KC Royals: Groundhog Day Do Overs For Dayton Moore

Oct 23, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

2). Signing The Clubhouse Cancer

In 2007, new general manager Dayton Moore was determined to land an impact power bat in his first winter running the Kansas City Royals. Newly empowered with money from previously skinflint owner David Glass, Moore chased after Torii Hunter and Andruw Jones.

Unable to land those name stars in free-agency and money burning a hole in his pocket at the winter meetings, Moore settled for former Mariners outfielder Jose Guillen. Guillen signed for three-years, and $36 million—which was a significant deal at the time.

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What a disaster.

Guillen had hit .290/.353/.460 with 23 home runs and 99 RBIs in 2007 with the Mariners in his age 31 season. If you squinted, I guess you could have considered him an impact bat. But, many pundits correctly identified Guillen as fool’s gold.

Guillen promptly was suspended by major-league baseball in February for the first 15 games of the 2008 season for PEDs violations.

Guillen’s time in Kansas City didn’t get any better in the months that followed.

Jose Guillen proclaimed that the KC Royals had “too many babies” by the end of May. In early July, his argument with pitching coach Bob McClure hit the media.

Not only did Guillen fail to produce, hitting .256/.308/.420 for an OPS+ of 94 (6% below a league average hitter) in three KC seasons, Guillen disrupted the clubhouse.

See the picture of a happy team above? That scene wasn’t happening as long as Jose Guillen had a locker.

Next: Hiring The Bush-League Manager