2014 Royals Repository

[duncan_idaho]

With my 6,000th post on ChiefsPlanet (it only took me 12 years to get here), I bring you: The 2014 Kansas City Royals Repository.

To be discussed here: All things Royals, as they attempt to post another winning season and make it back to the playoffs for the first time since 1985.

25-man RosterAvailable HERE

AL Central Standings:

Link

Duncan's Top 20 Royals Prospects

Spoiler!

1) 3B Hunter Dozier ETA: 2015
Dozier started slowly at A+ Wilmington but caught fire in May and June, earning a mid-season promotion to AA Northwest Arkansas. Big, strong kid with good plate discipline skills and solid power who projects to be an above-average glove at 3B with solid power.

2) SS Raul (Adalberto) Mondesi ETA: 2017
Mondesis is the opposite of Dozier…. Started red-hot at Wilmington before back spasms derailed him for a few weeks and hasn’t gotten it going since coming back. Scouting reports have been great – defense and speed both improved over the offseason. Still a chance to be an elite SS, with 40 SB speed, plus glove, .300 average and some pop.

3) LHP Sean Manaea | ETA: 2015
Scouting reports outperform the stat line so far. Missing a ton of bats at A+ but not preventing runs like you’d expect to see. Needs to work deeper into games (gradually working about an inning deeper/month so far this year) and improve control. Walks are biggest concern right now, but could be elevated due to work on extra off-speed offerings. Still has No. 2 starter potential, could be higher if the great control he exhibited before his hip surgery eventually comes back.

4) RHP Kyle Zimmer| ETA: 2015
Should be NO. 1 on the list and is probably the Royals most VALUABLE current prospect, but he hasn’t thrown a ball in 4-5 weeks and had only been throwing for 2-3 weeks when he was shut down then.

5) LHP Brandon Finnegan| ETA: 2015
Top 2014 draft choice is an undersized lefty who will start at A+ Wilmington after anchoring CWS run for TCU. Good fastball, better slider, change that needs work to stick as a starter, but if he sticks, No. 2/No. 3 starter upside. Likely a top 10 or even top 5 pick if he doesn’t miss 1 start in the middle of the college season as a precautionary move.

6) RHP Miguel Almonte| ETA: 2016
Have heard some say Almonte is more advanced as a pitcher at A+ than Yordano Ventura was (comparison because both were cheap signs out of Latin America). Really advanced changeup and a curve that is working out well (where the ‘more advanced’ comment comes from). Fastball velo is good but not great – 92-94. Like Manaea, working on his second-best offspeed pitch and leaning less on his bread-and butter (changeup), which has hurt his numbers a bit.

7) RHP Christian Binford 2017
Reverse case of “don’t just scout stat lines.” Based on his stats at A+, you’d think he was an elite prospect, but there are questions about Binford’s stuff playing up at higher levels. Tall righty with great command of fastball, slider and a good and still developing changeup. None of those pitches profiles as better than average, though, limiting his likely upside to back-end rotation guy.

8) SS Orlando Calixte| ETA: 2016
I still like him more than many. Good combination of SS/MI skills and power. Started hot at NWA but in a slump at moment.

9)LHP Foster Griffin | ETA: 2019
Tall, projectable lefty taken in 2014 draft. Viewed as a great value in the sandwich round and probably would have been KC’s pick at No. 17 if Finnegan hadn’t fallen. High school arm who is going to take a while to develop.

10) RF Jorge Bonifacio| ETA: 2016
Hasn’t hit as well as expected in his second go-round at AA NWA. Power still sapped, and average skills have dipped. Once looked like he might be an option in RF at some point in 2015, now looks like 2016 is optimistic. Still young for his level.

11) 3B/2B Cheslor Cuthbert| ETA: 2016
Cuthbert has had better luck at NWA than Boni and is also extremely young for level. HE’s been moved to 2B since Dozier was promoted, which could put a new spin on Cuthbert’s prospects. If he sticks at 2B, bat plays up much better. Good OBP/plate discipline and solid power, but needs to continue improving contact skills

12) C Chase Vallot| ETA: 2020
Young (just 17) C with tremendous power. One of the top prep bats and a great value for KC where it got him. If he sticks at C, expect him to move slowly, but the bat may force the issue (or force him to another position).

13) C Zane Evans| ETA: 2017
GA Tech product has handled Wilmington better than most RH bats and probably is in line for a promotion to NWA sometime soon. Decent pop, decent skills behind the plate. Could be a nice reserve catcher.

14) RHP Scott Blewett| ETA: 2020
Tall, projectable righty with a fresh arm but some injury concerns on his shoulder that slipped him out of Round 1 of MLB draft. Big time potential.

15) CF Bubba Starling | ETA:
Bubba Starling has great tools. Bubba Starling (still) can’t hit. That’s all I have to say about that.

16) 1B Samir Duenez| ETA:
I still like him, even though the attempt to run him through full season ball at 17 did not go well.

17)LF/RF Elier Hernandez| ETA:
Hernandez still pops up in scouting reports but still is very raw and toolsy.

18) RHP Pedro Fernandez| ETA:
Pop-up player on the same track as Ventura and Almonte. Similar signing, similar profile. One to watch over next few years.

19) SS Marten Gasparini| ETA:
Royals’ most expensive international signing likely moves to CF eventually, but his speed and athleticism are intriguing abilities. Early reports from complex ball are very positive on him.

20) RHP Niklas Stephenson| ETA:
Interesting pop-up candidate who found 10 more MPH on his fastball by using a weighted ball during workouts over the winter. Now sits mid-90s with fastball and is dominating at rookie ball (after having an ERA over 8 there a year ago). Likely promoted to a higher challenge soon.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by Archie F. Swin

Petro v GMDM at 11:05 WHB

He's on 610 right now. Tip toeing around Moustakas' interview yesterday.

EDIT: Complete waste of time so far. They asked one question about Moustakas, Dayton danced around it and now it's on to questions about how great the team is.

These guys stink.

[Deberg_1990]

Lee Judges take on the Moose incident. Grain of Salt, hes a big time "homer"


The media made Kansas City Royals' third baseman Mike Moustakas mad -- and if someone publicly called for our demotion, we probably wouldn’t enjoy that either -- and now it seems Mike Moustakas has made the media mad.


Mike hit two doubles and drove a third baseball to the warning track on Wednesday. People have been talking about Mike being sent back to the minors, so after a game like Wednesday’s, some of those same people wanted to talk to Mike.

But if someone was burying you on Tuesday and wanted to talk to about the great game you had on Wednesday, you might not feel like doing so.

The media gathered around his locker, but Mike wasn’t there. After a while, he showed up, did something at his locker, then walked off again.

At that point I decided to punt. It looked like Mike was going to make everyone wait some more -- so I went back to the press box, grabbed my backpack and returned to the clubhouse.

Moustakas was still not at his locker so I started talking to one of his teammates. I said forcing the media to wait was kinda funny, but he probably wasn’t helping himself. We’d get sulky about being put on hold while deadlines approached and look for payback opportunities ... just wait until the next time Mike takes an 0-fer.

And once he got back to his locker he deflected questions about his performance and repeatedly talked about the pitching performance of Jason Vargas.

So not only were the members of the media forced to stand around staring at each other while their deadlines approached, once Moustakas showed up, we couldn’t get the quotes we wanted.

However you decide to feel about this -- and it’s America, no matter how little information we possess, we have to have opinions about everything -- give Mike Moustakas credit: in one of the biggest at-bats of his career, he came through.

Moustakas came to the plate in the second inning with one out and the bases loaded. The game was still scoreless. Strike out, pop up or hit into a double play and Mike would get booed. People would be saying his critics were right. Mike Moustakas should be sent to the minor leagues.

Instead, he roped a bases-clearing double down into the right field corner, giving Jason Vargas and the Royals bullpen all the runs they’d need for a 3-2 victory.

On Wednesday the Royals third baseman was the hero, but if the media gets another chance to be negative about Mike Moustakas, don’t be surprised if we take it.

Royals 3, Rockies 2.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2014/05/14...#storylink=cpy

[nychief]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Lee Judges take on the Moose incident. Grain of Salt, hes a big time "homer"


The media made Kansas City Royals' third baseman Mike Moustakas mad -- and if someone publicly called for our demotion, we probably wouldn’t enjoy that either -- and now it seems Mike Moustakas has made the media mad.


Mike hit two doubles and drove a third baseball to the warning track on Wednesday. People have been talking about Mike being sent back to the minors, so after a game like Wednesday’s, some of those same people wanted to talk to Mike.

But if someone was burying you on Tuesday and wanted to talk to about the great game you had on Wednesday, you might not feel like doing so.

The media gathered around his locker, but Mike wasn’t there. After a while, he showed up, did something at his locker, then walked off again.

At that point I decided to punt. It looked like Mike was going to make everyone wait some more -- so I went back to the press box, grabbed my backpack and returned to the clubhouse.

Moustakas was still not at his locker so I started talking to one of his teammates. I said forcing the media to wait was kinda funny, but he probably wasn’t helping himself. We’d get sulky about being put on hold while deadlines approached and look for payback opportunities ... just wait until the next time Mike takes an 0-fer.

And once he got back to his locker he deflected questions about his performance and repeatedly talked about the pitching performance of Jason Vargas.

So not only were the members of the media forced to stand around staring at each other while their deadlines approached, once Moustakas showed up, we couldn’t get the quotes we wanted.

However you decide to feel about this -- and it’s America, no matter how little information we possess, we have to have opinions about everything -- give Mike Moustakas credit: in one of the biggest at-bats of his career, he came through.

Moustakas came to the plate in the second inning with one out and the bases loaded. The game was still scoreless. Strike out, pop up or hit into a double play and Mike would get booed. People would be saying his critics were right. Mike Moustakas should be sent to the minor leagues.

Instead, he roped a bases-clearing double down into the right field corner, giving Jason Vargas and the Royals bullpen all the runs they’d need for a 3-2 victory.

On Wednesday the Royals third baseman was the hero, but if the media gets another chance to be negative about Mike Moustakas, don’t be surprised if we take it.

Royals 3, Rockies 2.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2014/05/14...#storylink=cpy

Aww... Did the big bad KC media beat up on the worse everyday player in baseball.... Poor guy.

[-King-]

810 wants to make this Moose thing into a big deal SO bad

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by -King-

810 wants to make this Moose thing into a big deal SO bad

Yep. It is so obvious they want this to be huge. They are still mad the Royals are with 610.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

He's on 610 right now. Tip toeing around Moustakas' interview yesterday.

EDIT: Complete waste of time so far. They asked one question about Moustakas, Dayton danced around it and now it's on to questions about how great the team is.

These guys stink.

I'm happy they only asked a couple Moose questions. I don't get why people want to hear 100 questions about Moose like they're going to say anything mind blowing.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by -King-

I'm happy they only asked a couple Moose questions. I don't get why people want to hear 100 questions about Moose like they're going to say anything mind blowing.

They ask questions about Moustakas because he's the worst hitter in baseball yet can't find his way off the team. I don't think anybody in the media or the fans understand why he is still on the team and questioning management is the only way we would ever get any insight to their thought process.

But fluff questions may be your thing and so be it.

[Nightfyre]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Lee Judges take on the Moose incident. Grain of Salt, hes a big time "homer"


The media made Kansas City Royals' third baseman Mike Moustakas mad -- and if someone publicly called for our demotion, we probably wouldn’t enjoy that either -- and now it seems Mike Moustakas has made the media mad.


Mike hit two doubles and drove a third baseball to the warning track on Wednesday. People have been talking about Mike being sent back to the minors, so after a game like Wednesday’s, some of those same people wanted to talk to Mike.

But if someone was burying you on Tuesday and wanted to talk to about the great game you had on Wednesday, you might not feel like doing so.

The media gathered around his locker, but Mike wasn’t there. After a while, he showed up, did something at his locker, then walked off again.

At that point I decided to punt. It looked like Mike was going to make everyone wait some more -- so I went back to the press box, grabbed my backpack and returned to the clubhouse.

Moustakas was still not at his locker so I started talking to one of his teammates. I said forcing the media to wait was kinda funny, but he probably wasn’t helping himself. We’d get sulky about being put on hold while deadlines approached and look for payback opportunities ... just wait until the next time Mike takes an 0-fer.

And once he got back to his locker he deflected questions about his performance and repeatedly talked about the pitching performance of Jason Vargas.

So not only were the members of the media forced to stand around staring at each other while their deadlines approached, once Moustakas showed up, we couldn’t get the quotes we wanted.

However you decide to feel about this -- and it’s America, no matter how little information we possess, we have to have opinions about everything -- give Mike Moustakas credit: in one of the biggest at-bats of his career, he came through.

Moustakas came to the plate in the second inning with one out and the bases loaded. The game was still scoreless. Strike out, pop up or hit into a double play and Mike would get booed. People would be saying his critics were right. Mike Moustakas should be sent to the minor leagues.

Instead, he roped a bases-clearing double down into the right field corner, giving Jason Vargas and the Royals bullpen all the runs they’d need for a 3-2 victory.

On Wednesday the Royals third baseman was the hero, but if the media gets another chance to be negative about Mike Moustakas, don’t be surprised if we take it.

Royals 3, Rockies 2.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2014/05/14...#storylink=cpy

In other words: the media is full of petulant asshats who are vindictive when they don't get what they want, when the want. Noted.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by KevB

Anyone else concerned with the performance of our minor league prospects? I realize numbers alone don't define development in the minors, but to be perfectly frank, it appears to be a shit show down on the farm. Of duncan's top 15 prospects (excluding Ace), maybe two are meeting expectations. Not one is exceeding expectations, while several are completely in the tank.

Starling is the main one to be concerned about. He's been absolutely dreadful and likely is not on a top 15 list next year unless he makes a dramatic reversal.

Ventura has performed quite well. Zimmer is a week behind the plan that has been in place for him from the start of the season. If he keeps getting pushed, I think you start worrying.

RA Mondesi must have slumped over the last week to 10 days, because 2 weeks ago he was putting up insane numbers at age 18 in a terrible hitting environment at High A. Scouting reports on him have been glowing, so I don't think he's disappointing at all. He's faster and BETTER at SS than expected. Good combo. He's a bad stretch away from vastly exceeding expectations.

Miguel Almonte has also received glowing in person reports from people outside the organization who think he's more advanced at that age than Yordano Ventura was. He doesn't have the velocity but has a better changeup and breaking pitch at that age. It's kind of hard to believe his ERA is as high as it is... his K/BB rate is great (3:1), he's not giving up a ton of hits (31 in 38 innings), and his HR rate isn't sky high. Might just be a case of some bad luck on balls in play. I'm still very excited about him.

Dozier's in-person reports have been great. I think he's struggling due to Wilmington/Carolina league. Shows good plate discipline at least, which is something this organization tends to lack.

Christian Binford is probably having the best season of any Royals minor leaguer. He has 48k in 40 IP versus just 7 BB, which is pretty great. His stuff isn't overwhelming, but he's tall and has three good pitches, and he misses bats. Kind of similar to Chris Tillman in Baltimore (6-5/6-5, 90-91, extreme downhill plane on pitches, big-breaking slider, changeup). He's exceeding expectations by quite a bit.

Cheslor Cuthbert and Bonifacio are interesting at AA. Boni has scuffled a bit (OPS around .700). He's young for that league, but I'd prefer to see him hitting better.

Cuthbert has kind of made himself interesting again because he has started hitting with some pop and still is showing excellent plate discipline (5 HR, OBP something like .090 points higher than his AVG).

Orlando Calixte has only played in 4 games at AA, but he has 2 HR so far. That's encouraging (would be nice if he continues to hit well, because his glove is good enough to stick at SS. 1) Makes him great trade bait as Mondesi continues to push him; 2) He and Mondesi could be a very good-fielding and cheap and plus offensive MI for a long time)

Elier Hernandez and Samir Duenez haven't done much with the bat yet, but they're so much younger than the average age for their levels (an 18 year old playing against 21-22 year olds and a 19 year old playing against 22-23), it's hard to know much without scouting reports (which I've not seen nor heard).

Adam has been disappointing. Stuff has slid back and I don't think he moves quickly.

Manaea's raw numbers are bad, but he's on a pretty strict pitch count (limited to 75, I believe) and that has hurt him in a few very short, very bad outings. remember, this is a guy who sat out all of the second half of last season due to a hip surgery. Scouting reports have been highly positive, and he has missed a ton of bats (32 K in 22 1/3 IP, 4:1 K:BB) with good control.

Eibner has also fallen off after a torrid start... he's mired in a terrible slump. If he doesn't pull out of it, we're probably talking about him as a reliever next season.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Nightfyre

In other words: the media is full of petulant asshats who are vindictive when they don't get what they want, when the want. Noted.

I'm absolutely fine with the media being vindictive and taking it out on him in the future if they want to, simply because what Moose did was moronic.

This is like one of those "got pulled over by a cop" situations where you may have some rights or whatever, but you have to be smart. If you are polite maybe you get off with a warning, and if you get out of your car waving your hands walking to the cop screaming "hey I wasn't speeding you a-hole", you may wind up on the curb in zip ties getting ready to defend yourself from some kind of trumped-up attempted assault charges, assuming you didn't get shot first. Maybe you have a constitutional right to be a jerk, but sometimes you gotta realize when your up against someone with the power to ruin your day, and you gotta be smart.

Similarly, Moose is not Barry freaking Bonds. He may have wanted to stick it to them after getting 2 doubles but even in the age of the internet, the newspaper, TV, and radio guys still have a lot of power to sway public opinion, and as an athlete it is in your best interest to try to get them to like you and defend you when the fans start grumbling. Once you put up hall of fame stats and get enough love from the fans so that they won't be swayed by the media, then feel free to be an ass if you want.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Starling is the main one to be concerned about. He's been absolutely dreadful and likely is not on a top 15 list next year unless he makes a dramatic reversal.

Ventura has performed quite well. Zimmer is a week behind the plan that has been in place for him from the start of the season. If he keeps getting pushed, I think you start worrying.

RA Mondesi must have slumped over the last week to 10 days, because 2 weeks ago he was putting up insane numbers at age 18 in a terrible hitting environment at High A. Scouting reports on him have been glowing, so I don't think he's disappointing at all. He's faster and BETTER at SS than expected. Good combo. He's a bad stretch away from vastly exceeding expectations.

Miguel Almonte has also received glowing in person reports from people outside the organization who think he's more advanced at that age than Yordano Ventura was. He doesn't have the velocity but has a better changeup and breaking pitch at that age. It's kind of hard to believe his ERA is as high as it is... his K/BB rate is great (3:1), he's not giving up a ton of hits (31 in 38 innings), and his HR rate isn't sky high. Might just be a case of some bad luck on balls in play. I'm still very excited about him.

Dozier's in-person reports have been great. I think he's struggling due to Wilmington/Carolina league. Shows good plate discipline at least, which is something this organization tends to lack.

Christian Binford is probably having the best season of any Royals minor leaguer. He has 48k in 40 IP versus just 7 BB, which is pretty great. His stuff isn't overwhelming, but he's tall and has three good pitches, and he misses bats. Kind of similar to Chris Tillman in Baltimore (6-5/6-5, 90-91, extreme downhill plane on pitches, big-breaking slider, changeup). He's exceeding expectations by quite a bit.

Cheslor Cuthbert and Bonifacio are interesting at AA. Boni has scuffled a bit (OPS around .700). He's young for that league, but I'd prefer to see him hitting better.

Cuthbert has kind of made himself interesting again because he has started hitting with some pop and still is showing excellent plate discipline (5 HR, OBP something like .090 points higher than his AVG).

Orlando Calixte has only played in 4 games at AA, but he has 2 HR so far. That's encouraging (would be nice if he continues to hit well, because his glove is good enough to stick at SS. 1) Makes him great trade bait as Mondesi continues to push him; 2) He and Mondesi could be a very good-fielding and cheap and plus offensive MI for a long time)

Elier Hernandez and Samir Duenez haven't done much with the bat yet, but they're so much younger than the average age for their levels (an 18 year old playing against 21-22 year olds and a 19 year old playing against 22-23), it's hard to know much without scouting reports (which I've not seen nor heard).

Adam has been disappointing. Stuff has slid back and I don't think he moves quickly.

Manaea's raw numbers are bad, but he's on a pretty strict pitch count (limited to 75, I believe) and that has hurt him in a few very short, very bad outings. remember, this is a guy who sat out all of the second half of last season due to a hip surgery. Scouting reports have been highly positive, and he has missed a ton of bats (32 K in 22 1/3 IP, 4:1 K:BB) with good control.

Eibner has also fallen off after a torrid start... he's mired in a terrible slump. If he doesn't pull out of it, we're probably talking about him as a reliever next season.

Wow that's a very detailed write up, do you go to these games or something? I haven't ever followed minor league baseball even in 2011 when we had "the bestest system evah!" I've gone to a few minor league games and they're dreadful because the guys are scrawny and very little is hit hard

[DeepSouth]

Baltimore has a left handed pitcher starting today. We'll probably see Valencia at third for the Royals. Maybe Maxwell in RF.

[SPATCH]

Andy McCullough ‏@McCulloughStar 1h
Do What We Do Lineup: Aoki 9, Hosmer 3, Butler DH, Perez 2, Gordon 7, Valencia 5, Giavotella 4, Cain 8, Escobar 6, Ventura 1. #royals

[KevB]

Mondesi and Almonte were the two I figured were meeting expectations going into the season, maybe you could throw Cuthbert in there as well.

Zimmer and Calixte are too incomplete to begin to assess, although I am nervous about Zimmer.

Binford wasn't on your prospect list, but he has been very good. Not top of the rotation prospect good from what I read, but middle of the rotation ceiling (and I'll take that).

Dozier, Manea, Hernandez and Duenez are still very early in their careers and/or young, so not too worked up. I'd hoped that Hernandez would be putting up a few numbers by now though.

Boni has been a bit disappointing. Bubba, Adam and Eibner are probably done as starter level prospects.

Ultimately, my point was that as a fan, it's frustrating not to have a single "top" prospect playing at a very high level so far this season. Still early, still some young guys playing up, perhaps some bad luck, etc. I'm sure a few will get hot, and we'll have a couple of off the radar guys jump up as the season goes along.

[Infidel Goat]

I actually think it would be funny if Moose just offered up Crash Davis nuggets to every question.

/