Kansas City Royals: Dayton Moore Sacrificed Bullpen for Home Runs

The Kansas City Royals hit their 169th home run Wednesday night breaking the franchise record set in 1987. The organization made some moves this offseason that helped it set this mark.

The Kansas City Royals seemed to follow a pattern this past offseason. General manager Dayton More followed the advice of Home Improvement‘s Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor and opted for more power.

He chose power over adding speed or helping the bullpen. Moore made a big move trading closer Wade Davis to Chicago for Jorge Soler. Later the Royals would sign Brandon Moss.

How did these moves pan out?

Soler has not had a great 2017, so far. He has spent most of it in Triple-A Omaha. While playing for the Kansas City Royals, he hit .154 with two home runs in 30 games.

Kansas City Royals

This is not what I believe the Royals expected out of him this year. Their plan from the beginning of the year was to start him in right field.

They did but quickly called up Whit Merrifield when Soler was struggling offensively.

Moss was brought in to hit home runs. He has, and that is about it. He struggled the first part of the season, not getting a hit until the fourth game of the year, which happened to be a home run.

That seems to have been his standard approach this season. Moss is currently hitting .199 but has hit 18 home runs.

When he gets a hit, it usually goes to Dong Town. The Royals knew that Moss was streaky, so none of this is really a surprise.

Where has the power come from?

Mike Moustakas has led the Kansas City Royals in home runs all year. Currently, he is tied for the franchise’s single-season home run record with 36. He should claim it for his own this year, but—for now—we watch and wait to see if he can break that record.

The rest of the team has hit pretty well. Eric Hosmer got off to a slow start but is now second in home runs with 23. Salvador Perez is right behind him with 22, including two on Wednesday—one of which set the team single-season record. Moss, as previously mentioned, has 18. Merrifield has been a bit of a surprise, hitting 17 home runs. Jorge Bonifacio has hit 16 and Lorenzo Cain has 14.

Most of the power the Kansas City Royals have had this year has come from what the team already had.

This offseason Moore opted for power over speed, defense and rebuilding the bullpen. He set out to get more home runs this year, and he did.

I know some fans have been frustrated with some of the moves Moore made. But he sought to get more home runs, and that is what the Kansas City Royals have done.

Next: Royals Still in Playoff Picture

What do the fans think? Have the increased home runs helped or hurt the team? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and on social media.