Thank Shields -- and the trade that brought him here -- for Royals' new winning culture

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Perhaps now, all those folks who were blasting Royals general manager Dayton Moore for trading away top prospect Wil Myers, among others, for James Shields and Wade Davis have had a change of heart.

The excitement of the Royals' first playoff berth since 1985 surely has made even Moore's harshest critics have second thoughts.

Moore, himself, isn't concerned about that criticism. Never was.

"I've said all along that we needed to make a move then," Moore said. "We had to start winning immediately. And that was a trade I was confident with that would reach that goal.

"We're not there yet. This is another step."

There is no question what the impact of the trade has been, however. Coaches and players agree that the Royals would not be playing the Oakland A's in a playoff game Tuesday night without the trade.

"I don't really sit back and evaluate it too much," manager Ned Yost said. "But when you look at it, it means everything. It was the trade that put us over the hump. The addition of Wade Davis has been huge.

"James Shields, with the culture he has brought into the clubhouse, with the work ethic he has brought into the clubhouse, his presence on the mound, the fact that our other starters know he's the ace, has been huge.

"Would we be in this position without James Shields and Wade Davis? No. It did exactly what we hoped it would."

Davis has been perhaps baseball's best overall reliever this season.

"Wade Davis has been every bit as good as James has been," outfielder Alex Gordon noted. "We're not here without those two guys."

Shields simply shook his head when asked if he thought he had lived up to the billing of the trade.

"When I got here two years ago I knew the magnitude (of the trade)," he said, smiling. "But I've never been one to sit back and evaluate trades. That's what you (writers) do.

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"I've never thought about validating anything like trades. I don't really care what anyone says about the trade. I got brought over to do my job, and that is to win ballgames every five days.

"Hopefully, I've done a great job thus far. We got a long way to go to get where we want to be. But I don't really care what anyone really thinks about the trade."

Shields has performed like an ace since he got here. He was 13-9 with a 3.15 ERA last season. This year he went 14-8 with a 3.21 ERA.

But it's his leadership that Royals observers talk about most. Shields has helped numerous young Royals pitchers from Danny Duffy to Yordano Ventura to Brandon Finnegan.

"I give all the credit to the guys that are receptive," he said. "I came in here and was going to be myself. I consider myself a leader. One of my main goals was that as a group of five starters, we're going to pitch together and get as many innings in as possible. We're always helping each other."

Shields also came with the reputation of being clutch. He has lived up to that Big Game James moniker. In his last six starts, with the heat of the playoff race on, Shields went 4-2 with a 2.14 ERA.

"We've got another one coming up Tuesday," he said. "I know what this means to the fans and the city. I will do my best."

You can follow Jeffrey Flanagan on Twitter at @jflanagankc or email him at jeffreyflanagan6@gmail.com.