For all things Royals in 2022. #3 minor league system according to Baseball America. The Bobby Witt era should begin this year. Will Salvy still be the homerun king? How does the glut of infield players work out? Will the young pitchers take the next step?
Free Agents/Trades Acquisitions
Zack Greinke, P
Amir Garrett, P
Taylor Clarke, P
Top 10 Prospects from Baseball America
1. Bobby Witt, SS
2. Asa Lacy, P
3. MJ Melendez, C
4. Nick Pratto, 1B
5. Jackson Kowar, P
6. Kyle Isabel, OF
7. Frank Mozzicato, P
8. Ben Kudrna, P
9. Jonathan Bowlan, P
10. Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B
Duncan's Top Royals Prospects
Spoiler!
1. Bobby Witt, Jr., SS. MLB.
This status lasts about another 4 weeks, but let’s take a moment to appreciate having the top guy in the minor league prospects lists for at least a little while longer. Witt has prodigious ability and the question is really just IF he can meet it. They have not had a prospect like this in my lifetime, and really probably ever. Combine insane raw physical skills (right there with Adalberto Mondesi and Willie Wilson in the ranks right behind Bo Jackson) with unbelievable work ethic, a humble-but-confident nature, and already having shown he can struggle and overcome to achieve big success, and you have the tools for a show-stopping centerpiece. Oh, and throw in the former-player’s kid aspect on it on top of things, and there is every reason to believe he’s going to succeed and succeed big.
2. M.J. Melendez, C, AAA Omaha.
I was early on putting him in this slot last year, and I don’t regret it. The power, the ability to be a good defender behind the dish as well as having the athletic ability to play 3B or LF, too, and you have a really valuable overall piece and FANTASTIC understudy for Salvador Perez.
3. Asa Lacy, LHP. AA Northwest Arkansas
Whoa, let’s get crazy again. Lacy has outstanding stuff. Top of the system. He got hurt and lost his command during COVID times, but appears to be back on track so far this spring. If his command sticks, this is a guy who can move quickly. And his ceiling is really second to nobody in the minor league pitching ranks.
4. Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B. AA Northwest Arkansas
Vinnie starts the season back at AA due to the guy who follows him on the list here. He just hits, folks. I love his combination of contact, loud contact, plate discipline, and lack of strikeouts. The Billy Butler comparisons are annoying (in that I will NEVER refer to this man as Italian Breakfast except in the instance that just occurred), but the Billy Butler comparisons are also fairly apt… if you made Butler a lefthanded hitter, AND improved his body/athleticism from a 20 to a 40, AND if you added that little extra touch of power we all wished Butler could consistently find.
5. Nick Pratto, 1B, AAA Omaha.
Hey, let’s stay at 1B. Pratto has flashy power and I love his batting eye AND his hand-eye coordination. The hair he’s been rocking this spring is also pretty sweet. I slot him just behind Pasquantino simply because I think his bat profile is more volatile. The glove and arm are sweet/plus for 1B, though.
6. Jonathan Bowlan, RHP, AAA Omaha
Bowlan is coming back from Tommy John surgery, and this ranking is assuming that recovering is successful. If it his, you’re talking about a big, consistent SP who throws hard enough and has enough of a repertoire to really make things happen. If the recovery goes well, he may be shuttling to the majors in July to reinforce the rotation.
7. Nick Loftin, CF, AA Omaha.
Loftin is a guy who has really grown on me. I saw him as a quasi super-utility guy when the Royals drafted him, The full-time shift to CF (which means they think he has the speed and the overall defensive ability to handle CF in Kansas City) adds a lot of value here. The ultimate positive offensive upside is similar to peak Whit Merrifield, maybe with a touch more early power.
8. Michael Massey, 2B, AA Northwest Arkansas.
Massey was an absolute revelation last year, hitting for power and average and keeping his K rate down while playing a really strong 2B. He has a very sweet, short lefthanded stroke. This is another aggressive rating, but Massey has proven himself through a tough minor league assignment already, and the arrow is pointed up.
9. Ben Kudrna, RHP, Rookie Ball
Kudrna is a big, physical specimen with a lot of upside and potential. The fastball and slider are already nearly MLB-level in terms of velocity and movement (command needs work). Kudrna is a guy who, with luck, and health, and good development, could ascend to the top of a rotation.
10. Frank Mozzicato, LHP, Rookie Ball.
Mozzicato has a curveball that suggests he has a feel for spin. If you want to dream, you hope that the next 2-3 years turn the 175 he weighed when drafted into a rock-solid 220/225 and carries with it an increase in fastball velocity from 90-91, sitting 87-88, to 96-97, sitting 93-94. You pair his ability to spin the ball (which also suggests he should be able to easily master a sweeper slider) with that type of fastball velo and a changeup he already has a feel for, and it’s an exciting profile.
He has a little more to go in terms of growing into that projectability than Kudrna, which is why he slots right behind him.
11. Alec Marsh, RHP, AA Northwest Arkansas
Marsh missed a lot of 2021 to injury, but the hard-throwing righthander is another guy who could move quickly once the minor league season starts. He’s undeniably got the stuff of a quality major-league pitcher. The question is if he can master enough command to cash it in. This guy is a great example of TINSTAAPP.
12. Angel Zerpa, LHP, AAA Omaha
Zerpa might quickly outperform this slot. His stuff ticked up in 21 and he ended the season making a start in the majors. He’s nice depth to have, and honestly, I’m a big fan of just throwing numbers at pitching. Zerpa definitely helps create the depth you need to generate a top-notch and reliable home-grown rotation.
13. Maikel Garcia, SS, AA Northwest Arkansas
Garcia is a really intriguing hitter, a righthanded hitter who has a nice combination of contact skills and control of the strike zone (this cousin of Alcides Escobar is less savvy with the glove and more savvy at the plate). The Royals protected him for a reason (he’s on the 40-man).
14. Carter Jensen, C, A ??
Jensen is a local product whose bat will probably push him off C (as well as the Royals depth at that spot throughout the organization). This is a future 1B profile, and a nice one. He makes a lot of loud contact and shows an ability to lift the ball. Should be fun to watch this year.
15. Ben Hernandez, RHP, A+ Quad Rivers
Hernandez missed a good part of 2021 but still has that butterfly changeup and a classic pitcher’s profile. He’ll need to find a reliable swing-and-miss secondary to make it in the bigs, but if not, the fastball velocity and changeup should make him a quality high-leverage reliver.
16. Dylan Coleman, RHP, AAA Omaha
Speaking of relievers, Coleman is a hard-throwing righthander who probably spends most of 22 in the Royals’ pen. ½ of the compensation for the Rosenthal trade a few years back, Coleman has a big fastball and nasty breaking ball.
17. Will Klein, RHP, AA Northwest Arkansas
Speaking of relivers, everything I just said about Coleman? Yeah, you can say it about Klein, too. Klein regularly toyed with hitters at high A last year, striking out 121 hitters in just 70 1/3 innings pitched. For those counting at home, that’s a 15.5 K/9 rate. Yep. That’ll play.
18. Anthony Veneziano, LHP, AA Northwest Arkansas
Here’s another big, power arm. Veneziano hasn’t been relegated to bullpen only yet, though. His fastball bumped into the high 90s last year on a starter’s workload. He’s still looking for a changeup, but if he doesn’t find it, you’re looking at a really promising future bullpen fireballer.
19. Erick Pena, OF, A ?
Pena did… not have a strong 2021 full season debut. His struggles look a lot like those of Pratto and Melendez in 2019. Pena has the same type of raw toolkit to work from as those two, with great hands and natural power. He needs to fix a hitch in his swing and calm it down, but so did Melendez. Of this second ten grouping, Pena has the highest upside and could jump right into the top 5 of the org ranks.
20. Darryl Collins, OF, A+
Collins is an international signing out of Europe. I like the hitting package here – good eye and contact skills. He needs to make more loud contact, but if he can, really a nice guy.
Overall takeaways:
This is a system with a lot of depth. We could go another 10-12 deep and still be talking about guys with a good shot to make the majors. The changes to the organization’s approach are bearing fruit, as even less-heralded draftees are stepping forward.
The combination of upside (Witt, Melendez, Lacy), depth, and guys you can dream on is fun. It may not produce quite as much as the 2011 group did, but it does offer a more sustainable system, less reliant on a few big-ticket guys.
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
RE: Sam Horn, he's not getting drafted today or until the 11th round.
No team is going to take a chance on losing slot money and a pick on a kid who's a tough sign.
If someone hops on him in the 11th round, worry. If he gets drafted in a later, random round, don't worry.
The former is a team that was planning to target him there. The latter is a team just taking a random stab and seeing what happens.
Yup.
Either he goes in the first 2 rounds and there's a big enough slot value there that a team can pull him from his commitment (BIG worry) or he goes really early in the post-penalty phase to a team that's saved some nickels on their slotted picks (Less worry - but still some through the end of round 11).
But yeah, if he's going in round 13-14, I'm not gonna lost sleep over it. [Reply]
Ah yes it's bigoted to think it's kinda ridiculous when in baseball talent matters and you care more about how the god question is answered. That's legit the only reason Matheny is this teams manager.
If the best player in the draft was an open atheist would the Royals take him? And if not isn't that a problem? [Reply]
Royals draft Gavin Cross, Cayden Wallace, opting for college bats and versatility
Alec Lewis
Originally Posted by :
He sat quietly on his couch Sunday night in Richmond, Va., and waited anxiously as the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft began. He knew his team, the Kansas City Royals, picked at No. 9. And he knew one specific player in his area, Virginia Tech outfielder Gavin Cross, could be an option. So he watched, fidgeting between picks, waiting for his phone to buzz.
Tim Bittner, the Royals’ area scout who covers much of the East Coast, had been through this before. He’s worked for the Houston Astros and the Chicago White Sox, covering a lot of miles, tracking down players at random ball fields, mining as many connections as possible for information. But rarely does it line up like this, especially at the top.
The names ticked off the board. Bittner’s attention heightened. And then, once the telecast announced that the Royals were on the clock, longtime Royals cross-checker Keith Connolly sent Bittner a congratulatory message.
“You hope you’re getting that text,” Bittner said. “But, yeah. It was great.”
Cross, a 21-year-old left-handed hitter whom the Royals will start as a center fielder, was one of two Royals selections Sunday night. A couple of hours after Bittner received the dreamy news, another Royals area scout, Matt Price, learned that the Royals were selecting a player he’d long scouted at No. 49: Arkansas third baseman Cayden Wallace, who is 20 years old.
The similarities between the two players picked were obvious: Both were college hitters and both possess defensive versatility. These facts were not a coincidence.
First, hear first-year scouting director Danny Ontiveros on the college hitter note: “I think there was a little bit of an emphasis on (college hitters) being that it was the strength of the draft. And you always want to attack the strength of the draft.”
Now, listen to Ontiveros discuss the versatility: “This is a big park. You’ve got to have guys with speed who can defend. That’s always something we’re going to target. It’s the way (Royals president of operations) Dayton Moore has built this club. We’ve won that way. And it’s always the goal.”
As it relates to the Royals’ overall whittling-down process, the timeline drifts back to the spring. Months ago, Ontiveros said, the club’s scouting staff met and confirmed that they were going to focus on the abundance of talented college hitters. From there, Ontiveros said they identified players they wanted to send cross-checkers to go see.
Cross and Wallace, included.
Fortunately, the Royals’ area scouts had a foundation with both players. Wallace was a highly touted high school player in Greenbrier, Ark., so Price had evaluated his strides both with the bat and in the field. Cross, meanwhile, had been on Bittner’s radar since he set foot on Virginia Tech’s campus.
“When he stepped on campus, I remember talking to (Virginia Tech) coach John Szefc and him saying, ‘Look, this guy is different. He’s wired differently,’” Bittner said. “He started throwing out some names he had coached in the past such as Jonathan Lucroy. He just said, ‘Look, man, this guy is different.’”
Scouts who are tight with particular coaches tend to buy in quickly, and Bittner’s relationship with Szefc actually dated to his own college days. Coincidentally, Szefc coached Bittner at Marist College.
“When a guy who’s your mentor says something like what he said about Gavin,” Bittner said, “it raises some eyebrows. You focus a little more.”
In 2021, while Bittner was evaluating a Virginia Tech series at Wake Forest, Cross went 6-for-14.
“He went off,” Bittner said. “And I remember sitting with coach Szefc later that afternoon, and saying like, ‘You know, you’re right. He is different.’”
Bittner specifically noted Cross’ swing, his power and his athleticism. All three displayed themselves last summer for Team USA, for which he hit four homers. This past spring, Cross played primarily in center field, which added another dimension to the scouting projection. Bittner road-tripped to Chapel Hill, N.C., to watch Cross play. He saw a series in Charlottesville, Va., as well.
There was a theme as Cross was embarking on a solid junior year, featuring a .328 (80-for-244) average, 17 home runs and 50 RBI in 57 games.
“He was one of those guys, at least for me, where every time I went to go watch him, he always performed,” Bittner said. “Every time. Contact. Power to all fields. Solid in center field. It was just, ‘What else do you need?’”
A few states to the west, Price stayed on Wallace, who was heading toward hitting .298 (82-for-275) with 16 home runs and 60 RBI in 67 games as a 20-year-old sophomore. Price even attended the College World Series and watched from a few rows behind home plate.
Throughout the scouting process for both players, as was planned in the spring, numerous Royals staffers confirmed the evaluations of Bittner and Price. Moore, whose son Robert was a teammate of Wallace’s at Arkansas, saw more of the Razorbacks than most. Longtime Royals executive Gene Watson was present for Wallace at the College World Series. And Ontiveros, whose scouting specialty is with hitters, pored through video of players such as Cross.
In the end, as the Royals mapped out their draft approach after trading their compensation pick to the Atlanta Braves last week, the Royals felt comfortable with their plan to select two familiar and versatile college hitters.
“The makeup on both of these players is exceptional,” Ontiveros said. “They’re winners. They’re athletes. Analytically, they check out. They checked a lot of boxes for us. And they’re two players we scouted a lot. So, there’s a comfort level all the way through with our whole process. We think they’re both potentially going to be middle of the order bat guys.”
Ontiveros relayed the club’s opinions around midnight. He did so in a baby blue blazer alongside Royals vice president of player personnel Lonnie Goldberg, who wore the same color coat. So did the entire Royals’ scouting staff who converged on Kauffman Stadium for day No. 1 of the draft in honor of legendary scout Art Stewart, who passed away in November.
A few Royals staffers such as Jack Monahan and Nick Leto spearheaded the gesture, one that Goldberg said the club hoped to honor a man who put in the miles, tracked down players at random ball fields, and mined as many connections as possible for information. A man who defined what it means to be a scout, which, as the joy in Bittner’s voice confirmed, is in part what makes draft night so special.
Originally Posted by Mecca:
Ah yes it's bigoted to think it's kinda ridiculous when in baseball talent matters and you care more about how the god question is answered. That's legit the only reason Matheny is this teams manager.
If the best player in the draft was an open atheist would the Royals take him? And if not isn't that a problem?
IDK the religious affiliations of our players and don’t care to. I’d presume it matches the general society. If you have info to the contrary you should post it. [Reply]
From what I'm told by multiple people this morning, there's no longer any concern Sam Horn will sign an MLB contract (hasn't been drafted at this point). Full expectation is that he will be at #Mizzou for the 2022 football and baseball seasons.
From what I'm told by multiple people this morning, there's no longer any concern Sam Horn will sign an MLB contract (hasn't been drafted at this point). Full expectation is that he will be at #Mizzou for the 2022 football and baseball seasons.
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
Are you talking about Neto? Because that's not at all what I'm seeing in his prospect write up.
Yeah, Neto. I was hearing that when he has to use a wood bat that any glimpse of power he showed in the Big South conference will evaporate.
You hear good things? I was probably overreacting. I wanted Hjerpe to go to the Angels. My preferred college players never go to my favorite pro teams, with rare exceptions like Steven Nelson and Sabby Piscatelli (neither of whom are highly regarded in Chiefsland) [Reply]
Nice video of Wallace, looks like he has a nice glove at third
Cayden Wallace is a great pick for the @Royals. Some of the best raw power in the college class, and combines that with average contact rates and a good approach, rarely chasing and punishing balls in the zone. Double-plus arm strength and a plus run tool round out the package. pic.twitter.com/G3F03r6IhL
Kansas City Royals draft Mason Barnett with 87th overall pick in MLB Draft
Alex Duvall
With the 87th overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, the Kansas City Royals have selected Auburn RHP Mason Barnett. Barnett was not a part of our top-100 ranking in the Draft Guide and came in at #209 at MLB Pipeline. He’s got a wipeout slider that can touch 87 mph at times, and his fastball runs up to 98, although it doesn’t quite have great carry to it at the top of the zone. The slider is definitely his carrying pitch and he probably should’ve been throwing it more in college.
Fastball: 93-96, t98, not as good a pitch as the velo suggests
Slider: 70-grade pitch, tops out at 87
Changeup: 50-grade offering, great fourth pitch
Curveball: Sneaky good offering, pairs well with the harder slider
Barnett has a starter’s profile if he can fix his fastball. Unfortunately, the Royals have not been great at taking players with bad fastball shapes and making them good, so it’s a long shot to think that they could all of a sudden fix Barnett. In any case, the breaking balls are prolific carrying tools that should help him play up in a bullpen role.
Nothing I’m getting too excited about here. Would anticipate that this pick should save the Royals some money. Biggest question now is, is that for their next pick? Or to afford Cayden Wallace? I’m betting on the former.
Kansas City Royals draft LHP Hunter Patteson in 5th round
Alex Duvall
Now here’s a pick I can get down with. Patteson is a big LHP standing 6′ 5″ and was running his fastball up to 96 mph before leaving a start in early April. The University of Central Florida had Tommy John Surgery shortly after and will probably be looking to sign whatever the Royals are willing to offer. Once he’s in the system, you’re talking about a guy with great stuff and great projection. His fastball has great shape to it, the changeup is a legitimate plus-offering, and while the slider can be a little too slurvy at times, it has great shape and may improve tremendously with a touch more velo.
This now makes five college players drafted by the Royals in the first five rounds. I kind of like Steven Zobac a little bit, Mason Barnett is fine, but this pick of Patteson in the 5th round is a no-brainer for me. Throw $250,000 at him, save yourself $100,000 or so, and load up for whoever it is they’re saving some money for later on in this draft. I’m a fan.
