The Minor League season starts tomorrow! If you are like me, in mid-season, after a hard Royals' loss, you can take solace finding a Royals prospect who had a good night that night. What you will see now is pretty much a prospect list. What I hope will be interesting is checking in on a month by month basis to see how our prospects are doing and adjusting their ranking accordingly (I'm borrowing the idea from Brewerfan.net, and I'm sure other sites do something similar). Some of the players are at extended spring training, so we will have to wait a bit to start getting stats for those players. My rankings emphasize players already assigned to clubs but you'll still see players like Tim Melville. I'm going off of the rosters on each minor league afilliates' website--some players (Ed Cegarra) I am assuming are in extended spring training for some reason. We'll check back at the begining of May and see how the opening month of play treated our best and brightest.
| Rank | Name | Age | Level | Pos | Comment: |
| 1. | Eric Hosmer | 19 | Burlington (Low-A) | 1B | Watch out Midwest League--a man among boys. |
| 2. | Mike Moustakas | 20 | Wilmington (High-A) | 3B | Hoping the 2nd half Moose shows up in Delaware |
| 3. | Dan Cortes | 22 | Northwest Arkansas (AA) | RHSP | Repeats AA--hopefully will see him harness his stuff |
| 4. | Kila Kaaihue | 24 | Omaha (AAA) | 1B | Out to prove last season was no fluke. |
| 5. | Dan Duffy | 20 | Wilmington (High-A) | LHSP | Hasn't been challenged yet in pro ball. |
| 6. | Dan Gutierrez | 22 |
Extended ST |
RHSP | Had some shoulder pain--is fine--should be in Wilmington soon |
| 7. | Mike Montgomery |
19 | Extended ST | LHSP | Should be at Burlington soon |
| 8. | Carlos Rosa | 24 | Omaha (AAA) | RHRP | Looks to dominate in relief |
| 9. | Blake Wood | 23 | Northwest Arkansas (AA) | RHSP | I think he'll have a good year |
| 10. | Tim Melville | 19 | Extended ST | RHSP | Liky Montgomery, think we'll see him at Burlington soon |
| 11. | Johnny Giavotella | 21 | Wilmington (High-A) | 2B | Part of a powerhouse Wilmington club |
| 12. | Derrick Robinson | 21 |
Wilmington (High-A) |
CF | Repeats level, hopefully bat will come around |
| 13. | Jeff Bianchi | 23 | Wilmington (High-A) | SS/2B | Trying a move back to SS--helps his prospect status |
| 14. | Kelvin Herrera | 19 | Exteded ST | RHSP | Think he's got a minor injury, should be assigned a club soon |
| 15. | Joe Dickerson | 22 | Northwest Arkansas (AA) | RF | A sleeper to keep your eye on |
| 16. | Tyler Sample | 19 | Extended ST | RHSP | Probably will go to Idaho Falls |
| 17 | Salvador Perez | 18 | Burlington (Low-A) | C | Burlington is loaded with catchers |
| 18. | Chris Nicoll | 25 | Northwest Arkansas (AA) | RHRP | A good little relief prospect |
| 19. | David Lough | 23 | Wilmington (High-A) | CF | Kind of old but good tools |
| 20. | Henry Barrera | 23 | Extended ST | RHRP | Flame throwing reliever |
| 21. | John Lamb | 18 |
Extended ST | LHSP | Lots of buzz--hasn't yet thrown a pitch in season |
| 22. | Mitch Maier | 26 | Omaha (AAA) | CF | Still could be useful |
| 23. | Ed Cegarra | 19 | Extended ST | RHSP | Not sure why he isn't with a club yet--hurt? |
| 24. | Greg Holland | 23 | Northwest Arkansas (AA) | Hard throwing reliever | |
| 25. | Jason Taylor | 21 | Suspended | 1B/OF | Got talent but needs to grow up--50 game suspension |
| 26. | Adrian Ortiz | 22 | Wilmington (High-A) | CF | Can he keep up OBP in Wilmington? |
| 27. | Paulo Orlando | 23 | Wilmington (High-A) | CF | It will be hard for balls to drop in the Wilmington OF |
| 28. | Jordan Parraz | 24 | Northwest Arkansas (AA) | RF | I don't miss Tyler Lumsden |
| 29. | Sam Runion | 20 | Burlington (Low-A) | RHSP | put up or shut up for '07 2nd round pick |
| 30. | Chris Lubanski | 24 | Omaha (AAA) | OF | Trying to bounce back |
Others to watch:
Omaha: Devon Lowery, Brett Bigler
Northwest Arkansas:Blake Johnson, Mario Lisson, Jose Duarte, Chris Hayes, Gilbert De La Vera
Wilmington:Ray Liotta, Clint Robinson
Burlington: Barry Bowden, Luis Cota, Brent Fisher, Derrick Saito, Sean McCauley, Jose Bonilla, John Alfaro, Kyle Martin
Extended ST: Julio Pimentel (hurt), Keaton Hayenga, Juan Abreu, Carlos Fortuna, Fernando Cruz, Guelin Beltre, Yowill Espinal, Hilton Richardson, Alex Llanos, Carlos Testa