KC Royals Minor League 2015 Position Player Analysis

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Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The KC Royals have six minor league teams (not counting Arizona). The main focus of this review is on Omaha Stormchasers players who are in the minors but not on the Kansas City Royals current roster, with a ranking of position players and then pitchers.

Going into the season, the AAA Omaha Storm Chasers had won the Pacific Coast League (PCL) American League North title for four consecutive seasons. They finished second this year tied with the Iowa Cubs, six games behind the Oklahoma City Dodgers.

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Omaha’s record was a respectable 80-64. They actually had a better record this year than the 2014 title winners: 16 games over .500 this year, nine games over .500 last year. But, earlier this year, Oklahoma City changed affiliation to the Dodgers; the cash-rich Dodgers infused O-City with talent.

That affiliation switch likely cost the Stormchasers a share of their fifth straight division title.

Now, let’s turn our attention to the players who helped Omaha enjoy a winning 2015 campaign:

Next: Jose Martinez

1. Jose Martinez. His father Carlos Martinez was a major league player (known as “Cafe Martinez” or his coffee loving habit). Jose (who tweets as “Cafe Jr.” despite dwarfing his father) finished the season with the all time PCL batting average record at .384.

He also finished, leading the league in getting on base over 46% of the time. He was second in the league this year in slugging at .563 and first in OPS at 1.024. At 27 he came up from independent ball last year and patiently listened to his hitting coach on how to change his swing.

Martinez is 6’6″ and thought of himself as a home run hitter, but he had never impressive home run numbers. A .290 career minor leaguer, Tommy Gregg told him to swing down on the ball or swing straight on. In other words, go for contact, not for the fences.

He had only a decent opening month. but then in May he went on a tear. He was hurt for several weeks. Returning from the DL, he then went on another batting rampage, not so much with power, but with hits. And then the other teams started to walk him more.

However, he was hurting for at bats because of his injury. He was given virtually no time off the last two months because he did not have enough plate appearances to win the batting crown. Eventually he gradually gained the required number of PA’s. Would he be able to maintain his high average by playing every day to get 5 or 6 plate appearances and would he maintain his average? For the last week, Martinez seemed not to get too much to hit (or possibly he was wearing down). He went for several games without getting a hit, but he usually collected a walk or two.

His batting average went from .392 on August 27th down to .380. Then he gained strength, and the average went back up, and he was finally pulled from the final game by his manager to seal the record at .384. Martinez had 10 homers, 62 rbis, in 356 at bats.

His downsides are several: Some say he is too old at 27. But he has a good pedigree and took advantage of his coaching. He has some speed with 8 steals, but he is not nearly in the defensive league of a Cain or Gordon. He doesn’t make many errors. But not many spectacular plays in right field. He is also not a top prospect drafted by the Royals. Next year he will be a free agent. So whether he even gets a contract from the Royals is in question since they have so little invested in him.

Yet, it is not as if the Royals are stacked with outfielders in 2016. Most think Gordon will be gone, and Rios is somewhat dubious as a right fielder. Cain obviously will patrol center. Dyson and Orlando are good defensively but are not great hitters. Of course it is impossible to know if Martinez’ numbers will even closely resemble in the bigs what he did in his year at AAA.

Still the question remains: would it be foolish for the Royals not to resign him and see what he can do at Surprise. It probably won’t take much money to sign him. Ask the Omaha announcers what they think of him. They and the coaching staff rave. But it is only one year of those kinds of AAA numbers. Is it enough to give him a chance next year in Suprise? General Manager and his staff will make that decision. But I think Martinez quietly let his bat do the talking this year.

Next: Balbino Fuenmayor and Brett Eibner

2. A close second is Balbino Fuenmayor who was making a shambles of AAA before he tore his ACL while making an unassisted double play in late July and has missed the rest of the season. His operation was a success and while he couldn’t be signed under baseball rules during this season, the rumors were that Royals assured him that he could come to Surprise next year.

The Balbino, as he is called (no, he doesn’t call his home runs), does have more pop than Martinez. He finished AA and then AAA in 2015 in 360 at bats (being injured in late July) with an average of .358. with 17 home runs and 66 rbis. His slugging is .589 and OBP is .972. He is 25 (shortly to be 26), but other downsides are that he plays first (with Hoz firmly entrenched there) and he is not fast.

The KC Royals front office’s unusual move of making a verbal commitment with him for a 2016 contract shows they see some future for Fuenmayor in the Kansas City system. With designated hitter Kendrys Morales hitting free-agency in 2017 and first baseman Eric Hosmer in 2018, the Balbino could be a cheap replacement if the former Pioneer League (Independent) player turns into a true late-bloomer.

Such a development would be sweet revenge on the Toronto Blue Jays, who gave up on Fuenmayor after the 2013 season. KC Royals fans might recall that it was Toronto that ended up with former Royal Jose Bautista when he turned into a 54-homer monster in 2010.

Let’s hope we can get a little karmic payback.

Next: Brett Eibner and Rey Fuentes

3. Brett Eibner is third in my list and he may be the one who many would favor. He, too, is an outfielder and 26 years old. He has decent speed with 10 steals. Brett Eibner doesn’t hit for average like Martinez or Fuenmayor, at .303 for for the season. but 2015 was a breakthrough season for him when you consider that he has a .240 career batting average in the minors.

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