Quote:
Originally Posted by CoMoChief
As long as the Royals don't pay to sign upper tier players.....they will continue to go nowhere.
Their scouting dept needs to drive off a cliff.
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You're talking about free agency, I presume?
Because the Royals have spent more money on the 2007, 08 and 09 drafts than any other team in baseball.
Anyway, if you're talking about free agency, do you not remember the Royals offering guys like Torii Hunter and Rafael Furcal and Orlando Hudson BIG money, to have them sign elsewhere for less? Because that is what has happened of late. They're trying to spend money on good players in free agency. Sometimes that isn't enough.
The new scouting department shouldn't jump off a cliff. Far from it. It has stocked the low minor leagues with a level of talent that will rival any in baseball.
The Royals Class AA team next year will likely feature Crow, Danny Duffy (a Futures Game participant), Michael Montgomery, Eric Hosmer, and Mike Moustakas. All of those players are legitimate first-round MLB draft talents.
Tim Melville is on track to make an appearance for that team about midseason. Another first round talent acquired in the past few drafts.
And then there's Jeff Bianchi - a SS who hit .300 in one of the toughest hitting leagues in the minors, and Jonny Giavatelli, who could both be on that club as well (and project at least as contributors on the big-league level).
Also looming in the low minor leagues are Will Myers, who has hit the ball extremely well in Rookie ball, and Chris Dwyer. Both were drafted in the mid-rounds (3rd and 4th) this season, and signed to first-round level deals.
To top all that off, there are the additions of two minor league teams, and a monstrous expansion of spending in central America (which includes signing a stud 16-year-old Nicaraguan prospect to a seven-figure deal).
The Royals are spending serious money to rectify the terrible minor league system Moore inherited. It will pay off eventually. The difference between the current approach and the old one is that the Royals are no longer content to draft one really good player, then rest all hopes on that player being a stud. They are building some depth in the minors, which is what a successful farm system is all about.
As for developing another outstanding pitcher behind Greinke... Melville, Crow, Dwyer, Montgomery and Duffy all could be that guy. Montgomery and Crow and Melville all have No. 1 ceilings, with Duffy and Dwyer being more like No. 2 or 3 starters.