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]
I get that the Royals are far from contenders, but who the hell do you want instead of Whit? He's here for a few more years, and he's a very valuable player.
Sure, I'd take a young ace starting pitcher over him, I guess. But you really think you're gonna get one of those in a trade?
More and more I think we should just keep Whit. Trade him as a rental if he's in the last year of control and the Royals still suck. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RealSNR:
I get that the Royals are far from contenders, but who the hell do you want instead of Whit? He's here for a few more years, and he's a very valuable player.
Sure, I'd take a young ace starting pitcher over him, I guess. But you really think you're gonna get one of those in a trade?
Hopefully there are offers similar to the Zobrist deal...we will see. Trade Market is different but he is really valuable and the Royals are going to compete in 2021 maybe? He's gonna be 30 soon...I def don't think they'll trade him for lotto tickets which they shouldn't [Reply]
Originally Posted by RealSNR:
I get that the Royals are far from contenders, but who the hell do you want instead of Whit? He's here for a few more years, and he's a very valuable player.
Sure, I'd take a young ace starting pitcher over him, I guess. But you really think you're gonna get one of those in a trade?
More and more I think we should just keep Whit. Trade him as a rental if he's in the last year of control and the Royals still suck.
Wont be as productive when they are competitive. Dump him for a new piece to help the rebuild. [Reply]
Yost has a proven track record with developing young players, and it’s the things that drive us nuts about him - his patience and loyalty - that make
Him effective in that role.
He did it with the Brewers and he did it with KC. He’s fine for 2019.
As for trading Merrifield, I think the strong finishes by Mondesi and O’Hearn and some of the young SP probably push that trade viability to the back burner, at least until midseason next year.
If Mondesi can be what he was over a full season, you can see a path to being pretty good by 2020/2021, in which case it makes some sense to keep Merrifield.
They’ll inject some youth and power arms into the pen, hope for health from key younger players (Soler and Mondesi chief among them), and see what happens in the first half. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KCUnited:
Agree to disagree. The Ned clubhouse thing sounds like a myth at this point. These guys were in it together from the get before they got to the big league club. Plus a Ned-proof pen. I have a soft spot for Ned, but it's time to turn the page.
So did the Nationals all stars during their youth movement. For three seasons they had more talanrt on paper than we EVER did.
It didn’t matter. Under their leadership players were fistfighting in the dugout, not talking to each other on the team planes, and constantly fighting with management. Clubhouse issues are often cited in Oakland’s failure to win it all too - so much so that even Billy moneyball Beane cited team chemistry as a major focus during his current rebuild.
Even if you think the locker room stuff is overblown, I’d then point to the data that says that ultimately, managers either factor in +3 to -3 wins per year at most. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rudy tossed tigger's salad:
I have good baseball to watch for years. The KC Marlins are back in the dumpster w/ no farm to speak of.
I think it's gotten to the point nobody likes their manager. It doesn't matter how good you are. Read Andy McCullough's mentions on Twitter every night and people are just killing Dave Roberts. Same thing with Joe Maddon... you can find plenty of Brewers fans killing Craig Counsell. I'm not sure there's a fanbase that actually likes their manager. I guess maybe the Indians and Francona.
I'd rather have Ned 10 times out of 10 over Mike Matheny though. [Reply]
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
Yost has a proven track record with developing young players, and it’s the things that drive us nuts about him - his patience and loyalty - that make
Him effective in that role.
He did it with the Brewers and he did it with KC. He’s fine for 2019.
As for trading Merrifield, I think the strong finishes by Mondesi and O’Hearn and some of the young SP probably push that trade viability to the back burner, at least until midseason next year.
If Mondesi can be what he was over a full season, you can see a path to being pretty good by 2020/2021, in which case it makes some sense to keep Merrifield.
They’ll inject some youth and power arms into the pen, hope for health from key younger players (Soler and Mondesi chief among them), and see what happens in the first half.
I'm not sold on O'Hearn. It is nice to see Ned come back the team showed fire towards the end. I thought for sure he was done. I dont think next year will be his last either. Next year is going to be a fun year. They wont be great but certainly more competitive. That should be enough to lure Ned back again. [Reply]
