“Trust the process” is the line that has become famous with Kansas City Royals’ GM Dayton Moore referring to how he is building the franchise from the ground up to a contender. If losing 90+ games every season is the process Moore speaks of, then he is doing a fine job in western Missouri.

But I suspect the Kansas City faithful are expecting more than they are getting. To Moore’s credit, the Royals have put together a nice crop of youngsters who have a lot of promise. But unfulfilled promises are the stuff that get GMs fired. Unless Moore can get the process geared toward winning, he might need to start tuning up his resumé.

The Royals have three good pitchers in Zack Greinke, Joakim Soria and Gil Meche. They have more promise in Luke Hochevar, but need to find another good arm or two to make them a threat.

Offensively, they have Billy Butler and Alex Gordon manning the corners of the infield. Both know how to swing the lumber, but Gordon has a problem staying healthy. The middle infield is manned by Yuniesky Betancourt, a guy considered to be the worst starting shortstop in the big leagues, and Alberto Callaspo, a guy who would be a great utility infielder, not a guy you want stepping up to the plate over 500 times in a season.

The outfield has two dinosaurs roaming the corners in David DeJesus and Jose Guillen. To make it worse, they just added Scott Podsednik, an even older guy, to play in between them. Kansas City fans might think looking at Podsednik’s wife, Lisa Dergen, is easy on the eyes, but watching Pods swing the bat will not be so easy for them to stomach.

Then Rick Ankiel was added to give the feeling of youth to this outfield. The 31-year old can play centerfield, but is best known for his mental meltdown as a pitcher that couldn’t find the strike zone. This group is looking more and more like a train wreck everyday.

K.C.’s youth movement is such a strong trend that, in addition to Podsednik, Moore signed 35 year-old Jason Kendall to catch. Not sure how a guy whose OPS has not seen the good side of .700 in three seasons, and likely won’t again, will be of much benefit.

The best off-season move by Moore was the one that brought in Josh Fields and Chris Getz, two young players who are starting to look like they will never live up to their potential. To get them, the Royals had to give up Mark Teahen, a guy who can play about five positions on the field and hit more home runs than Fields and Getz combined last season.

If this promise is an attempt to remain in the cellar, than Dayton Moore is The Man. Otherwise, the Kansas City top brass should probably start looking for a new man and a new process.

There once was a man from Kansas City.
Who said this team is a pity.
They have Butler and Greinke
But the rest are all stinky
And The Process is really … crummy.