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3 KC Royals prospects who should be on the 2025 Opening Day roster

Kansas City has a trio of prospects waiting in the wings for 2025.

By Mike Gillespie |
/ Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
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The Kansas City Royals shocked baseball this year by shedding the disgrace of their awful 2023 campaign and returning to the MLB Playoffs for the first time since 2015. But as good as they were, expect general manager J.J. Picollo, whose offseason and in-season moves pumped life back into the franchise, to make even more changes this winter. He'll cut players, lose some but gain others via trades, and sign a free agent or two.

And before the 2025 season begins on March 27, look for Picollo to promote some prospects to the active big league roster — he won't limit himself to free agency and the trade market for his next retooling.

Unfortunately for Picollo, the Royals don't have the game's best or deepest minor league system. Yes, they have can't-miss prospect Jac Caglianone, their No. 1 prospect per MLB Pipeline, Blake Mitchell, a sure big leaguer who Pipeline ranks as the franchise's second-best prospect, and several players down on the farm who look to have big careers ahead of them. But many, including Caglianone and Mitchell, aren't yet major league-ready.

Who might be? There are others, but here are three who could fill unique spots for the Royals in 2025.

Evan Sisk should be in the KC Royals' bullpen when next season begins

Sisk's name should sound familiar. Calls for the Royals to promote him from Triple-A Omaha to Kansas City ran rampant across social media this season as the big-league bullpen frequently faltered — and with good reason.

Acquired from Minnesota in the January 2023 trade that sent Gold Glover Michael A. Taylor to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for him and reliever Steven Cruz, Sisk was on his way to a 15-save, 6-win, 1.57 ERA season when it became clear that bullpen problems threatened the Royals' otherwise legitimate designs on postseason play.

Sisk probably could have helped KC stabilize its pen earlier than it did. Blocking his way to Kauffman Stadium, however, was a factor not of his making — he wasn't on the 40-man roster, which means the Royals would have had to trim a player from it and the 26-man to make room for him.

The bullpen improved late in the season and was good in the playoffs, but it needs to be even better for the Royals to make a deeper postseason run in 2025. That's why Sisk, who's 19-14 with a 3.17 ERA in six minor league seasons, should be in Kansas City for Opening Day.

Cam Devanney could be a good Opening Day roster fit

Feeding Kansas City's historical hunger for versatile players, Picollo's almost magician-like Royal roster reconstruction included the winter acquisitions of utility players Adam Frazier and Garrett Hampson. Both filled their defensive roles well — Hampson saw action everywhere but behind the plate, and Frazier did everything except pitch and catch.

Their offense was another story. Playing on a one-year deal, Hampson hit .230, never homered, and drove in just 16 runs in 113 games. At .202, Frazier barely broke above the Mendoza Line and had only four homers in 104 games — numbers that suggest the Royals probably won't pick up their half of his mutual option for 2025.

Can the Royals do better? Yes, and it starts with Cam Devanney, a potential big-league utility man who the Royals picked up last December by trading Taylor Clarke to the Milwaukee Brewers for him and pitcher Ryan Brady.

Devanney — who clubbed 23 homers two years ago in a season split between Double-A and Triple-A, and 11 homers in 103 games at Omaha in 2023 — enjoyed a good 2024 campaign with the Storm Chasers, hitting 19 homers with 77 RBI and slashing .254/.336/.445. Defensively, he played second, third, and shortstop, though he's also played first and left field during his minor league career.

If given a chance with the Royals, it's likely Devanney can fare better at the plate than Hampson and Frazier. But is there another utility type who could join him and render Hampson and Frazier dispensable?

Yes...

Devin Mann should be a Royal on Opening Day

Like Sisk and Devanney, Kansas City can't claim Mann as homegrown. The Los Angeles Dodgers picked him in the eighth round of the 2018 amateur draft, then shipped him (and infielder Derlin Figueroa) to KC to get reliever Ryan Yarbrough for their 2023 playoff chase stretch run.

A work in progress, Figueroa homered 13 times but hit only .223 for Single-A Columbia, but the Royals have to be excited about what Mann did this season at Omaha. While batting a pedestrian .257, his OBP was an excellent .358, and he hit 13 homers and drove in 52 runs in 101 games. Mann also reduced his 30.5% strikeout rate from 2023 to 22.3%.

What should make Mann even more attractive to the Royals is the defensive versatility he shares with Devanney. He may have played only at first and second bases this season (he also served as the Storm Chasers' designated hitter 25 times), but he's spent time at third and shortstop, as well as every outfield position over his six-year minor league career.

Mann, then, is uniquely suited to combine with Devanney for a utility duo capable of doing everything Hampson and Frazier could defensively, and hit better than them at the same time.

And that would be good for the Royals.

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