Who is J.J. Picollo? Get to know the Kansas City Royals exec replacing Dayton Moore
There’s a new head of baseball operations for the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals announced on Wednesday that J.J. Picollo, the Royals’ general manager, will assume that role after Dayton Moore was dismissed — or fired — from his position. According to a Wednesday news release, Picollo’s new title will be executive vice president and general manager.
Royals chairman and CEO John Sherman said it was his decision to make the move.
“The bottom line here is that it’s time to change,” Sherman said.
Let’s get to know Picollo better as he steps into the new gig.
WHEN DID HE JOIN THE ROYALS?
Picollo joined the team with Moore back in 2006 as the director of player management.
The new president moved up the ladder with the Royals over those 16 years. He was the assistant general manager of scouting and player development from 2008 to 2015 and the vice president and assistant general manager of player personnel from 2015 to 2021, before becoming the seventh general manager in Royals history last year.
THIS IS HIS FIRST TIME WITHOUT DAYTON MOORE
Picollo and Moore came up together at George Mason University. The two met at the school in 1989 when Moore was an assistant coach and Picollo was a catcher.
They spent some two hours talking during their first interaction, most of the time standing on a track that overlooked the field.
“‘What do you want out of your career? Where do you want to go as a player?’” Picollo remembered Moore asking. “‘What do you need from us that will allow you to get to where you want to go?’”
Moore joined the Atlanta Braves organization as a scout in 1994, and Picollo followed after Moore convinced him to attend a 10-day scout-school program sponsored by the Braves in Orlando.
When Moore was hired as the Royals’ general manager, Picollo was one of his first hires. Now that Moore is out of the Royals organization, this is Picollo’s first time without his longtime friend and colleague by his side.
HE’S EXPERIENCED IN PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
Picollo’s been involved in player development since the 1990s. He was a recruiting coordinator and hitting/catching instructor for five years, spending three years at George Mason University and two at The George Washington University.
After that, he was a scouting supervisor and assistant director of player development for the Atlanta Braves before being promoted to director of minor league operations.
Since joining the Royals in 2006, he’s watched players like Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas grow from the minors to becoming crucial parts of the team’s World Series run in 2014 and championship in 2015.
‘WHATEVER YOU ARE, BE A GOOD ONE’
The quote from Abraham Lincoln sits on a plaque on his desk that his mother gave him years ago. It has followed him at every job he’s had in baseball.
To him, the words are a reminder that “the most important thing you can do is be good at what you’re doing right now.” He previously told The Star, “That’s how people notice good work being done. Be exceptional at what you’re doing right now and better opportunities will come along the way.”
This story was originally published September 21, 2022 at 4:18 PM.
