Here’s why KC Royals CEO John Sherman decided change was needed in team’s front office

Kansas City Royals chairman and CEO John Sherman and Dayton Moore shared the same championship aspirations for the franchise’s future.

But Sherman didn’t feel enough progress had been made toward that goal. So Sherman dismissed Moore, 55, from his post as the head of KC’s baseball operations department after more than 16 years on the job.

Sherman, who took over as the principal owner of the Major League Baseball organization in November 2019, announced his decision Wednesday afternoon a few hours before the Royals resumed their final homestand of the regular season against the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium.

In making the announcement, Sherman laid out how he came to the decision to fire Moore and gave an indication of the vision he has for the baseball operation now under the direction of 51-year-old executive vice president and general manager J.J. Picollo.

“I think the bottom line here is it’s time for change,” Sherman said.

End of an era

Moore, who oversaw the organization since 2006 — including back-to-back World Series runs culminating in a championship in 2015 — stepped to the lectern Wednesday and made a few brief comments before exiting the interview room.

“I’m very proud of what we accomplished here,” Moore said. “I’m very proud of our culture. I’m really excited about the future of the Kansas City Royals.

“I’ve known J.J. Picollo since he was 21 years old. He’s an incredible leader. And as I’ve mentioned before, he is more than prepared to lead the baseball operations department in a very innovative and productive way. I’m proud that he’s continuing to get this opportunity, as well.”

Before the postseason success for which Moore will likely be most fondly remembered by Royals fans, he did a considerable amount of work to transform the club’s infrastructure and expand its baseball operations department to its present state.

Moore expressed gratitude to Sherman and lauded his stewardship of the franchise both during his short tenure thus far and into the future.

“In baseball, when you don’t win enough games, change sometimes is required,” Moore said. “It’s a part of it, and we know that. And we accept that. Everything in life is for our learning. I will continue to learn through this, as well.”

An unacceptable gap

Sherman described it as “an emotional day” and referenced how difficult it was when he and Moore ran into franchise cornerstone, star catcher and former World Series MVP Salvador Perez in the hallway on their way to the interview room to make the announcement.

Sherman also recognized Moore as having had an immensely important place in the history of the Royals, crediting him for “resurrecting” the franchise.

But Sherman also referred to a “gap” between where the Royals are and where they expected to be at this stage.

Sherman’s first year running the Royals included the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. He focused his attention on stabilizing the franchise, particularly on the business side, as Major League Baseball played a shortened 60-game season without fans in attendance.

The Royals went 26-34 in 2020.

Heading into 2021, the Royals acquired veteran players Carlos Santana, Michael A. Taylor, Andrew Benintendi and pitcher Mike Minor with an eye on accelerating the team’s development as they waited for a young core of prospects in their farm system to reach the majors.

Last season, the Royals went 74-88, their best record in a full-length season since 2017 (80-82).

With a mix of returning veteran players and young newcomers, such as AL Rookie of the Year candidate Bobby Witt Jr., the Royals believed they were poised for more progress this season.

Instead, they entered Wednesday night’s game 30 games below .500 with a record of 59-89. They’re in fourth place out of five teams in the American League’s Central Division.

While acknowledging there have been individual bright spots, Sherman made clear that he views this season as a regression.

“I think we felt like we were a team that might dance around .500,” Sherman said. “And I don’t know what that range means, but make progress. Dayton always talks in terms of what a championship team looks like. That’s a great conversation, but I’d like to know what a wild card team looks like first.

“If anybody knows, Kansas City Royals fans know: If you can get a wild card slot and you can get in the dance, anything can happen. That’s about keeping our fan base engaged late into the summer and hopeful into October.”

A big factor in Sherman’s timing of Wednesday’s announcement was giving Picollo as much time as possible to hit the ground running with any organizational changes he may want to implement.

Picollo as a different type of leader

While Picollo has been seemingly synonymous with Moore and Moore’s leadership of the Royals’ front office for more than a decade, Sherman sees important differences in their reaspective approaches.

Sherman puts a lot of stock in the fact that Picollo played a key role in the development of the young core of the Royals’ 2015 championship club, as well as the current group, led by Witt, that has been so highly touted across the industry.

“They are both talented baseball people,” Sherman said. “Dayton was the right guy at the right time in 2006. I believe J.J. is the right person this time. They’re different leaders. I think you will see. … I think he’s ready. They’re two different leaders and they have two different styles. I think you’ll see some things (done) differently.”

Moore was known to be loyal almost to a fault when it came to putting his faith in players, coaches, scouts and staff. As a result, he was dogged by criticism that he has been too reluctant to make changes. Some observers have felt that for too long he held onto veteran players with whom the fan base had grown attached — particularly, players from the championship club — instead of being more transactional.

While Sherman certainly didn’t denigrate Moore’s sentimental approach to team-building, he certainly expressed some strong beliefs in how small-market teams should operate.

“This job, from my perspective, is all about evaluating, selecting and developing talent and getting the most out of that talent,” Sherman said. “Selecting can come in the draft. It can come via trade. It can come via free agency. I think for a team like ours, free agency tends not to be the path of choice.”

Picollo has already shown signs that Sherman no doubt appreciated. He served as the point man for the extensive turnover among the major-league 40-man roster and upper levels of the minor leagues this summer.

From June 27 through the trade deadline on Aug. 3, the Royals acquired 13 players from other organizations via trades. That approach appealed to Sherman, who sees roster turnover as inevitable and something well-suited to Picollo’s approach.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘churn,’ because these are athletes,” Sherman said. “But (it’s) building an organization where you have excess talent that would allow you to go get more talent to fill needs and maybe off-setting needs with another team.

“On one hand it’s about development. One one hand it’s about data-drive decision making. On one hand it’s about being willing and trying to upgrade your team all the time.”