I heard on one of the podcasts that due to his service time O’Hearn could either take his money and get assigned to AAA or leave the money and become a FA. I was for sure he’d sit in AAA and get added back after the first injury. Amazed they got a trade.
I doubt his arm has much left, but hey I'd rather have him at 1B than Brohearn so if the pitching thing doesn't work out...
Now that you mention it, I could totally see this signing at least partially being a trial balloon to see what the public reaction would be. Doing it as everyone is talking about the Chiefs too seems like they are trying to do it under the radar. I mean, I guess I'm glad we aren't only focusing on choir boys any more, but I'm also OK avoiding signing some of the biggest pieces of shit in the game. There's a wide middle ground there.
We just traded Mondesi to the Red Sox for a 29 year old reliever. Man, you'll always wonder what player he could have turned into with better health.
I don't think I can handle another season of having to watch Hunter Dozier play baseball. It's horrific, especially on defense.
I'm fully prepared for Mondi to win AL MVP. I'll be okay with it, I really will. I mean it. I won't even cry very much.
You just know it’s going to happen as well. I fully expect him to finally put everything together now.
This would give Garcia a spot on the big squad. I don’t know if he’s played 3rd much though. I think Bob 3B Garcia SS Massey 2B Vinnie 1B would be a nice infield to watch for the majority of the year.
Did Mondesi want to be traded? Not sure why they would trade him when he’s been injured so long and probably at his lowest value.
This was the only time I've ever teared up for an athlete. I was a little too young when DT died. I loved ace.
I think it was Royals Review but some podcast said he looks like Esky in the field and on the bases but he actually has a bat as well. My guess is him showing out in winter ball is why JJ dumped RMJ for scraps. I know they want Bob at SS because that’s where superstars play but move him to 3rd and let him focus on that.
Keith Law has the farm system at 16 16. Kansas City Royals The Royals placed just one guy on my top 100, but I love the depth in this system and its capacity for a big improvement overall in the next year. The class of high school pitchers they took in 2021 hasn’t made its mark yet, but the top two guys they took, lefty Frank Mozzicato and righty Ben Kudrna, still have the same upside the Royals saw in high school — they aren’t all Andrew Painters. There’s some catching depth, some outfield depth, a lot of athletes, and some more arms than I mentioned. It’s a big challenge for the Royals’ player development group, but also means they could make a big move in the next 12 months — and they’ve done some great stuff with hitting prospects in the past two years.
Spoiler The Royals only placed one guy on the top 100, but that’s misleading when it comes to the whole system, which offers a strong mix of upside and probability, hitters and pitchers, and help that’s near-term with higher-ceiling guys who are farther away. GO DEEPER MLB prospect rankings 2023: Keith Law’s complete guide to every farm system The ranking 1. Gavin Cross, OF (Top 100 ranking: No. 57) Age: 22 | 6-3 | 210 pounds Bats: Left | Throws: Left Drafted: No. 9 in 2022 ADVERTISEMENT Cross was one of the best hitters in Division I last year, part of a loaded Virginia Tech lineup that had four guys drafted in the top five rounds, and then absolutely went off in his pro debut, with seven homers and 22 walks in 26 games for Low-A Columbia. He looked more like a polished hitter who might have some power in the spring, showing a strong approach and generally good feel for the barrel, but over the summer he showed better bat speed and more impact when he squared it up, so his power ceiling might be closer to 30 homers than the 20-ish expected of him when he was an amateur. He’s a center fielder now but more likely to end up in a corner, with good reads but probably not the speed or first-step quickness to stay up the middle. It’s a tiny sample from after the draft, but if that power spike is sustainable, you could play him at left tackle and it wouldn’t matter. The Royals needed to get some quick impact from the 2022 draft, and the very, very early returns say they might have done it. 2. Nick Loftin, OF/2B (Just-missed list) Age: 24 | 6-1 | 180 pounds Bats: Right | Throws: Right Drafted: No. 32 in 2020 Loftin does a little of everything, making contact, hitting with sneaky pop (17 homers last year), running plus (29 steals in 35 attempts), playing center field and second and third and still a little shortstop, but maybe not enough of any one thing to be a top-100 prospect. He also struggled in Triple A to end last season, a function of his wearing down over the course of the season, so he lost some bat speed and some power. He’s normally a selective hitter with good pitch recognition, and could be a 15-20 homer guy in the big leagues with speed and the versatility to play pretty much anywhere but behind the plate. He’s supposed to have worked to add some muscle this winter so he can hold up for the entire season, and if he does, he could really help this Royals team as a super-utility guy who gets 500 at-bats or even their starter at second base. 3. Ben Kudrna, RHP Age: 20 | 6-3 | 175 pounds Bats: Right | Throws: Right Drafted: No. 43 in 2021 ADVERTISEMENT Kudrna was their second-round pick in 2021, earning a first-round bonus, and right now he’s the best of the prospects they took in that draft class. He works 94-96 mph with a slider that shows plus and is developing a changeup, but nothing is that consistent yet, including the delivery. He’s built like a mid-rotation starter, needing to work on repeating his delivery to get to that level so he can improve his fastball command and turn that slider into a consistent out pitch. It’s all in there. 4. Cayden Wallace, 3B Age: 21 | 6-1 | 205 pounds Bats: Right | Throws: Right Drafted: No. 49 in 2022 The Royals’ second-round pick out of Arkansas, Wallace makes very hard contact and turned out to be a strong defensive third baseman last spring, with a plus arm and good hands to profile as at least a 55 defender there in the majors. He needs to work on pitch recognition, showing particular trouble with changeups in college, and on making better swing decisions to get to stuff he can drive. He has an above-average regular ceiling that might see him hitting more doubles with a high average rather than hitting 20-odd homers. 5. Maikel Garcia, SS Age: 23 | 6-0 | 145 pounds Bats: Right | Throws: Right International signing in 2016 If Garcia had even average power, he’d be a top-100 prospect. He’s got an unorthodox swing and setup, even stepping in the bucket, but he gets the bat to the ball very consistently and shows solid pitch recognition already. He’s a 55 defender at short who can move around the infield, giving him some immediate value as a utility guy, although if he adds any strength as he gets to his mid-20s he might end up a regular somewhere. Maikel Garcia (Wendell Cruz / USA Today) 6. Tyler Gentry, OF Age: 24 | 6-2 | 210 pounds Bats: Right | Throws: Right Drafted: No. 76 in 2020 Among all of the hitting prospects the Royals have helped in the last few years, Gentry gets overlooked quite a bit, but he’s gone from someone who might have been an extra outfielder to a potential regular thanks to a massive improvement in his approach to at-bats. A knee injury ended his 2021 season early, and he whiffed 30 percent of the time in Low A as a college product, which put him off my top 20 entirely. He spent most of 2022 in Double A, cut his strikeout rate to 20 percent, and finished with a .321/.417/.555 line at the level at age 23. He’s a 55 runner with 55 power and now has a much better feel to hit. I don’t think he’s a .300/.400/.500 guy in the majors — if I did, he’d be in the top 50 — but I do think he’s a solid regular, and maybe as soon as the second half of this year. 7. Carter Jensen, C Age: 19 | 6-1 | 210 pounds Bats: Left | Throws: Right Drafted: No. 78 in 2021 ADVERTISEMENT Jensen was supposed to be a bat-first catcher who might not stay at the position, but he’s turned out to be a strong defender who draws a ton of walks but has a lift-and-pull approach that’s holding down his batting average. He’s always had the plus arm, but he’s a bigger-bodied kid and it got in the way of his blocking and receiving. Since the Royals took him in the third round in 2021, though, he’s improved in both of those areas as well as his conditioning, and scouts were comparing him to college products with how advanced his defense was. At the plate, he’s got 60 or better raw power, but he’s trying to pull everything, so while he had great plate discipline stats — 83 walks and 103 strikeouts in 485 plate appearances — he hit just .227 with 11 homers, way out of line with how hard he’s capable of hitting the ball. If the Royals can get him to use the whole field more and let the homers come as a natural consequence, they could have a star. 8. Luca Tresh, C Age: 23 | 6-0 | 193 pounds Bats: Right | Throws: Right Drafted: No. 499 in 2021 Tresh had a hamate injury in 2020 that may have lingered a little into his draft year in 2021, when he hit .231/.310/.476 for NC State, pushing him from a probable top three rounds selection to out of the top 10 rounds entirely. The Royals took a flier on him in the 17th round, worked hard from the get-go to sign him, and eventually agreed to terms with him on a $423,000 bonus, well below what he might have gotten after a healthy, productive spring. He’s got plus power and a plus arm, but the best news in his 2022 was that he made more contact at both High A and Double A, hitting .269/.360/.468, mostly at the lower level, with a 24 percent strikeout rate, more than enough to see him at least becoming a good backup. If he carries this through a whole year in Double A, I’d be more comfortable calling him a solid regular. 9. Frank Mozzicato, LHP Age: 20 | 6-3 | 175 pounds Bats: Left | Throws: Left Drafted: No. 7 in 2021 ADVERTISEMENT The Royals took Mozzicato seventh overall in 2021, paying him well under the slot value of the pick so they could go over slot with Kudrna and Jensen, and they still had enough room left in their pool to sign Tresh, so even if Mozzicato doesn’t become what the Royals hoped, they’re likely to still end up with a great draft class. Mozzicato is a projectable lefty with a plus curveball and a good delivery, but we’re waiting on the velocity to come — he was 88-92 mph much of the year, sometimes 86-90 and sometimes 90-94, although hitters do miss the pitch more than you’d expect. He’s working on a changeup, which has a chance to be average in time. The real issue in his pro debut in 2022 was that he wasn’t in the zone anywhere near as much as he should be with his delivery and stuff. He walked exactly one of every six batters he faced last year, and that doesn’t work if you’re throwing 97 with a hammer. There’s no mechanical reason for this, and maybe if the stuff ticks up a little he’ll be more confident in the zone. It’s just all projection now, with the hope of a fourth starter. 10. Peyton Wilson, OF Age: 23 | 5-9 | 180 pounds Bats: Switch | Throws: Right Drafted: No. 66 in 2021 Wilson hurt his hamstring on the last day of spring training, missing about three weeks of April and running cautiously until later in the season — he stole 23 bases on the year in 24 attempts, but 15 of those came in August and September — so the SB total might really undersell his speed. He’s a 70 runner with a plus-plus arm too, so the Royals have been playing him some in center as well as second base, where he was defensively challenged in college. He’s got a chance to be a regular in center if he doesn’t get too power-happy at the plate, as he has some pop but will be more valuable if he boosts his contact rate rather than sacrificing it for a few more homers. 11. Beck Way, RHP Age: 23 | 6-4 | 200 pounds Bats: Right | Throws: Right Drafted: No. 129 in 2020 The best prospect of the three the Royals acquired from the Yankees in the Andrew Benintendi trade, Way is a potential fourth starter with a fastball/changeup combo that would play in the rotation and a slider that’s less consistent but could give him a third pitch. His body and delivery say starter, but it’s 45 command at best and he gives up more hard contact than you’d like, so he has some probability of going to the pen, where he might have three above-average or better pitches. 12. Drew Waters, OF Age: 24 | 6-2 | 185 pounds Bats: Switch | Throws: Right Drafted: No. 41 in 2017 Waters came over in a trade that sent the Royals’ competitive balance round A pick in 2022 to Atlanta, and ended the year on the Royals’ big-league roster. He’s very athletic, a plus runner who can play center with a 70 arm, and he shows 55 power, but his approach, from pitch selection to offspeed recognition, has always been poor. Major-league pitchers exploited his willingness to chase and his trouble with breaking stuff anywhere. The Royals are probably the best org for him to end up with, given the success they’ve had with improving hitters’ plans and recognition at the plate in the last two years. The odds are against him hitting enough to be more than a fourth outfielder, given just how far he has to go with his approach, but I give the Royals a better chance than almost anyone to fix him. 13. Lizandro Rodriguez, 2B Age: 20 | 5-11 | 180 pounds Bats: Switch | Throws: Left/Right International signing in 2019 Rodriguez played 43 games last year in his U.S. debut at age 19, splitting time between the ACL and Low A, and hit .306/.395/.514 with a ton of contact. It’s second base only, but he’s a switch-hitter with some pop, and makes that contact even with a low hand load that might hold him up at higher levels. He’ll have to prove it over a longer season, but he looks like he could develop into a regular. 14. Angel Zerpa, LHP Age: 23 | 6-0 | 220 pounds Bats: Left | Throws: Left International signing in 2016 Zerpa’s got velocity and a slider with sharp downward break, but he has almost no deception to the delivery and doesn’t repeat it well enough to be a starter. He has three pitches and could be a valuable bulk reliever or even someone who works in leveraged situations, although it’s a concern that for two straight years he hasn’t really gotten lefties out even as a left-hander himself. 15. Asa Lacy, LHP Age: 24 | 6-4 | 215 pounds Bats: Left | Throws: Left Drafted: No. 4 in 2020 Lacy was the fourth overall pick in 2020, with the stuff and size to have been a No. 1 overall pick in some years, but since then it’s been a disaster. He had shoulder trouble in 2021, while in 2022 he lost his delivery, walking 42 men in 28 innings when he did get to pitch. He can still show premium stuff, up to 97 with a slider and changeup that you could call plus if he could locate them at all, but he has no consistency at all to the delivery from start to finish. The pure stuff is still in here but the Royals have their work cut out for them. 16. Jonathan Bowlan, RHP Age: 26 | 6-6 | 240 pounds Bats: Right | Throws: Right Drafted: No. 58 in 2018 Bowlan is finally fully healthy after undergoing Tommy John surgery early in 2021, returning at the very end of last season to make seven rehab starts in High A, although his stuff wasn’t all the way back. Before the pandemic and the surgery, he was a tremendous strike thrower who’d sit 95-96 mph, driving the ball down in the zone but not generating groundballs, with an average breaking ball that had velocity but not big spin or sharp break. He had the three pitches and control to start, assuming it all comes back in 2023. 17. Diego Hernandez, OF Age: 22 | 6-0 | 150 pounds Bats: Left | Throws: Left International signing in 2017 Hernandez is very tooled-out, a 70 runner and true centerfielder who can show average power, and if he develops a more selective approach at the plate, he could be an above-average regular. He’s a long way from that, chasing offspeed stuff out of the zone and swinging generally too often, while he also hits with no stride, just a small toe-tap for timing, which I think may hold back the quality of contact he can make as well. He’s low probability but has a fairly high ceiling. 18. Mason Barnett, RHP Age: 22 | 6-0 | 218 pounds Bats: Right | Throws: Right Drafted: No. 87 in 2022 Barnett was their third-round pick in 2022, showing premium stuff, 94-95 mph with two breaking balls that could be above-average, but he doesn’t repeat his overlong arm action and as a result doesn’t throw enough strikes. It’s a good starting point for a pitching prospect but the Royals have a lot of work to do here for a 22-year-old. He did walk just one batter of 24 he faced in his brief pro debut. 19. Andrew Hoffman, RHP Age: 23 | 6-5 | 210 pounds Bats: Right | Throws: Right Drafted: No. 367 in 2021 Acquired along with Waters in a trade with Atlanta, Hoffman’s a sort of modern-day junk-baller, missing bats enough with three pitches that are unremarkable by velocity but with good secondary characteristics, showing depth on a slider and good deception on a changeup. I doubt he can start, but as a bulk reliever he could surprise people who doubt the fastball. 20. Alec Marsh, RHP Age: 25 | 6-2 | 220 pounds Bats: Right | Throws: Right Drafted: No. 70 in 2019 Marsh’s year was atrocious — a 7.32 ERA in Double A, allowing 27 homers and 137 hits in 114 1/3 innings, giving up way too much hard contact on his 93-95 mph fastball, although his slider is still a potential out pitch, and allowing lefties to hit .353/.418/.664 off him. I’d just put him in relief in Triple A to start this year and see if he can have an impact there, perhaps getting a little extra oomph on his stuff to compensate for left-handers’ advantage off him. 2023 impact Waters probably has first dibs on the centerfield job. Loftin might be plan B, or could make the team in a super-utility role. Maikel Garcia could be their extra infielder. Zerpa could end up in the bullpen at some point, or maybe Marsh if the Royals decide to convert him to relief. The fallen Erick Peña took home a $3.8 million bonus from the Royals as an international free agent in 2018, but the outfielder has not hit one iota in pro ball, with a .150/.259/.288 line and a 37 percent strikeout rate last year as a 19-year-old in Low A. Sleeper Jensen has so many things working in his favor, from position to defense to power to ball/strike recognition, that I think betting on him to make one significant adjustment is the right choice here.
Spoiler I thought I might come up with my own prospect list, not because I really know what I’m talking about that much - this is really meant to be a conversation starter. There are experts out there who know a lot more about these players than I do - Baseball America has their Royals prospect list, MLB Pipeline does a top 30 list, and Keith Law will be out with his Royals list tomorrow. You can also read Prospects Live, David Lesky’s top Royals prospect list and Royals Farm Report still has good analysis of Royals prospects. But I thought I’d at least take a stab ranking Royals prospects, and I’m curious about what you think about the state of the Royals’ farm system. I lean heavily on other lists from those that have actually seen these players. But I made some tweaks based on things I like to see from prospects, and your personal preferences may differ. 1. Gavin Cross, outfielder The ninth overall pick in last June’s draft, Cross is pretty much the consensus top prospect in the farm system. He had a patient eye at Virginia Tech with good power, and Keith Law reports that his power potential has only increased since joining the Royals. He was terrific in 26 games at Low-A Columbia last year, hitting .293/.423/.596 with seven home runs and 22 walks, with a hitting profile that is not that dissimilar to Vinnie Pasquantino. He has a strong arm and should profile best in right field, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s patrolling Kauffman Stadium by 2024. 2. Maikel Garcia, shortstop Garcia is the cousin of former Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar, and while they are both above-average defenders, that is probably where the comparisons end. While Esky was a free-swinging “ambush” hitter, Garcia has a walk rate of 10.7 percent in the minors (Garcia has already drawn more walks in 379 minor league games than Esky did in 782 career minor league games). Garcia didn’t have much power in 2021, or in 2022 in Northwest Arkansas, but he suddenly smacked seven home runs in 40 games for Omaha after his mid-season promotion. The Storm Chasers don’t play in high-altitude bandboxes in the Pacific Coast League anymore, so was this some newfound power or just a fluke? Regardless, Garcia brings a good approach to hitting, has good speed, and is a plus defender, so even without power he could be a solid shortstop. 3. Tyler Gentry, outfielder I feel like Gentry should be getting a bit more love from prospect lists, but I suppose his age (he’ll turn 24 in February) is likely keeping him from getting more recognition. He destroyed minor league pitching last year, hitting .336/.434/.516 in 35 games at High-A, and actually improved his OPS upon a promotion to Double-A Northwest Arkansas with 16 home runs in 73 games and a line of .321/.417/.555. He’s athletic and strong with a good walk rate (13 percent last year) and could play either corner outfield position. The Royals should be pretty aggressive in promoting him, as the right-hander has handled every level thus far. 4. Carter Jensen, catcher There were just four teenage hitters who drew 80+ walks last season - Brainer Bonaci, Harry Ford, Adael Amador, and Carter Jensen. Ford and Amador were ranked as top 100 prospects by Baseball America, and I suspect Jensen - who is younger than the other three - could make the list next year. Jensen was able to draw his free passes without striking out that much - a 21 percent whiff rate. He hit just 11 home runs in 113 games, but again, he was an 18-year-old kid, and he seemed to get better as the season went along. Jensen is a lefty bat with a mature approach to the plate and power potential, and while I think he moves to the outfield eventually due to his offensive upside, I’ve read good things about his defense behind the plate. 5. Drew Waters, outfielder Waters should get a shot at a lot of playing time in Kansas City this year, likely in right field. If he sticks as a regular, that will be a huge feather in the cap of J.J. Picollo - who acquired him from the Braves in a creative trade for a draft pick - and the hitting development team led by Alec Zumwalt. Waters has always had tools, but couldn’t figure it out in the Braves system. He came to the Royals and immediately hit, even after joining the big leagues. His impressive line of .240/.324/.479 in 32 games with the Royals comes with the caveat that he struck out 36.7 percent of the time. If he can cut that down without sacrificing too much power, he could stick as a plus defender in the corners who can cover center if need be, or at worst, a fourth outfielder. 6. Frank Mozzicato, pitcher A lot of Royals fans didn’t like the team reaching for Mozzicato for the #7 pick in the 2021 draft, myself included, but the young lefty out of Connecticut has showed some promise early on. He was one of the youngest pitchers in the Carolina League last year, but struck out 11.61 hitters-per-nine-innings, one of the highest rates in the league. He also used that big curveball to induce a groundball rate north of 50 percent, again one of the top rates in the league. His walk rate is way too high, but the kid has added some velo to sit in the low-90s, and also added a change up to go with his plus curve. He still has a long way to go, but fans shouldn’t write him off just because of his draft position. 7. Ben Kudrna, pitcher The Royals went underslot with Mozzicato to get Kudrna in the second round, so the two will always be linked in the minds of many fans. Kudrna added 30 pounds to his 6’3’’ frame and has a promising fastball that sits at 95-97 mph with a slider and a change up. That hasn’t resulted in the strikeout rates you’d like to see, but a 3.48 ERA as one of the few teenage pitchers in the Carolina League is still impressive. He will have to get more whiffs, or at least improve his command, but Kudrna has the physical upside to improve. 8. Cayden Wallace, third base Wallace played third base last year, but I think his future is in right field, where he can put his rocket arm on display. The 2022 second-round pick got his professional career off to a solid start last year, hitting .294/.369/.468 with 12 walks and eight steals in 27 games. He hit for good power at Arkansas and had some good exit velocity metrics, but hit just two home runs as a pro. He seems to have a mature approach to the plate with a decent amount of walks and very few strikeouts, and many evaluators seem to think he has plus power potential. 9. Angel Zerpa, pitcher Royals fans have gotten a glimpse of the Venezuelan lefty and he has been impressive as hell with a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings, aggressively throwing strikes without fear. Zerpa is probably a lower-ceiling pitcher, but he has shown an ability to throw strikes, and he did miss bats at Double-A last year with 9.7 strikeouts-per-nine innings. I like the sinking action on Zerpa’s low-90s fastball and he seems to induce a lot of groundballs with his breaking ball and change. If he becomes a lefty fifth starter who throws strikes and gets grounders, the Royals would take that to the bank. 10. Beck Way, pitcher The prize of the Andrew Benintendi trade last summer, Way struck out 127 hitters in 108 innings in High-A between the Yankees and Royals organization, with a solid 3.75 ERA overall. His control improved significantly last year, although it could still be an issue. Way shows good velocity in the mid-to-upper-90s and has a decent breaking ball, and while I think there’s a decent chance he ends up as a good reliever, he has performed well as a starter in the minors so far. 11. Luca Tresh, catcher Baseball America had Tresh pegged as a second-round talent, but the Royals scooped him up in the 17th round of the 2021 draft when he fell due to signability concerns. He didn’t play much his first season after signing, and while he mashed with 14 home runs for Quad Cities in 2022, he was a bit old for High-A. Because of that, I think he’s being overlooked a bit, but I’m encouraged by the fact he continued to hit upon a promotion to Double-A, batting .253/.359/.462 with 5 home runs in 24 games. He has good raw power and exit velo numbers, but I’ve read mixed reviews about his defense behind the plate. Still, I like his power potential and his plate discipline, and the 23-year-old could be one to watch this year. 12. Nick Loftin, infielder I didn’t quite get the selection of Loftin at the end of the first round of the 2020 draft, and I still don’t quite see the upside in him now. He had a solid season in Double-A, hitting .270/.354/.422 with 12 home runs and 24 steals, but struggled after a promotion to Triple-A. He doesn’t seem to have any major flaws in his game, but his plus skills seem to be speed, positional versatility, and intangibles - attributes that were championed by Dayton Moore. I suppose he could become Whit Merrifield, but right now he looks like an okay utility infielder you keep on your bench. 13. Diego Hernandez, outfielder Hernandez was a bit of a surprise addition to the 40-man roster, but he can absolutely fly, and he held his own as a 21-year-old in Double-A last year. He’s very thin and wiry and is never going to become a power hitter, but pitchers won’t be knocking the bat out of his hands either - he did smack nine home runs last year. He has a plus glove in center and a strong arm, so he can at least provide some defensive utility, but the upside with his bat is likely pretty limited. 14. Asa Lacy, pitcher I think there is a pretty significant drop-off in prospect quality at this point, with everyone either having some red flags, coming off injury or a poor season, or is so far away from the big leagues it is difficult to project performance. Lacy comes with major red flags at this point, suffering from a complete inability to throw strikes that may be due to a back injury or may be just the yips. If he can figure out his issues, he could be in the big leagues before long - he had great stuff and a polished approach in college and has struck out nearly 30 percent of the hitters he’s faced. But he’s walked 83 batters in 80 minor league innings and allowed 68 runs, those aren’t numbers that will keep you on prospect lists for long. 15. Austin Charles, infielder Near the end of last year’s draft, the Royals took a gamble they could lure Charles away from college with a large enough bonus and it worked! It was exactly the kind of low-risk, high-reward pick to take late in a draft. Charles is pretty raw as a high school two-way athlete, but the upside here is enormous. He has a rocket for an arm - he was good enough to be considered as a pitcher - and likely profiles at third base long-term. He has some good raw power, but hasn’t faced top competition much. He’s a project for the Royals minor league hitting development team and there’s a high chance he never makes it, but if he pans out, he could be a potential star. 16. Peyton Wilson, second baseman/outfielder Wilson is your prototypical scrappy gamer who can play all over the field and profiles as a utility infielder. The former second-round pick out of Alabama hit well in his first full pro season last year, with a line of .268/.359/.456 with 14 home runs and 23 steals in 88 games for High-A Quad Cities. He gets good power out of his 5’9’’ frame, and I suppose you can dream and imagine him turning into left-handed version of Dustin Pedroia, but even if he’s a utility player with decent power and speed, that’s valuable to have. 17. T.J. Sikkema, pitcher The Royals acquired the former Mizzou star and first-round pick from the Yankees last summer for Benintendi, but left him unprotected for the Rule 5 draft this past winter. The lefty dominated in High-A, where he was old for his level and struggled upon joining the Royals in Double-A. He could be a lefty reliever who brings a different look, but with his deep arsenal with a variety of arm angles, I think he still has potential as a starter. If he’s healthy, we could see some significant improvement from him and he could move quickly, otherwise, this may be the last season on a prospect list for the 24-year-old. 18. Noah Cameron, pitcher I don’t really see this guy very high on prospect lists and I have to wonder why. Out of anyone in the Royals’ farm system with at least 50 innings pitched, he led them all in strikeout-to-walk ratio with 99 strikeouts and just 16 walks in 65 2/3 innings. His strikeout and walk rates both improved upon a promotion to High-A. He’s a local kid from St. Joseph who attended Central Arkansas, and his fastball sits in the low-90s, so I guess that doesn’t scream huge upside. But he’s a lefty who has struck out 36.7 percent of all hitters he’s faced, that should count for something. 19. Alec Marsh, pitcher I was pretty big on Marsh when he was drafted, but the pandemic and injuries have really prevented him from getting off to a good start to his pro career. I probably shouldn’t let that 7.32 ERA in Double-A sour me on him so much - his strikeout rates continue to be very good - but 103 runs (95 earned) allowed in 124 1⁄3 innings is uh....not good. When J.J. Picollo says that minor league pitching development isn’t the problem, Marsh and Lacy are the two pitchers I think of as a point against that. He turns 25 in May, so the clock is ticking on the right-hander. 20. Jonathan Bowlan, pitcher Bowlan is another guy I was really big on when he was drafted, but Tommy John surgery really derailed his career. He made nine starts in Double-A last year, but the strikeouts weren’t there and his walk rate spiked. Now that he’s another year removed from his injury, perhaps he can get back to being a strike-thrower with a solid 93-95 mph fastball and curve. I think he still has starter potential with his big frame, but he’s already 26 years old and his window is closing. 21. Ben Hernandez, pitcher Hernandez was drafted as a high school pitcher with a plus change up, and he now couples that with a fastball in the low-90s. His results have been mixed with decent strikeout numbers but high walk totals in Low-A. His breaking ball has been a work in progress, but overall he still has some good potential and could move quickly if he improves his command. His progress has been a bit slow, and he turns 22 this summer, so he really needs to get his career moving. 22. Tucker Bradley, outfielder Bradley is a nice high-floor, low-ceiling outfielder who does a lot of everything well, but doesn’t stand out in any one area. He hit .293/.382/.455 with 12 home runs and 19 steals in 110 games for Double-A Northwest Arkansas. The lefty hitter will turn 25 in May and you could see him as a useful reserve outfielder in Kansas City at some point this year, but I wouldn’t expect much more than that from him. 23. Steven Cruz, pitcher I don’t know how many pitchers in the organization can hit triple digits on the radar gun, but it can’t be very many. That’s probably why the Royals targeted the right-hander in their trade with the Twins for Michael A. Taylor. The 23-year-old struck out 72 in 56 innings in Double-A last year, but had a high walk rate and a 5.14 ERA. He’ll need to develop better command, but he still has late-inning reliever potential. 24. Samad Taylor, second baseman/outfielder The Royals got Taylor from the Blue Jays for Whit Merrifield, and in some respects he’s a poor man’s Whit - good speed with positional versatility. He’s not quite the free-swinger Whit was in the minors, and he did smack 16 home runs in 2021, although I’m a bit skeptical of his power. He didn’t play in the second half due to an oblique injury and he was a bit overwhelmed in the Arizona Fall League, but he could be a useful bench player in Triple-A that gets called up a few times this season. 25. Mason Barnett, pitcher Barnett was the Royals’ third-round pick out of Auburn last year. He has pitched just eight innings in the pros, but has still yet to allow a hit. He’s a fastball/slider pitcher who can get his heater in the mid-to-high-90s. He could move quickly, especially if he is a reliever, where many evaluators think he profiles best. 26. Andrew Hoffman, pitcher The Royals got Hoffman in the Drew Waters trade with Atlanta, but he really struggled after changing organizations and getting bumped up to Double-A. The Royals were hoping they had acquired a strike-thrower, but his walks spiked significantly after the trade. He has a nice deceptive delivery and a low-to-mid-90s fastball, so if he can get back to throwing strikes, he could be a candidate for the rotation next spring, although his ceiling seems rather limited. 27. Lizandro Rodriguez, second baseman After dominating the Dominican Summer League last year, the switch-hitter played well in Arizona and held his own as a 19-year-old in 18 games at Low-A. He’s an athlete who can draw a walk on occasion, but is still a bit raw. He has good, but not plus speed, and a good enough to arm to try shortstop or third base. 28. Shane Panzini, pitcher Panzini was part of that 2021 high school pitcher class, befriending Kudrna and Mozzicato. The right-hander has a fastball in the mid-90s with a decent breaking ball, and had good strikeout numbers as a 20-year-old in Low-A. He’ll need to bring his walk rate down, but he’s a guy that could have some helium with a good season. 29. Freddy Fermín, catcher Fermín is already 27 years old, really too old for prospect status. But the Royals added him to the 40-man roster for a reason, he won MVP in the Venezuelan Winter League, and he hit a solid .270/.365/.480 with 15 home runs in 87 games for Omaha. He seems capable of at least serving as a backup catcher at the big league level, and he may get that chance thi year. 30. C.J. Alexander, third baseman Alexander was an afterthought in the Braves trade, but he smacked 25 home runs in 114 games overall last year in Double-A, with 19 steals to boot. He was a bit old for the level - he turned 26 in July - and he hardly draws any walks, but with few third base options, he could force the issue and get a shot at some point. What do you think? Who should be higher? Lower? Who should have been included? How do you feel about the overall strength of the system?
Congrats on saving $300K on the guy you just said you want to sign long term. I’m sure this builds good will.