Perhaps the time to give Dayton Moore his due has long since come, not just because his team won an American League pennant -- believe me, as someone who grew up a fan of the Athletics, it would be nice if Team Moneyball could say even that much at some point during the past 15 years. No, it’s because it looks as if the Royals’ GM is a man who has a sense of the moment. It’s reasonable to wonder if Moore -- long lampooned for his commitment to “the Process" -- is enjoying some revenge served like a bowl of gazpacho: cold and tasty.
The reason I’m wondering is, with the Royals’ announcement that they have conclusively inked a two-year, $20 million deal with right-hander Edinson Volquez, it looks like they’re effectively done making major moves this winter. That’s not automatically a good or a bad thing for a defending pennant-winner. Some contending teams’ GMs have wrapped up even earlier in years past (here’s looking at you, Ruben Amaro), and sometimes you don’t have to wait on the market because you have just a move or two to make.
But when you review what the Royals did this winter to address what needed doing, I think you have to credit Dayton Moore with an excellent job of moving on the team’s areas of concern or weakness to sustain Kansas City’s ability to contend into the future. Really -- there’s no punchline -- Dayton Moore did this. The Royals are going to win more games as a result.
What did they need after winning the AL pennant? That’s simple: The Royals needed power after finishing last in the majors with a .113 ISO -- behind all the NL teams that regularly have to bat their pitchers. That would involve replacing fading DH Billy Butler in the lineup and, ideally, adding some right-handed power to help balance a lineup armed with a trio of home-grown lefty thumpers in Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas. They needed to replace staff ace James Shields in the rotation -- no easy feat when the free agent was taking his team-leading 24 quality starts in 34 turns to the market -- which potentially undermines a Royals rotation that had ranked second in the AL in quality starts in 2014, with 95.
Moore’s solutions might put the Royals in better shape than if he’d simply tried to maintain the status quo. Credit him for being like a latter-day Whitey Herzog and using last year’s wins to help purchase multiple big improvements. Rather than get carried away with Lorenzo Cain’s postseason heroics or Jarrod Dyson’s speed, he didn’t leave full-time slots open for both guys in the lineup, with Nori Aoki leaving. Instead, he addressed the Royals’ power outage by signing Alex Rios (.166 career ISO) to man right field and Kendrys Morales (.189 career) to DH. Adding power in traditional power slots might be the oldest formula in the transactions playbook, but who said there’s anything wrong with the classics? Add in Rios’ value on defense, and the Royals didn’t sacrifice much more than Glass cash to help keep a good thing going.
In the rotation, Moore didn’t settle for a one-for-one swap in the hope that would solve a potentially big problem. Instead, he improved his team’s depth by signing recuperating Kris Medlen, as well as Volquez. Medlen, recovering from Tommy John surgery, took a back-loaded deal that only gets into serious cash ($10 million) in 2017 on a mutual option or if he earns performance bonuses of up to $10 million in 2015 and 2016. Even with the longer recovery you might expect from a second Tommy John surgery, he should be available in the second half and have the opportunity -- thanks to the Royals’ deep bullpen -- to be handled carefully.
The Volquez deal might deliver more quickly, but that depends how much value you invest in his stretch run and how much he’ll take from his association with the Pirates and their growing list of retread success stories. (Jerry Crasnick reported on this in back in April.) Volquez gave the Pirates 19 quality starts in 31 turns last year, while cutting his walk rate and generating his best clip groundball outs since 2011. Although he got a lot of help from the Pirates’ defenders (.269 BABIP), pitching in front of the Royals’ quality D should help mitigate concerns over regression on this front. Add in that he’s still throwing heat that touches the mid-90s, a nifty knuckle-curve and a changeup that hitters bound into the dirt, and you have the makings of a guy who should give you innings and starts. With him, the Royals’ rotation runs at least six strong upon Medlen’s return, seven if Brandon Finnegan looks good as a starter in camp. That gives them the depth to handle losing one or two guys to the perhaps inevitable in-season injury or setback, but as for replacing Shields’ quality, if Danny Duffy breaks out, it might not be long before fans are asking, “‘Big Game James’ who?”
For those counting beans, keep in mind Volquez’s deal is potentially for three years and $27 million if the Royals pick up their club option for 2017. If Volquez earns that consideration through good work in one or both years, the contract could end up a serious bargain because a No. 3 or No. 4 type gets more than $9 million average annual value. (Witness Guthrie’s paydays.) If Volquez doesn’t earn the option, it’s just a two-year deal, so it isn’t like we’re talking Jaime Navarro-level risk for spontaneous combustion and regret.
I’ve been critical of Moore in years past; it was certainly easy to be. Even with their pennant in the history books, the Royals’ window to win is now. While I’m optimistic Hosmer is young enough to break out and be great for years to come, and hopeful Salvador Perez won’t get worn out by his workload, and Moustakas might somehow blossom into a Graig Nettles knockoff, their other regulars aren’t young. They only control Alex Gordon for two more years (counting a 2016 option), and he’ll be 31. Late development possibilities aside, Lorenzo Cain is almost 29 and Jarrod Dyson is 30. Adding Morales (32) and Rios (34) isn’t about overvaluing veterans, it’s about adding someone who can keep their window to win now open.
The good news is it’s going to involve contention for more than the crapshoot of the wild card’s one-game play-in. The Tigers are far from a lock to win the AL Central again, especially with Max Scherzer headed elsewhere. The competitive environment in the division is getting tougher: The White Sox are assembling another contender, the Indians have a shot, and the Twins have a lot of high-upside talent that will put them in the picture for years to come. With that in mind, the Royals should be all-in for the present. Settling for keeping Butler and buying back James Shields wouldn’t have gotten it done.
Even admitting this is all on paper and the stuff of Hot Stove happiness, Royals fans shouldn’t just feel good about the immediate past; they should welcome the immediate future. If that’s been a long time coming, congratulations to you -- you’ve had to wait long enough. Thanking Dayton Moore might be awkward after the wait, but perhaps that’s a better reward for him than the last laugh over anyone who treated his tenure as a punchline.
Christina Kahrl writes about MLB for ESPN. You can follow her on Twitter.