I was down in Mexico last week visiting the inlaws. Went looking for a glass for a rum and coke light when I came across this gem.

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/6783/royalscup.jpg

84 wins, fellas.

I would say you have to expect that 1 of our starting 5 this year will struggle, so that leaves room for this year. We only have this year in control of Paulino, IIRC. Maybe try to get him in at #5 before the deadline if hes healthy and garner some interest? Anywho, Santana will be gone next year imo and #5 will be full. Still, like you said, pitching is going to be ready soon, gonna have another deal in the works id think.

For those of you playing silly video baseball games I made a thread, so this is the last post about it in the KC royals thread.

http://chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=271005

From JJ Cooper on Twitter: Asked a scout if it is fair to compare Adalberto Mondesi to Profar . Yeah he said but Mondesi will have more power.

IT MOVED

erection.

Wow!

Mondesi is so young, I just don't know how you can project his ceiling yet. I keep hearing he may become the best player to ever grace our system, but being a die hard Royals fan, I've learned to dream big is a dangerous game. Cue Johnny Damon/George Brett fighting over remote.

The projection is based on a few things:

1) His defensive skills. He has the skillset (quickness, range, arm) to stay at SS and play it at the MLB level. Quickness and range are hard to miss/obvious on a scout at that position. The arm probably includes a big of projection.

2) Feel for baseball. Every scout who sees Mondesi comes away GUSHING about Mondesi's instincts and intangibles. This is something that's hard to quantify, but most scouts are confident in their ability to spot it.

Best example is Derek Jeter. Think about the play against the A's/Jeremy Giambi in the ALCS a decade or so ago (where he made the amazing backwards shovel play to nail Giambi at the plate). That's an instinct play.

3) Hitting performance at a young age. Mondesi was one of the better hitters in Idaho Falls last year and in the league as well. He was the best-hitting shortstop in the league. And he was 2-3 years younger than EVERYONE he was playing against. The ability to hold his own at the plate - and it's about more than BA... batting eye, patience, power potential, etc. come into play also - at that age is HIGHLY impressive.

Mondesi might only hit .250 this year. But that wouldn't be a sign he's busting out. Just that he's likely a bit young to be playing that level and hasn't developed enough physically to hit consistently there.

Most 17-year-olds just aren't strong or mature enough to have tremendous hitting success in full season ball. Bryce Harper is an excellent example. At age 18, he had a mediocre run at AA. At age 19, he got off to a rough start at AAA. Yet his prospect status never dimmed (and he showed why once he got to the majors).

Rep Duncan!!

Both for the most in depth analysis of Mondesi I've read yet, and my now raging boner.

I've heard very little about this kid.

I might be the only person who likes Aldaberto Mondesi more than Jason Parks over at Baseball Prospectus.

I have been touting the guy here, there and everywhere since he early last summer (basically the start of Idaho Falls' season). It started as a side follow of Elier Hernandez... quickly realized "Hey, Raul's kid is hitting over .300 with good slug at age 16" ... kept waiting for the big drop-off to come, and it never did.

I think he's going to EXPLODE up every prospect list by this time next season. Idaho Falls is a tough place for industry scouts to get to... but he'll get more exposure this season, and I think the more people that see him, the more people that will fall in love with him.

I have a buddy who still works covering baseball who texted me about Mondesi after seeing him for the first time. Basically asking me if I knew about the kid... it was a pretty humorous exchange.

He had only seen the kid take BP when he started texting me. I told him to wait until he saw him in the field. More effusive texts came in after that...

Just because it's early, and I'm waiting for an web conference to start... here's Profar's line from short-season Spokane (low-A) at age 17:
.250/.323/.373 SLG... 8/11 SB ... 23 XBH in 252 AB

Here's Mondesi's line from Idaho Falls (which is Rookie league, one level lower than Spokane) at age 16/17:

.290/.346/.386 SLG ... 11/13 SB.... 12 XBH in 203 AB (Profar was a 2B machine in Spokane, but Mondesi hit a handful of HR and 3B and hit for a higher average, thus the difference in SLG).

If you're just comparing numbers, what Mondesi did at Idaho Falls is roughly equivalent to what Profar did at Spokane at age 17.

Moose and Esky will sit today. Nothing serious, just recovering some minor bruises

Gordo with a leadoff homer. His 3rd of the spring.

ROYALS-112
OPP-51

Say what you want about it just being spring, but that shit is impressive.

Salvador Perez is back from the WBC and playing today. Here's where things stand at 2nd base:

2013 Kansas City Royals 2B Deathmatch: Two men enter Arizona, one man leaves

Getz - 25 AB, .320/.346/.480, 1BB, 5K, 1HR, 1E
Giavotella - 23 AB, .304/.333/.348, 0BB, 3K, 0HR, 0E