Report: Royals To Promote Moore and Picollo, Hold Press Conference Tuesday
On Tuesday morning, Kansas City Royals issued a release priming the media for a press conference at 2:00 p.m. to go over "several items pertaining to the organization." This conference was set to include general manager Dayton Moore and team owner John Sherman. Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that the reason is a positive one: internal promotions.
It was later reported by Mark Feinsand of MLB.com that Moore is slated to become the Royals' new president of baseball operations, while Picollo takes his place as general manager. There had been rumblings of such a series of moves being possible in the past, but things appear to be crystalizing as the 2021 campaign comes to a close.
What does this mean for the Royals?
In all honesty, while the promotions for Moore and Picollo are great, they may not spark the level of change that many anticipate. Moore is as trusted as anyone within the Royals organization and is 15 years into his current job as general manager. Picollo has been Moore's assistant since 2015. On a day-to-day basis, I wouldn't expect that too many things will differ in terms of club operations, transactions, philosophy and the like. With that said, this move seems like it's more about Picollo than Moore.
Picollo has long been a rumored target for other MLB teams as a potential general manager. As the Royals enter a new era of baseball behind a ton of youth, keeping him around and in a leadership position is essential. By promoting Moore, that opens a spot for one of the smartest baseball minds employed by the franchise. It's a win-win scenario not only for Moore and Picollo, but the Royals as a whole.
Noon Update: Per Sam Mellinger of The Kansas City Star, Sherman is expected to also talk about a potential downtown stadium concept. This idea has been floated around by many for years, but hearing some thoughts from the uppermost member of the Royals organization will add a ton of fuel to that fire.
