As bad as a situation like this may be, what would you think about this individual if he had made almost the same exact mistake previously, and learned absolutely nothing from the experience?  You might say he was a mad lunatic, hell-bent on self destruction.  You might think he was a subversive implant on a mission to destroy.  You might say his name is Dayton Moore.

Let me take you back a few years to explain how we got to Dayton Moore’s last stand.  No doubt you are aware that Dayton Moore spent the first several years of his administrative baseball career with the Atlanta Braves.  After becoming the Royals General Manager in 2006, he made three trades with his former organization within about a year, sending a couple of guys you never heard of plus Octavio Dotel to the Braves in exchange for another guy you never heard of plus Tony Pena, Jr. and “dum, dum, DUMMMM!” (that’s my weak attempt at ominous movie mood music), Kyle Davies.

You remember Kyle Davies, right?  He’s the guy that many believe is possibly the worst starting pitcher in the history of the major leagues, by a long shot.  And what normally happens when a team brings up a pitcher who goes down in flames on the mound?  If he’s had success in the minors, as Davies did, they’ll probably give him a few chances, several more starts to get accustomed to the speed and talent level in the majors.  If he still isn’t successful, the player will soon be demoted back to AAA or released.  But that’s not what happened with Kyle.

In 2007, Davies came to the Royals in mid-season, pitched 50 innings and posted a 6.66 era.  Let that soak in for a moment – a 6.66 era.  To put that in perspective, the Royals current embarrassing group of starting pitchers all have era’s of 5.50 or less.

What do you think was the result of Davies near historically poor performance in 2007?  Was he chased out of Kauffman and demoted to Omaha?  Was he placed on the waiver wire?  No, he was shockingly rewarded with another season in the Royals rotation.  And another.  And another.  And another, until July 2011 when the Royals finally gave Kyle and his 5.59 lifetime era his walking papers.  And by the way, Luke Hochevar’s lifetime era is 5.29 – don’t get me started.  That will need to be the subject of a future story.

Do you remember how Dayton Moore was mercilessly vilified for his decision to keep running Kyle Davies out to the mound year, after year, after year?  Kyle had only one somewhat promising season in 2008 when he threw for a 4.06 era, and Dayton rode that train of possibility all the way to the end of the line and beyond.  There really is no explanation for the blinders DM wore when reviewing Davies unless you believe he simply could not admit he had made a mistake.  He was like the man who keeps doubling down at the roulette wheel thinking the odds have to land in his favor eventually.

Dayton Moore will need to make a decision soon about Jeff Francoeur (Credit: John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE)

History appears to be repeating itself with Jeff Francoeur.  If you don’t know this already, Frenchy is another product of the Atlanta Braves system that DM is so fond of.  I think Moore believes so strongly that the Braves talent evaluation process is infallible that he refuses to give up on any product of their system until his reluctance to do the right thing drives the Royals fan base to the brink of insanity.

Jeff Francoeur was a first round pick of the Braves in 2002.  He was relatively successful in the minor leagues, although he never lit the world on fire anywhere he went.  He eventually received a call-up to the majors in 2005, as all first round picks eventually do, whether they deserve it or not.

Francoeur has shown flashes of promise, particularly in his 2007 season when he batted .293 with 105 RBIs.   However, “flash” is a particularly accurate description of Frenchy’s talent.  For example, during a couple of his full seasons in the majors, he has batted .239 in 2008, .249 in 2010, and he strikes out a whopping 118 times per year.  Aside from the fact that he may have the greatest outfield arm of our generation, there is very little to like about Francoeur’s performance.  Yes he has a great attitude, yes he is a clubhouse leader, yes he purchases pizza for the fans in the bleachers, yes he had one respectable recent season in a Royals uniform, yada, yada, yada…  But you know what?  That simply isn’t good enough.

Wil Myers will eventually be the Royals right fielder. Well, someday, right? (Credit: Mindy Haas)

I am sick and dang tired of the Royals settling for mediocrity.  If a player isn’t cutting it, then trade him, demote him, or DFA him – I don’t care what you do and I don’t care how much money you’re paying him, just get him off the field.  Particularly when he’s blocking the path of a young stud like Wil Myers.  I know Wil has struggled since the All Star break, but you might struggle too if you had put up super-human numbers, led the minor leagues in home runs and done everything expected of you to receive your call-up, and then the promotion never came because Dayton Moore’s favorite son inexplicably continues to play every day.

Once upon a time, Dayton Moore made a stand with Kyle Davies.  I don’t think any of us truly understand why he did it, or why he didn’t learn anything from the experience.  It appears that he is making another stand now with Jeff Francoeur.  Except this time, based on the teams’ underwhelming performance and lack of any real direction or focus, it could be Dayton Moore’s last stand.

That being the case, I went through and constructed a roster of players made up only of those players the Royals traded at the deadline. For this purpose, I considered a “deadline trade” anything within three weeks of the deadline (prior to 1986, the deadline was June 15 each year).

Warning: Some of the names to follow are painful memories of awful teams, bad deals, and it’s not for the faint of heart:

C – Matt Treanor (1997)

Before his 2011 stint with the Royals, Treanor had been drafted by Kansas City in 1994. On July 29, 1997, the Royals traded him to Florida for left-handed pitcher Matt Whisenant, who made 142 appearances as a Royal with a 5.05 ERA.

1B – Matt Stairs (2006)

Stairs was a part of some of the worst Royals teams ever, hitting 39 homers from 2004 until July 31, 2006 as a Royal. The Royals got right-handed pitcher Jose Diaz from Texas for him. He threw 25 innings in the Royals organization before going to Japan.

2B – Mike Aviles (2011)

July 15, 2012; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox shortstop Mike Aviles (3) hits a 2-run home run in the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Last year, Aviles was struggling with the Royals and his defense was suspect. With Alcides Escobar and Johnny Giavotella around, the Royals found him expendable and sent him to Boston for infielder Yamaico Navarro and right-hander Kendal Volz. Aviles went on to produce a .775 OPS for Boston the rest of the year and started out hot in 2012 as well.

Volz pitched in Double A before retiring earlier this month. Navarro didn’t fit within the organization and had some character problems (he was arrested for a DUI earlier this month) and was flipped to Pittsburgh for Brooks Pounders and Diego Goris.

SS – Rey Sanchez (2001)

Sanchez didn’t have a lot of power, but when he was with the Royals he showed he was fine as a contact hitter and provided solid defense at short. After two years in Kansas City, Sanchez was traded to Atlanta at the deadline in 2001 for minor league outfielder Alejandro Machado and pitcher Brad Voyles.

Machado would be traded in a deadline deal in 2003 for Curtis Leskanic as the Royals found themselves in contention.

3B – Alberto Callaspo (2010)

When he started his Royals career, Callaspo looked like he might develop into a potent bat at second base. In 2009, he hit .300 and had 60 extra base hits. In 2010, his name came up in trade talks and the Royals, with other options to play third base (where Callaspo had played more and more starting that year), they dealt him on July 22, 2010 to the Angels for righty Sean O’Sullivan and lefty Will Smith.

O’Sullivan pitched as a spot starter and long relief guy for the Royals until being traded to the Blue Jays for cash. Will Smith has surfaced as a member of the Royals starting rotation after injuries and solid work in Omaha.

OF – Tom Goodwin (1997)

The Royals grabbed Goodwin off waivers in 1994 and put him in their lineup starting in 1995 where he proceeded to steal 150 bases in two and a half seasons.

On July 25, 1997, they traded him to Texas, getting Dean Palmer in return. This is an example of one of their more successful deadline deals, as Palmer went on to hit .278/.335/.487 in over 200 plate appearances the rest of the year and hit as a Royal in 1998. Goodwin went on to play until 2004, carving out a decent career for himself.

OF – Jose Bautista (2004)

If you blinked in 2004, you missed Bautista’s Royals career. He played a grand 13 games with the Royals in a season where he made appearances for four different big league teams.

He’s in here because he’s a fun name to include – the move a the time was of little significance to anyone. Nobody though he’d go on to lead the American League in homers two years in a row. He wasn’t even a full time player until 2010. On July 30, the Royals sent him to the Mets for an infamous name among Royals fans – Justin Huber.

OF – Jermaine Dye (2001)

Jun 11, 2009; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox right fielder Jermaine Dye (23) before the game against the Detroit Tigers at US Cellular Field. The White Sox won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

Ugh.

That’s almost all you can say about this one, right? The Royals turned a young All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder into Neifi Perez. I don’t even want to talk about this move. It’s too painful. At least in the other notable trades of Johnny Damon and Carlos Beltran, the Royals got something of value (though barely) – Perez is among the worst everyday players in recent memory.

July 25, 2001 is a painful memory.

SP – Kevin Appier (1999)

This one hurts, but after 1998 was lost to shoulder surgery, it doesn’t hurt as much as Dye’s trade. Appier wasn’t the same after the surgery but still ended up in demand at the deadline. On July 31, 1999, the Royals sent him to the A’s for Jeff D’Amico (NOT the former Brewer), Brad Rigby and Blake Stein, all right-handed pitchers.

Appier wasn’t much more effective for the A’s and ended up bouncing around the league before returning to the Royals in late 2003. D’Amico and Rigby both put up ERAs above 9.00 as Royals, though Stein at least approached league average as a pitcher for Kansas City until disappearing from baseball after 2002.

RP – Octavio Dotel (2007)

The Royals signed Dotel to a one-year deal and it wasn’t a surprise when they looked to move him at the deadline in 2007. They put him in 24 games where he earned 11 saves but they didn’t need a closer very much in a year where they lost 93 games and had Rule 5 pick Joakim Soria pitching well enough to take over the role.

Dotel’s time with the Royals is just a blip on his nomadic radar (13 teams in 14 years). For 7.2 innings of work, the Braves sent Kyle Davies to Kansas City on the last day of the month and the rest is history.

Other notable deadline departures:

• Jon Lieber to Pittsburgh (1993)
• Mark Davis to Atlanta (1992)
• Jeremy Affeldt to Colorado (2006)
• Kyle Farnsworth to Atlanta (2010)
• Mike MacDougal to Chicago (2006)
• Wilson Betemit to Detroit (2011)
• Tony Graffanino to Boston (2005)/Tony Graffanino to Milwaukee (2006)
• Buddy Biancalana to Houston (1987)

So, when the Royals began increasing their payroll starting in 2007, it looked like their small market standards might begin including random free agent signings. In one year, the payroll increased from around $47 million to $67 million. Part of that resulted from the Gil Meche and Octavio Dotel signings in the previous offseason. Things kept rolling after that year, as the Royals signed Jose Guillen. The payrolls in the next few years were $58, $70, and $75 million.

Well, unfortunately, money doesn’t directly translate to wins. From 2007-2010, the Royals averaged 69 wins. While better than the three-year stretch before that, it’s not as productive as you would hope. From 2007-2009, the Twins had a comparable or lower payroll and won an average of 85 games. Basically, while the payroll didn’t create as bad of a situation as the Cubs’ did, it was still pretty frustrating.
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