Royals close to landing Paul Carlixte

Things may be looking dim for the Royals in the AL Central this year, but suddenly the organization has some major juice in the world of international scouting.  Dominican SS-Paul Carlixte is reportedly close to signing a deal “in excess of $1 million” with the Royals.

I don’t know much about Carlixte aside from the fact that he plays SS and is a top international prospect.  Regardless of how Carlixte develops, we have plenty of evidence that Dayton and his staff are rebuilding the organization from the ground up.  In the last 12 months they have signed big name players from Korea (Jin-Ho Shin), Nicaragua (Cheslor Cuthbert), Cuba (Noel Arguelles), and now the Dominican assuming Paul Carlixte does indeed sign with Kansas City.

The organization’s investment to get these four players into the fold is just north of $10 million.  Once you add in the $20 million spent to sign players from the 2008 and 2009 drafts and we have a $30 million dollar foundation being poured.  The unfortunate part is that while we are waiting for the cement to dry at ground level, the penthouse is being remodeled with bubble gum and scotch tape.

Still knowing that $30 million has been invested in future talent makes it a little easier to swallow watching Jose Guillen “earn” $12 million in 2010.  There is still no excuse for the contracts being given to players like Jason Kendall or Scott Podsednik regardless of what is going on down the farm, but at least progress is being made somewhere these days.

(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.)