If seems that Wil Myers will begin the season in either AA or AAA. After struggling a bit in 2011 (0.254/0.353/0.393), which was attributed to a knee injury, he destroyed the Arizona Fall League (0.360/0.481/0.674). His OPS in the AFL (1.156) was better than the one Eric Hosmer hit in AAA (1.107) before he was called up at the beginning of the 2011 season.

What happens if in 2012 Myers repeats what he did in the AFL in AAA and forces the Royals to call him up? The Royals outfield is set for 2012 with Alex Gordon in LF, Lorenzo Cain in CF and Jeff Francoeur in RF. There isn't any more room in the OF. Is he going to be moved to CF where he has played a total of 13 games with the Royals? Will the Royals sit Alex Gordon after coming off one of the best seasons ever as any Royal has ever experienced? Will management's poster boy Frenchy be forced to sit? Will Wil be forced to the bench or will he just stay in the AAA?

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Before we fully owned, or knew we owned completely nice things, like Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas as fully formed really exciting prospects, Royals fans looked to the edges and the margins for sources of hope. One of those minor stars was David Lough, a college outfielder taken in the 11th round of the 2007 draft. Lough hit well in a short stint that season, then was non-descript in his first full season as a professional. In 2009 however, when much was going wrong in the minors, he stood out, showing a broad base of offensive skills. And remember, the Royals never had good outfielders.

In 2010, everything went the other way, the system went up and Lough had a middling 2010. Not awful, but a .783 OPS in AAA for a 24 year old... lough he was forgotten.

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Some candidates:

• Alex Llanos
• Bryan Brickhouse
• Will Smith
• Kevin Chapman
• Michael Antonio
• Robinson Yambati

Ah, 2010. The Royals were assembling the Greatest Farm System Ever, as Hosmer found his eyes, Wil Myers soared and Moose started to pull it together.

By the time the draft rolled around, the plaudits were already rolling in, the Royals were back, the Royals knew how to draft and develop talent, the pipeline was bursting, etc. Then the Royals went college-heavy, really college heavy. Did this mean they thought they were getting close? That's what just about everyone thought.

When I checked in on the 2010 draftees last summer, the word I used to characterize the haul was "strange." Now that we have a full year of data to look at (still not very much, as these things go) what picture emerges?

• 1st Pick- Christian Colon (SS): Colon was the fourth overall pick, and while he had his fans on draft day, he's had a rough go. He was going to be a divisive pick eventually (you could see it coming) but he's not even been good enough to divide. Everyone's just worried. Colon posted a .668 OPS at AA NWA and doubts about his ability to handle short persist. As a college hitter, he was supposed to adjust a little quicker to professional pitching, but that hasn't happened yet. Next season will be his age 23 campaign, and NWA is a nice place to hit. We're far far far from being able to say anything definitive about Colon yet, but he really needs to post a .900 OPS and draw good defensive reviews next season. Moreover, it might be time to proactively move him to 2B sooner rather than later. That'll be a painful admission, but as a hedge might help in the long run.
  
• 2nd - Brett Eibner (RHP -> OF): The Royals made Eibner a fulltime OF and he rewarded them by performing like an Astros prospect in 2011. Eibner hit ,213/.340/.408 last year as a 22 year old at A ball.
  
• 3rd - Michael Antonio (SS): He's now made it all the way up to Idaho Falls! I'm not even sure I'm being sarcastic, either. One of the few HS draftees at the top of the table for the Royals, Antonio has now progressed through 3 levels in two seasons, and should start 2012 with the Chukars. Has shown some moderate power thus far (.453 slg) which is interesting. He's still very very far away from the Majors, which is in this case a good thing. Let's loop back on him, say, July 2013?

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Irving Falu is one of the prospects we aren't allowed to get excited about, for some reason. Actually, the main reason is that he's probably not that good.

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Only in myth can we properly understand the glories of Dayton Moore's farm system.

A paragraph about Bubba Starling written in the style of The Golden Bough

Bubba Starling, celebrated across the midland pasturelands and prairies of America, is the latest incarnation of the child of nature who redeems. From the Mongolian steppes to the shores of the Aegean, we see that the archaic mind demonstrated an endless attraction to the figure of the rural innocent without a family who sets himself against the received court. The Green Child, as he is still known along the shores of the Aral Sea, returns each year, honored by Kazakh tribes with gifts of fresh acorns and garlands of wheat. The Green Child is prodigiously strong and is considered the "orderer of the tides." Speed is more commonly associated, and in both Estonia and Romania, there are ceremonies marking a lithe champion, one in Baltic regions associates with the flight of bees and the annual appearance of butterflies. Speed held a special place in the rustic mind, as it was a world still measured by the bounds and distances of the human foot and a day's walk or an hour's rush. In the Carpathians mountain streams were said to be pushed downhill by the Flower Boy. Overlap with messenger figures abound, but the Green Child's speed was not primarily that of a courier, but of the power of nature itself. Alternatively he could both carry and throw. One of the small pieces of Etruscan mythology that has survived tells of a teenager brandishing a scythe or a kind of bat and using it to produce the first mill. This bearer of athletic prowess gains his legitimacy from his connection to nature. Earlier, in one variation in Britain, Bede remarks that from Norwich to the Danelaw, haystacks were the home of Prince of the Harvest, while deep into Victorian times village mayors were told to place hay across the doors of their homes as an vehicle for bringing health and wealth to their town. Plainly, however, his is a pastoral myth, solemnizing man's dependence on animals and responding to the feelings of deep antiquity. In spite of his obvious strength and secondary associations with fertility, this Bubba is, ultimately, a man-child. One permanently boyish, even impish in some variations -- especially those along the Loire --. He is not, in our imaginations, ever fully a King or the progenitor of a line. He is the brother of man, a peer who appears suddenly each year, to redeem, reward, and amaze.    

The latest brush fire to burn across the dry high plains of the internet was sparked by trade rumors involving Royals super prospect Wil Myers. Reportedly the Atlanta Braves are interesting in acquiring Myers, possibly in exchange for Jair Jurrjens. Naturally, the potential first ever Jair-Wil trade in history is itself noteworthy, although that undersells the possibility that a same exchange once took place in a Amsterdam night club, which I argue is plausible. (Would "Wils" count?)

No, Wil Myers is a top prospect, and in 2011 that means he is a very famous person. We don't know how likely a Wil Myers trade is, but should it happen, it would be one of the biggest Royals stories of the last five or six years. Wil Myers was ranked the #10 prospect in the game by Baseball America prior to the 2011 season and there is a class of fan who will be upset if he is traded for the #10 player in the American League this winter. 

My sense is that most hardcore Royals fans would be against a Myers trade. I don't think "against" is a strong enough word to describe their opinions on a Myers-Jurrjens trade. I think we're right to feel this way, at least about Jurrjens. However, although I don't trust Dayton Moore on the market, I think a potential Wil Myers trade is a tremendous opportunity for the franchise. Given the right offer, I think the Royals should be highly interested in trading Wil Myers. As with all things, the execution matters. My contention is that more scenarios than those assumed by my fellow hardcore Royals fan on sites like this one are potential boons for the Royals than might be assumed. The market, I believe, has shifted so far in valuing prospects that even small-market teams like the Royals should look closely at maximizing assets like Myers on the trade market. Now, I understand that this reads like a truism, like blather, like milquetoast conventional wisdom. It is. Or it should be. Right now, so is the idea that top prospects are sacred.

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A simple question: Is Royal starting pitcher prospect Chris Dwyer good? That's not a nuanced way to look at it, but maybe it's worth using a shovel rather than a fork to filter through this one. Now, keep in mind, I'm a guy living in an apartment on the east coast, I don't have tons of information to work with. This is where we can lean on one another and find answers, because I know many of you follow this stuff closely. Because I must be missing something.

The Good:

• Very good stats through 2010. Numbers at Idaho Falls are insane (15.6 K/9, 8.3 BB/9) but he was very good at Wilmington in 2010. Of course, who isn't?
• Had some good things happen at NWA in 2011. Decent strikeout numbers (8.0 K/9) but the walks issue came back (5.0 BB/9). 
• Was a 4th round draft pick in 2009 and earned BA's scouting blessing in 2011, ranked as the #83 prospect in baseball.
  
• Throws the baseball with left hand.

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