Winter Meetings interview with Dayton Moore, Jed Hoyer

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, we completed a trade this afternoon with the Chicago Cubs, sending Wade Davis to the Cubs in exchange for Jorge Soler. We have Dayton Moore and Jed Hoyer at the table here to take your questions.Q. Dayton, can you just tell us where you expect to use Soler, is it right field, DH, maybe a little bit of both and walk us through how this deal came about?DAYTON MOORE: Yeah, a combination both. We obviously love his upside, love his power. Like the fact that we have some control for the next four years, potential right fielder as you know, we have several players that are perhaps, you know, entering free agency after the 2017 season. So this was an important deal for us, a tough deal, trading an All-Star closer in Wade Davis, somebody who has been just so instrumental to our success. We certainly wouldn’t have been able to win and win a World Series without Wade. But the fact that we have the DH, we can utilize him in both spots.Q. How does he rate defensively in your mind? I know he’s got a plus arm. Does he need some improvement perhaps in his outfield skills?DAYTON MOORE: Well, we see him as an average right fielder with a chance to get better. We put great faith in Rusty Kuntz, who works with our outfielders and baserunners. We feel there’s upside there, as well.Q. Was there any impetus from this with the new CBA rules, knowing you’d only get after the first round, if he signed for 50 million or more and left as a free agent in a year, or do you think this would have happened anyway?DAYTON MOORE: I think it would have happened anyway. That didn’t really factor in with this particular deal, no.Q. Does it change your thinking for the guys you have?DAYTON MOORE: Well, every situation’s different. You have to evaluate it one at a time. But not necessarily. I mean, we’re not going to feel any pressure to move forward with any of our players based on the new CBA. We think it’s a tremendous deal for baseball and we don’t see it affecting the Royals in a negative way.Q. Jed, does this automatically make Davis your closer or are there other moves you’re planning that might change …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com