We've covered the Royals Top 60 Prospects. The state of the Royals Minor League system defies a one or two word synopsis. The system is deep, young, toolsy, and risky. They lack elite talent (at this point). They probably rank around #10 overall in minor league systems. Part of that is due to spending a lot of money and part of that is due to a drafts in 2007/2008 that were high school heavy and thus haven't graduated draftees to the majors yet. One would think they should rank even higher next year since most of these players will still be in the minors and the Royals will add the #4 pick in the draft.
Now we'll do an overview with some different ways to break down the Royals prospects.
First, here is the Top 60 broken down by position (my list actually ended up being 60 after we took out Tug Hulett and Juan Abreu but added in Ed Cegarra and Noel Arguellles who were late additions):
| 1B |
3. Eric Hosmer 14. Kila Kaaihue |
| 2B | 15. Johnny Giavotella |
| SS |
9. Jeff Bianchi 23. Yowil Espinal 48. Pedro Nivar 52. Deivy Batista 55. Ryan Wood |
| 3B |
5. Mike Moustakas 24. Cheslor Cuthbert 36. Malcolm Culver 40. Jason Taylor |
| Corner OF |
10. David Lough 13. Jordan Parraz 27. Tim Smith 53. Nick Van Stratten |
| CF |
21. Hilton Richardson 25. Derrick Robinson 35. Alex Llanos 39. Geulin Beltre 45. Jerico Blanco 46. Jarrod Dyson |
| C |
4. Wil Myers 31. Salvador Perez 37. Jose Bonilla 42. Ben Theriot 43. Manny Pina 44. Shin Jo-ho 50. Fernando Cruz 51. Sean McCauley |
| RHSP |
2. Aaron Crow 7. Tim Melville 17. Tyler Sample 18. Carlos Fortuna 19. Kelvin Herrera 22. Blake Wood 26. Keaton Hayenga 38. Ed Cegarra 54. Eduardo Paulino 56. Matt Mitchell 60. Dylan Lindsay |
| RHRP |
16. Louis Coleman 20. Carlos Rosa 28. Patrick Keating 29. Disco Hayes 30. Greg Holland 34. Chris Nicoll 41. Dusty Odenback 47. Cole White 48. Eric Basurto 58. Barry Bowden |
| LHSP |
1. Mike Montgomery 6. Dan Duffy 8. Noel Arguelles 11. John Lamb 12. Chris Dwyer 32. Crawford Simmons |
| LHRP |
33. Brandon Sisk 57. Rowdy Hardy |
We are deep in LHSP, RHSP, RHRP and C (although most of the catchers are a long way off). We have some of the best left handed depth in baseball. We are shallow in CF and corner OF. The biggest position of need in the whole organization is CF. It would be great if Derrick Robinson or Hilton Richardson capitalized on their tools but that looks like an uphill climb. Just FYI there doesn't look to be a CF worth taking at #4 in the draft this year.
Next we look at the approximate level that our prospects will be playing at. Take these projections with a grain of salt as I probably was a little more aggressive with this group and a few of these guys will be down a level (especially when looking at Low-A/Short-Season).
| Majors |
14. Kila Kaaihue 20. Carlos Rosa |
| AAA |
9. Jeff Bianchi 10. David Lough 13. Jordan Parraz 22. Blake Wood 27. Tim Smith 29. Disco Hayes 30. Greg Holland 34. Chris Nicoll 43. Manny Pina 46. Jarrod Dyson 57. Rowdy Hardy |
| AA |
1. Mike Montgomery 2. Aaron Crow 5. Mike Moustakas 6. Dan Duffy 15. Johnny Giavotella 16. Louis Coleman 25. Derrick Robinson 33. Brandon Sisk 58. Barry Bowden |
| High-A |
3. Eric Hosmer 7. Tim Melville 8. Noel Arguelles 28. Patrick Keating 38. Ed Cegarra 40. Jason Taylor 41. Dusty Odenback 47. Cole White 49. Eric Basurto 51. Sean McCauley 53. Nick Van Stratten 54. Eduardo Paulino 55. Ryan Wood 56. Matt Mitchell |
| Low-A |
4. Wil Myers 11. John Lamb 12. Chris Dwyer 17. Tyler Sample 18. Carlos Fortuna 19. Kelvim Herrera 21. Hilton Richardson 23. Yowil Espinal 26. Keaton Hayenga 31. Salvador Perez 35. Alex Llanos 36. Malcolm Culver 37. Jose Bonilla 42. Ben Theriot 52. Deivy Batista |
| Short Season |
39. Geulin Beltre 50. Fernando Cruz |
| Rookie |
24. Cheslor Cuthbert 32. Crawford Simmons 44. Shin Jo-ho 45. Jerico Blanco 48. Pedro Nivar 60. Dylan Lindsay |
As you can see, there isn't much help at the Majors/AAA. There are several players listed at AAA but several have had less than a year at AA so they would need plenty of time in AAA (and could begin the year in AA if they haven't progressed much by the end of Spring Training. From AA on down, there should be plenty of names to keep us minor league scoreboard watching during the summer.
Finally we look at how our prospects stack up vs. other prospects in the AL Central. I'm using Kevin Goldstein's ranking with his star system. I've bolded 5 star prospects (considered Top 30-40 in all of baseball) and italicized 4 star prospects (considered Top 100ish). Just FYI he said that Montgomery was borderline 5 star. I've also guessed 4 stars for Noel Arguelles for us.
| Chicago | Cleveland | Detroit | Kansas City | Minnesota |
| 1. Hudson-RHP-4stars | 1.Santana-C-5stars | 1.Turner-RHP-5stars | 1.Montgomery-LHP-4stars | 1.Hicks-CF-5stars |
| 2. Mitchell-CF-4stars | 2.Chisenhall-SS-4stars | 2.Crosby-LHP-5stars | 2.Crow-RHP-4stars | 2.Jean-SS-5stars |
| 3. Flowers-C-4stars | 3.White-RHP-4stars | 3. Jackson-CF-4stars | 3.Moose-3B-4stars | 3.Revere-CF-4stars |
| 4. Danks-CF-3stars | 4.Knapp-RHP-4stars | 4.Sizemore-2b-4stars | 4.Myers-C-4stars | 4.Ramos-C-4stars |
| 5. Viciedo-3B-3stars | 5. Hagadone-LHP-4stars | 5.Fields-SS-3stars | 5.Melville-RHP-4stars | 5.Gibson-RHP-4stars |
| 6. Morel-3B-3stars | 6.Rondon-RHP-3stars | 6.Oliver-LHP-3stars | 6.Arguelles-LHP-4stars? | 6.Morales-OF-3stars |
| 7. Santeliz-RHP-3stars | 7. Marson-C-3stars | 7.Avila-C-3stars | 7.Duffy-RHP-3stars | 7.Bromberg-RHP-3stars |
| 8. Tr. Thompson-OF-3stars | 8.Kipnis-OF/2B-3stars | 8. Satterwhite-RHP-3 stars | 8.Bianchi-SS-3stars | 8.Gutierrez-RHP-3stars |
| 9.Rodrigues-LHP-2stars | 9.Carrasco-RHP-3stars | 9.Ramirez-OF-3stars | 9.Hosmer-1B-3stars | 9.Valencia-3B-3stars |
| 10. Holmberg-LHP-2stars | 10. Brantley-OF-3stars | 10.Strieby-1B-3stars | 10.Dwyer-LHP-3stars | 10.Benson-OF-3stars |
| 11. CJ Retheford-2B-2stars | 11.Putnam-RHP-3stars | 11.Nunez-SS-3stars | 11.Lamb-LHP-3stars | 11.Bullock-RHP-2 stars |
Finally, here are my Ranking done Goldstein style with my own star rankings (admittedly it maybe a little on the homer side):
1. Montgomery-LHP-5stars
2. Crow-RHP-5stars
3. Hosmer-1B-4stars
4. Myers-C-4stars
5. Moustakas-3B-4stars
6. Duffy-LHP-4stars
7. Melville-RHP-4stars
8. Arguelles-LHP-4stars
9. Bianchi-SS-3stars
10. Lough-OF-3stars
11. Lamb-LHP-3stars
I think the Royals system is right there with Cleveland for best in the AL Central--although Goldstein would probably rank Cleveland first and then bunch up KC, Detroit and Minnesota.
What the Royals desperately need in 2010 is for Hosmer and/or Moose to bounce back and for some other position player talent to step up. They need the pitchers to stay healthy and make progress. They need to not pointlessly promote a top prospect and avoid looking like a second class organization in providing medical care to their minor leaguers.
Hope you've enjoyed the prospect series. It provides a little escapsim from the cold hard reality of the major league club.