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.

[Three7s]

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

Man, the Fatty and Hos were getting ripped on AM radio today. It was LOL to say the least.

I was listening to it. Boddicker was ripping Hosmer and Butler to no end. They deserved every bit of it.

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by Three7s

I was listening to it. Boddicker was ripping Hosmer and Butler to no end. They deserved every bit of it.

Not to mention he was spot-on. Billy will be lucky to play anywhere in the league after this season, and will have to take a HUGE pay cut, and Hos has to just grow up...

[SPchief]

I don't get the current Hos hate. His last week has been at least respectable. Should he be in the 2 spot? No, but that ain't changing

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by SPchief

I don't get the current Hos hate. His last week has been at least respectable. Should he be in the 2 spot? No, but that ain't changing

eh, its understandable. This team was supposed to make the playoffs. If we had a 5 game lead things would be different, but we're down, the reason is offense, and whoever in the lineup is struggling the most is going to get the hate.

[Kansas City Kid]

Films released year of last Royals post season appearance:

Fletch
The Goonies
Back To The Future
Teen Wolf

[Sure-Oz]

Hosmer should get hate considering he doesn't listen to coaching or get dropped in the lineup

[cmh6476]

#Royals announce that they've signed LHP Joe Saunders to a minor league contract. He will be assigned to Triple-A Omaha.

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 8, 2014

[cmh6476]

The Royals see Saunders as a useful piece for rotation depth. He also could aid their bullpen down the stretch. Low-risk move. No-risk move.

— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) July 8, 2014

[Mr. Arrowhead]

These would be awesome signing in 2007

[Coach]

Yes....

Let's continue to stock pile pitchers, and continue to ignore the offense.

Pure genius, Kansas City Royals.

[Great Expectations]

LoCain is dominating.

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by Coach

Yes....

Let's continue to stock pile pitchers, and continue to ignore the offense.

Pure genius, Kansas City Royals.

Dude, but Raul?

[Three7s]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

Dude, but Raul?

You mean that guy almost old enough to be my dad? He was pretty good 5-10 years ago.

[Deberg_1990]

I guess i kinda see Butlers point.......But sorry, the Royals are choosing upside over peaked and over the hill.





The last thing this eight-years-in-the-Processing Royals season needs is drama, but here it is anyway. One of the team’s highest-paid and longest-tenured players feels singled out and is going passive-aggressive to make his point and subtly call out a teammate.

Ego and self-interest are on both sides of this, team and player each having legitimate beef. Billy Butler justifiably sees himself as the club’s most established hitter, and wonders why he’s been occasionally benched and now moved down in the lineup for the second time while Eric Hosmer appears to have birthrights to the top of the batting order every day.

The truth is that Hosmer’s spot in the lineup is being evaluated, but for now, the team sees Butler as an underperforming and now overpaid hitter on a roster in desperate need of consistent production, exposing an ego that’s always simmered just beneath the surface.


Ned Yost has final say on the lineup, which is put together with the input of the coaches and front office, including sabermetric specialists. None of them would say it publicly, but moving Butler down in the lineup while keeping Hosmer higher is as clear a sign as the team can give that — track record or not — they have more faith in Hosmer reaching his potential than in Butler regaining his past.

This is not what Butler or the Royals wanted to happen in what is effectively his contract year.

For Butler, he must know there is little chance the Royals will pick up a $12.5 million option for next season. He is a full-time designated hitter in a modern baseball world that no longer values full-time DHs, and is having his worst career year at the worst possible time.

For the Royals, they are let down by the hitter they’ve always viewed as their most reliable, an unforeseen problem in a season in which they can’t afford unforeseen problems. The club has always viewed its best future without Butler clogging the DH spot and is slowly taking steps to embrace that future sooner than later.

This is all a dramatic shift for a player and team that once seemed such a good match. Two years ago next week, fans here made a national spectacle of booing Robinson Cano for not picking Butler to the Home Run Derby. Several long and loud ovations for Butler during All-Star week left an impression, too.

“The way the people of Kansas City treated me on those nights made me want to run through a brick wall for this city,” he said last spring about the memory.

All other things equal, Butler is a great fit for Kansas City. He was the rare homegrown star from the sad pre-2006 era, so excited to be drafted in the first round that he signed below the going rate almost immediately. He married a nice girl he met during his first stop in the minor leagues, and she’s helped him become one of the city’s most charitable athletes, helping feed Kansas City’s hungry through the Bishop Sullivan Center.

Even before reaching the big leagues, Butler talked openly of how Kansas City was the type of place he would like to stay his entire career. He was among the first to sign a long-term extension with the Royals. Kauffman Stadium’s big gaps and long fences fit his line-drive tendencies, and Kansas City’s slower ways fit his Country Breakfast style.

But all things are not equal, of course, and no matter the other stuff, these things are always about production. Kansas City is no different than anywhere else in that way, a town that cheered Andre Rison and booed Mike Sweeney.

The rub of it is that the Royals need to keep Butler productive if not entirely happy, because the organization still considers him vital to whether the team can take advantage of its best chance at the playoffs in a generation. Perhaps even more than Hosmer.

During the 10-game win streak that changed the scope of the season, Butler hit .389 with five extra-base hits and 10 RBIs. In June, the Royals went 17-10 with Butler going for an .811 on-base-plus slugging percentage. Over the same stretch, Hosmer’s OPS was .532.

So by now, even with both sides understanding they are likely breaking up at the end of the year, both sides also understand their mutual dependence. The Royals need Butler hitting to win, and Butler needs opportunities in the lineup to hit. Neither team nor player expected to be in this situation, but as much as any sport baseball is about adjusting to surprises.

For now, the drama is not holding the team back but is a growing conversation point among rival evaluators.

Butler hasn’t always had a heads up when he was demoted or omitted from the lineup, a common courtesy for veteran players of a certain stature. Yost and the coaching staff failed him there, but Butler needs to be mature enough to handle it better.

Neither team nor player can fully succeed without the other, and in a season that each side has spent so much time working toward, ultimate success will depend heavily on recognizing that simple fact.

Butler and the Royals have been united for too long to let their last and most important season together be affected by any unnecessary drama.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt...#storylink=cpy

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by Three7s

You mean that guy almost old enough to be my dad? He was pretty good 5-10 years ago.

It was sarcasm. The team is better with Dyson starting.