Post by Commish KC-GM on Nov 9, 2008 2:09:10 GMT -5
Royal Renaissance
by: Jayson Stark
I recently had a sitdown with new General Manager of the Kansas City Royals, George Brett. After a flury of moves, he has brought interest back to the Royals organization for long suffering Royal fans.
Stark : So George, why did you take the job with the Royals?
Brett: Well Jayson, it is home. I dedicated my playing career to bringing a championship to this organization. Now I am committed to bringing a championship from the front office.
Stark: You definately have turned some heads with the furious dismantling of the team you inherited. Chaotic turnover or did you have a plan?
Brett: Well I spent the first couple of days digesting what it was we had here. We had some pretty good talent at the top of the roster, but I noticed a trend I did not like. They were all soon to be free agents. That meant that our salary structure would be blown up in this upcoming offseason if we tried to retain all these guys. If we did resign them all, were we going to be better? No pretty much status quo, and that is not winning a championship. Not worth blowing the budget for mediocrity.
Stark: I don't get it though, you traded Damon, Beltran, Dye, Rosado and Suppan and obtained prospects, only to trade all them again for more polished young guys that can play now. Why the change of direction?
Brett: Well Jayson, we didn't have a change of direction. When I decided to dismantle the team and rebuild it, I knew I had to trade off the top talent. But the number of suitors for that top talent that would be willing to give equal top talent back at affordable prices would be limited. I knew if I could aquire gobs of top notch prospects for those talented players, a. there are still lots of teams competing for playoff spots b. those teams all prefer to trade prospects for big league talent now. This created some small bidding wars. We got some major prospects back.
Stark: But then you traded those guys?
Brett: That was the plan. It would take me a few weeks or even months to trade the talent I inherited, by the time I got rid of those guys and brought in prospects, the season schedule would have brought reality to many organizations that they are not competing this year. Now we have teams looking to dump for prospects, which is what we were rich with. We then targeted guys with fairly high ceilings but that were already developed into high 70's or low 80's OVR's, AND were a few years from arbitration. These are guys that should continue to grow over the next couple of years, while having salary control. The goal was to aquire a roster ready to compete in the next couple years instead of 5 years down the road and be under 20 million.
Stark: So how does Shawn Green fit into that scenario?
Brett: We were able to target Green since we were way under budget. After we obtained Green from the Dodgers along with Gil Meche, we still only just went over 17 million for the roster. Green gives us a power bat for right field which we needed, and a veteran presence that is not too old for the young guys. Green was a lucky haul for us, because he had a no trade clause that the Royals happened to be listed as a place he would be willing to go. I knew the competition to get Green was going to be small, and it allowed us to go get Meche in the deal too. We ended up parting with some very talented prospects in that deal, but we will be a much improved team in 2001, and the goal is to make the playoffs in 2002 before all these young guys start hitting free agency. I will have to make some major decisions on who I keep and who I let go unless some sort of revenue sharing plan goes into effect. The owners have threatened to move the franchise to San Jose, it is my job to restore interest in the Kansas City area, make the Royals a viable franchise that can keep all of their own free agents, and who knows, maybe an I-70 World Series with the Cardinals in 2002.
Stark: Well the plan is laid out. I will admit, Clement, Wang, Westbrook, Meche is a lot better rotation than Rosado, Suppan, Laxton, and Reichert.
Brett: Also for less than half the cost.
Stark: Good point.
Brett: I do like the long term viability of Drew, Sweeney, Green, Casey Blake, Luke Scott, Mark Quinn, and with Yunel Escobar coming in a couple years, there is hope.
Stark: Well George, it looks like you had a plan, executed it to the best of your ability, what now? are you done trading?
Brett: Well I will never close the door on trading, we will listen to offers, but I dont see us being movers and shakers today at the deadline. We have long term guys at every position but catcher, we have cost certainty in the roster, and we have talent that is still maturing. It is going to be a lot of fun for the Royals fans over the next few years. We still have a long way to go to catch the Indians and Twins, but we are on the right path.
Stark: Thank you for sitting down today with me George, good luck with the Royals, and we'll be watching you.
Brett: Thanks Jayson
by: Jayson Stark
I recently had a sitdown with new General Manager of the Kansas City Royals, George Brett. After a flury of moves, he has brought interest back to the Royals organization for long suffering Royal fans.
Stark : So George, why did you take the job with the Royals?
Brett: Well Jayson, it is home. I dedicated my playing career to bringing a championship to this organization. Now I am committed to bringing a championship from the front office.
Stark: You definately have turned some heads with the furious dismantling of the team you inherited. Chaotic turnover or did you have a plan?
Brett: Well I spent the first couple of days digesting what it was we had here. We had some pretty good talent at the top of the roster, but I noticed a trend I did not like. They were all soon to be free agents. That meant that our salary structure would be blown up in this upcoming offseason if we tried to retain all these guys. If we did resign them all, were we going to be better? No pretty much status quo, and that is not winning a championship. Not worth blowing the budget for mediocrity.
Stark: I don't get it though, you traded Damon, Beltran, Dye, Rosado and Suppan and obtained prospects, only to trade all them again for more polished young guys that can play now. Why the change of direction?
Brett: Well Jayson, we didn't have a change of direction. When I decided to dismantle the team and rebuild it, I knew I had to trade off the top talent. But the number of suitors for that top talent that would be willing to give equal top talent back at affordable prices would be limited. I knew if I could aquire gobs of top notch prospects for those talented players, a. there are still lots of teams competing for playoff spots b. those teams all prefer to trade prospects for big league talent now. This created some small bidding wars. We got some major prospects back.
Stark: But then you traded those guys?
Brett: That was the plan. It would take me a few weeks or even months to trade the talent I inherited, by the time I got rid of those guys and brought in prospects, the season schedule would have brought reality to many organizations that they are not competing this year. Now we have teams looking to dump for prospects, which is what we were rich with. We then targeted guys with fairly high ceilings but that were already developed into high 70's or low 80's OVR's, AND were a few years from arbitration. These are guys that should continue to grow over the next couple of years, while having salary control. The goal was to aquire a roster ready to compete in the next couple years instead of 5 years down the road and be under 20 million.
Stark: So how does Shawn Green fit into that scenario?
Brett: We were able to target Green since we were way under budget. After we obtained Green from the Dodgers along with Gil Meche, we still only just went over 17 million for the roster. Green gives us a power bat for right field which we needed, and a veteran presence that is not too old for the young guys. Green was a lucky haul for us, because he had a no trade clause that the Royals happened to be listed as a place he would be willing to go. I knew the competition to get Green was going to be small, and it allowed us to go get Meche in the deal too. We ended up parting with some very talented prospects in that deal, but we will be a much improved team in 2001, and the goal is to make the playoffs in 2002 before all these young guys start hitting free agency. I will have to make some major decisions on who I keep and who I let go unless some sort of revenue sharing plan goes into effect. The owners have threatened to move the franchise to San Jose, it is my job to restore interest in the Kansas City area, make the Royals a viable franchise that can keep all of their own free agents, and who knows, maybe an I-70 World Series with the Cardinals in 2002.
Stark: Well the plan is laid out. I will admit, Clement, Wang, Westbrook, Meche is a lot better rotation than Rosado, Suppan, Laxton, and Reichert.
Brett: Also for less than half the cost.
Stark: Good point.
Brett: I do like the long term viability of Drew, Sweeney, Green, Casey Blake, Luke Scott, Mark Quinn, and with Yunel Escobar coming in a couple years, there is hope.
Stark: Well George, it looks like you had a plan, executed it to the best of your ability, what now? are you done trading?
Brett: Well I will never close the door on trading, we will listen to offers, but I dont see us being movers and shakers today at the deadline. We have long term guys at every position but catcher, we have cost certainty in the roster, and we have talent that is still maturing. It is going to be a lot of fun for the Royals fans over the next few years. We still have a long way to go to catch the Indians and Twins, but we are on the right path.
Stark: Thank you for sitting down today with me George, good luck with the Royals, and we'll be watching you.
Brett: Thanks Jayson