Playing Catch Up
The Royals are pretty much done making moves for the moment as spring training approaches. Still, there are a few things floating around out there that should be passed along and I wanted to share my thoughts on a few issues as well.
Pitchers and catchers officially report to Surprise on Monday.
- First, we’re in the middle of the Kings of Kauffman Prospect Rankings. You can follow the countdown here and catch up on past rankings. Barring complete computer breakdowns or other catastrophes, the entire list will be complete by the end of the month, just in time for the brunt of spring training games.
- Next, be sure to check out the poll I posted earlier. The AL Central writers of the FanSided network need your help naming our last position player to the All-AL Central team.
- Dayton Moore held a press conference of sorts where he mentioned, among other things, that 2013 is “the year” for contention. That’s exciting to hear, but I’ll be getting a little anxious if things aren’t much closer at that point. I’m a mix of excited and apprehensive about our prospects reaching the big leagues with such high expectations. Maybe it’s the Alex Gordon factor.
- Moore also mentioned that Noel Arguelles is progressing nicely after having a minor cleanup done to his left shoulder last summer. He’s on track to pitch in A ball this year.
- Speaking of which, if you thought the Northwest Arkansas rotation of Mike Montgomery, John Lamb, Danny Duffy, Chris Dwyer and Aaron Crow is impressive, you should also check out a projected rotation put together by Clint Scoles for Kane County. Sure, these guys are less polished than the Double A group, but there are some impressive arms in the second wave of pitching prospects. It’s kind of unfair to have to face Yordano Ventura, Jason Adam, Robinson Yambati, Crawford Simmons and Noel Arguelles when you’re just a 19-20 year old kid.
- Rumors keep swirling that Albert Pujols would be a player of interest for the Royals if his contract extension negotiations fall through with the Cardinals. He’s not going to discuss the matter during the season so the two sides have the weekend and don’t seem close. Pujols would be awesome to have in Kansas City, but it might take 10 years and $300 million dollars to get him here. That might be a lot even during years 1-5, but especially during 6-10. It’s intriguing to think about at least. It’s not worth worrying about until next winter anyway if the Cardinals don’t get a contract he likes.
- Bob Dutton had a chat on KansasCity.com this afternoon as he’s covering spring training in Surprise, Arizona. He mentioned that about 50 of the 65 players invited to camp are already getting to work and talks about Brayan Pena, Alex Gordon, Luke Hochevar and others. It’s a good read.
- Finally, Beyond the Boxscore took a team of minor league All-Stars and pitted them against a 2011 version of the Royals. With Mike Moustakas and Mike Montgomery on its side, the minor leaguers won most of the matchups. I’ve been tinkering with a similar simulation with the Royals facing the Northwest Arkansas Naturals that I’ll cover in the future.
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