The Royals have appeared in the last two World Series, but even before winning last year's and becoming the source of "such rampant replication" across MLB, Senior VP/Baseball Operations & GM Dayton Moore "earned the respect of his underlings with his patience and his lack of pretension," according to Anthony Castrovince of SPORTS ON EARTH. Moore "delegates, and this is a concept that's more rare than it ought to be." Scouts "run the scouting meetings," and coaches "run the coaches meetings." Moore views his role "not as the organization's czar but its caretaker." Moore: "These things work better the less the front office is involved. There has to be structure, an authority figure, somebody who will press the leadership button with conviction once they are ready to move forward" (SPORTSONEARTH.com, 3/14).
TIGERS' WAY: USA TODAY'S Bob Nightengale notes new Tigers Exec VP/Baseball Operations & GM Al Avila is "beloved by his peers for his easygoing personality," and "respected by players for his baseball acumen." Avila, heading into his first full season as GM, has "added an analytics department," hired three major league scouts and an "international cross checker." The team is also going to "build an academy in the Dominican Republic," and "pursue all of the top dogs in the international market." In addition, the team is "going to develop a manual that will be called 'The Tigers' Way of Playing Baseball,' a nod" to Avila's father's roots in the Dodgers system (USA TODAY, 3/15).
NATIONAL TREASURE? In DC, Thom Loverro wrote Nationals President of Baseball Operations & GM Mike Rizzo's tenure "has been a remarkable success," no matter "what metric or debate you want to go by." The Nationals "have the fourth-highest win total in baseball" since '11 and the "third highest" since '12. Yet Rizzo's future "is on the line this June" when Nationals Managing Principal Owner Ted Lerner "will have the decision whether or not to pick up an option on his contract that would keep him on board" through '17. Loverro wrote the Lerners "need to send a message to the industry and Nationals fans that they are all in on the continued credibility and success of this franchise" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 3/13).
