The Royals fired longtime executive Dayton Moore last fall, but it didn’t take long for him to land on his feet, joining former Royals pitcher Chris Young in the Rangers front office as an senior advisor. Last year’s Rangers were already a team that featured a lot of the hallmarks of a Dayton Moore-run team - they didn’t get on base, they led the league in steals, and their pitching staff was a mess.
But there is one glaring difference between these Rangers and any Royals teams Dayton Moore operated - money. Rangers owner Ray Davis authorized General Manager Chris Young to sign three free agents - Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Jon Gray to a half billion-dollar worth of contracts a year ago.