As ESPN's Keith Law just unveiled his organizational rankings with the Royals at the top of the list, it becomes just the latest cherry on top of an already loaded dessert for Dayton Moore and his scouting staff. Every baseball publication and website is overly enamored with the Royals minor league system and prospect haul -- and for good reason. With elite arms and power prospects aplenty, the Royals seem as well-suited as any team in baseball for the next several years.
To that end, Dayton Moore has proved his value as a GM in putting the right scouting personnel in place and trusting them to make such smart draft choices and trade acquisitions.
But what happens when those prospects become major league players? What will Dayton Moore do then? Because to this point, Moore's prowess at handling the general manager duties of ML-level trades and free agency has been the opposite of his farm system.
Baseball writers have consistently poked fun of Moore's inability to strike gold at the major league level after doing so well with the minors. Laughable trades for duds at the plate like Mike Jacobs and Jason Kendall have experts laughing before the idea actually looks bad on the field. And the results have often followed the predictions before them. Moore also has a penchant for former Atlanta Braves (his old stomping grounds) and can't seem to get over guys labeled "his."
There's simply a devastating amount of evidence against Moore when analyzing his major league moves to have much hope for the future beyond the natural upswing that comes with adding more talent. The fact is that Moore won't know what to do with it. Trades for Yuniesky Betancourt, his inability to get anything of note for David DeJesus or Mark Teahen, his pursuit of Coco Crisp, Kyle Davies, Joey Gathright or Ryan Shealy -- the list goes on.
The reality is that for every Joakim Soria (Rule V draft from Padres in '06), there are a dozen Jose Guillen, Kyle Farnsworth or Juan Cruz signings.
Perhaps the ship will right itself with experience, but the discrepancy between Moore's two sides is not only perplexing but frustrating and creates confusion about the future of the Royals.
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