Yeah, I'm guessing the Royals didn't think anyone would take him due to age.

We'll see if the Jays can stash him away in the 25 man roster for a year.

Y'all have also traded for the Rangers Rule 5 selection; Chris Ellis from the Cardinals.

JAG through and through. Maybe they think converting him to relief will get his stuff to play up to a viable swing-man role. I honestly have no idea why anyone selected him - every organization in baseball has a dozen guys just like him. Needing to clear a 40 man spot for him is a bridge too far, IMO. Let alone a 25 man spot.

You essentially traded Sam McWilliams for him. If you pass on your Rule 5 pick, my memory is that it allows you to protect another player not currently on your 40 man.

It's bizarre that Luciano is even Rule 5 eligible to me. There must be some caveat to the Rule 5 that I'm unaware of. Generally speaking a guy signed under 18 years of age isn't eligible for the Rule 5 until his 5th Rule 5 draft period.

Near as I can tell this should only be his 3rd. There must be some kind of weird wrinkle in there for guys that signed as a free agent and are never technically draft eligible. I really have no idea why he needed to be protected.

I believe it's something to do with him having to renegotiate his original rookie contract that made him eligible.

Best I can determine is that it was because he signed a contract with Arizona that was declared void due to a failed physical. That made him a free agent and he re-signed, thus become immediately subject to the Rule 5.

Man...that REALLY hamstrung his trade value and would explain how the Royals got him for Jay. It isn't just that he was available to be taken this year that was a problem, but that he'd have been available for the foreseeable future. And if the Royals wanted to protect him even next season they'd have to start using option years on him after adding him to the 40. He'd smoke through those option years by 22/23 years old.

For a guy that raw, that's putting a clock on him that's wildly unfair for both him and the organization. I guess it's easier to hide a relief pitcher in the DL league when you've got less pressure on your bench but still - that's a tough guy to have to deal with in your organization. There are just a lot of impediments to successfully developing him.

Dayton Moore staying busy during the offseason.

Yeah, that's pretty awesome!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dwfr5oUUUAARmcu.jpg:large

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Royals announce start times for 2019 season. Standard times will be:<br>Monday-Friday: 7:15 p.m.<br>Saturday: 6:15 p.m.<br>Sunday: 1:15 p.m.</p>&mdash; Pete Grathoff (@pgrathoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/pgrathoff/status/1083094116173524994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Cheslor cleared waivers and was outrighted to Omaha...so they're keeping him around. He won't sniff the majors this year, but he better take advantage of his opportunity to revive his prospects with consistent play at Omaha.

Pitches and Catchers report to training camp in three weeks and two days.

AAAA Baseball lives in KC.....yet again!

Baseball Prospectus released its top 101 today...

Matias (52)
Lee (61)
Melendez (67)

All made it. Singer was in the next ten.

So, according to one outlet, the Royals have 4 of the top 101. It’s not an excellent system and still lacks some star power, but it’s major progress.

With a good draft and adding either Witt or Rutschman at the top, KC should be positioned to be a top 1/2 system and possibly better by the end of this season.

If the college arms we drafted move thru quickly we could be top 10 by August.

If Daniel Lynch holds his velocity gains, he’s a top 100 guy at mid season, IMO.

Kowar and Singer absolutely can jump into that mix, too. Baseball America already has Singer as a top 100 guy.

Which is pretty typical... Baseball America tends to prioritize safety and proximity to the majors more in its lists. Prospectus is more focused on upside and tools (and accounts for D better)

Alright I'm ready for the suck guys. Go Royals. Lets go get Bobby Witt Jr.