Allard Baird was fired Wednesday with a 381-574 record in Kansas City.
KANSAS CITY — Had he been willing to wait, Dayton Moore might one day have headed one of the most admired organizations in baseball.
Instead, he chose to leave Atlanta and become general manager of the woeful Kansas City Royals, a team that hasn’t come close to the postseason in 21 years.
The fast-rising Moore accepted a challenging job Wednesday, taking the reins in Kansas City after the club fired GM Allard Baird.
“If I didn’t think we would win a world championship in Kansas City, there is no way I would commit myself and my family to this environment,” said Moore, 39, who last year became the Braves’ assistant general manager for baseball operations.
“To me, this is the perfect opportunity for me to be a general manager, do something I love to do and build something special and give my family an opportunity to thrive. That’s simply what it is.”
Moore declined to discuss terms of his contract, which was thought to be for four years beyond this season. He did indicate he was given complete responsibility for baseball decisions, something Baird had to share with team president Dan Glass, the son of owner David Glass.
“I feel very comfortable with the autonomy I’ve been given,” Moore said.
Atlanta has won a record 14 consecutive division titles, and Moore was considered a leading candidate to become GM of the Boston Red Sox last year until he withdrew after being invited for a second interview.
Braves general manager John Schuerholz said he tried to keep Moore in Atlanta, with an eye toward Moore possibly succeeding him one day.
“We went down fighting,” the 65-year-old Schuerholz said. “I was trying to convince him to hang on for a few more years, ‘till I hang up my spurs, and be considered for this job. We made a strong offer to keep him. But he feels he’s ready to move on and take on this important challenge.”
Running the Royals should be enough challenge for anyone. They are 13-38, the worst record in the majors, and on pace to lose at least 100 games for the fourth time in five years.
Plagued by weak drafts, unproductive trades and a general drift throughout the organization, the Royals have established themselves the past few seasons as one of the most unsuccessful franchises in professional sports. They have not appeared in the postseason since winning the World Series in 1985, with Schuerholz as general manager and a teenage Moore standing outside the stadium craning his neck to see.
Moore, a Wichita, Kan., native, said he has special memories of the seventh game that year against St. Louis because he was outside the ballpark on the left-field side watching the action.
“I’ve been with the Atlanta Braves for 12 years,” he said from Atlanta on a conference call. “I absolutely love and adore this organization, the Atlanta Braves and the people I’ve grown up with.”
But he was drawn, he said, to “the great baseball fans, the great tradition there in Kansas City and the wonderful atmosphere and a climate to raise my family.”
Baird’s dismissal was expected since David Glass said on May 4 that he was disgusted with the team’s performance and would soon make “significant changes.”