*** Official 2018-2019 Royals Offseason Repository ***

[duncan_idaho]

I’ll plug Clint for a moment. He did great work at Baseball Prospectus KC and has a much better handle on these kids now than I do.

I just don’t have the time to watch minor league games, let alone travel to them, like I once did.

Still have a few guys on the inside I can exchange info with, but Clint’s scouting eye is sharper than mine at this point.

All I’ve had a chance to do recently is watch video on Erick Pena, the kid the Royals are going to sign on July 2 IFA day. I’ve watched about 200-300 swings of his now (combo of BP and game swings), and I see an AWFUL lot of Juan Soto and Oscar Taveras in his swing.

He’s a big (6-3) lefty with a smooth swing, great barrel control, and could project as a big-time power guy. He’s toolsy as you want a $3 million+ signee to be, but his swing is so natural, smooth, and controlled, I don’t think he has the extremely low floor of some of the Royals’ previous big spends (Marten Gasparjni, Elise Hernandez, even Matias).