Who needs a high payroll? The Royals won with brains instead of cash

It's 1985. Careless Whisper by Wham is the number one song in the country. Gas prices are $1.20 a gallon. The Chicago Bears are jamming to the "Super Bowl Shuffle". And baseball isn't being dominated by teams in the big cities.

In the 80's, the Kansas City Royals were on top of the world. With the likes of George Brett, Dan Quisenberry, and Bret Saberhagen, KC defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games to bring Kansas City their first World Series title in that faithful year of 1985. It marked a simpler time in baseball, before teams in the big cities started to rule the world with the mighty dollar. Then the 90s came. The World Series was cancelled due to greed, free agency became out of control, and the Royals began to lose. I mean, really lose. 

Over the next 28 seasons, the Royals not only failed to get back to baseballs mountaintop, but they also they failed to achieve a single playoff berth. In the 2000s, the franchise fell into a bottomless pit. From 2000-2010, Kansas City averaged just 67 wins per year and were a true representation of the hard knock life that small market franchises had to live with. Every fall, Kanas City had nothing to do except watch teams like the Red Sox, Yankees and the cross-state rival Cardinals participate in the party that their team was once a part of. It was as if Kansas City and New York weren't even playing the same sport. As much as fans cried foul, the calls for financial help remained unanswered, and the losing went on and on. 

As a die-hard Pittsburgh Pirates fan, the similarities between my Bucs and the Royals are extremely striking. Both franchises were successful in the 70s and 80s, and both went into great decline starting in the 90s due in large part to being in small markets. The thing that strikes me most of all is how both teams experienced a revival in the past three years, and both revivals were due to smart front office minds. Neil Huntington has done a phenomenal job in building the Pirates back up into a powerhouse. As good as Huntington is, however, he has yet to win the big one. Early Monday morning, On Sunday, Dayton Moore accomplished that very feat. 

Moore took over as general manager on June 8th, 2006. Unlike so many men in his profession, Dayton had a clue. He understood how to manage the limited resources that he was given. He knew how to draft (Mike Moustakas and  Eric Hosmer were his first two #1 draft choices, while Greg Holland was selected as a hidden gem in the 2008 draft). He understood that for KC to one day be successful, they would need to hold on to many of their young stars, such as Moustakas, Hosmer, Salvador Perez, and Alex Gordon. The thing that I admire most about Dayton Moore is that he did not let his critics change his vision for the future of Royals baseball.

In May of 2010, Trey Hillman was fired as manager. Moore decided to turn to Ned Yost, who had a very pedestrian .477 winning percentage in 6 seasons as mananger of the Millwakue Brewers. It did not look like a special move, but Yost has been the caption of this ship that was saved from sinking, and it can be attributed to Moore seeing something in him that a lot of people did not see. In December that same year,  Moore traded away Zach Grenkie for Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi. The move was a risk, as Grenkie had established himself as one of the best pitchers in the game while none of the players he received in return had proven much. But Moore believed that this was the best thing for the franchise, and five years leader, I'd say he's proven himself to be right. Grenkie is a superstar, but Cain and Escobar both played major roles in the Royals success, and were far less expensive than Grenkie. The deal that I give more the most credit for happened over two years later.

After the 2012 season, the Royals were feeling pretty good about their future. All of the young talent that Moore had worked hard to build up was starting to assemble, and 2013 looked to be a year in which KC could potentially make some noise. With this in mind, Moore pulled off a very risky blockbuster deal with the Tampa Bay Rays, sending Will Meyers, along with Jake Odorizzi and Mike Montgomery to Tampa for James Shields, Wade Davis, and Eliot Johnson. Many fans and experts felt that Moore was hurting the future of the team by giving up a prospect as gifted as Meyers, who was almost a consensus choice for 2012 Minor League Player of the Year, as well as Odorzzi, who is a fireballer. Moore had to have known that there would be some backlash to this, but he didn't listen to the critics and did what he felt was the best thing for the franchise. Once again, Dayton was proven to be right.

Meyers only lasted two seasons with the Rays before being traded to the Padres this past winter. As for KC, Shields played a vital role in getting the Royals to the World Series in 2014 as the ace of the pitching staff, before departing via free agency that winter, and Davis has become one of the nastiest and best relievers in the game. I remember when this trade took place, and I felt at the time that Dayton Moore was an idiot. I was wrong, Dayton was right, and this is why I am writing about baseball teams as opposed to running them. I remember a time when Moore was thought of to be a joke, and I bought into that idea just like so many others, as it was hard not to considering how awful the Royals were throughout his first 6 and 1/2 seasons on the job. Early Monday morning, Dayton officially completed his transition from chump to champ, and I could not be happier for the guy.

One thing that made this World Series special for me was that both teams were  the brainchild of a smart GM. Even though the New York Mets are a large market team, their General Manager, Sandy Alderson, did an admirable job of turning absolutely nothing into a big-time something by drafting well and building up his farm system. It was a joy to watch two teams that did not go crazy in the free agent market battle it out for the game's greatest prize, and it is very strong evidence that the big market teams do not rule this game anymore.

Considering that the Royals were the AL equivalent to my Pirates for several years, I know a lot of my fellow Bucco fans must be agitated that Kansas City got a title before Pittsburgh could. While I understand the disappointment, I think that this should be looked at by all fans as a major victory for baseball. The Kansas City Royals are proof that big thinking can often be more valuable than big spending. As for Dayton Moore, he finally has his trophy that represents nearly a decade of work. Although he might not get the credit that guys such as Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez do, he is very deserving of it. Moore has done something that Billy Beane and Andrew Friedman, two of the most celebrated small market GM's, have yet to achieve, and it is a testament to his conquering of the ultimate rebuilding project.

So in conclusion, I would like to say congratulations to Dayton Moore, Ned Yost and the rest of the Kansas City Royals organization and fans. You deserve this, and may my Bucs join you ASAP.