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The Kansas City Royals locked up two key leaders in their organization Thursday, announcing contract extensions for manager Ned Yost and executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager Dayton Moore.

Andrew Simon reported the news for the Royals’ official website, indicating that the length of Moore’s new deal isn’t yet known, but that Yost’s extension goes through the 2018 season.

Royals president Dan Glass commented on the decision to extend Moore, via the news release:

You can’t find an individual with a stronger work ethic or dedication to his craft than Dayton Moore. He possesses all of the qualities you look for starting with his leadership, to organizational vision and tireless dedication to the position. Dayton also possesses the ability to get everyone working toward the same common goal, which is to strive daily to make this organization better.

Moore has done a tremendous job constructing a championship roster for the Royals, who appeared in the past two World Series and hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy this past year. He has been in Kansas City’s front office since 2006 and has cemented an indefinite tenure.

“It’s a privilege to continue to represent the Glass family, our organization and the great fans as the general manager of the Kansas City Royals,” said Moore, via Simon. “I’m proud of the culture and it’s an honor to work alongside so many talented and dedicated people within this organization.”

But Yost was the clubhouse catalyst who helped the Royals take the next step. The skipper shepherded a burgeoning young core into a juggernaut contender.

The duration of Yost’s new deal is in line with how long he believes Kansas City can remain a factor in the Fall Classic picture.

“You work so hard as a group to develop a winner, and it’s hard to leave while they still have an opportunity to win,” Yost said, via the Kansas City Star‘s Rustin Dodd. “We feel like we’ve got that opportunity [to win] for the next three years.”

ESPN Stats & Info highlighted how magnificent Yost has been when it counts most:

“We are extremely delighted that Ned will remain our manager through at least the 2018 championship season,” Moore said of Yost, via Simon. “It’s an absolute joy and honor to work alongside him.”

Part of the reason Moore’s vision for the club came to fruition in the form of a World Series crown was his patience with Yost, whose time in the Kansas City dugout began with three losing seasons. 

Instead of making a rash decision to fire him based on the lack of bottom-line results, Moore stuck with a manager who hadn’t made the playoffs in six prior years with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Their partnership has appropriately been extended at the same time, presenting an exemplary, unified front for the reigning World Series champions.

Although Moore and Co. weren’t able to retain marquee starting pitcher Johnny Cueto in free agency, Kansas City still has much of its nucleus intact. That should help its efforts to guard the Commissioner’s Trophy in 2016, though Odds Shark lists the Royals with 16-1 odds to do so, behind six other clubs.

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When Kansas City Royals General Manager Dayton Moore took over back in 2006, the organization was going in a downward spiral with nowhere to go but up.

In his first full season in KC, the team lost 100 games and once again finished in the cellar of the AL Central division.

Moore, the former Atlanta Braves scout, got to see firsthand why this team has been the laughingstock of major league baseball for over two decades.

A self-proclaimed Royals fan since he was young, Moore vowed that he would bring back this struggling franchise to the glory days that it once enjoyed so long ago.

Fast-forward a few years to a couple months before the 2011 regular season begins.

After four dreadful losing seasons and two more manager changes, the Royals are still one of the worst teams in baseball.

But this time, there is actually some hope for an organization that has had just one winning season in the last 25 years.

I’m referring to the recently No. 1-ranked Royals farm system that was announced by Baseball America last month.

With can’t-miss prospects like Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer and Mike Montgomery moving their way up the minor league ladder, suddenly KC has a good chance to turn things around.

But haven’t we heard this story before?

The Royals have brought up some solid players through the minor league system over the years, including names like Johnny Damon, Carlos Beltran and Jermaine Dye.

We all remember what happened to those star players: They were all traded away because of the almighty dollar.

Why should we be convinced that this won’t happen to some of the current prospects, after they have success at the big league level?

The difference this time is there are several guys on the Royals’ minor league teams who are committed to winning in Kansas City, not just one or two here and there like in the past.

It seems like for the first time in ages, the Royals brass has got it right.

Not only are they responsible for putting together the best farm system in baseball, but they have also drafted several players who are leaders on the diamond.

Take for instance Royals third-basemen of the future and reigning minor league player of the year, Mike Moustakas.

It was reported that “Moose,” as many in the organization call him, once jumped all over a teammate for supposedly throwing a fit in the locker room. The word on the street was there were no future problems with that particular teammate after that incident.

This is the kind of leadership that Dayton Moore has wanted on his Royals team since he arrived in the city of fountains nearly five years ago.

Moore’s plan is finally coming to fruition; a gaze into the organization’s future shows an unlimited amount of talented prospects and a potential contending major league team for years to come.

Until then, we will just have to wait and enjoy the view from here.

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The Oakland A’s acquired David DeJesus from the Kansas City Royals for right-hander Vin Mazzaro and left-hander Justin Marks, the teams announced today. Royals GM Dayton Moore says Mazzaro will join the team’s rotation, and Marks will start the season at high Class A Wilmington.

Mazzaro, 24, posted a 4.27 ERA in 122 1/3 innings for the A’s this year, with 5.8 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9. He became expendable when Oakland won the bidding for Japanese right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma earlier in the week.

If the A’s reach a deal with Iwakuma, he’ll join Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez and Dallas Braden in the team’s rotation.

DeJesus batted .318/.384/.443 in 394 plate appearances this year, but he missed the final two months of the season because he required surgery on his right thumb.

The 30-year-old, who has spent all of his eight-year career with the Royals, has experience in left, center and right field. He joins Rajai Davis, Coco Crisp, Ryan Sweeney, Conor Jackson and Jack Cust in a crowded Oakland outfield that could clear up if Jackson and Cust are traded or non-tendered.

Marks, 22, posted a 4.87 ERA as a starter in the lower minors in 2010. The 2009 third-rounder posted 9.5 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9, as he picked up his first significant experience as a pro.

DeJesus will earn $6 million in 2011 and qualify for free agency after the season. Mazzaro may qualify for arbitration as a Super Two next winter, but he is cheap for now and won’t hit free agency until after the 2015 campaign.

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Dear Dayton,

I have been a Royals fan for nearly my entire life of 22 years. I have heard many stories of how the Royals used to be a dominant AL team, and how George Brett just took over the game of baseball with his amazing ability to hit.

However, this has not been the case since I have been on the earth. We have had one winning season (2003) since I was born, and most fans, like myself, even agreed that that year’s team was a fluke.

You came here in 2006 and promised to get Kansas City back on track to winning baseball. So far, no one has seen this yet.

Now I understand that there are some issues that you have had to deal with since becoming the GM of this baseball team.

Your boss, David Glass, is one of the cheapest owners in baseball and has shown time and time again that he is not willing to spend much to bring championships back to KC.

Sadly, as everyone around baseball knows these days, you either have to fork out a large sum of money, or develop a strong farm system in order to have success at the major league level.

I realize that many scouts and experts agree that we have one of these two things going for us with our recent splurge of minor league talent. This could very well be the case, but I, like many others, still am not convinced until we see this plethora of young talent become something good at the next level.

You could also make the argument that you haven’t had enough time in KC for many of your draft picks to make their way up yet. This is also true, but the truth lies within the facts.

In your first draft as Royals GM, you selected Luke Hochevar, who hasn’t panned out with a 5.00-plus career ERA. That’s not very good for a team’s first overall pick, let alone the first overall pick in the entire draft.

Let’s not forget that you passed on future All-Star Evan Longoria, and future Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum in that same draft as well.

Let’s go to the 2008 draft, where you selected high school star Eric Hosmer when you could have gone with Buster Posey, who is a favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year this season.

I also saw you type in a live chat through MLB.com during 2009 that Hosmer is going to be a mainstay in the major leagues for years to come. I hope this is the case, Dayton, for him and many of the other young prospects who are getting better with every year.

If a good majority of these guys don’t end up making an impact, your job is as good as gone.

On another note, please stop signing washed-up free agents to huge contracts. Kansas City already had players like Neifi Perez and Chuck Knoblauch before you came into town.

Since you have come to Kansas City, you have brought in one of the worst character players in team history in Jose Guillen. You have also signed a largely mediocre starting pitcher in Gil Meche, and all he has done is have a couple decent seasons and been injured practically the entire rest of the time.

However, not all of your signings have been bad, as you stole Joakim Soria from the Padres, and he has turned into one of the best closers in the league. You also locked up Zack Greinke to a multi-year deal, and at the time, it was a great move to make.

The bottom line is we as Royals fans are growing very impatient and badly want to see some good baseball in this town again. We have been the laughingstock of this league too long to continue to accept the weak product that has been thrown on the field over the last 20-plus years.

It’s time for a change, and you are the man that can make this happen. Good luck Mr. Moore.

Sincerely,

One Very Disappointed Royals Fan

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The New York Mets Jeff Francoeur has gone public with his demands for a trade. 

The outfielder has long been miscast as a starter in the NL, and he will be very unlikely to find a team that will guarantee him regular playing time.

His feelings were apparently hurt by having to platoon with Fernando Martinez. He has issued the following statement through his publicist: 

“We want to play every day,” Francoeur’s agent, Molly Fletcher, told the Newark Star-Ledger. “We prefer to play in New York. But if we’re not going to play every day in New York, we absolutely welcome the opportunity to play every day somewhere else.”

And this overconfidence is based on what?

To be honest, Francoeur suffers from what a lot of major league players suffer from, and that is that their talent and production on the field don’t match the ego created, in large part, by high school, college and minor league coaches who have consistently told them how great they are.

Well, here is a shocker, Jeff—you are not good at consistently hitting a baseball, my friend.

Francoeur has struggled after a good start, posting numbers (.241, 11 HR, 47 RBI) strikingly similar to those he produced in Atlanta. Yet after he was benched Saturday, Francoeur made the team aware of his displeasure, according to the Star-Ledger.

“I show up and if my name’s in the lineup, I’m playing,” Francoeur told the paper. “That’s pretty much all I have to say.”

Amazingly, he makes $5 million and is eligible for arbitration following the season. Some have speculated that Royals General Manager Dayton Moore may be interested in the outfielder. But if he is, I am sure it is at a much-reduced price.

In 812 major league games, Francoeur has a .309 OBP. He has been caught stealing almost as many times as he has attempted to swipe a base in his career.

He is hitting lefties at a .318 clip this season, so he may be useful as a platoon player, but remember that he is not happy in that role.

This is a guy who has posted an OBP of less than .300 in four full seasons, yet he clings to the unrealistic hope that he is an everyday player.

Even in his best season in 2006, before there was steroid testing, he may have hit 29 homers and driven in 103 runs, but he got on base less than 30 percent of the time.

His defense is about average, despite a strong arm. His potential usefulness as a part-time player is negated by his desire to play every day, the fact that his salary his high, and the fact that the Mets probably want something useful in return.

But Mr. Moore has a penchant for ex-Brave prospects, so he may just be the guy to overvalue Francoeur to the point where he actually thinks he can play every day.

If so, then the joke is on him.

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