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]
Homer alert, but man this team makes me giddy me for the future.
1: Merrifield and Mondesi make up a super exciting middle infield next year.
2: Salvy has been a lot better during the 2nd half. Having him back for a full healthy season will be nice.
3: O'Hearn may finish with a 1.0 OPS and put up comparable home run numbers to Eric Hosmer with about 15% of his at-bats. Plug him in as our permanent #3 next year and we may have a more athletic, less worthless Billy Butler.
4: A mixture of Herrera, Phillips, Goodwin, Dozier, and a full Jorge Bonifacio should equal out to at least a couple of solid players for tomorrow.
5: A rotation of Keller/Junis/Lopez/Fillmyer/Skoglund would make me happy. Ride those 5 for the entire season and throw Dick Lovelady in the bullpen. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bufkin:
Homer alert, but man this team makes me giddy me for the future.
1: Merrifield and Mondesi make up a super exciting middle infield next year.
2: Salvy has been a lot better during the 2nd half. Having him back for a full healthy season will be nice.
3: O'Hearn may finish with a 1.0 OPS and put up comparable home run numbers to Eric Hosmer with about 15% of his at-bats. Plug him in as our permanent #3 next year and we may have a more athletic, less worthless Billy Butler.
4: A mixture of Herrera, Phillips, Goodwin, Dozier, and a full Jorge Bonifacio should equal out to at least a couple of solid players for tomorrow.
5: A rotation of Keller/Junis/Lopez/Fillmyer/Skoglund would make me happy. Ride those 5 for the entire season and throw Dick Lovelady in the bullpen.
You had me until 4 and 5. Herrera can he a utility guy. Goodwin can play for sure and Boni is serviceable at best as a DH. Not sure about Dozier yet.
Duffy likely is part of the rotation next year also but that looks pretty bad. You pray Keller can duplicate what he has been doing and I think Junis is fine as a back of the rotation guy. Lopez can potential as a middle of the rotation guy but Skoglund sucks. Mayne a long relief guy at best. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bufkin:
Homer alert, but man this team makes me giddy me for the future.
1: Merrifield and Mondesi make up a super exciting middle infield next year.
2: Salvy has been a lot better during the 2nd half. Having him back for a full healthy season will be nice.
3: O'Hearn may finish with a 1.0 OPS and put up comparable home run numbers to Eric Hosmer with about 15% of his at-bats. Plug him in as our permanent #3 next year and we may have a more athletic, less worthless Billy Butler.
4: A mixture of Herrera, Phillips, Goodwin, Dozier, and a full Jorge Bonifacio should equal out to at least a couple of solid players for tomorrow.
5: A rotation of Keller/Junis/Lopez/Fillmyer/Skoglund would make me happy. Ride those 5 for the entire season and throw Dick Lovelady in the bullpen.
Sounds like an orgasm waiting to happen for the true fans!!! That's a good enough lineup to maybe win 75 games. Hey, at least we won't lose 100. We will have no chance of actually competing, but at least we'll put butts in the seats. [Reply]
Originally Posted by OKchiefs:
Sounds like an orgasm waiting to happen for the true fans!!! That's a good enough lineup to maybe win 75 games. Hey, at least we won't lose 100. We will have no chance of actually competing, but at least we'll put butts in the seats.
Hi friend,
So for small market teams, an exciting season isn't exclusively a season where 95+ games are won. For example, the 2011 season was a statistical failure (71-91 record), but an extremely fun season when preparing for the future (Hosmer breaking out, Gordon and Melky career years, Moustakas, Esky, and Salvy all having good years, the debut of Cain, Hochevar looking decent, etc.)
Next year will certainly be another sub-500 season, but baseball is a weird thing. You don't have to dominate every season in order to be ultimately successful. The Royals will never be a playoff team year in and year out, and that's just the way it is.
Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy:
You had me until 4 and 5. Herrera can he a utility guy. Goodwin can play for sure and Boni is serviceable at best as a DH. Not sure about Dozier yet.
Duffy likely is part of the rotation next year also but that looks pretty bad. You pray Keller can duplicate what he has been doing and I think Junis is fine as a back of the rotation guy. Lopez can potential as a middle of the rotation guy but Skoglund sucks. Mayne a long relief guy at best.
I completely forgot about Duffy. Throw him in near the top and make Skoglund the long reliever. [Reply]
So for small market teams, an exciting season isn't exclusively a season where 95+ games are won. For example, the 2011 season was a statistical failure (71-91 record), but an extremely fun season when preparing for the future (Hosmer breaking out, Gordon and Melky career years, Moustakas, Esky, and Salvy all having good years, the debut of Cain, Hochevar looking decent, etc.)
Next year will certainly be another sub-500 season, but baseball is a weird thing. You don't have to dominate every season in order to be ultimately successful. The Royals will never be a playoff team year in and year out, and that's just the way it is.
Hope this helps!
Bufkin
My point is, and I know I keep harping on this, holding on to Merrifield is so fucking stupid just to have an "exciting infield". Assuming we got a monster Adam Eaton -esque return, trading him brings far more value. Your average fan at Kauffman is an idiot and will probably be pissed, but trading Merrifield (again, assuming the return is good) is absolutely 100% the right move. [Reply]
Originally Posted by OKchiefs:
Sounds like an orgasm waiting to happen for the true fans!!! That's a good enough lineup to maybe win 75 games. Hey, at least we won't lose 100. We will have no chance of actually competing, but at least we'll put butts in the seats.
If this team won 75 games next year that would mean they are well on their way to another decent run. Especially since none of our top prospects will be here for another year or 2. You're such a fucking moron it hurts. You have no fucking clue what you're talking about. You just want to bitch. Because you are a bitch. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mecca:
Herrera is probably at best a utility backup...
Here is your issue how do you have Bonificio and Soler on the same team? They really are both DH's..
And dude didn't even mention Soler and the Royals are probably more committed to playing him than any of those other OFers.
Soler and Gordon are the starting corner OFers. Next year should be a transition year for sure with plans to compete for a playoff spot in 2020. Find yourself some solid cheap bullpen pieces to build on going forward and get those college arms from this draft ready to roll. You get Gordon off the books in 20 as well which is nice. The position players are actually pretty solid. [Reply]
Even with an elite bullpen, that lineup and starting rotation is at best an 80 win team. KC will not have an elite bullpen. I dont see them even having an average bullpen. Im happy a few of the young guys are showing promise, which is (I think) the point of the excitement... however they will still lose a LOT and we will have a ton of frustration next year. There is also virtually Zero depth for servicable ML ready talent to fill in for the inevitable injuries. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy:
Soler and Gordon are the starting corner OFers. Next year should be a transition year for sure with plans to compete for a palyoff spot in 2020. Find yourself some solid cheap bullpen pieces to build on going forward and get those college arms from this draft ready to roll. You get Gordon off the books in 20 as well which is nice. The position players are actually pretty solid.
Sorry, you're really fooling yourself if you buy the nonsense from Moore that we can compete by 2020. [Reply]
We went to two World Series with Aoki and Rios in RF. They'll definitely play both Soler and Boni, they're both just entering their prime years and have shown talent. Boni was derailed a bit this year by the suspension though. I guess we'll find out next year if he's the same player but both of those guys should be playing everyday. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
If this team won 75 games next year that would mean they are well on their way to another decent run. Especially since none of our top prospects will be here for another year or 2. You're such a fucking moron it hurts. You have no fucking clue what you're talking about. You just want to bitch. Because you are a bitch.
No, 75 wins is their ceiling for another 3-4 years until actual talent starts arriving from the minors. 75 wins just means lower draft picks and false hope. We still have one of the worst minor league systems and have signed very little talent in IFA. Don't attack me because you're drinking the koolaid in thinking we are anywhere close to being competitive. [Reply]
Originally Posted by OKchiefs:
No, 75 wins is their ceiling for another 3-4 years until actual talent starts arriving from the minors. 75 wins just means lower draft picks and false hope. We still have one of the worst minor league systems and have signed very little talent in IFA. Don't attack me because you're drinking the koolaid in thinking we are anywhere close to being competitive.
I'm not drinking the koolaid, bitch, just stating a fact. 75 wins would mean they are going in the right direction. Like I said you just want something to bitch about. Are you a girl? [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
We went to two World Series with Aoki and Rios in RF. They'll definitely play both Soler and Boni, they're both just entering their prime years and have shown talent. Boni was derailed a bit this year by the suspension though. I guess we'll find out next year if he's the same player but both of those guys should be playing everyday.
What OF should they be sitting?
They refuse to sit Gordon even though they should... [Reply]