Whit Merrifield Trade Postscript: Dayton Moore Playing Favorites Ruins Kansas City Royals

This insight into front office politics offers stunning insight into the struggles of the home team and their questionable leadership strategies.

Here's the word . . .

"One of the consistent themes of the Royals front office ever since Dayton Moore was hired in 2006 has been the existence of “in” guys and “out” guys. For no apparent reason, some players kept getting playing time regardless of on-field results, and others kept showing that they deserved more of a shot than they ever got.

"Merrifield is unique in that, to his career’s detriment, he has firmly been on both sides of that line. Merrifield was ready for the big leagues in 2014, when he hit .340/.373/.474 in Triple-A as a 25-year-old. All the skills he would show in the big leagues were there: low strikeout rate, high contact rate, doubles power, and deadly speed."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Remembering Whit Merrifield, who the Royals mismanaged from the beginning

The Whit Merrifield story begins on July 8, 2015. Or, to be more accurate, it should have began on July 8, 2015. After barely losing in the final game of the 2014 World Series, the 2015 Kansas City Royals were on a mission: run it back, but win it all.