Long before Shields, the 'other blockbuster trade' helped Royals get where they are
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Back when Dayton Moore interviewed for the Royals' general manager job in 2006, he remembers surveying the massive outfield at Kauffman Stadium. And although Moore grew up in Wichita, Kan., and was an avid Royals fan familiar with the stadium, it looked so much different down on the field.
"The outfield ... it's so big," Moore recalls thinking to himself. "It was much bigger than I remembered."
Indeed, Kauffman Stadium's outfield is second in size in all of baseball only to Coors Field in Denver.
"I knew one of the first things we had to do was work on defending all that acreage," Moore says.
And that would require a complete makeover of the team Moore inherited in 2006, a plodding group of players hardly built for Kauffman Stadium.
"We needed speed and we needed to get way more athletic at just about every position," Moore said.
With that, Moore started an emphasis on drafting, trading for and signing players who not only had offensive ability, but also could play defense.
Moore drafted first baseman Eric Hosmer (2008) and third baseman Mike Moustakas (2007) in the first rounds. Catcher Sal Perez (2006) was signed as a non-drafted free agent. Moore envisioned those players in the big leagues by 2011.
And Moore had budding Gold Glover Alex Gordon making the transition to left field.
But there were still major holes to fill up the middle. And that led to the "other blockbuster trade," the one that would become completely overshadowed by the James Shields trade two winters later.
In December 2010, Moore sent disgruntled right-hander Zack Greinke and shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt to Milwaukee for right-handers Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress, outfielder Lorenzo Cain and shortstop Alcides Escobar.
The trade originally was met with lukewarm interest among Royals fans, at least until they started being wowed by the sensational defensive antics of Escobar and Cain.
"That was the trade that really started making us look different athletically," Royals legend George Brett said later. "You could see at that point the direction Dayton was taking us."
Escobar immediately claimed the shortstop position and began dazzling fans with his acrobatic plays in the field.
"He will win a Gold Glove someday," manager Ned Yost said. "He's just too good not to."
And while Escobar has had ups and downs offensively in his four seasons here, he now seems to have found a home at the top of the order. Since Yost moved him there three weeks ago, Escobar has an .896 OPS and the team is 13-6.
Cain struggled to stay healthy his first two seasons with the Royals but became a Gold Glove finalist in 2013. This year he played in a career-high 133 games and hit .301. And surely a Gold Glove awaits now. Fans all over America saw Cain make one breathtaking play after another against the Angels in the American League Division Series.
"He always had the ability," one rival scout said. "He just broke down so much. But when he's healthy, he does a lot for you."
Jeffress, a hard thrower who could touch 100 mph, flamed out with the Royals. But Odorizzi became an instrumental part of Moore's next blockbuster deal in the winter of 2012, the one everyone points to now.
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The Rays, in fact, insisted the Royals include Odorizzi along with Wil Myers as part of the package before shipping Shields and Wade Davis to Kansas City.
"The reason you have players in your farm system such as (Odorizzi and Myers) is to make your big-league club better," Moore said. "They either fill holes you have at the big-league level or you utilize them in trades to fill your holes.
"That's how you survive."
And with Escobar and Cain, Moore certainly filled two giant holes.
"It's the only way you can be competitive in this ballpark," Moore says. "You have to be able to play defense. You have to be athletic."
In fact, the Royals may wind up being trend-setters in that fashion.
One scout said recently he has heard whispers that the once-proud Twins, whom the Royals have surpassed in terms of competitiveness in the American League Central, now view the Royals as a bit of a role model.
"They have a big field at Target (Field), too," the scout said. "There is space to cover. And they look at the Royals as a team to emulate in terms of getting enough speed to cover that space. They are tired of seeing balls drop in."
You can follow Jeffrey Flanagan on Twitter at @jflanagankc or email him at jeffreyflanagan6@gmail.com.
