KANSAS CITY — Flirting with 100 losses for the third time in five seasons, Royals owner John Sherman dismissed president of baseball operations Dayton Moore on Wednesday. It was an emotional decision, but not totally an unexpected one. Moore, 55, was the architect of the 2015 World Series champions, the man who arrived in town in 2006 and resuscitated a dormant franchise in the heartland, painstakingly constructing a champion in one of the sport’s smallest markets and bringing baseball back to life in Kansas City. He also was an executive who had overseen just three winning seasons in 16 years — and whose latest attempt at building a sustained winner had yet to fully launch.
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What was slightly more surprising, however, was that Sherman fired Moore and decided to replace him with his top lieutenant, J.J. Picollo, a longtime assistant general manager who was promoted to general manager late in 2021. Yet if you were searching for a reason why Sherman was ready to move on from Moore and put his trust in another member of the same front office, you just had to listen to Sherman address reporters Wednesday afternoon.
“On one hand, it’s about development,” Sherman said. “On one hand, it’s about data-driven decision-making. On one hand, it’s about being willing and trying to upgrade your team all the time.”
In short, Sherman is looking for a top executive who will make tough decisions in reshaping the organization’s player development system — particularly on the pitching side — who will lean more heavily on the club’s growing analytics department, and who will be more proactive in the trade market and transactional in assembling a roster. Sherman, who was previously a minority owner in Cleveland, pointed to a number of small-market franchises whose methods and styles he hoped to model.
“I do have some admiration for what the group has been able to do in Cleveland, particularly in pitching development,” Sherman said. “But it’s not just that. You think about Tampa. Oakland was there; they’re going through some other issues (now). Milwaukee has been a team that I think has been innovative.
“But it’s not just about player development. It’s also about your willingness to change your players. I don’t want to use the word ‘churn,’ because these are athletes. But I mean building an organization where you have excess talent that would allow you to go get more talent to fill needs.”
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It’s worth pointing out that none of those clubs have yet been able to win a World Series, which Moore’s front office did while winning back-to-back pennants in 2014 and 2015. But while Moore often talked about becoming more “transactional” — especially after Sherman purchased the team from David Glass in 2019 — he was never quite able to do it, often appearing to lean on the tenets of loyalty and culture that laid the foundation for his turnaround in Kansas City. Nor was Moore able to convince Sherman that he could become more pliable in a changing baseball world, one dominated by tech, data and new methods of player development. On Wednesday, Sherman signaled that Picollo, 51, was better suited to guide the club as it embarked on a necessary evolution.
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“Dayton was the right guy at the right time in 2006,” Sherman said. “But I believe J.J. is the right person this time. They’re different leaders, and I would answer that question this way: Let’s let J.J. go to work.”
Like Moore, Picollo came of age in baseball as an area scouting supervisor in the Braves system, learning at the foot of John Schuerholz before eventually following Moore to Kansas City in 2006. He served as the club’s assistant general manager for scouting and player development from 2008 to 2015; as a vice president for player personnel from 2015 to 2021; and he was elevated to general manager last year when Moore was promoted to team president. But as the Royals’ organization changed to reflect a changing game, Picollo also became more involved in the analytical side of the sport, helping the Royals make inroads in technology and reshaping their player development processes in 2019. When Sherman arrived in 2019, it soon became clear that Picollo’s style was more simpatico to that of the new owner.
The changes on the pitching side have yet to bear considerable fruit, which is the primary reason the club is looking up at three teams in the American League Central and has been surpassed by other rebuilding clubs (Baltimore, Seattle) in the AL pecking order. But Sherman on Wednesday pointed to the progress on the club’s hitting side, crediting Picollo with the hiring of hitting coordinator Drew Saylor, a rising star whose style would fall more on the analytical side of the spectrum. Sherman was also pleased with Picollo’s moves at the trade deadline, which he took the lead on before getting final approval from Moore.
“Whether it was Dayton or others, I felt like we needed to make more change than maybe was being talked about,” Sherman said. “And that was a big part of why we’re making this change.”
Picollo did not speak to reporters Wednesday. He is expected to hold his first news conference later in the week. He will have many tough decisions to make, including a decision on the future of Mike Matheny, the Royals’ third-year manager. Matheny’s original hiring was due, in part, to his relationship with Moore, which could suggest a managerial search will be next on the club’s agenda.
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That will come later. By elevating Picollo, Sherman signaled that he is still an owner who believes in the proper balance between scouting and data, between the human components of the sport and the need for innovation. The Royals will be able to keep much of their front office infrastructure in place while addressing the areas in most need. They will likely look hard when evaluating their major-league staff. They could look to make front-office additions from other clubs. But perhaps most of all, expect Picollo to offer more influence to Daniel Mack, the Royals’ assistant general manager for research and development. The Royals have all the data they need, Sherman said. Now they need to figure out better ways to implement it.
“It’s really using it in the proper way and making it prominent when you’re having decisions about people and systems and other things,” Sherman said.
To emphasize his point, he added: “Anecdotes are fine. But I really want to see what’s underneath those stories.”
The Royals, in other words, are embarking on a new chapter, one not defined by radical changes but rather by pragmatic alterations. Moore left his own legacy in Kansas City, one highlighted by a World Series flag flying above Kauffman Stadium and an Urban Youth Academy near downtown dedicated to growing the sport of baseball in underserved communities. But after another losing season, and after conversations with both Moore and Picollo earlier this week, Sherman was ready to make a change.
“Everything that makes Kansas City special is what we’ve always tried to represent,” Moore said Wednesday, addressing reporters at Kauffman Stadium. “And I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished here. I’m very proud of our culture, and 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’s more than prepared to lead the baseball operations department in a very innovative and productive way.”
Yes, it’s a new era for the Royals, who are attempting to maintain their culture while adapting their methods.
It’s now up to Picollo to make it work.
(Photo of J.J. Picollo: Colin E. Braley / Associated Press)
