***Official 2022 Royals Season Repository Thread***

[ChiefsCountry]

For all things Royals in 2022. #3 minor league system according to Baseball America. The Bobby Witt era should begin this year. Will Salvy still be the homerun king? How does the glut of infield players work out? Will the young pitchers take the next step?

Free Agents/Trades Acquisitions
Zack Greinke, P
Amir Garrett, P
Taylor Clarke, P

Top 10 Prospects from Baseball America
1. Bobby Witt, SS
2. Asa Lacy, P
3. MJ Melendez, C
4. Nick Pratto, 1B
5. Jackson Kowar, P
6. Kyle Isabel, OF
7. Frank Mozzicato, P
8. Ben Kudrna, P
9. Jonathan Bowlan, P
10. Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B

Duncan's Top Royals Prospects

Spoiler!

1. Bobby Witt, Jr., SS. MLB.
This status lasts about another 4 weeks, but let’s take a moment to appreciate having the top guy in the minor league prospects lists for at least a little while longer. Witt has prodigious ability and the question is really just IF he can meet it. They have not had a prospect like this in my lifetime, and really probably ever. Combine insane raw physical skills (right there with Adalberto Mondesi and Willie Wilson in the ranks right behind Bo Jackson) with unbelievable work ethic, a humble-but-confident nature, and already having shown he can struggle and overcome to achieve big success, and you have the tools for a show-stopping centerpiece. Oh, and throw in the former-player’s kid aspect on it on top of things, and there is every reason to believe he’s going to succeed and succeed big.
2. M.J. Melendez, C, AAA Omaha.
I was early on putting him in this slot last year, and I don’t regret it. The power, the ability to be a good defender behind the dish as well as having the athletic ability to play 3B or LF, too, and you have a really valuable overall piece and FANTASTIC understudy for Salvador Perez.
3. Asa Lacy, LHP. AA Northwest Arkansas
Whoa, let’s get crazy again. Lacy has outstanding stuff. Top of the system. He got hurt and lost his command during COVID times, but appears to be back on track so far this spring. If his command sticks, this is a guy who can move quickly. And his ceiling is really second to nobody in the minor league pitching ranks.
4. Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B. AA Northwest Arkansas
Vinnie starts the season back at AA due to the guy who follows him on the list here. He just hits, folks. I love his combination of contact, loud contact, plate discipline, and lack of strikeouts. The Billy Butler comparisons are annoying (in that I will NEVER refer to this man as Italian Breakfast except in the instance that just occurred), but the Billy Butler comparisons are also fairly apt… if you made Butler a lefthanded hitter, AND improved his body/athleticism from a 20 to a 40, AND if you added that little extra touch of power we all wished Butler could consistently find.
5. Nick Pratto, 1B, AAA Omaha.
Hey, let’s stay at 1B. Pratto has flashy power and I love his batting eye AND his hand-eye coordination. The hair he’s been rocking this spring is also pretty sweet. I slot him just behind Pasquantino simply because I think his bat profile is more volatile. The glove and arm are sweet/plus for 1B, though.
6. Jonathan Bowlan, RHP, AAA Omaha
Bowlan is coming back from Tommy John surgery, and this ranking is assuming that recovering is successful. If it his, you’re talking about a big, consistent SP who throws hard enough and has enough of a repertoire to really make things happen. If the recovery goes well, he may be shuttling to the majors in July to reinforce the rotation.
7. Nick Loftin, CF, AA Omaha.
Loftin is a guy who has really grown on me. I saw him as a quasi super-utility guy when the Royals drafted him, The full-time shift to CF (which means they think he has the speed and the overall defensive ability to handle CF in Kansas City) adds a lot of value here. The ultimate positive offensive upside is similar to peak Whit Merrifield, maybe with a touch more early power.
8. Michael Massey, 2B, AA Northwest Arkansas.
Massey was an absolute revelation last year, hitting for power and average and keeping his K rate down while playing a really strong 2B. He has a very sweet, short lefthanded stroke. This is another aggressive rating, but Massey has proven himself through a tough minor league assignment already, and the arrow is pointed up.
9. Ben Kudrna, RHP, Rookie Ball
Kudrna is a big, physical specimen with a lot of upside and potential. The fastball and slider are already nearly MLB-level in terms of velocity and movement (command needs work). Kudrna is a guy who, with luck, and health, and good development, could ascend to the top of a rotation.
10. Frank Mozzicato, LHP, Rookie Ball.
Mozzicato has a curveball that suggests he has a feel for spin. If you want to dream, you hope that the next 2-3 years turn the 175 he weighed when drafted into a rock-solid 220/225 and carries with it an increase in fastball velocity from 90-91, sitting 87-88, to 96-97, sitting 93-94. You pair his ability to spin the ball (which also suggests he should be able to easily master a sweeper slider) with that type of fastball velo and a changeup he already has a feel for, and it’s an exciting profile.

He has a little more to go in terms of growing into that projectability than Kudrna, which is why he slots right behind him.
11. Alec Marsh, RHP, AA Northwest Arkansas
Marsh missed a lot of 2021 to injury, but the hard-throwing righthander is another guy who could move quickly once the minor league season starts. He’s undeniably got the stuff of a quality major-league pitcher. The question is if he can master enough command to cash it in. This guy is a great example of TINSTAAPP.
12. Angel Zerpa, LHP, AAA Omaha
Zerpa might quickly outperform this slot. His stuff ticked up in 21 and he ended the season making a start in the majors. He’s nice depth to have, and honestly, I’m a big fan of just throwing numbers at pitching. Zerpa definitely helps create the depth you need to generate a top-notch and reliable home-grown rotation.
13. Maikel Garcia, SS, AA Northwest Arkansas
Garcia is a really intriguing hitter, a righthanded hitter who has a nice combination of contact skills and control of the strike zone (this cousin of Alcides Escobar is less savvy with the glove and more savvy at the plate). The Royals protected him for a reason (he’s on the 40-man).
14. Carter Jensen, C, A ??
Jensen is a local product whose bat will probably push him off C (as well as the Royals depth at that spot throughout the organization). This is a future 1B profile, and a nice one. He makes a lot of loud contact and shows an ability to lift the ball. Should be fun to watch this year.
15. Ben Hernandez, RHP, A+ Quad Rivers
Hernandez missed a good part of 2021 but still has that butterfly changeup and a classic pitcher’s profile. He’ll need to find a reliable swing-and-miss secondary to make it in the bigs, but if not, the fastball velocity and changeup should make him a quality high-leverage reliver.
16. Dylan Coleman, RHP, AAA Omaha
Speaking of relievers, Coleman is a hard-throwing righthander who probably spends most of 22 in the Royals’ pen. ½ of the compensation for the Rosenthal trade a few years back, Coleman has a big fastball and nasty breaking ball.
17. Will Klein, RHP, AA Northwest Arkansas
Speaking of relivers, everything I just said about Coleman? Yeah, you can say it about Klein, too. Klein regularly toyed with hitters at high A last year, striking out 121 hitters in just 70 1/3 innings pitched. For those counting at home, that’s a 15.5 K/9 rate. Yep. That’ll play.
18. Anthony Veneziano, LHP, AA Northwest Arkansas
Here’s another big, power arm. Veneziano hasn’t been relegated to bullpen only yet, though. His fastball bumped into the high 90s last year on a starter’s workload. He’s still looking for a changeup, but if he doesn’t find it, you’re looking at a really promising future bullpen fireballer.
19. Erick Pena, OF, A ?
Pena did… not have a strong 2021 full season debut. His struggles look a lot like those of Pratto and Melendez in 2019. Pena has the same type of raw toolkit to work from as those two, with great hands and natural power. He needs to fix a hitch in his swing and calm it down, but so did Melendez. Of this second ten grouping, Pena has the highest upside and could jump right into the top 5 of the org ranks.
20. Darryl Collins, OF, A+
Collins is an international signing out of Europe. I like the hitting package here – good eye and contact skills. He needs to make more loud contact, but if he can, really a nice guy.

Overall takeaways:
This is a system with a lot of depth. We could go another 10-12 deep and still be talking about guys with a good shot to make the majors. The changes to the organization’s approach are bearing fruit, as even less-heralded draftees are stepping forward.

The combination of upside (Witt, Melendez, Lacy), depth, and guys you can dream on is fun. It may not produce quite as much as the 2011 group did, but it does offer a more sustainable system, less reliant on a few big-ticket guys.

[louie aguiar]

It doesn’t look like Sherman has any plans to spend big this off-season. I got the impression that they feel like they are a couple years out from contending. Picollo mentioned something like, “well we tried when we signed Santana and Minor and traded for Benintendi but it didn’t work out”

Picollo on if spending more would help the Royals... "There are a lot of teams with high payrolls that aren't going to be playing (in the post-season). I think making good decisions is just as important as spending money."

— Soren Petro (@SorenPetro) October 6, 2022

[nychief]

Originally Posted by louie aguiar

It doesn’t look like Sherman has any plans to spend big this off-season. I got the impression that they feel like they are a couple years out from contending. Picollo mentioned something like, “well we tried when we signed Santana and Minor and traded for Benintendi but it didn’t work out”

Picollo on if spending more would help the Royals... "There are a lot of teams with high payrolls that aren't going to be playing (in the post-season). I think making good decisions is just as important as spending money."

— Soren Petro (@SorenPetro) October 6, 2022

old boss same as the new boss. you know why those didn't work? They were broken down shitty baseball players that you got on the cheap, instead of competing with actual major league teams for actual major league baseball players. what a joke.

[dallaschiefsfan]

Originally Posted by louie aguiar

It doesn’t look like Sherman has any plans to spend big this off-season. I got the impression that they feel like they are a couple years out from contending. Picollo mentioned something like, “well we tried when we signed Santana and Minor and traded for Benintendi but it didn’t work out”

Picollo on if spending more would help the Royals... "There are a lot of teams with high payrolls that aren't going to be playing (in the post-season). I think making good decisions is just as important as spending money."

— Soren Petro (@SorenPetro) October 6, 2022

Just depends on whether Picollo is more Dayton Moore or more Bret Veach. If he's paving a Bret Veach-like path, don't believe a word he says. "We won't spend...". (Meanwhile...the day after free agency begins - "Royals sign...insert this generation's Gil Meche signing).

[KCUnited]

I trust in BJ Cornholio

[dlphg9]

Right on cue, people bitching about the payroll already. We will never be a top spender in this league.

[tk13]

That's not even baseball these days, good teams develop their key players, even the Dodgers or Yankees have a mostly homegrown team.

If you want to go to the analytics route this team is going to be run like Cleveland and Tampa Bay. If you wanted something else we should have kept Dayton. He always acted like he was poor but he spent plenty of money on guys like Gil Meche, Kennedy, etc... most of them didn't work out compared to the budget signings like Kendrys Morales. But Dayton was the type of GM who put a lot value in the "emotional" boost of signing free agents and keeping players that fans loved. Given Sherman's comments I'm guessing this team is going to be run ruthlessly with absolutely no regard to what the fans want and more toward where the numbers say the value is.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by tk13

That's not even baseball these days, good teams develop their key players, even the Dodgers or Yankees have a mostly homegrown team.

If you want to go to the analytics route this team is going to be run like Cleveland and Tampa Bay. If you wanted something else we should have kept Dayton. He always acted like he was poor but he spent plenty of money on guys like Gil Meche, Kennedy, etc... most of them didn't work out compared to the budget signings like Kendrys Morales. But Dayton was the type of GM who put a lot value in the "emotional" boost of signing free agents and keeping players that fans loved. Given Sherman's comments I'm guessing this team is going to be run ruthlessly with absolutely no regard to what the fans want and more toward where the numbers say the value is.

That's the way to do it and I tell ya what, Im here for it.

[dallaschiefsfan]

Originally Posted by Mecca

The issue the Royals may have is the White Sox and Rangers jobs are open, those teams spend more money and in the White Sox case have more talent.

Some of these guys may prefer those jobs.

Maybe. But both of those jobs have some interesting issues. Rangers will spend, but most of their spending happened last year. I doubt they're going all in this year with the payroll. They might want a manager to get more out of their current investments prior to any additional spending. The White Sox need their current crop to break out. While their talent is unquestionable, I've not liked the roster make-up of the south-siders since that first year that most of them started playing together. That roster screams classic-and-always underachievers. I would think that would be a hot mess for a prospective manager.

[tk13]

Originally Posted by BWillie

That's the way to do it and I tell ya what, Im here for it.

Maybe it won't be that brutal, but I think of Joe Maddon's comments a couple weeks ago. He's a guy who was considered one of the first managers to really go in on analytics, and now he's saying it's gone too far and some people are wondering if he's out of touch. That's how far it's come but that's baseball now. You do what the numbers say, don't spend money unless you're absolutely sure about a guy and you trade your good players for prospects to keep yourself afloat.

[WhawhaWhat]

Didn't know he was that good of a friend with Dale Earnhardt. Not much of a NASCAR fan but this came up in my Youtube feed.

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by louie aguiar

It doesn’t look like Sherman has any plans to spend big this off-season. I got the impression that they feel like they are a couple years out from contending. Picollo mentioned something like, “well we tried when we signed Santana and Minor and traded for Benintendi but it didn’t work out”

Picollo on if spending more would help the Royals... "There are a lot of teams with high payrolls that aren't going to be playing (in the post-season). I think making good decisions is just as important as spending money."

— Soren Petro (@SorenPetro) October 6, 2022

They're not going to spend big on a team that just lost 97 games. They won't do any meaningful spending until it's shown the team can actually contend.

[poolboy]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

They're not going to spend big on a team that just lost 97 games. They won't do any meaningful spending until it's shown the team can actually contend.

How about making good decisions on spending money?
gotta spend to improve unless you want the same ol same ol

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

They're not going to spend big on a team that just lost 97 games. They won't do any meaningful spending until it's shown the team can actually contend.

Which is how it should be.

We should absolutely not sign any hitters, because the young guys need all the playing time they can.get.

So that leaves pitchers and if Picollo and Sherman think a revamped pitching development system will help, then all we need to do is get a relief pitcher or 2 and a starter.

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by poolboy

How about making good decisions on spending money?
gotta spend to improve unless you want the same ol same ol

Just saying that's not how it works...teams, especially small market/low TV revenue teams, improve with drafts and the farm system.
No one is spending big money to get to .500. Get to .500+, then spend.

[poolboy]

so who is left in the system to get us to 500?
totally not talking about big money, just smart acquisitions
we got singer and bumpkus next season