Kansas City, Mo. ? Dayton Moore took over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday and began the daunting task of making a winner out of baseball’s biggest loser.

The 39-year-old protege of John Schuerholz in Atlanta admitted there was no way he’ll be an overnight success. The talent-impoverished Royals have not reached the postseason since 1985 and this year appear to be on pace to go down as one of the worst teams in history.

“This is a great challenge. This is one that I’m looking forward to,” the Royals’ new general manager said in a tension-filled news conference.

“As you dive into it, it takes time. I’m not going to sit here and say we’re gong to do X, Y and Z, because that would be inappropriate and irrational.”

Moore was hired eight days earlier but not allowed to begin his job until after the two-day amateur draft that ended Wednesday. He’s been given charge of a franchise that’s on pace to lose at least 100 games for the fourth time in five years and was 14-43 going into Thursday night. At that rate, the Royals could erase the New York Mets’ major league record of 120 losses in a season.

But avoiding the stigma of being the worst team in history will not prompt any short-term personnel moves that might hamper his strategy for long-term growth, Moore said.

“We’re not going to make decisions, quick fixes, just to avoid some embarrassing record or whatever. We’re not going to back off from what our focus is.”

That focus, he said repeatedly, will be to scout, draft and develop quality players with the same approach and philosophy that made Schuerholz’s Braves one of the most admired operations in professional sports.

“The only way we’re going to do it is through great scouting and great player development,” Moore said.

“We’re trying to do something for the long haul. We’re trying to do something that 15, 20, 25 years from now people are going to look at the Kansas City Royals as a model franchise,” he said. “To do that, we’re going to have the very best scouting people that are committed to signing the right type of players.”

A tense and uncomfortable tone was set at the outset when one questioner grilled owner David Glass about why he allowed former general manager Allard Baird to hang in limbo for almost a month after saying significant changes would soon be made.

Glass, who has developed a sour relationship with much of the media since buying the team in 2000, said when he first promised big changes, he hadn’t necessarily intended to fire Baird.