AL Central Top 50 Prospects

by nwroyal on Mar 25, 2009 7:00 PM EDT in News Comment 24 comments

For the Royals to be competitive in the future they have to have one of the best, if not the best, farm system in the AL Central. I took the Baseball America top 10 lists from each AL Central Team and ranked those 50 players.

1.Mike Moustakas, ss --KC

2. Rick Porcello, rhp --DET

3. Eric Hosmer, 1b--KC

4. Gordon Beckham, ss--CHW

5. Carlos Santana, c --CLE

6. Matt LaPorta, of --CLE

7. Aaron Hicks, of --MIN

8. Ben Revere, of--MIN

9. Aaron Poreda, lhp--CHW

10. Nick Weglarz, of--CLE

11. Tyler Flowers, c--CHW

12. Daniel Cortes, rhp --KC

13. Dayan Viciedo, 3b/of --CHW

14. Mike Montgomery, lhp—KC

15. Brandon Allen, 1b--CHW

16. Wilson Ramos, c --MIN

17. Kila Ka'aihue, 1b --KC

18. Danny Duffy, lhp--KC

19. Beau Mills, 1b --CLE

20. Ryan Perry, rhp --DET

21. Danny Gutierrez, rhp--KC

22. Jose Mijares, lhp --MIN

23. Tim Melville, rhp--KC

24. Clayton Richard, lhp--CHW

25. Kelvin de la Cruz, lhp--CLE

26. Lonnie Chisenhall, ss--CLE

27. David Huff, lhp --CLE

28. Carlos Rosa, rhp--KC

29. Jeff Larish, 1b/3b--DET

30. Jordan Danks, of --CHW

31. Cale Iorg, ss--DET

32. Danny Valencia, 3b--MIN

33. Michael Brantley, of/1b--CLE

34. Kevin Mulvey, rhp --MIN

35. Casey Crosby, lhp--DET

36. Shooter Hunt, rhp --MIN

37. Wilkin Ramirez, of --DET

38. Anthony Swarzak, rhp--MIN

30. Angel Morales, of --MIN

40. Blake Wood, rhp--KC

41. Carlos Rivero, ss--CLE

42. Brent Lillibridge, ss --CHW

43. Carlos Gutierrez, rhp--MIN

44. Adam Miller, rhp--CLE

45. Scott Sizemore, 2b--DET

46. Chris Getz, 2b --CHW

47. Cody Satterwhite, rhp--DET

48. John Shelby, of --CHW

49. Dusty Ryan, c--DET

50. Guillermo Moscoso, rhp--DET

I feel pretty good about the top 25 but after that, its a little more iffy. I think the Royals have the best top end talent. Cleveland is supposed to have more depth beyond the top 10. Minnesota has some outfielders/pitchers but not much beyond that. Chicago has drafted better after letting their system get awfully thin. Detroit is pretty baffling--drafting very conservatively lately.

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Wow cool list

Very top heavy but better than bottom heavy I guess?

It will take another year or 2 probably before we can have great results throughout the top 50….great exercise, though.

by I need more Esteban on Mar 25, 2009 7:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Seems kind of fishy

For the Royals to have 6 of the top 18 including 2 of the top 3 when other prospect rankings have only listed Hosmer and Moustakas in the MLB top 100. I don’t know the other farm systems at all, but this does strike me as maybe a more pro-Royals list than an informed Rays or Dodgers fan would come up with.

by kcdc1 on Mar 25, 2009 7:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I am not a great fan of Keith Law, but here are his rankings from his top 100 of AL central prospects

RANK PLAYER POS. ORGANIZATION
10 Rick Porcello RHP Detroit Tigers
13 Carlos Santana C Cleveland Indians
17 Eric Hosmer 1B Kansas City Royals
27 Matt LaPorta 1B Cleveland Indians
36 Gordon Beckham SS Chicago White Sox
44 Mike Moustakas 3B Kansas City Royals
51 Tyler Flowers C Chicago White Sox
56 Aaron Hicks OF Minnesota Twins
57 Aaron Poreda LHP Chicago White Sox
58 Adam Miller RHP Cleveland Indians
61 Nick Weglarz LF/1B Cleveland Indians
63 Ben Revere CF Minnesota Twins
66 David Huff LHP Cleveland Indians

A little less KC love and more on the Indians

by Jeff Zimmerman (TucsonRoyal) on Mar 25, 2009 7:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I just don't get how down on Moustakas everyone is

The guy had a phenomenal year in a level above his age. How does that work? Predictability?

Everyone's recruits look better than ours.

by 306008 on Mar 25, 2009 9:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

it's not everyone

just Law.

Founder of the Johnny Giavotella fan club.

by doublestix on Mar 25, 2009 9:21 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Here are some other lists

Here are some lists from others pubs:

BP
7. Porcello—Tigers
18. Hosmer—Royals
21. Moustakas—Royals
28. Beckham—White Sox
30. LaPorta—Indians
33. Santana—Indians
36. Revere—Twins
39. Hicks—Twins
74. Poreda—White Sox
83. Weglarz—Indians
99. Brandon Allen—White Sox

BA
13 Moustakas—Royals
20 Beckham—White Sox
21 Porcello—Tigers
24 Hosmer—Royals
26 Santana—Indians
27 Laporta—Indians
39 Aaron Hicks—Twins
58 Weglarz—Indians
59 Revere—Twins
61 Viciedo—White Sox
63 Poreda—White Sox
82 Adam Miler—Indians
90 Dan Cortes—Royals
99 Flowers—White Sox

And here are 3 top 50 prospect lists from individuals at Baseball America
Callis
12. Hosmer—Royals
18. Moustakas—Royals
23. Beckham—White Sox
26. LaPorta—Indians
29. Santana—Indians
30. Porcello—Tigers
44. Hicks—Twins

Lingo
17 Moustakas—Royals
18 Santana—Indians
19 Beckham—White Sox
20 Laporta—Indians
23 Porcello—Tigers
26 Hosmer—Royals
33 Viciedo—White Sox
50 Hicks—Twins

John Manuel
14 Moustakas—Royals
18 Beckham—White Sox
24 Santana—Indians
27 LaPorta—Indians
33 Porcello—Tigers
34 Hosmer—Royals
41 Hicks—Twins

by nwroyal on Mar 25, 2009 9:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think it's ok

I love that you have Mous over Hos ATM. That will probably change…. but I don’t think it will this year. But the real question is, how many HRs will Mous and Hos hit off of Porcello?

Everyone's recruits look better than ours.

by 306008 on Mar 25, 2009 7:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

are we still viewing Moose as a SS?

Figured the move to third was permanent, unless he’s going to move to a corner OF spot or first base…or catcher, I guess, though I hope not…

by RoyalsFanInBillings on Mar 25, 2009 7:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

3B

probably RF once he gets to KC.

Founder of the Johnny Giavotella fan club.

by doublestix on Mar 25, 2009 8:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

wow, I'm surprised to see this published...

I was working on it and went to go read up on some of the prospects because I wanted to see if I was giving KC prospects too much love. I let my kids watch a DVD on my laptop and I come back and this is published (I’m surprised the rankings didn’t change because my 3 year old likes Hosmer more than Moustakas)….so its a rough draft but I’ll keep it up and publish my adjusted list later.

by nwroyal on Mar 25, 2009 8:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Lol....

I hope the kid likes the Royals more than anyone else…!!

Everyone's recruits look better than ours.

by 306008 on Mar 25, 2009 9:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cale Iorg, ss--DET

Is this guy somehow related to our very own Dane Iorg?

The General Theory of Royaltivity

by kabrink on Mar 25, 2009 8:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yes....

Dane is his uncle. Garth is Cale’s dad—and he also played in the big leagues.

by nwroyal on Mar 25, 2009 8:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

some of the tool types are too high

Especially Cale Iorg. I mean his brother isn’t doing too hot in the Astros system, it’s not hard to see him going down the same path, Valencia should at least be a role player.

Mourning Guy Carbonneau...
Royals obscure player to watch in ST: Lenny DiNardo

by playingwithfire on Mar 25, 2009 9:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

As I've looked it over...

Reviewing the lsit, I’m pretty happy with it. Bradon Allen—CHW and Kelvin De La Cruz—CLE are two guys I might bump up. I see the Royals system breaking down as:

Top 20 talent: Moose and Hoz
Top100: Cortes
Just outside the top 100: Montgomery, Kaaihue, Duffy
and then there are breakout candidates like Melville and Gutierrez.

I just don’t see who I would move up over those guys—but I’m open to suggestions. Cleveland has a deep system but beyond that the talent falls off quickly after prospect #1 for Detroit, #2 for Minnesota and after #5 for the White Sox

by nwroyal on Mar 25, 2009 9:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'll add Shooter Hunt to my list of guys I'll root against

by royalsreview on Mar 25, 2009 10:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

any particular reason?

just because he’s a Twin? I remember we really wanted him just for the name during Draft Day.

Bringing you more-or-less replacement level analysis and commentary to Driveline Mechanics and elsewhere since sometime in 2008.

by devil_fingers on Mar 25, 2009 10:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

a young guy who's gifted athletically, borderline rich, and is named (or nicknamed) "Shooter"

yea… I’ll pass

by royalsreview on Mar 25, 2009 11:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

given the first two

doesn’t this mean you hate pretty much every semi-successful high draft pick?

Bringing you more-or-less replacement level analysis and commentary to Driveline Mechanics and elsewhere since sometime in 2008.

by devil_fingers on Mar 25, 2009 11:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

as people, other than royals of course

they’re all pretty hard to root for… just human nature and obvious, albeit petty, jealousy… when you spent your 20s earning an EIC each year, this is going to happen

but really, it’s the name… that pushes it over the edge

by royalsreview on Mar 26, 2009 12:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs