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.

[C3HIEF3S]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief

My hopes for this season are resting on the fact that we're only 2.5 out with such shit-tastic seasons from Hosmer, Butler, Infante, Aoki, and Moustakas. Honestly it's a miracle that we are where we are, and that we've managed to go 9-4 against the Cards, Jays, Yankees, and Indians.

If statistical trends are true, all should improve as the season progresses. And honestly, other than Davis/Holland, nobody's performing so well that they'll slump out badly.

Maybe we're just one of those teams who plays to the level of our competition?

Our pitching staff is the only reason we are one game over .500. I don't think anybody expected them to be this good.

[Mother****erJones]

Originally Posted by C3HIEF3S

I'll be at the game tomorrow night so it's almost a guaranteed loss.

Have fun man, love the Cell.

[Mother****erJones]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Since trades are being brought up, one I have been thinking about for a while for the Royals that could make some sense for them is with the Padres.

Chase Headley
Carlos Quentin

3rd base and right fielder. Both have been hurt this year, thus numbers are down but for the right price they could be enough to push the Royals over the hump into the playoffs.

As much as I love CQ because he was a White Sox, stay away. Injury plagued.

[CaliforniaChief]

Originally Posted by C3HIEF3S

Our pitching staff is the only reason we are one game over .500. I don't think anybody expected them to be this good.

The only starter who's been better than I expected is Vargas.

Shields has been slightly disappointing.
Guthrie has sucked.
Ventura has been good, but I thought he would be this good.
Duffy's been up and down.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief

The only starter who's been better than I expected is Vargas.

Shields has been slightly disappointing.
Guthrie has sucked.
Ventura has been good, but I thought he would be this good.
Duffy's been up and down.

Guthrie hasn't sucked.

[CaliforniaChief]

He's by far at his worst since joining the Royals. His WHIP, HR rate, ERA are all elevated.

[C3HIEF3S]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief

He's by far at his worst since joining the Royals. His WHIP, HR rate, ERA are all elevated.

This isn't true at all.
His ERA and WHIP right now are both better than his career averages.

He is a #4 starter who will get you around a 4 ERA and 200 innings pitched. You take that all day.

[C3HIEF3S]

And not to mention the guy isn't getting any younger, he is obviously going to have some decline, but he hasn't fallen straight off of a cliff.

[CaliforniaChief]

Originally Posted by C3HIEF3S

This isn't true at all.
His ERA and WHIP right now are both better than his career averages.

He is a #4 starter who will get you around a 4 ERA and 200 innings pitched. You take that all day.

His ERA with the Royals was:
Year 1: 3.16
Year 2: 4.04
Year 3: 4.10

You are correct that it's better than career averages, my statement was that it's his worst with the Royals.

My point is that really except for Vargas, none of our other starters are really outperforming the norm in a way that we could expect a "market correction."

I know what Guthrie is, and it still is a great trade that GMDM made to get him considering the dumpster fire we gave up in exchange. But he's not lights-out compared to expectations...and several of our position players are well below what I think we can reasonably expect, the reason for my optimism.

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief

The only starter who's been better than I expected is Vargas.

Shields has been slightly disappointing.
Guthrie has sucked.
Ventura has been good, but I thought he would be this good.
Duffy's been up and down.

With the Royals defense and stadium I figured Vargas would have a better ERA than previous years. I was thinking maybe 3.5ish

[Three7s]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

With the Royals defense and stadium I figured Vargas would have a better ERA than previous years. I was thinking maybe 3.5ish

The main issue with Vargas is that he'll throw too many changeups to righties and leave it up and it gets crushed. Most of his ERA is off of homers.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by Cunning Linguist

Do you like anyone on the team? You seem to gripe about Butler, Moose, Hosmer, Infante, Aoki, Escobar, etc quite regularly. Maybe Gordon and Salvy have been spared, but damn. If I just read your posts alone, I would think we were on pace to be the 2013 Houston Astros.

Are you projecting, perhaps? Were you the Chris Getz of little league and wear a pink tutu to a game and get laughed off the team (re:avid homophobia)?

I don't like the offense, but at 83 OPS nobody should. Pitching and def are very good like last year.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

I don't like the offense, but at 83 OPS nobody should. Pitching and def are very good like last year.

no one would be complaining about our pitching much of we had a "true" AL lineup with power.

[Mother****erJones]

Should be a good series this weekend. Sox are 16-11 in the division meanwhile the Royals are 8-15.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by Mother****erJones

Should be a good series this weekend. Sox are 16-11 in the division meanwhile the Royals are 8-15.

I'd guess that at least 10 of those losses are of the one run variety. It's losses like those that bite you in the ass at the end of the year.