2014 Royals Repository

[duncan_idaho]

With my 6,000th post on ChiefsPlanet (it only took me 12 years to get here), I bring you: The 2014 Kansas City Royals Repository.

To be discussed here: All things Royals, as they attempt to post another winning season and make it back to the playoffs for the first time since 1985.

25-man RosterAvailable HERE

AL Central Standings:

Link

Duncan's Top 20 Royals Prospects

Spoiler!

1) 3B Hunter Dozier ETA: 2015
Dozier started slowly at A+ Wilmington but caught fire in May and June, earning a mid-season promotion to AA Northwest Arkansas. Big, strong kid with good plate discipline skills and solid power who projects to be an above-average glove at 3B with solid power.

2) SS Raul (Adalberto) Mondesi ETA: 2017
Mondesis is the opposite of Dozier…. Started red-hot at Wilmington before back spasms derailed him for a few weeks and hasn’t gotten it going since coming back. Scouting reports have been great – defense and speed both improved over the offseason. Still a chance to be an elite SS, with 40 SB speed, plus glove, .300 average and some pop.

3) LHP Sean Manaea | ETA: 2015
Scouting reports outperform the stat line so far. Missing a ton of bats at A+ but not preventing runs like you’d expect to see. Needs to work deeper into games (gradually working about an inning deeper/month so far this year) and improve control. Walks are biggest concern right now, but could be elevated due to work on extra off-speed offerings. Still has No. 2 starter potential, could be higher if the great control he exhibited before his hip surgery eventually comes back.

4) RHP Kyle Zimmer| ETA: 2015
Should be NO. 1 on the list and is probably the Royals most VALUABLE current prospect, but he hasn’t thrown a ball in 4-5 weeks and had only been throwing for 2-3 weeks when he was shut down then.

5) LHP Brandon Finnegan| ETA: 2015
Top 2014 draft choice is an undersized lefty who will start at A+ Wilmington after anchoring CWS run for TCU. Good fastball, better slider, change that needs work to stick as a starter, but if he sticks, No. 2/No. 3 starter upside. Likely a top 10 or even top 5 pick if he doesn’t miss 1 start in the middle of the college season as a precautionary move.

6) RHP Miguel Almonte| ETA: 2016
Have heard some say Almonte is more advanced as a pitcher at A+ than Yordano Ventura was (comparison because both were cheap signs out of Latin America). Really advanced changeup and a curve that is working out well (where the ‘more advanced’ comment comes from). Fastball velo is good but not great – 92-94. Like Manaea, working on his second-best offspeed pitch and leaning less on his bread-and butter (changeup), which has hurt his numbers a bit.

7) RHP Christian Binford 2017
Reverse case of “don’t just scout stat lines.” Based on his stats at A+, you’d think he was an elite prospect, but there are questions about Binford’s stuff playing up at higher levels. Tall righty with great command of fastball, slider and a good and still developing changeup. None of those pitches profiles as better than average, though, limiting his likely upside to back-end rotation guy.

8) SS Orlando Calixte| ETA: 2016
I still like him more than many. Good combination of SS/MI skills and power. Started hot at NWA but in a slump at moment.

9)LHP Foster Griffin | ETA: 2019
Tall, projectable lefty taken in 2014 draft. Viewed as a great value in the sandwich round and probably would have been KC’s pick at No. 17 if Finnegan hadn’t fallen. High school arm who is going to take a while to develop.

10) RF Jorge Bonifacio| ETA: 2016
Hasn’t hit as well as expected in his second go-round at AA NWA. Power still sapped, and average skills have dipped. Once looked like he might be an option in RF at some point in 2015, now looks like 2016 is optimistic. Still young for his level.

11) 3B/2B Cheslor Cuthbert| ETA: 2016
Cuthbert has had better luck at NWA than Boni and is also extremely young for level. HE’s been moved to 2B since Dozier was promoted, which could put a new spin on Cuthbert’s prospects. If he sticks at 2B, bat plays up much better. Good OBP/plate discipline and solid power, but needs to continue improving contact skills

12) C Chase Vallot| ETA: 2020
Young (just 17) C with tremendous power. One of the top prep bats and a great value for KC where it got him. If he sticks at C, expect him to move slowly, but the bat may force the issue (or force him to another position).

13) C Zane Evans| ETA: 2017
GA Tech product has handled Wilmington better than most RH bats and probably is in line for a promotion to NWA sometime soon. Decent pop, decent skills behind the plate. Could be a nice reserve catcher.

14) RHP Scott Blewett| ETA: 2020
Tall, projectable righty with a fresh arm but some injury concerns on his shoulder that slipped him out of Round 1 of MLB draft. Big time potential.

15) CF Bubba Starling | ETA:
Bubba Starling has great tools. Bubba Starling (still) can’t hit. That’s all I have to say about that.

16) 1B Samir Duenez| ETA:
I still like him, even though the attempt to run him through full season ball at 17 did not go well.

17)LF/RF Elier Hernandez| ETA:
Hernandez still pops up in scouting reports but still is very raw and toolsy.

18) RHP Pedro Fernandez| ETA:
Pop-up player on the same track as Ventura and Almonte. Similar signing, similar profile. One to watch over next few years.

19) SS Marten Gasparini| ETA:
Royals’ most expensive international signing likely moves to CF eventually, but his speed and athleticism are intriguing abilities. Early reports from complex ball are very positive on him.

20) RHP Niklas Stephenson| ETA:
Interesting pop-up candidate who found 10 more MPH on his fastball by using a weighted ball during workouts over the winter. Now sits mid-90s with fastball and is dominating at rookie ball (after having an ERA over 8 there a year ago). Likely promoted to a higher challenge soon.

[dallaschiefsfan]

79 games? Do you really believe that? We'll win over 80 and it won't even be close unless Shields and Hosmer have season ending injuries.

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

80% would be phenomenal, given the league-wide conversion rate the past few years has been only 68%. If Holland drops to league average that's 34/50, or 16 blown.

Closing out games at this level is damn hard.
http://rotosynthesis.rotowire.com/Bu...rs-BBD3904.htm

Yeah, that's atrociously misleading, as it counts EVERY blown save recorded by every reliever in a bullpen.

Case in Point: That chart is factoring in Aaron Crow's billion blown saves against Holland's save total over last year.

So, I repeat, for an individual closer to rack up 10 blown saves would be an absolute atrocity of a season.

[dallaschiefsfan]

Go troll some objective Detroit fans. There's not an honest fan that believes they aren't losing more games this year than last. Ditto with the Indians who maxed out in the most ridiculous fashion. They played WAY above their heads. We'll win at least the same, if not more due to divisional gains. My only concern is how many more wins the Twins will take this year. They won't be great, but they won't be nearly as bad as last season. Sox will be about the same, IMO.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by dallaschiefsfan

We'll win over 80 and it won't even be close unless Shields and Hosmer have season ending injuries.

We're the Royals. Anything could happen. We could have both those guys playing and we could underachieve to a new underachieving level. It's called, "Royaling it up." I think we've all seen it before.

[Bowser]

Anything new on the Santana front?

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

Yeah, that's atrociously misleading, as it counts EVERY blown save recorded by every reliever in a bullpen.

Case in Point: That chart is factoring in Aaron Crow's billion blown saves against Holland's save total over last year.

So, I repeat, for an individual closer to rack up 10 blown saves would be an absolute atrocity of a season.

Yeah, a lot of those blown saves are going to be situations like where a reliever comes in during the 6th inning, (so there's no way in hell they are going to finish the game), and they blow the lead. They get a blown save, even though they were never going to get the save for that game.

You have to look at only closers for an acceptable save conversion rate.

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by Bowser

Anything new on the Santana front?

Dayton's pretty much confirmed that we're done spending and the rotation is set for the year. However, each day he remains unsigned leaves some 1 in a billion like chance that he'll somehow make it back here.

The odds are incredibly slim, however.

[dallaschiefsfan]

Originally Posted by lewdog

We're the Royals. Anything could happen. We could have both those guys playing and we could underachieve to a new underachieving level. It's called, "Royaling it up." I think we've all seen it before.

Battered wife syndrome has to end. If we tank, we tank. But stop letting previous seasons and experiences dictate your optimism/pessimism. It's weak.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

Dayton's pretty much confirmed that we're done spending for the year. However, each day he remains unsigned leaves some 1 in a billion like chance that he'll somehow make it back here.

The odds are incredibly slim, however.

The odds are 1 in 250 billion, I already estimated it a few pages back.

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by alnorth

The odds are 1 in 250 billion, I already estimated it a few pages back.

[blake5676]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

Yeah, that's atrociously misleading, as it counts EVERY blown save recorded by every reliever in a bullpen.

Case in Point: That chart is factoring in Aaron Crow's billion blown saves against Holland's save total over last year.

So, I repeat, for an individual closer to rack up 10 blown saves would be an absolute atrocity of a season.

Yeah, when you start getting in the double digit category you likely no longer have a 9th inning job. In fact, in MLB history the record is 14 BS in a year. And it was a lot tougher back in the day when guys threw more than one inning. Definitely misleading.

[Bowser]

I mean, I know it would be a real drag to have Santana make his way back here again, just to have Chen go back to the bench.....

[Chiefspants]

What I will say is that Santana (unless some team still finds a way to overspend) should look for a new agent next year. His agent ridiculously overpriced him heading into the offseason, and it caused teams to immediately look toward other options before considering Santana. His list of suitors is narrowing by the day. With Arroyo, Burnett and Yoon going to the Diamondbacks, Phillies, and Orioles last week, it looks like the Blue Jays, Mariners, Rockies, Yankees and Indians may be the teams left standing.

This is problematic for Ervin, as all of these teams aren't in a huge need of a starting pitcher and have professed that they're not looking to spend a lot more through FA (with the Rockies and Blue Jays previously refusing to negotiate with Ervin's reduced target of 4/60).

Sure, it's possible that Ervin will still catch lightning in a bottle, but it's much more likely that's he's going to make much less than he could have with a different agent. Add in the fact that his agent OPENLY bashed David Glass over twitter, and it's unmistakably clear that his agent was in over his head with handling Ervin's demands this offseason.


TLDR: Ervin's agent sucks, caused Ervin to lose out on potential suitors and openly trashed David Glass over twitter.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

What I will say is that Santana (unless some team still finds a way to overspend) should look for a new agent next year. His agent ridiculously overpriced him heading into the offseason, and it caused teams to immediately look toward other options before considering Santana. His list of suitors is narrowing by the day. With Arroyo, Burnett and Yoon going to the Diamondbacks, Phillies, and Orioles, it looks like the Blue Jays, Mariners, Rockies, Yankees and Indians may be the teams left standing.

This is problematic for Ervin, as all of these teams have professed that they're not looking to spend a lot more through FA (with the Rockies and Blue Jays previously refusing to negotiate with Ervin's target of 4/60).

Sure, it's possible that Ervin will still catch lightning in a bottle, but it's much more likely that's he's going to make much less than he could have with a different agent. Add in the fact that his agent OPENLY bashed David Glass over twitter, and it's unmistakably clear that his agent was in over his head with his demands this offseason.


TLDR: Ervin's agent sucks, caused Ervin to lose out on potential suitors and openly trashed David Glass over twitter.

Agreed, Santana's agent is an idiot.

[dallaschiefsfan]

Originally Posted by Bowser

I mean, I know it would be a real drag to have Santana make his way back here again, just to have Chen go back to the bench.....

Santana aside, I'm just hoping that Duffy and Ventura have the type of spring where it's embarrassingly negligent on Ned's part to put Chen in the rotation. I like him coming out of the pen and being the spot starter for when those young guys need a week off or when they get dead arm.