The rules stipulated that if you won your league during the regular season you had to move up and play in the post season tournament for the next higher division, in this case, the “C” league.  Conversely, if your team finished last, you dropped to the next lower league’s tournament.  And wouldn’t you know it, my “D” league team ended up playing in the championship game for the “C” league against the team that had come in last place in the “B” league.  Makes your head spin a little bit, doesn’t it?

I know you’re dying to learn the result of the Championship game, aren’t you?  We won.  The best team in the “D” league handily defeated the worst team in the “B” league, while all the “C” teams sat on the sidelines during their own league Championship game.

During the regular season I knew our softball team was good, but I had no idea just how good we were.  How could I?  We were never really challenged and we weren’t allowed to live up to our potential until the post season tournament.  We were just a “D” team after all, and we thought that surely every “C” and “B” team was much better than us.  Well, we were wrong.

Wil Myers is the best player in the minor leagues according to Baseball America. (Credit: Matt Ryerson-US PRESSWIRE)

Ever heard of a guy named Wil Myers?  He plays a variety of outfield positions in the Royals minor league system.  He also played catcher a couple of years ago too, but surrendered this position to make room for the rocket-armed Salvador Perez, but that’s another story.  Except that it’s proof he’s willing to do whatever the Royals ask him to do, anything necessary to put himself in a position to move up to the majors.  He batted .314 this season with an impressive 37 home runs and 109 RBIs in only 134 games.  Baseball America just ranked him as the 3^rd best prospect in the entire minor leagues, and oh by the way – Baseball America also named Wil as their Minor League Player of the Year for 2012.

Beginning with his head turning performance in the Arizona Fall League a year ago, Myers has been on a tear that has captured the attention of baseball prognosticators nationwide who are all drooling over his potential.  For a somewhat scrawny looking 6’5”, 205 lb bean pole, Wil’s homerun prowess is prolific.  At the ripe old age of 21, just four other players have hit 36 or more home runs in a minor league season over the past 30 years.  Their names are Wil Myers (37), Paul Konerko (37), Jose Canseco (36), and – drum roll please – Mike Moustakas (36).

Paul Konerko has 400+ home runs in his career, over a hundred more than any Royal ever, and at 37 years old he’s still batting over .300 and proving he has many miles left on his talented bat.  Jose Canseco has turned into a bit of a joke recently with his weird Twitter rants and embarrassing desire to renew his baseball career at 48 years of age, but back in the day, this half of the Bash Brothers could swing the wood.  Jose retired in 2001 with 462 career home runs.  I believe this puts Wil Myers in pretty good company and speaks volumes about his potential in the major leagues.

Now, let’s talk about Jeff Francoeur for a moment.  If you’ve been paying attention to the Royals this year, you know that Frenchy has a great arm, and a talented, ummm, well, let’s see…  I’ll take the politically correct route and just say he hasn’t performed up to expectations this season.

Jeff Francoeur (Credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE)

Jeff has been hovering about 30 or 40 notches above the Mendoza line for most of the year, he’s hit 13 home runs and driven in 41.  Let me say that again – he’s our Right Fielder, one of the corner positions where the team should expect to derive most of its power, and he’s driven in a pathetic 41 runs.  He leads the team in strikeouts per plate appearance, he doesn’t walk much, doesn’t steal many bases, and he covers the outfield like a mule that’s been weighted down with a prospector’s once-in-a-lifetime gold strike.

According to Baseball America’s WAR stat (Wins Against Replacement), Francoeur is having one of the worst seasons in the history of professional baseball.  At least he isn’t burdening the Royals with a huge payroll number.  Oops – he’s earning $6,000,000 this year for taking up valuable space on our roster.  Yes, that’s a 6 with six zeros.  And the Royals are contracted to pay him a whopping $7.5 million next season.  Can you say “it’s good to be Dayton Moore’s buddy”?

Yes I love Frenchy’s smile, his great attitude, and his team mentality.  But at some point (and I reached this point many months ago), you want to win more than you want to root for the nice guy to pull out of his long, lingering, mind-numbing slump.

The concept of watching your team field a historically inept player day-in and day-out, would be almost understandable if there were no other options.  But wait – don’t the Royals have that Wil Myers guy down in Omaha, leading his team to another PCL Championship Series last week?  The concept becomes inexplicable when you see the big picture and learn that not only do the Royals have a replacement option for the worst player in the majors, but the replacement just happens to be the very best player in the minors!

So, what would you do?  Or rather, what would have done a few months ago when this best player vs the worst player scenario became obvious?  Would you let Wil Myers pound away on inferior minor league pitching and chase a few more fly balls in the outfield to further perfect his craft?  Or, would you bench Frenchy and write Myers name on the Royals lineup card to give him a taste of what is to come next year when he surely, hopefully, we all pray will be playing Right Field for the Royals?  I know what I would do.  I didn’t even need to think twice about it.

How about “Billy Butler?”  Quick, what did you think of? How about Billy in his All-Star uniform smiling from ear to ear while the crowd booed Robinson Cano as he whiffed at one pitch after another during the home run derby?

If I say “Alcides Escobar,” what pops into your brain?  A spinning, whirling, Tazmanian devil patrolling the left side of the infield and gunning down every hitter dumb enough to think he can shoot a ball through the hole?

“Mike Moustakas?”  I think of his game ending defensive play on a dying ground ball against the Yankees at Kauffman on May 3, running in to make a smooth bare-handed grab and rifling a throw across the diamond to nail Alex Rodriguez to finish off the boys in pinstripes.

Now, if I say “Eric Hosmer”, what do you think of? ……….. Ummm, uhhhh, well… Nothing really comes to mind.  Nothing positive anyway.  That’s what happens when you’re just playing out the string at the end of a lost season.

In 2012, we've had a front row seat to one of the worst sophomore slumps in recent memory - Eric Hosmer (Credit: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE)

This year we’ve had a front row seat to one of the most disappointing sophomore slumps I can remember.  We’re talking about the player who was 3^rd in the Rookie of the Year ballot in 2011 when he hit 19 home runs in just a little over ¾ of a season and had the baseball world thinking he could be the next “It” guy.  Women swooned over him, analysts drooled at his potential, and I even wasted $25 on a Royals t-shirt with Hosmer’s name printed on the back.  Did he have all of us fooled?

Last March at the beginning of Spring Training, I downloaded a ZiPS projections spreadsheet that I dusted off a few moments ago to review again.  Would you like to know what the experts predicted for our First baseman in 2012?  They said he would hit .304 with 20 home runs.  Do you remember that Eric Hosmer, the one we all thought capable of carrying the team on his back toward respectability?  With 6 weeks left in the season Hosmer now has half that number of home runs, and you know his batting average right?  His average is obscene, and this is a family web site, so I’m not going to reprint it here.

Hosmer’s performance in 2012 is about on par with Humberto Quintero and Yuniesky Betancourt (remember them?) and a little worse than Jeff Francoeur who I believe should be summarily dropped from the roster so the Royals can bring Wil Myers up to begin his big league career.  Not exactly the type of comparisons we projected for Eric.

It’s been interesting for me to observe how nonchalant everyone seems to be with Hosmer’s performance.  No matter how many pitches located 2 feet out of the strike zone he flails at, no matter how much defensive immaturity he displays with his sweeping grabs at first, now matter how many weak ground balls he big-hops to an opposing infielder – nobody seems to be worried.  All the coaches and fans hold hands together with Eric, we sing a couple verses of “Kum ba Yah,” and everything will be fine in the morning.  Well, I’m beginning to have my doubts about this strategy.

During all the recent discussions regarding whether Alex Gordon should bat leadoff or somewhere lower in the order, Yost proclaimed that Eric Hosmer is still his projected #3 hitter. This leaves me to wonder, what would Hosmer need to do to cause the team to lose faith in him?  Based on Yost’s apparently unqualified statement, my guess is that there is nothing he could do this year that would force the Royals to rethink his future with the organization.

There are many schools of thought for how to treat a struggling prospect.  Sometimes, as with Johnny Giavotella, the team will send him back to the minors to work on his defense.  And then no matter how frequently he destroys minor league pitching, they wait until their weak hitting big league second baseman breaks his thumb while making another ill advised bunt attempt (you can’t make this stuff up) before recalling him to the majors.

Other times, you leave a struggling prospect like Kyle Davies with the parent club and just hope and pray he works his way through his problems.  (And then hope and pray some more.)  We all know how that plan worked out with Davies, the worst pitcher in the history of the major leagues.

With Eric Hosmer, the Royals have chosen the latter approach, hoping and praying that he’ll find his mojo and return to the form that garnered so many accolades just one year ago.  Maybe Hosmer simply isn’t as good as we hoped he would be.  Maybe it’s just a sophomore slump, possibly the worst in memory.  But nevertheless, maybe it’s just a long, tedious, mind-numbing, protracted, maddening, implausible slump.  Whatever you call it, in my opinion it’s a completely lost season for Eric Hosmer, and for the Royals.

Mike Montgomery may be getting back on track. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

In 2011, Mike Montgomery toiled in Omaha, racking up a 5.32 ERA in 150.2 innings. He walked too many, gave up 15 homers, and by many accounts was nowhere near the same pitcher he’d been through the middle of 2010.

His first two starts of 2012 weren’t very encouraging either, as he only got through 7.2 innings and had an 8.22 ERA entering Thursday night’s game at Round Rock. He had walked four and gave up five runs in 3.1 innings at Albuquerque in his second start after opening the year with 4.1 innings and two earned runs.

So his taking the mound on Thursday had many fans – including myself – hoping for any sign of progress.

In a way, another rough start would have been just as painful as the seven straight losses from the big league team. Montgomery is arguably the most important part of The Process. He’s been touted as a potential ace (though that ceiling is less and less reachable) and at worst a solid #2 starter. Now, he’s got as much boom and bust potential as any other pitching prospect.

But on Thursday, he looked like the guy we expect him to be. He looked like he was in charge. He located his pitches, induced ground balls, and didn’t get hit hard until his last inning. Most significant is that he walked just two batters and struck out seven on 89 pitches. Eleven of the outs he recorded were ground ball outs.

Of course he isn’t out of his funk yet. He still has to keep it going into his next start. If he continues progressing and can string together some strong starts, he may see Kansas City before the All-Star break.

But that’s getting ahead of everything. One start at a time.

In other pitching prospect news:

Montgomery wasn’t the only Royals prospect who threw a good game on Thursday.

In Wilmington, Yordano Ventura followed up Jason Adam‘s fine start for Wilmington with a good showing of his own. In five innings, he struck out nine batters, walking only one. He currently has a 16/7 K/BB ratio.

Noel Arguelles had two rough starts for Northwest Arkansas before tonight, but he threw 5.2 innings, giving up just one run. He walked none, but only struck out one and gave up nine hits. After the solid showing tonight, though, his ERA drops to 6.08 after 13.1 innings. He’s moving in the right direction at least.

You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed. 

It’s been a rough week.

But fret not. There are some things to be positive about, even some at the big league level. But first, a few Royals farmhands are having excellent starts to their 2012 seasons.

Jason Adam (photo via Clint Scoles at PinetarPress.com

Most impressive early on is Jason Adam. The 2010 fifth round pick out of Kansas City spent most of last year in Low A Kane County and had an up and down but reasonable season. For starting out in A ball shortly after high school, he held his own.

Adam was assigned to High A Wilmington to start the season and has been great so far. Through three starts, he has a 0.51 ERA in 17.2 innings pitched. With that, he has a 16/5 K/BB ratio and in today’s start, he was a ground ball machine. Before the season, he talked about improving his delivery to the plate and controlling the running game and it seems his delivery may be faster to the plate than it was last year. According to Jason Parks, he broke five bats in Wednesday’s start and two of the hits against him could have been ruled errors. Impressive stuff.

In Adam’s old stomping grounds, the Kane County Cougars are hitting the ball all over the place. The quartet of Lane Adams, Daniel Mateo, Justin Trapp and Jorge Bonifacio have a combined 69 hits in 196 at bats. Adams has driven in 14 runs to the lead the team and Bonifacio – a popular breakout pick – has found a new patience at the plate. Last year he walked 16 times in 258 plate appearances. In 2012 he’s already walked nine times. On the pitching side of things, Edwin Carl is following his up his ridiculous 2011 (76 strikeouts in 36 innings). He has 14 strikeouts through 13.1 innings with a 2.70 ERA and only three walks allowed.

Thankfully, Alan Barrington’s scouting report on Wil Myers and the Naturals seems to be the anomaly, as the Royals top hitting prospect is off to a good start in Double A. He leads Northwest Arkansas with three homers and has a .318/.348/.614  line. The only downside is that he’s struck out 17 times in 44 at bats. That could catch up to him if he doesn’t adjust. Yem Prades has hit as well, with a .342/.375/.421 line in 10 games.

The defending Pacific Coast League champion Omaha Storm Chasers are off to another good start, lead by Tony Abreu and Max Ramirez. Abreu has a 1.003 OPS through 13 games with eight extra base hits. Ramirez has 19 RBI and five homers. The Robinsons – Clint and Derrick – are doing well too. Clint Robinson is still mashing minor league pitching, carrying a .903 OPS into tonight’s game and Derrick Robinson has a .364 average during a 10 game hitting streak.

On the mound, Nathan Adcock has had three good starts, putting up a 1.27 ERA in 18 innings. We can hope that continues, as he’s  walked seven batters, hit three more, and only given up 11 hits. If the control continues to be an issue, he may regress. But we’re staying positive here, so he may be an emergency option if the Royals suffer injuries in the starting rotation. In 60.1 big league innings as a Rule 5 pick, Adcock had a 4.62 ERA, which isn’t good, but considering his situation, it’s not bad either. Jeremy Jeffress and Franciseley Bueno are doing well out of the bullpen in Omaha too. Jeffress has 11 innings pitched and has given up just two runs. Bueno  has a 9/1 K/BB ratio in 8.1 innings. His ERA stands at 1.08 after four appearances.

So it’s not all doom and gloom in the Royals organization. There are some significant names doing some damage in the minors. While the big league team tries to get out of a losing streak, there’s still good baseball down on the farm.

You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed. 

August 10, 2011; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Personally, I think Crow starts the year in AAA, but ends it pitching in the Royals starting rotation. Photo Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

When you watch Royals games, do you have a friend who predicts a home run before an at bat, and then it happens?

That friend jumps, dances, and duck-walks right along with the home run trot, and pronounces him/herself the prognosticator of prognosticators? Maybe, you even mention that the friend predicts a homerun on virtually every at bat and was bound to be right eventually despite his/her 0-1,567 streak?

I’m that guy.

I celebrate my correct predictions as if the thing I predicted was so unheard of I must have some special connection with the forces of fate, like how Al Gore knew the Internet would be a hit before he invented it.

Now, I’m going to make another fairly obvious prediction and examine the possible ramifications of this occurrence.

Prediction: The Royals will trade Jonathan Sanchez before the 2012 trade deadline … if they aren’t in serious contention.

I know it’s obvious. In fact, it seems bound to happen. Sanchez is a free agent after this season, and I’m sure the Royals want to get some value for him. No surprise if this happens.

But before I start looking at the ramifications of trading Sanchez midseason, I’d like to pose an interesting question to readers and myself. Would/should the Royals consider trading Sanchez even if they are in contention?

Tough question. If Sanchez isn’t pitching well, and a starter in Omaha is lighting it up (Mike Montgomery, Aaron Crow—who I think is going down to season as a starter, Everett Teaford—same as Crow), maybe they ship him off and make a call to Omaha. That doesn’t seem out of the question, especially if one of the AAA starters is really grooving to the tune of a sub 3 ERA, 7-8 K/9, 3.5 or under BB/9.

The really, really tough question: what if Sanchez is pitching well, not Cy Young well, but sub 4 ERA well? The fact is that if Sanchez is pitching like he did in 2010, not only is his value playing for the Royals at its peak, his trade value is at its peak as well. I haven’t read anyone who thinks Sanchez is staying past 2012. For a small market team, like the Royals, will it be prudent to trade Sanchez nearing the deadline, to get some value for him even if he’s pitching well and they’re in contention?

The demand for him, if he’s pitching well, will probably be pretty high. Starting pitchers with his stuff, and a World Series ring don’t come around too often for a playoff push. They demand pretty high return. Sanchez is no CC Sabathia, but could Sanchez warrant a Matt LaPorta type prospect, minus the three others, the Brewers gave up for a Sabathia rental?

These are interesting questions to consider. Personally, I think the Royals have to look seriously at the prospect of trading Sanchez midseason unless they’re leading in the division and he’s pitching lights out. To get no value for him at all would be terrible unless the value they get is a playoff run.

Now, let’s assume Sanchez is traded this season. If you’re like me, which I hope for the sake of your mental health you aren’t, you believe that Crow, Teaford, and Montgomery will start the year in AAA. If you’re like me, you believe that Montgomery will get his call up in May or June, when someone either gets hurt or is ineffective (This is, of course, predicated on Montgomery pitching well, which I believe he will). That means either Crow or Teaford gets the call up when Sanchez is traded, assuming they haven’t already been called up to take someone else’s spot.

The potential is there for the starting pitching rotation to look very different by midseason than it will when the season begins. It will probably begin like this:

1. Hochevar
2. Sanchez
3. Chen
4. Paulino
5. Duffy

It may be this after the trade deadline:

1. Hochevar
2. Crow (not necessarily the #2 just taking Sanchez’s spot)
3. Montgomery (Chen has an injury and ineffectiveness history, despite his last two seasons)
4. Teaford (Paulino is by no means a sure thing in terms of effectiveness)
5. Duffy

The possibility exists that Duffy may struggle as well. Perhaps Crow or Teaford will be asked to take his place at some point. Will all these things happen (Paulino ineffective, Chen hurt/ineffective, Sanchez traded)? Probably not. But the potential for them to happen is there, and it is reasonable to see how each could happen.

Starting pitching presents a pretty unusual situation for the Royals in that theirs is pretty terrible, but pretty deep. It’s like a 20 piece chicken mcnuggets meal. They’re made with God knows what, but you get 20 J. Who can turn that down? Each of the Royals starters is barely major league worthy (based on past performance), but they are at least major league worthy, all five of them. So, what do they do when someone from AAA is ready to be called up?

I would like to mention the dark horse rotation candidate very few people are talking about as well—Luis Mendoza. I like Mendoza, though I understand that he’s a long shot for good reason. He’s 28; he’ll be 29 in October. He had an incredible year in 2011 in Omaha, but still, his secondary stats don’t jump out at anyone (5.05 K/9, 3.37 BB/9, 1.25 WHIP, 3.80 FIP). The WHIP is pretty good, and his walk rate is decent (and often lower). He’s a groundball pitcher who doesn’t strike out a lot of guys and doesn’t walk a lot of guys.

Instead of the rotation, I’d like to see him get a chance as a swing man in the Royals bullpen (does long relief, gets spot starts). Perhaps he could move into the rotation when Sanchez is traded if none of the guys in Omaha look ready. In two starts for the Royals in September last season, he won both games, gave up 11 hits in 14.2 innings, 5 walks, and 2 earned runs. That’s pretty good, especially when looked at in comparison with his AAA season numbers (12-5, 2.18 ERA, 144 innings, .31 HR/9). Some of those will come back to earth against major league hitting and as a result of a regression to the mean, but the Royals need a swing man. I think he might be a perfect fit.

Note: If my prediction that Sanchez will be traded comes true, AND Montgomery gets called up in May or June, AND Crow/Teaford gets called up for Sanchez, AND Louis Mendoza becomes the Royals’ swing man, I reserve the right to jump, dance, and duck-walk all I want.

You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.

Mendoza walks in. (photo by Gage Matthews)

Luis Mendoza, the Mexican lord of pitching, has gone through a lot in his professional baseball career. He’s experienced the ups and, more often, the downs of pitching in the minors and majors. He’s been moved around numerous times and been bounced from the minors to the big leagues and back again. Mendoza has truly seen quite a bit.

So, I think you’ll understand when I say that his story is maybe my feel-good story of the year. With all due respect to Alex Gordon, Melky Cabrera, Jeff Francoeur, and the rookies, Mendoza’s twisted tale was able to put a smile on my face Sunday night. Let me tell you why that is and where he fits in as the team moves forward.

(more…)

This is Part 3 (for Part 1 click here) (for Part 2 click here) which will cover the catchers playing in Wilmington. I had intended to include Northwest Arkansas and Omaha at this point but I went a little long on one of the four Blue Rocks backstops to there will be a Part 4 coming soon. (more…)

This is Part 2 (for Part 1 just click here) which will cover the catchers playing in Idaho Falls, Burlington and Kane County. (more…)

I believe Perez is the Royals starting catcher of the present and future, but it doesn’t hurt to keep tabs on the rest of the in-system options on the way. Salvador is going to need some days off and inevitably, given the demands of the position, he’s going to get dinged up, hurt, or concussed* in the coming years.

(more…)

After spending three weeks focused on the Idaho Falls Chukars, it’s finally time to move on. The next logical step is the Burlington Royals so that is where we’re heading. As you can surmise from the title, today I’m breaking down the pitchers and in the next column I’ll delve into the position players.

All 14 of the pitchers on the Burlington roster have been introduced to the Royals system in the last 4 years. 3 came in 2008, 5 in 2010 and 6 in 2011. 9 pitchers were added via the draft, 2 were international free agents, 2 were non-drafted free agents and one was acquired via trade. In Baseball America’s 2011 Prospect Handbook, RHP Robinson Yambati cracked Kansas City’s pre-season top-30 (#16) and RHP Eric Cantrell made the organizational depth chart but the rest of the pack haven’t received much pub as of yet. (more…)

On July 16th I wrote extensively about Henry Moreno and Darian Sandford who were notable as they were the only two players on the Chukars roster that made the Royals organizational depth chart in Baseball America’s 2011 Prospect Handbook. Last week on the 23rd, I covered the 14 players who were new to the Royals organization and assigned to Idaho Falls. These players included 5 NDFA’s signed this summer, 8 2011 draft picks and Runey Davis who played in the Chicago Cubs system the last 2 years.

There’s so much more I’d like to write about when it comes to the current Chukars roster – but I don’t want to neglect the other affiliates forever – so this week will be the last in Idaho Falls for a while. Before we move on however, there are 3 position players I’ve yet to cover that are putting up some numbers worth mentioning. (more…)

At some point between the day of the trade and tonight (honestly it was quite a while ago) I came across the fact that Pizziconi was born in Anzio, Italy. That tidbit got me wondering if any other Italian-born players have spent time in the Royals organization.

Thanks to Baseball Almanac, I was able to find a list of six Italian-born players who reached the major leagues. I’m not sure how accurate that list is but that number seems to be consistent across several sources, so I’m going to accept it as fact for the purposes of this article. (more…)

Which brings us to today and part 2 of the Chukars Check-In. This time around I will actually touch on the 5 NDFA’s (non-drafted free agents) who joined the Royals organization this summer as well as the 8 players currently in Idaho Falls that were drafted in June. There is a 14th player that is new to the Kansas City system this year (and playing for the Chukars) who is included, but he actually made his professional debut in 2009. (more…)

I enjoyed putting it together and it is a format I’d like to continue to use but sadly I don’t have an infinite amount of free time at my disposal. This week I’m changing gears and will focus on just one Royals affiliate and as you can tell by the title, I picked the Idaho Falls Chukars as the subject. (more…)

Hello again! For the last month I’ve been standing on the banks of Lake Kauffman. From time to time I’ve dipped my toes in the water but have been unable to take the plunge and publish my first article here since November 11th of last year. Now, things have changed.

As you have read, Jeff Herr has moved on to head up our network’s KU coverage over on Through the Phog. His departure leaves a gap in the minor league coverage on this site, but if you’re a long time reader of Kings of Kauffman you may remember my days as this site’s lead. You may also remember that I spent a lot of time writing about prospects and the draft. Since leaving KoK, my nomadic writing tendencies have taken me to several sites, but at all of my stops I’ve tried to work in coverage of the minor leagues as it has always been a facet of the game that I love to follow and write about.

With the launch of Seedlings to Stars just over a month ago, I’ve been able to hone my content focus more fully to minor league coverage. So when Jeff notified us that he was leaving KoK and S2S to take a lead position, it seemed natural that I pick up the baton and carry forward the weekly minor league feature here on this site. (more…)

dobberbaseball.com

Missouri is known as the Show-Me state, a nickname garnered from the inherent skepticism that lies within nearly every born and bred Midwesterner.  Perhaps no fan base embodies this attitude more than the Kansas City Royals fan base.  Surrounded by the sometimes over the top optimism of the other major sports teams in the area, the Royals are the exception.  After years of being promised that ‘things will get turned around,’ and being told players like Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye, Carlos Beltran, and Zack Greinke are the future only to see them traded away and seeing others like Angel Berroa and Alex Gordon show promise but not lead to any more wins, the fan base is understandably skeptical.

General Manager Dayton Moore has kept his manta of process, process, process but there has been nothing to show for it at the major league level as of yet.  The question the fan base has is why should we expect something different this time?  Royals fans have been drug through the ringer many times and it is no surprise that they keep the recent publicity around the farm system at arm’s length.

(more…)

I don’t mean for this to be depressing so follow along (after the jump) and see where I go with all of this. (more…)

Let’s disregard the fact that its just about time for our staff to work on the 2011 version of this list. Instead, let’s simply celebrate the wonder and excellence that is Wil Myers.

(more…)

Now a few have fizzled so far or are at least no better off now than in April.  That’s at least better than regression.

I’m going to take a look over the next few days at some of these prospects and their performances overall as well as any recent streaks.  And to be fun, I’m going to break these down into four categories:

1. The Big Names – Those prospects we hope will be the core of future contenders.  I’ll cover batters today and pitchers tomorrow.
2. The New Guys – Those prospects we’ve recently acquired.
3. The Other Guys – Guys who have a shot at productive major league careers, but will need some breakthroughs to get into category 1 at any point.
4. The Young’uns – guys in the lower levels who are performing and could be the future top ten prospects once the Big Names hit the majors.

(more…)

The game is on ESPN2 at 5 p.m. Central time, so after the Royals stave off a sweep at the hands of the White Sox, flip over and check out a glimpse at the future.

You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.

They also give prospects 26-50 but list them alphabetically.  John Lamb and Wil Myers are in that group giving the Royals 5 of the top 50 prospects in all of baseball.

When was the last time we could make that claim?

Rodriguez was signed out of the Dominican Republic as a 16-year old back in 2007 and was in pitching in the Dominican Summer League for the third straight season.

He looked to be taking a step forward in his development this season, but 11.1 innings pitched is a small sample size.  Aside from that it’s hard to gauge DSL stats.

So … I am going to finish the last four up with a more condensed style.

(more…)

Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer‘s fine seasons have earned them All-Star honors, but what other prospects will represent the Royals? Read on.
(more…)

Arguelles, 20, had been touted as equal to a first-round pick when he was being courted by Major League teams as an international free agent.  His signing with the Royals is a testament to their new aggressiveness in the international market and was a surprise to many, as they signed him ahead of the Red Sox, Yankees, and others.  The Royals hadn’t discussed his progression very much while he was in extended spring training but his first potential assignment was to start at Wilmington in Low A ball.  He was more or less shut down, however, so the Royals are being very careful with their investment.

The diagnosis of “shoulder soreness” is vague, of course, and could just be an excuse to take things very slowly with his pitch counts in training.  Or, and less pleasant, he could have some kind of arm injury that hasn’t been determined or that the Royals aren’t comfortable reporting yet.  We’ll have to see.  Arguelles wasn’t expected to contribute much anyway in the short-term, though this may slow his future debut in Kansas City by 6-12 months (my thoughts, but I’m no sports physician, mind you).

You can read Wally’s breakdown of Arguelles here, as he checks in at #9 in the Kings of Kauffman prospect rankings.

You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.

Lamb, ranked #7 by Baseball America in the Royals system, was 2-3 at Low-A Burlington, but had an ERA of 1.58 and a 43/17 K/BB ratio. The 6’3″ lefthanded Lamb won’t turn 20 years old until July, but projects to be a solid major league starter with good control. Greg Schaum compares his delivery to Tom Glavine.

Our very own Wally Fish has Lamb ranked at #8 in the system, and you can read his breakdown here.

Lamb should make his debut on Friday against Myrtle Beach.

You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.

Tim Melville checks in at #6 on the 2010 Kings of Kauffman prospect list. (more…)

Who: Eric John Hosmer
DOB: 10/24/1989  Cooper City, Florida
Position: 1B
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 215 lbs
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Acquired: 2008 Draft (1st Round) (more…)

Who: John M. Lamb
DOB: 7/10/1990 Laguna Hills, California
Position: LHP
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 195
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Acquired: 2008 Draft (5th Round) (more…)

In addition to directing you to the above, I wanted to drop a heads-up that after a nearly month long hiatus, I will be continuing the 2010 KoK prospect rankings.  Today #8 will be revealed.  In fact, that is what I am about to go work on right now.

I hope everyone is having a great Tuesday and enjoying the beautiful weather!

Who: Noel Arguelles
DOB: 1/12/1990  Cuba
Position: LHP
Height: 6’3″ or 6’4″
Weight: 220
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Acquired: International FA 1/10

Rankings:
~ Baseball America #3a
~ Diamond Futures #6
~ Royals Review #6b
~ The Royal Tower #9a
~ John Sickels C+
~ Scouting Book #5

Stats:

No Stats Available

Noel agreed to terms with Kansas City on a contract back in early December, but due to visa issues he didn’t actually sign his deal until January 7th.  The contract will pay Noel $7 million over the next 5 seasons with the ability to earn up to another $2 million by way of incentives.  His presence augments what was already, in my opinion, the most impressive collection of LHP prospects in all of baseball.  There is not an organization that can match the Royals group of top-shelf lefty starters that includes Arguelles, John Lamb, Danny Duffy, Mike Montgomery, and Chris Dwyer.

Of course we have no stats to dissect and we have no real firm scouting reports to work from.  Arguelles just turned 20 years old and we have no idea how he will continue to adapt to life in the United States let alone how he will handle pitching in the minor leagues.  After reading Sam Mellinger’s piece for the Kansas City Star, I’m encouraged about his future not just because how his pitches grade out but because of things like this that Sam’s article shared with Royals fans everywhere:

Arguelles is taking one-on-one English lessons, intent on learning as quickly as possible. Sal Artiaga is the Royals’ cultural coordinator and says Arguelles is among the most eager, mature and hard-working players he’s met.

Arguelles isn’t much for patience. He wants things now. Convinced he needed to clean up his mechanics, he hired Pedro Martinez’s old pitching coach. When he finishes drills, even mundane ones like pitchers’ fielding practice, he asks anybody who understands Spanish how he did and how he can improve.

Eager, mature, and hard-working are always good characteristics when talking about a guy who just graduated from his teens.  Throw those words around when talking about a pitching prospect and I get downright giddy.

When it comes to the specifics of his pitches, we know he throws left handed and features a fastball, curve, and changeup.  His fastball sits in the low 90s and tops out at 94.  Prior to signing with the Royals his fastball was reaching up to only 89-90 in some sessions, but in others he was throwing in his customary range of 91-94.  The drop in velocity in some sessions could be due to a lack of regular work or he could have simply been having a bad day.  Either way, as he gets older, he should have no problem throwing heat in the low to mid-90s.  His changeup projects to be a plus pitch at the major league level, and his current level of mastery with the pitch will go a long way toward determining how fast he can climb the ranks of the system.  The opinion of Noel’s curveball varies but at worst it projects to be an average major league offering.  Some believe the curve, like his changeup, has the potential to be an above average or plus pitch.  Beyond his arm, Arguelles receives praise for his athleticism and at 20 years old he has a lot of unlocked potential that could be realized as he matures and gets stronger.

As is the case with most pitchers his age, control is the area that needs the most work, but taking a regular turn in a rotation, logging innings, and learning to refine his mechanics will all help his command.  There is no question that the raw stuff is there to wind up as a legitimate 2 or 3 starter on a competitive team.

On March 4th, Noel pitched a bullpen session at the Royals spring training complex and Bob Dutton published a short article on the event which included the following:

“He was out in the outfield shagging (fly balls) the other day,” McClure said. “I went over there and watched, and he catches the ball like he’s a center fielder. He’s very athletic.

“Since he wasn’t supposed to throw the ball yet, he just picked it up right-handed and threw it like a right-hander. I couldn’t tell whether he was right-handed or left-handed. I’m serious. I was thinking, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ ”

When the Royals landed Arguelles, it sent shockwaves through the Royals blogosphere and fanbase.  He joined Aaron Crow, Wil Myers, and Chris Dwyer as 1st round caliber talents that Dayton managed to add to the system in approximately six months.  It only added to the excitement that the announcement seemingly came out of nowhere.  I was unaware the Royals were even in the running to make him a viable offer and I was not alone.  Even though the initial shock has died down, I am still excited and giddy that he signed with the Royals.  A very large part of me wanted to rank him higher than number 9 on my list, but I am trying to stay objective and level-headed.

Noel Arguelles will make his professional debut in Wilmington for the high-A Blue Rocks.  A strong performance there should earn him a relatively quick promotion to NW Arkansas.  Since he is on the 40-man roster by way of his major league contract, the organization will want him to advance through the system quickly to maximize the return on their investment.  The phrase “be quick but don’t hurry” seems very applicable to Noel and his future.

~~~~~

If you want to check out some video of Arguelles, the blog Cuban Ball Players has this posted from back in November which came from Kiley McDaniel of Baseball Prospectus.

~~~~~

(Wally Fish is the lead blogger for Kings of Kauffman and FanSided’s MLB Director.  Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)

(more…)