Royals 2011 Top 60 Prospects: #54-49

by nwroyal on Nov 12, 2010 3:57 PM EST in Kansas City Royals Minor Leagues

Onward we continue. As expected, this list will evolve a little over the winter. This past week, I had to take out Ed Lucas and add in Lance Zawadzki. And then with the DDJ trade, Justin Marks was added in. I had left one open slot for just such an addition, so the list has 60 names on it. If we add more prospects then we'll have to adjust the list some. #54-49 covers several international signees and a couple of pitchers from past drafts.

60. Pat White--OF

59. Brain Fletcher--OF

58. Murray Watts--1B

57. Leonel Santiago--RHP

56. Justin Trapp--SS

55. Brandon Sisk--LHP

54. Mike Mariot--RHP--DOB:10/20/88

Mariot was the Royals 8th Round selection in 2010 from the University of Nebraska. He had posted a 4.70 ERA there with 82K/30BB in 95IP. Mariot has a solid fastball/curveball combo with his change-up lagging behind. He had a solid pro debut at Idaho Falls posting a 3.92 FIP with 64K/16BB in 56IP. Here is a good write up doublestix did on Mariot for Schaum's blog. Mariot will debut at Kane County in 2011. If he can develop a change he could be a decent starting pitching prospect. If he doesn't develop the change up his future may lie in the bullpen.

53. Wilian Avinazar--RHP--DOB:2/27/89

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Aff	ERA	G	GS	IP	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2008	19	Royals	DOSL	KCR	2.37	14	14	68.1	1.024	6.7	0.1	2.5	7.4	2.95
2009	20	Royals	ARIZ	KCR	6.43	14	9	56.0	1.625	11.1	1.0	3.5	9.5	2.68
2010	21	Burlington	APPY	KCR	2.62	13	13	72.0	1.083	8.4	0.5	1.4	8.4	6.09
3 Seasons					3.62	41	36	196.1	1.217	8.6	0.5	2.4	8.3	3.50

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/12/2010.

Avinazar rebounded from a tough 2009 to pitch well for short-season Burlington in 2010. As you can see, he succeeded with good control and keeping the ball in the ballpark. He's not exactly young for short season ball so he needs to impress in 2011 in full season ball to stay on the list. I haven't found a ton of information about Avinazar's stuff, so if anyone has seen him, let me know. He will have to earn a spot on Kane County's rotation in 2011.

52. Shin Jin-Ho--C--DOB:10/20/91

The Royals signed Jin-Ho out of Korea and gave him around $700k if I remember correctly. He is a big right handed hitter. He had a tough debut in the Arizona League. He hit 152/282/208 in 150 plate appearances. About the only positive thing was that he walked 14% of the time. I'm not yet terribly worried about his struggles. Catcher can take a while to develop so we may have to be patient with him. He'll be 19 all next year and he'll probably stay in short-season ball.

51. Keaton Hayenga--RHP--DOB:7/10/88

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	ERA	G	GS	IP	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2009	20	Burlington	APPY	Rk	KCR	3.66	13	13	66.1	1.266	9.2	0.3	2.2	4.6	2.13
2010	21	Burlington	MIDW	A	KCR	6.13	21	19	105.2	1.675	11.1	1.0	4.0	3.7	0.91
2 Seasons						5.18	34	32	172.0	1.517	10.4	0.7	3.3	4.0	1.22

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/12/2010.

The Royals took Hayenga in the 31st Round of the 2007 draft after he was expected to go higher but fell because he injured his should his senior year. The Royals gave him above slot money ($300,000) and he finally debuted in 2009. 2010 was nothing short of a disaster. He needed to up his K rate but it dropped, his control got worse and he he gave up more HRs. Hayenga has a decent FB/CB combo and I haven't heard any report as to what the reason for the struggles were. 2011 is a make or break year. Just my own guess, but he could get moved to the bullpen to see if his stuff plays better there.

50. Orlando Calixte--SS--DOB:2/3/92

The Royals had reportedly signed this kid back in January but there have been some hangups and it seems like he's had about 4 different names. He got in 66 ABs in the Dominican Summer league batting: 227/350/318. He is supposed to be a good fielder who can handle the bat. Dutton reported that he was impressive in Instructional League. He probably has the highest ceiling of anyone yet on the list. He may be in short season ball next summer and could move up on this list quite a bit by next year.

49. Yowil Espinal--2B--DOB:4/1/91

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	PA	AB	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2008	17	Royals	ARIZ	Rk	KCR	206	204	13	2	2	42	.240	.248	.348	.596
2009	18	Burlington	APPY	Rk	KCR	271	236	20	14	22	53	.246	.327	.407	.734
2010	19	Idaho Falls	PION	Rk	KCR	255	218	16	6	26	61	.252	.339	.312	.651
3 Seasons						732	658	49	22	50	156	.246	.308	.357	.665

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/12/2010.

A talented middle infielder the Royals signed from the Dominican Republic for $250,000, Espinal had a successful 2008 on the short-season Burlington team. Espinal struggled in 2010. His power vanished. He took a few walks but too many K's and the lack of power really hurt him. He also moved off SS to 2B which further hurt his stock. I'm not sure if moved only to accommodate Justin Trapp--if so, perhaps he can go back to SS next season.

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Comments

Mariot looks intriguing

Otherwise most of these kids are so young or in low levels that it’s tough following them too much

by Boots 58 on Nov 12, 2010 4:08 PM EST reply actions

Avinazar

is interesting to me. Between him, Simmons, and Santiago, that’s a pretty nice crop.

Calixte or Caxito or whatever his name was is just too frustrating. Hopefully he gets to AZL next year and shows what he has.

by royal_in_cincinnati on Nov 12, 2010 4:18 PM EST reply actions

i feel the same

I like those three guys. A lot. I don’t know how they’ll do and chances are only one does well in the upper levels, but from a stuff standpoint, all three look good.

Humberto Arteaga was mentioned to me by a guy when I asked him if I missed anyone from the Instructs roster that I should be talking about. Not Calixte. So…. we’ll see.

Scouting the Royals
Royals Prospects

by 306008 on Nov 12, 2010 5:05 PM EST up reply actions

wasn't Shin

pretty highly thought of when he was signed? I remember he got off to a hot start only to hit basically .100 the rest of the way but he is a young guy who i hear has good power potential and defensive skills…

by rockchalks7 on Nov 12, 2010 6:48 PM EST reply actions

Marks should be showing up soon

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Nov 13, 2010 9:33 AM EST reply actions

Are you suggesting

That he is a low grade not very exciting prospect?

Scandalous!

by kcbottom9th on Nov 13, 2010 10:24 AM EST up reply actions

Even those working their hardest to spin this trade as something decent can't manage to manufacture much excitement or optimism about Marks

He might eventually develop into a #4 starter. Woohoo!

We all know how extremely valuable they are.

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Nov 13, 2010 12:21 PM EST up reply actions

I thought it was said that his upside was All-Star

as in, Mark Redman, All-Star.

If that’s not excitement and optimism, I don’t know what is.

Chaim Mattis Keller New York City's # 1 Royals fan!

by cmkeller on Nov 14, 2010 8:24 AM EST up reply actions

So,

I take it you aren’t too excited about the Dejesus trade? I think it’s going to be a pretty good trade for the Royals.

by royal_in_cincinnati on Nov 13, 2010 12:38 PM EST reply actions

If you're asking me, my answer is no

I sure hope it turns out to be a good trade for the Royals. But Mazarro is a #4 SP and there’s really no reason to expect him to improve. From everything I’ve read (and what other Royals fans have reported that they’ve read) from prospect analysts and scouts, the ones that like Marks the most see him as a mid-to-back-end starting pitcher. So maybe if things work out right, Marks will develop into another Mazarro/Bannister. Unless all of the above is wrong, I don’t think this trade is going to turn out to be pretty good for the Royals.

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Nov 13, 2010 12:46 PM EST up reply actions

I think you are overvaluing Dejesus. To get a #3/4 starting pitching is about all you could expect to get for him. So to throw in another possible 3/4 starting pitcher is a bonus. He is being paid 6 mil this year, which is probably about right for him, but he isn’t a superstar. If Mazzaro’s sinking fastball starts getting the groundballs its supposed to maybe he turns into a really good #3. I still think the Royals need to find a real #2 and push Hochevar back to #3, but that’s beside the point.

by royal_in_cincinnati on Nov 13, 2010 2:16 PM EST up reply actions

There's a big difference between a #3 and a #4 starter

And Mazarro isn’t particularly close to being a #3 and never has been. Unfortunately there’s no reason to believe Mazarro will improve to become a legitimate #3 starter. And DeJesus is a 2+ WAR player, meaning he’s worth at least $8M, so the A’s got a bargain…in every way.

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Nov 13, 2010 6:02 PM EST up reply actions

good job NW

it will be interesting to see if any of the college pitchers like Cantrell and Mariot go straight to Wilmington (like Baumann did this year), especially with the lack of talent that was at Burlington in 2010.

R.I.P. cwhitman412, Frederick0220, & Mets2k9
http://twitter.com/doublestix

by doublestix on Nov 13, 2010 7:41 PM EST reply actions