Here’s how JJ Picollo will work under Dayton Moore as Kansas City Royals’ new GM

The buck still stops with Dayton Moore on the baseball operations side of the Kansas City Royals, but effective Tuesday JJ Picollo will have a significantly larger hand in day-to-day operations as he assumes part of Moore’s leadership mantle.

The promotions of Moore to president of baseball operations and Picollo to general manager weren’t paradigm-shifting moves within the Royals organization, but they did represent a definite shift in the front office’s structure and also reflected the influence of Royals chairman and CEO John Sherman.

Moore, who had been senior vice president of baseball operations/general manager since 2006, will turn over daily responsibilities to Picollo, who had overseen the organization’s player development system, including the minor-league staff, players and support staff.

Picollo will now turn his attention to the management of the major-league roster along with assistant general manager Scott Sharp and manager Mike Matheny.

“We’ll all work together on that, but ultimately I’ve got to make the final decision, the final authority with what works well or what doesn’t,” Moore said. “That being said, I think you know how I operate. I’m not a micromanager. We allow people to do their jobs. I’m going to trust JJ to make those decisions.”

Moore said allowing Picollo to make certain decisions will be something he’ll have to “come to grips with,” but he still be as involved as he always has been and intends to ask as many questions of the baseball operations staff as he always has in the decision making process.

“We don’t make decisions in a vacuum,” Moore said. “Every once in a while, someone has to press that leadership button and say the tie is now broken. I’ll be the one to ultimately have to do that.”

While both Moore and Picollo stressed repeatedly the collaborative environment of the front office and insisted that will remain, it appears clear Picollo will have a larger voice than in his previous role. Moore lauded Picollo’s leadership qualities and ability to create consensus.

“We’ve always worked together, and I would be foolish as a first-time general manager not to count on somebody that sat in that seat for 15 years,” Picollo said. “Fortunately, it is somebody that I’ve know very well. I’m very comfortable with how we’re set up, not only myself but others within our front office. That collaboration has always taken place and will continue to.”

Moore said he looks forward to being able to have a deeper involvement in various aspects of the organization than he’s been able to in the past. Specifically, he mentioned being involved in the preparation for the international draft, spending more time with the club’s amateur scouts as well as in the minor leagues.

Moore admitted that the front office structure of a president of baseball operations in a separate role from the general manager wasn’t initially appealing to him, but he came around after receiving input from other baseball executives who’ve taken on similar transitions.

“I just came to a realization that the best thing for the Kansas City Royals and all involved is this type of structure,” Moore said. “And knowing full well that there’s aspects of this job today that JJ is more qualified to do than me. It’s as simple as that. And so I’m going to focus really, really hard on our culture. I’m going to be relentless about it. And growing the game and what the Kansas City Royals players represent to the history of the game.”

Sherman, who was a minority owner of the Cleveland Indians where a similar structure was in place. He also said he viewed Picollo’s promotion as “strategic,” and cited other clubs having asked for permission to speak with Picollo about general manager openings in the past.

“I think if you look at the industry, this structure is best practice in our industry,” Sherman said. “I would say in any business, as it grows and becomes more complicated and complex, having elevated executives that we can use their highest and best use, and I think this will evolve, but I really expect to get more executive, high-level thinking out of Dayton, of how we think about the team. I know the operation of the ballclub is in good hands. So I would just say this is kind of a normal evolution as business grow and become more complex.”

Sherman and Moore both credited Picollo for taking the lead in the “modernization” of the club’s front office structure. Picollo oversaw the implementation of a reorganization in the farm system that included the creation of new positions and increased communication across departments.

Prior to being promoted to assistant general manager/player personnel, Picollo previously held the role as assistant GM for scouting & player development from 2008-14. He joined the Royals front office in August 2006 as the director of player development after having been the director of minor league operations for the Atlanta Braves since 2005.

Picollo began his career in professional baseball as an area scouting supervisor for the Braves.

“The state of our organization right now, the players on our current Major League team, the experiences that they’re getting, the players that are coming, the depth of our system, the things that we’re doing to help them be more prepared when they get the Major League level is further along than it was five, six, seven years ago,” Picollo said. “It’s because of the creativity and the ideas of a lot of people here. We listened to what they felt we needed to do, and we continue to perfect it.

“We’re in a great spot with the leadership of Mike. I had a chance for one year to kind of hang out with Mike before he was our Major League manager and got to understand what makes him go, what kind of manager he would be. Watching him in the dugout and watching how he prepares give us an even better idea of what we need to do to prepare players in the minor leagues. We’re in a very good spot moving forward.”