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.

[siberian khatru]

In all seriousness, Price probably going someplace like the Tigers

[Strongside]

You guys are right. Moore is in a tough spot with the fans. And he should be. Other teams have rebuilt 2 times during his tenure here. He's proven nothing but an inability to develop offensive weapons in house, and has made several weird/stupid/ill-advised transactions over his time. Sure, he's won a few trades or gotten some good value from a few, but we should have seen some sort of success by now. I'm not talking about winning 85 games. I'm talking about the playoffs. Realistically, we should have made the playoffs in his 6th season and have been pushing for a title in his 8th. That's even being generous.

If he's feeling pressure from the fans, it's for good reason.

[CaliforniaChief]

Yeah, I just have this impending sense of doom about what's about to happen.

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by Strongside

You guys are right. Moore is in a tough spot with the fans. And he should be. Other teams have rebuilt 2 times during his tenure here. He's proven nothing but an inability to develop offensive weapons in house, and has made several weird/stupid/ill-advised transactions over his time. Sure, he's won a few trades or gotten some good value from a few, but we should have seen some sort of success by now. I'm not talking about winning 85 games. I'm talking about the playoffs. Realistically, we should have made the playoffs in his 6th season and have been pushing for a title in his 8th. That's even being generous.

If he's feeling pressure from the fans, it's for good reason.

See my sig lines.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Been told #Rays are definitely moving Price

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) July 31, 2014

If I felt like being a total troll, I'd make a fake Andy McCullough Twitter account with tweets about Yordano Ventura pakcing up his locker & Aldaberto Mondesi being pulled from tonight's Wilmington lineup & etc.

[Strongside]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

See my sig lines.

JFC

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

If I felt like being a total troll, I'd make a fake Andy McCullough Twitter account with tweets about Yordano Ventura pakcing up his locker & Aldaberto Mondesi being pulled from tonight's Wilmington lineup & etc.

Might as well. Seems that all the cool kids are doing it today.

[CaliforniaChief]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

If I felt like being a total troll, I'd make a fake Andy McCullough Twitter account with tweets about Yordano Ventura pakcing up his locker & Aldaberto Mondesi being pulled from tonight's Wilmington lineup & etc.

You'd have to add a Francouer line of tweets as well as Bonifacio coming over as well.

[siberian khatru]

I'd like to note that I was out in front of the Frenchy stuff:

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showp...postcount=8155

[Bufkin]

If I'm Dayton, I call Tampa within the next 90 seconds, offer him Ventura, Mondesi, and Dozier for Price and a scrub.

Price and Shields at the top of the rotation. Deja Vu all over again.

[Bufkin]

If I'm Dayton, I call Tampa within the next 90 seconds, offer him Ventura, Mondesi, and Dozier for Price and a scrub.

Price and Shields at the top of the rotation. Deja Vu all over again.

[Strongside]

Originally Posted by Eric Fisher

If I'm Dayton, I call Tampa within the next 90 seconds, offer him Ventura, Mondesi, and Dozier for Price and a scrub.

Price and Shields at the top of the rotation. Deja Vu all over again.

I don't see why anyone wants this. Doesn't matter when we can't score runs.

[Prison Bitch]

Please stop spamming the board Fisher, you idiot troll.

[lcarus]

So anyone else joinin me on the "we're takin this damn division" train?

[Anyong Bluth]

Originally Posted by alnorth

We're in a weird spot that pretty much points to doing nothing as the correct option. (at least nothing much, maybe a minor deal can be OK)

We're 5 games back of Detroit and 3.5 games back of the Wild Card with 2 months left. The Monte Carlo simulations currently have us at around a 12-17% chance of making the playoffs. (of course those odds go up if we win a few games and fall if we lose a few, but the only thing thats important is what the odds are today, since this is the trade deadline)

We're close enough that we can't wave the white flag especially given that we're the Royals, but we're far enough back that cashing in some of our valuable chips to make a run at it this year would probably be really stupid. Trading our top prospects might make our playoff odds go up to, what, 1 in 3 or so? If we had the division lead it might make sense, but in our spot we're probably not making the playoffs no matter what we do.

But probably not making the playoffs doesn't mean "we aren't making the playoffs with these guys" this year. Its unlikely, but unless you have a time machine, anyone who says otherwise is just flat-out wrong, and if we ultimately don't make the playoffs, that would not make them right as of July 31, 2014.

Shields is going to be worth a draft pick and we need him if we don't want to give up. We also need Holland if we aren't giving up. To the extent that we may want to make trades with 2015 or beyond in mind, we'll get a better deal in the winter.

So, we're in a weird no-man's land. Maybe we can pick up a mediocre outfielder for not much, but we can neither give up on our slim-but-not-zero chances at the postseason, nor should we invest further in what is probably a lost cause.

All in agreement.
The question is what is more important:

Ending the playoff drought, but giving up sustainable development of winning with cost friendly talent brought up or solidify the organization from a reputation standpoint as wanting to win and broker deals to get a serious push for at least one WC spot if not taking square aim at Detroit in th Central and hope that the momentum can be built upon with a playoff spot this year.

Mind you - this pitching staff come playoff baseball could be hell for other teams with a shortened rotation and our bullpen and defense. They get some pop in the top of the lineup and this club is a whole other animal.