Possibly goes top 10 but is a big, physical SP with ace potential. Moore and co. will be all over him if he slips a bit and could offer top 10 money at No. 16
OF Jarred Kelenic, Waukasha West HS, WI
Spoiler!
Kelenic is the top prep bat, toolsy OF. Royals would be ecstatic to have shot at him.
1B Triston Casas, American Heritage HS (FL).
Spoiler!
Tremendous raw power, best in HS bats. Royals typically like HS arms or HS bats with "special" tools. He qualifies.
RHP Carter Stewart, Eau de Gallie HS (Ga).
Spoiler!
Another big, physical specimen with huge upside. More likely to be available mid-first than Rocker.
ANY Any, Any (Any). Any current top projected pick who slides for injury concerns. Includes current top prospect prospect SP Brady Singer, U of Florida.
Current Prospects to Watch:
OF Seuly Matias - Huge tools. Hit 2 HR in Lexington (A) season opener.
1B Nick Pratto - Top pick in 17 has advanced approach and good glove; needs to start tapping into power in first full year in minors. Also at Lexington.
OF Michael Gigliotti - Good defender in CF, good OBP skills, plus baserunner. Next mainstay in CF for KC, IMO. Advanced college bat also starting at Lexington.
OF Khalil Lee - Probably has highest upside in Royals' system. Could hit 30 HR in majors, could steal 30 bases. Plus defensive ability in RF. Nice test at Wilmington this year.
3B Emmanuel Rivera - Really nice approach and good contact skills. Power is still developing. Also getting a good test at Wilmington.
SP Foster Griffin - Made nice strides in 2017. Needs to continue to progress in 2018. Could be a lefty version of Jakob Junis (good breaking ball that he can really manipulate, OK fastball, good command).
1B Samir Duenez - Duenez still is intriguing, hoping for a step forward in his power production this year at Northwest Arkansas, which would turn him into a legit prospect.
Others to keep an eye on:
SP Gerson Garabito (Wilmington), OF Marten Gasparini (Lexington), C MJ Melendez (Lexington), RP Tyler Zuber (lexington), RP Richard Lovelady (Omaha), SP Dan Tillo (Lexington), SS Nicky Lopez (NWA), SP Scott Blewett (NWA), OF Brewer Hicklen (Idaho Falls),
In general, Lexington and Wilmington are the most interesting spots to watch. Nice depth and a lot of interesting pieces at both. [Reply]
The single most important moment of the next decade for the Royals will happen in a conference room. No baseball people will be present. Dayton Moore will get an update when it’s over. Sal Perez may not even hear about it.
But it’s coming, and soon. The Royals are negotiating to replace one of the worst television contracts in major American sports. Sources on both sides now call the talks serious. [Reply]
Hopefully we can get a deal a little better than the Rays got. That could give us an extra $100 million a year in TV revenue coming in, a large percentage of which could be spent on the roster when we’re ready to compete again. [Reply]
Originally Posted by TomBarndtsTwin:
Hopefully we can get a deal a little better than the Rays got. That could give us an extra $100 million a year in TV revenue coming in, a large percentage of which could be spent on the roster when we’re ready to compete again.
Y'all are at about $25 million/yr right now, right?
I mean aim high and all that, but damn - hoping for $125 million/season seems a little...ambitious. [Reply]
Not sure how to imbed a tweet, but Dayton Moore said Merrifield won't be traded at the deadline. I simply don't understand why we've never been a player at the trade deadline (selling). It seems like we had three opportunities this summer to add talent and get this rebuild started. We had a good start with the draft. However, the next step was the IFA market where we did next to nothing (and we've been pretty horrible at finding talent for a while now). Now, trades are the last area where we can add talent and we've done next to nothing. Moore said we need Merrifield on the team and in the city. WHY???? Merrifield and Duffy both will either not be here when the team is competitive again or will be on the decline. Why hold on to assets on a 100 loss team? No rebuild should take as long as it did last time. We're choosing to just ignore a method to adding talent that nearly every other team in baseball uses. I'm sure I'll get blasted for being an idiot or whining, but I frankly don't care. Moore made a mistake not trading Duffy last offseason, and he continues to make the same mistake. Players on horrible teams are assets, nothing more. They aren't family. [Reply]
And Nicky Lopez is playing extremely well so far in AAA. Keeping Merrifield just blocks him and keeps him in the minors for far too long like we did with Whit. Just roll with Mondesi and Lopez and don't hang on to a 30 year old valuable asset for no reason. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Y'all are at about $25 million/yr right now, right?
I mean aim high and all that, but damn - hoping for $125 million/season seems a little...ambitious.
To clarify, i meant a straight $100 mil per., not an extra $100 mil. above the current $20. But to be fair, its not COMPLETELY unrealistic. Kansas City is a much better market for baseball than Tampa Bay.
We get $20 mil. per right now and TB is negotiating a deal for $85 mil. per, which i believe the Royals can aim higher than, based on our ratings, attendance numbers, fan support, ad revenue, local geographical area, etc.
We SHOULD be able to do significantly better than Tampa Bay, but at the very least we need to trump their deal . . . . . [Reply]
Originally Posted by OKchiefs:
Not sure how to imbed a tweet, but Dayton Moore said Merrifield won't be traded at the deadline. I simply don't understand why we've never been a player at the trade deadline (selling). It seems like we had three opportunities this summer to add talent and get this rebuild started. We had a good start with the draft. However, the next step was the IFA market where we did next to nothing (and we've been pretty horrible at finding talent for a while now). Now, trades are the last area where we can add talent and we've done next to nothing. Moore said we need Merrifield on the team and in the city. WHY???? Merrifield and Duffy both will either not be here when the team is competitive again or will be on the decline. Why hold on to assets on a 100 loss team? No rebuild should take as long as it did last time. We're choosing to just ignore a method to adding talent that nearly every other team in baseball uses. I'm sure I'll get blasted for being an idiot or whining, but I frankly don't care. Moore made a mistake not trading Duffy last offseason, and he continues to make the same mistake. Players on horrible teams are assets, nothing more. They aren't family.
I think it's simply code for nobody is offering anything of significant value for these guys. Dayton has never been afraid to be aggressive, and he usually gets criticized for that. The Myers trade, Davis trade, Strahm trade, etc. If somebody offers a package with some value I bet he'd do it.
There's zero reason to trade a controllable asset for low level prospects. You have better odds of Duffy being at least some kind of contributing pitcher in 2021 than a lottery ticket. [Reply]
Originally Posted by OKchiefs:
Not sure how to imbed a tweet, but Dayton Moore said Merrifield won't be traded at the deadline. I simply don't understand why we've never been a player at the trade deadline (selling). It seems like we had three opportunities this summer to add talent and get this rebuild started. We had a good start with the draft. However, the next step was the IFA market where we did next to nothing (and we've been pretty horrible at finding talent for a while now). Now, trades are the last area where we can add talent and we've done next to nothing. Moore said we need Merrifield on the team and in the city. WHY???? Merrifield and Duffy both will either not be here when the team is competitive again or will be on the decline. Why hold on to assets on a 100 loss team? No rebuild should take as long as it did last time. We're choosing to just ignore a method to adding talent that nearly every other team in baseball uses. I'm sure I'll get blasted for being an idiot or whining, but I frankly don't care. Moore made a mistake not trading Duffy last offseason, and he continues to make the same mistake. Players on horrible teams are assets, nothing more. They aren't family.
Of course Moore will ‘say’ that. His price is high. He’s not giving Whit away for pennies on the dollar. Nor should he. Pretty much every veteran player on the Royals (except Sal maybe?) is available for the ‘right price’. Its called negotiating. No reason to give away a valuable asset for nothing. Teams need to know its gonna cost them if they want a versatile player on the cheap with 4 years of club control remaining.
Duffy and Whit will still be very valuable assets in the off season if they decide they wanna trade them then. You dont dump them now unless you get an offer you can’t refuse . . . . . [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
I think it's simply code for nobody is offering anything of significant value for these guys. Dayton has never been afraid to be aggressive, and he usually gets criticized for that. The Myers trade, Davis trade, Strahm trade, etc. If somebody offers a package with some value I bet he'd do it.
There's zero reason to trade a controllable asset for low level prospects. You have better odds of Duffy being at least some kind of contributing pitcher in 2021 than a lottery ticket.
Originally Posted by tk13:
I think it's simply code for nobody is offering anything of significant value for these guys. Dayton has never been afraid to be aggressive, and he usually gets criticized for that. The Myers trade, Davis trade, Strahm trade, etc. If somebody offers a package with some value I bet he'd do it.
There's zero reason to trade a controllable asset for low level prospects. You have better odds of Duffy being at least some kind of contributing pitcher in 2021 than a lottery ticket.
I'd take that as an explanation for a single year, but this has been the case his entire tenure. I find it hard to believe that we've never had good offers for our valuable players. Moore got the same criticism back before the world series teams. I think he repeatedly overvalues our players.
I also expect that if we hold on to Whit that he'll play okay the next couple of years and then start to decline around the age of 32-33 when he loses his greatest strength (athleticism). Then he will have lost any value he had and we still will not have had a winning season. I expect a similar trajectory for Danny Duffy. [Reply]
If they do, Royals should try and pick him up for nothing. Work with, reclaim some of his value and possibly flip him at trade deadline next year for another prospect.
This is a no lose proposition with where the Royals are right now. [Reply]