Royals hire Arbuckle

The Kansas City Royals today named Mike Arbuckle the Senior Advisor to the General Manager/Scouting and Player Development. Arbuckle joins the Royals after spending 16 successful seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, culminating with a World Series Championship last month.

"We are extremely delighted that Mike has decided to join our organization," said Dayton Moore, Royals' Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager. "He has a great eye for talent and a proven track record in building a championship-caliber club. His experience in the game will be a tremendous asset to all aspects of Baseball Operations as we continue to work toward building a championship club."

"I'm really looking forward to working with everyone in the Kansas City organization," said Arbuckle, who makes his home in nearby Liberty, Mo. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for Dayton Moore, Trey Hillman, Dean Taylor and numerous other people in the organization I know things are moving forward here with the Royals and I'm anxious to lend what I can to the process."

Arbuckle wrapped up his 30th season in professional baseball in 2008. He joined the Phillies following the 1992 season as Director of Scouting before adding responsibilities of player development in 2000. He was named the Phillies Assistant GM/Scouting and Player Development after the 2001 season, helping build the franchise to its first World Series title since 1980. Under Arbuckle, the Phillies drafted several key components of the 2008 champs, including outfielder Pat Burrell, Ryan Howard, Ryan Madson, Brett Myers, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and World Series MVP Cole Hamels.

Prior to joining the Phillies in 1992, Arbuckle served as a scout and cross-checker with the Atlanta Braves from late 1980 through the 1992 season, where he took part in building the winning foundation with Atlanta. His professional baseball career began in 1979 as an associate scout with Philadelphia.

Born in Trenton, Mo., Arbuckle was originally drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals as a left-handed pitcher in 1969, but did not sign before tearing his rotator cuff the following year. He coached at the high school, junior college and college levels before becoming a scout. Arbuckle, a graduate of Northwest Missouri State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in education, also has a Master's from the University of South Alabama. He and his wife, Martha, live in Liberty and have two daughters, Shelly and Kellie, and four grandchildren, Bethni, Austin, Katey and Emma.