And if you missed that, you must not be following @FireDaytonMoore so you should probably remedy that. Anyway, it later occurred to me I'm probably being too harsh on poor ole Dayton.
I mean, forget Davis' league-worst 5.92 ERA among qualified starters (yes, by the most liberal of definitions, Davis is a "qualified" starter). Forget Davies' 5.34 career ERA with the Royals over five seasons and 531 innings (yes, one of the worst starters in the history of the game lasted that long under Moore's watch). Forget Mazzaro's 6.72 ERA in two seasons with the Royals (after years with David DeJesus as the Royals' "best player" that is all they wound up with the show for it). Forget Hochevar's 5.45 ERA from 2008-2012 (No. 1 overall pick, everybody). And forget Sanchez's 7.76 ERA in 12 starts with the Royals in 2012. Forget that at least one of those five pitchers has been starting games for the Royals every year since 2007 even though, you'd think, Moore would have stopped pursuing such pitchers by like 2010.
Forget all that.
It's not fair to point out all those complete and pathetically utter failures on Moore's part and not bring to light the successes.
Sanchez began his career as a middle reliever and was slightly less implodable. Hochevar has a 2.00 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 36 innings as a middle reliever this season and, although most of those inning have been low leverage, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal writes he's the Royals' best trade chip. Mazzaro has a 2.62 ERA in 44 2/3 innings this season for the Pirates in a middle relief role. Davies' last success came out of the bullpen in 2011 (in Triple-A — he never experienced Major League success). Davis' one year of positive contribution in Tampa Bay came as a reliever in 2012, posting a 2.43 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 70 1/3 innings.
So there you have it! Dayton Moore may be the worst general manager in all of sports — by leaps and bounds — but he does have a hidden talent. He has no equal when it comes to finding pitchers that are useless as starting pitches, but above average as relievers.
And perhaps that explains why Moore is so stubbornly refusing to part with Ervin Santana.
Amid some criticism last October, Moore acquired Santana for Brandon Sisk. Seeing how Santana was entering the last year of his contract, it wasn't the boldest of moves. However, Santana was coming off arguably the worst season of his career, so expectations were low, to say the least.
Nine months later, Santana has exceeded all expectations and proven to be an ideal No. 2 behind James Shields, spoiled only by the fact Moore neglected to fill out the rest of the rotation, let alone the lineup.
So from Moore's perspective, certainly he must be aware 99 percent of the moves he's made with the Royals have flopped. Throwing back the one catch he reeled in worth celebrating probably isn't easy.
Probably isn't easy for Moore, that is.
Billy Beane built a mini-empire trading prospects like Brandon Sisk for players like Ervin Santana only to turn around months later and cash in such a player for a collection of prospects or a younger player under team control. It's simple economics.
Former GM and current ESPN analyst Jim Bowden puts it simply:
Santana's on the mound again tonight against a great Orioles offense. If he shuts them down, his value will continue to climb. And, as I wrote last time, if Moore plays his cards right as July 31 approaches, he should land a few prospects on par with what the Cubs received for Matt Garza.
And I did just read a Tweet from Rosenthal that said the Royals are willing to listen to offers for Santana. I suppose that's encouraging. I can only imagine how many middle relievers Santana is worth.
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