Division rivals seeing several Top 100 prospect risers could be concern for KC Royals

As the season rages on and we firmly enter the summer months of the MLB season, MLB Pipeline has made another update to their Top 100 prospects list this week.

While the Kansas City Royals still have their fair share of representation this prestigious list of the stars of tomorrow, there wasn't much groundbreaking change to report on the Royals front.

However, holding relatively pat was not the case for the rest of the AL Central, as two teams in particular saw some significant risers on this list - the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Guardians - which is certainly concerning for the Royals and their future competitive standing in the division.

Detroit and Cleveland amongst teams with multiple "highest risers" within MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospects

The AL Central was always thought to be a tightly contested division in the near future. It sent three teams to the postseason and saw four post above .500 records in 2024 and now sees those same four teams still at the very least within a fighting chance of an AL Wild Card spot.

That being said, in the case of the Tigers and the Guardians, the distant future may've gotten even brighter after some immense positive movement on the farm.

MLB.com's Sam Dykstra outlined some of the highest risers in this Top 100 update, with both the Tigers and the Guardians possessing multiple names rising 10 spots or more.

The Tigers are already thriving at the big league level. After defying the odds and not only reaching the postseason, but advancing to the ALDS in 2024, they've now followed that miracle season up by holding a co-share of the best record in all of baseball in 2025.

And now the future looks even brighter, as they not only have five propsects within the Top 100, but two just saw major jumps in the rankings. 1B/C Josue Briceño rose from 15 spots from 73 to 58, while higher up on the list shortstop Kevin McGonigle climbed 14 spots from 21 all the way into the Top 10 at seven.

Then there's last season's division winners in the Cleveland Guardians, who may not be doing as well this season, but they still remain within punching distance of that final AL Wild Card spot, sitting just three games back of the Seattle Mariners.

More help appears to be on the way down the road though, as the Guardians hold five names in the Top 100, two of which were among the highest risers in this prospect ranking. 1B/OF C.J. Kayfus rose a whopping 18 spots from 93 up to 75 and outfielder Chase DeLauter climbed 10 spots up to 35.

The Royals have already demonstrated some major shortcomings this season when it came to keeping up in this jam packed division, so the fact that now they're also struggling to keep pace from a prospect development standpoint is also a cause for concern.

One silver lining they can take away here though is that Detroit and Cleveland may have had two high rises on this list, each of them also had one of the "biggest droppers" on this list as well.

Tigers catching prospect Thayron Liranzo dropped 10 spots down to 88th on the list and Guardians outfield farmhand Jaison Chourio dropped a staggering 26 places down to 72.

KC Royals still hold their fair share of representation in the Top 100

The strength of the Tigers' and Guardians' systems are certainly a cause for concern from a competitive standpoint. But to shed some light on what's been a period of doom and gloom when it comes to Royals baseball, Kansas City was shown some love in these rankings, even if it wasn't in the form of highest risers. Kansas City still possesses three Top 100 prospects, all with unique upside at this point in 2025.

While his prospect graduation is imminent at this point, Jac Caglianone remained in the Top 10, sitting ninth overall despite his early struggles as he continues to get acclimated with the big league level.

Despite being injured for a majority of the season, catcher Blake Mitchell still managed to remain at a respectable top half rank off 33 in this update, putting himself in a good position to rise even further this season now that he's returned to action.

Fellow backstop Carter Jensen's great season continued to gain some hype, as after jumping into the Top 10 catching prospects in the league over the weekend, he climbed out of the 80's into the 70's (up to 73) in this update.