would be the exact length of a new extension, but stresses it would be a long-term commitment to Moore.

Heyman also reports that Glass was contacted by Sherman a few years ago about buying the team and that his son, club president Dan Glass, “did not want to own the team”. He says the sale to Sherman is a “fait accompli” to be approved by fellow owners and that the new owner is interested in a downtown stadium.

It does not surprise me that Sherman would be committed to Moore, seeing as the GM did win two pennants and a championship, something very few active GMs have accomplished. The other seasons have been less remarkable, but flags do fly forever, and the current rebuild is looking a lot better today than it did a year ago, despite the club headed towards another 100-loss season.

What would surprise me a bit is committing to a long-term deal already. Sometimes owners like to “observe” for a year to see how an organization operates before making commitments or changes. But if Sherman has already been around the team as a season ticket-holder, he may have already poked around and gotten to know Dayton Moore a bit, and he is certainly aware of Moore’s history and legacy in Kansas City both on and off the field.

What could also happen is that Dayton Moore could receive a title bump, with the club president role presumably being vacated by Dan Glass. Moore could ascend to club president, with a new head of baseball operations, likely someone promoted internally like J.J. Piccolo. Operationally, things would likely not change much in that scenario.

Sherman has yet to comment publicly on the status of Moore and likely won’t for some time. Who he tabs to run the club will have a huge impact on the franchise going forward. Dayton Moore has had several missteps since winning a championship, but he did raise the team from the dead to the promised land, which may very well have bought him a chance to do it again.