The Kansas City Royals are in the World Series for the first time in 29 years thanks in large part to general manager Dayton Moore's ability to comple ment an already solid homegrown core with a trio of additions heading into the season.
Here are three moves the Royals made this season that helped them reach the World Series in 2014:
Nov. 21, 2013 - Royals sign Jason Vargas
After missing out on Tim Hudson and hoping to fill the void of Ervin Santana's departure, Moore lured Jason Vargas away from the Los Angeles Angels and signed him to a four-year, $32 million deal.
“He always gives you a chance to win,” Moore told Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star in November. “He’s been one of the more consistent pitchers over the last few years.
“We feel it’s important to sign guys with the mindset that they’re going to compete, give us innings and give our team a chance to win games. He was, really, one of the first targets that we had this offseason.”
The fly-ball pitcher benefited from the expansive outfield at Kauffman Stadium, going 11-10 in 30 starts, while posting a career-low 3.71 ERA, and giving the Royals a bona fide No. 3 starter.
Vargas would carry his regular season success into the postseason, allowing three runs in 11 1/3 innings over two starts - including a win in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series to help the Royals in their sweep over the Baltimore Orioles.
Dec. 5, 2013 - Royals trade reliever Will Smith to Brewers for Nori Aoki
With an abundance of talent occupying the bullpen, Moore dealt 24-year-old reliever Will Smith to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for outfielder Nori Aoki.
Aoki gave the Royals an immediate boost from the leadoff position, finishing the regular season with a .336 on-base percentage - up from the .309 mark that Kansas City got from its leadoff hitters in 2013. Yost, however, slid Aoki into the two-hole later in the season where the 32-year-old flourished, hitting .429/.467/.554 in 15 games.
While Aoki's power numbers declined significantly following the trade (managing just one home run in 491 at-bats), the three-year veteran collected 22 doubles, a career-high six triples, while also swiping 17 bases in the regular season.
“If Nori didn’t get hot when he got hot,” Yost told Vahe Gregorian of the Kansas City Star in early October. “I don’t know what would have happened."
March 31, 2014 - Wade Davis spends 2014 as a reliever
After allowing seven runs in six innings in his 24th start of 2013, Royals manager Ned Yost decided to move Wade Davis to the bullpen.
With an injury to Luke Hochevar to begin the 2014 season, Yost opted to leave Davis in the bullpen, a move that would be the genesis of the three-headed monster out of the bullpen that also included Greg Holland and Kelvin Herrera.
Davis would go on to make 71 regular-season appearances, boasting a minuscule 1.00 ERA and 0.84 WHIP while striking out 109 batters.
"Just get us through six in the ballgame and we can turn it over to the bullpen guys," Yost told the Canadian Press. "We've got a lot of confidence in everybody we've got down there. Our offence has a lot of confidence in everybody we've got down there, too, because they know, hey, look, let's keep it close, let's get it to the bullpen, and if we can take a lead and get it to the bullpen, odds are we're going to be celebrating a victory at the end of the day."
The dominance from Davis continued into the postseason, as he's allowed only one run in 9 1/3 innings while collecting 10 strikeouts.
