Royals Links: On Patience, Prospects and Ned Yost, Arborist

May 13, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost before the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Tuesday was a busy day for Royals fans. Amid a four game losing streak and following a loss against the lowly Houston Astros (you’re contractually obligated to call a bad team “lowly”), the frustrations felt at other points in the season were nothing compared to the resulting meltdowns as the Royals were turning a 17-10 start into a 20-21 record.

Kevin Scobee presented an analysis of Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas, outlining what’s wrong, and what might fix their problems. He also took on Ned Yost‘s comments about going to a “third baseman tree” to replace Moustakas. I’d call it a must read even if it weren’t on our site.

And right behind that, Craig Brown at Royals Review offered his opinions on Ned Yost’s claims that fans just have to keep being patient. I’m with Craig here – I’ve been a fan of the Royals since I knew who they were. I’ve been plenty patient. We’re in year seven of the Dayton Moore regime, and while I understand that not everyone figures it out right away, Yost isn’t providing satisfactory answers to the questions.

One such problem the Royals are facing is the relative bustability of their prospects. Jonah Keri and Rany Jazayerli, both of Grantland, looked at that aspect of the franchise. How do you go from dominating the Baseball America top 100 prospects list before 2011 and now having little to show for it?

Hopefully, the Royals figure it out because right now, Yordano Ventura is making a case for himself and is getting close to a promotion to Triple A. Another pitching prospect, Miguel Almonte, is tearing up Low A Lexington. As Bob Dutton notes, he’s given up just three runs in his last 25.1 innings.

While the Royals have gotten good buzz for both Ventura and Almonte, two international signings, they’re still trying to get what they expected out of 2010 first round pick Christian Colon. He’s still in Omaha but has just a .630 OPS and he’s been about a quarter of the time at second base. He talked with Lee Warren about the shift and the different approaches he has to take on either side of the bag. He also talked about adjustments and pressure at the Triple A level.

Finally, the Royals have had success with international signings like Ventura, Almonte, Salvador Perez, Adalberto Mondesi and others. They’re apparently the front-runners for 15-year-old shortstop Marten Gasparini of Italy. Gasparini turns 16 on Friday, and thus becomes eligible for the start of the international signing period on July 2nd. He’s touted as very athletic and some have called him the best European prospect they’ve seen.