Spring Training XIX: Royals at Rangers

Royals North v. Royals South

I am pretty on the record about my support of Dayton Moore. I think he is a genuinely good dude, took the Royals to two (not at all fluky) World Series appearances and had jewelry before Andy Reid or Patrick Mahomes.

But yeah, as far as general managing and building teams and the stuff generally associated with being a general manager goes, the game had left him behind. Probably more around 2013.

After being fired by the Royals, he wound up in Texas with former Royal and now Rangers GM Chris Young, who is building his team very differently than Moore ever did in Kansas City.

To be fair, he has more money to play with. And yeah, he definitely wants to spend it. Since taking over, he’s signed not one but two premier middle infield free agents to huge contracts, first Corey Seager at 10 years, $325 million on Monday, and then Marcus Semien at seven years, $175 million on that Wednesday. They also signed Jon Gray to a four-year, $56 million deal.

Then they lost 94 games. Young responded by signing Jacob deGrom to a five-year, $185 million contract and Nathan Eovaldi to a two-year, $34 million deal. The Rangers have the 9th highest payroll in the league after losing 90+ games just a year after having the 15th highest mark following a 100+ loss season.

Meanwhile, the Royals are supposedly moving in another direction with the coaching staff and philosophy, but the offseason transactions were much of the same. Today, though, all that matters is Kansas City’s chase of yet another Cactus League crown, against the team they share Surprise Stadium with.

Something I hadn’t considered until this very moment. Imagine getting canned from your job, getting a new job, and having your first days be in the exact same building, having to pass your replacement Todd every day.

Awkward.

The Royals send Jordan Lyles to the mound, who is having a solid spring thus far. He’ll be faced Dane Dunning and a Rangers lineup with a lot of starters. Dunning, on the other hand, will see 145 pound Maikel Garcia in the three-hole. I love Spring Training.

Here are your lineups for today’s game.