*** Official 2018 Royals Repository ***

[duncan_idaho]

The season is upon us, even if spring is not.

2018 MLB Draft Picks
#18
#33 - Compensation (Eric Hosmer)
#34 - Compensation (Lorenzo Cain)
#40 (Competitive Balance Round A)

018 Draft Names to Watch

RHP Kumar Rocker, N Oconnee HS, Georgia.

Spoiler!

Possibly goes top 10 but is a big, physical SP with ace potential. Moore and co. will be all over him if he slips a bit and could offer top 10 money at No. 16

OF Jarred Kelenic, Waukasha West HS, WI

Spoiler!

Kelenic is the top prep bat, toolsy OF. Royals would be ecstatic to have shot at him.

1B Triston Casas, American Heritage HS (FL).

Spoiler!

Tremendous raw power, best in HS bats. Royals typically like HS arms or HS bats with "special" tools. He qualifies.

RHP Carter Stewart, Eau de Gallie HS (Ga).

Spoiler!

Another big, physical specimen with huge upside. More likely to be available mid-first than Rocker.

ANY Any, Any (Any). Any current top projected pick who slides for injury concerns. Includes current top prospect prospect SP Brady Singer, U of Florida.

Current Prospects to Watch:

OF Seuly Matias - Huge tools. Hit 2 HR in Lexington (A) season opener.

1B Nick Pratto - Top pick in 17 has advanced approach and good glove; needs to start tapping into power in first full year in minors. Also at Lexington.

OF Michael Gigliotti - Good defender in CF, good OBP skills, plus baserunner. Next mainstay in CF for KC, IMO. Advanced college bat also starting at Lexington.

OF Khalil Lee - Probably has highest upside in Royals' system. Could hit 30 HR in majors, could steal 30 bases. Plus defensive ability in RF. Nice test at Wilmington this year.

3B Emmanuel Rivera - Really nice approach and good contact skills. Power is still developing. Also getting a good test at Wilmington.

SP Foster Griffin - Made nice strides in 2017. Needs to continue to progress in 2018. Could be a lefty version of Jakob Junis (good breaking ball that he can really manipulate, OK fastball, good command).

1B Samir Duenez - Duenez still is intriguing, hoping for a step forward in his power production this year at Northwest Arkansas, which would turn him into a legit prospect.

Others to keep an eye on:
SP Gerson Garabito (Wilmington), OF Marten Gasparini (Lexington), C MJ Melendez (Lexington), RP Tyler Zuber (lexington), RP Richard Lovelady (Omaha), SP Dan Tillo (Lexington), SS Nicky Lopez (NWA), SP Scott Blewett (NWA), OF Brewer Hicklen (Idaho Falls),

In general, Lexington and Wilmington are the most interesting spots to watch. Nice depth and a lot of interesting pieces at both.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Better than Almonte or Goins though, don't ya think?

Goins for sure. That guy sucks. Chris Getz 2.0.

Almonte is a useful-ish 4th or 5th OF.

[WhawhaWhat]

Scouting the Royals’ Return for Jon Jay

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

Scouting the Royals’ Return for Jon Jay

More than I thought they'd get for Jay.

[duncan_idaho]

After watching some video and seeing some reaction to the Luciano acquisition, I think the initial grade for return on Jay has to be an A+.

Luciano is young and shows good control, with room for his stuff to take a jump. Not saying it will happen, but there’s enough projection left in his lower legs that I would not be surprised if he gets a little stronger and sees his FB jump a tick to sit 94-95 instead of 92-93, and picks up a bit of bite on his slider and depth on his change.

Every year, there are a handful of helium prospects who make those jumps and come seemingly out of nowhere to become elite prospects. Not saying it will happen, but it wouldnt be a shock, either.

Also: just watching the mechanics, the arm action, and the way the ball comes out, I agree with Alex Duvall over at RoyalsReview... visually, he evokes Luis Severino. Not saying he’ll become that by any means, but thought it was cool.

[SPchief]

Duncan, what's your opinion on the Luke Heimlech situation? Worth a look or no? Probably a moot point with GMDM

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by SPchief

Duncan, what's your opinion on the Luke Heimlech situation? Worth a look or no? Probably a moot point with GMDM

I read the SI piece. If I’m in a front office, I couldn’t pull the trigger on him. Just too much PR risk.

As a human being, I’m really torn on this. On one hand, what he pled guilty to is horrific and awful and if it happened to MY daughter, I don’t know what I’d do.

On the other, I do believe in rehabilitation and second chances. Does that mean, after serving his sentence, he should be able to pursue Baseball again? Or just be able to pursue a life as a productive member of society.

I don’t know.

I know that most abusers are victims of abuse and are broken in a way that makes them a danger to abuse others.

I also know that Heimlich falls into a little different category because of his age and the circumstances.

It’s a lot to wrestle with as a human being, IMO. Baseball decision is fairly easy.

[Prison Bitch]

There's nothing to wrestle with Duncan. He pled guilty to molesting a child, then recanted later when it hurt him personally, infuriating the parents of the child.

If that is as it sounds, he's a garbage human. Sorry but they do exist

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

There's nothing to wrestle with Duncan. He pled guilty to molesting a child, then recanted later when it hurt him personally, infuriating the parents of the child.

If that is as it sounds, he's a garbage human. Sorry but they do exist

Generally agree. My wife was a special victims prosecutor for several years, so I’ve seen first-hand how awful the abuse cycle is and how unlikely it is for someone to be OK/fixed.

His age at the time of the incident and the high likelihood of rehabilitation (it’s in the 90s) is the only thing that makes me do something other than automatically drop him in the garbage human being pile.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

I read the SI piece. If I’m in a front office, I couldn’t pull the trigger on him. Just too much PR risk.

As a human being, I’m really torn on this. On one hand, what he pled guilty to is horrific and awful and if it happened to MY daughter, I don’t know what I’d do.

On the other, I do believe in rehabilitation and second chances. Does that mean, after serving his sentence, he should be able to pursue Baseball again? Or just be able to pursue a life as a productive member of society.

I don’t know.

I know that most abusers are victims of abuse and are broken in a way that makes them a danger to abuse others.

I also know that Heimlich falls into a little different category because of his age and the circumstances.

It’s a lot to wrestle with as a human being, IMO. Baseball decision is fairly easy.

I thought you were a no second chance-type guy because of the way you reacted to Tyreek’s situation. Have your thoughts on him changed too?

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by KChiefs1

I thought you were a no second chance-type guy because of the way you reacted to Tyreek’s situation. Have your thoughts on him changed too?

That’s a good question and something I need to think on. I was surprised by my reaction this situation, being honest and transparent. Not sure what about it gives me pause. Is it because he’s a white kid who plays baseball and was home schooled and I read a story that was intended to show his side as well? Why did I find enough in his side of the story to have some doubts about what should happen?

That’s a question I have to work through. Am I being more sympathetic to Heimlich here because his background is my background? If so, that’s hypocritical and wrong and I need to work through it.

I do generally believe in second chances and I think I stated as much re: Hill. He can get a second chance - just not with my team. It still disgusts me he’s a Chief.

I would be disgusted if the Royals had drafted Heimlich. Even if he became their ace and helped win a title, it would feel wrong.

Second chances and rehab are tough topics. There are some things you just can’t really be rehabbed from - sexual abuse generally is one of those (though recidivism for Heimlich’s specific abuse is generally very low, some of that is due to the low percentages of abuses reported).

Thanks for asking me, though. I need to introspect on this and see if it’s an opportunity I need to work on.

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

That’s a good question and something I need to think on. I was surprised by my reaction this situation, being honest and transparent. Not sure what about it gives me pause. Is it because he’s a white kid who plays baseball and was home schooled and I read a story that was intended to show his side as well? Why did I find enough in his side of the story to have some doubts about what should happen?

That’s a question I have to work through. Am I being more sympathetic to Heimlich here because his background is my background? If so, that’s hypocritical and wrong and I need to work through it.

I do generally believe in second chances and I think I stated as much re: Hill. He can get a second chance - just not with my team. It still disgusts me he’s a Chief.

I would be disgusted if the Royals had drafted Heimlich. Even if he became their ace and helped win a title, it would feel wrong.

Second chances and rehab are tough topics. There are some things you just can’t really be rehabbed from - sexual abuse generally is one of those (though recidivism for Heimlich’s specific abuse is generally very low, some of that is due to the low percentages of abuses reported).

Thanks for asking me, though. I need to introspect on this and see if it’s an opportunity I need to work on.

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

There's nothing to wrestle with Duncan. He pled guilty to molesting a child, then recanted later when it hurt him personally, infuriating the parents of the child.

If that is as it sounds, he's a garbage human. Sorry but they do exist

via GIPHY

Yep. Just read up on the situation. I'd feel every bit as disappointed with the Royals as I do with the Chiefs for drafting Tyreek. The nail in the coffin was his garbage denial when asked about the issue - which to me, was even worse than Tyreek's flippant responses to his personal situation in the months leading up to the draft.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

via GIPHY

Yep. Just read up on the situation. I'd feel every bit as disappointed with the Royals as I do with the Chiefs for drafting Tyreek. The nail in the coffin was his garbage denial when asked about the issue - which to me, was even worse than Tyreek's flippant responses to his personal situation in the months leading up to the draft.

What denial was that? I haven’t seen anything but the SI story on it, and there wasn’t a denial that jumped out at me. I was reading while supervising the kids, though, so maybe I missed it.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

What denial was that? I haven’t seen anything but the SI story on it, and there wasn’t a denial that jumped out at me. I was reading while supervising the kids, though, so maybe I missed it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/s...imes&smtyp=cur

In a series of interviews with The New York Times this weekend, Heimlich flatly denied committing the crime he had admitted to, saying he pleaded guilty to quickly dispense with the case and for the sake of family relations.

“Nothing ever happened,” he said, when asked for specifics about what might have occurred between him and his niece.

-----

The case, he said, is “a delicate family situation,” though he declined to go into the details.

Did he abuse his niece?

Heimlich insisted he did not.

“I always denied anything ever happened,” he said. “Even after I pled guilty, which was a decision me and my parents thought was the best option to move forward as a family. And after that, even when I was going through counseling and treatment, I maintained my innocence the whole time.”

There was no interaction with his niece that he could imagine would have been misinterpreted, he said, adding, “Nothing ever happened, so there is no incident to look back on.”

Heimlich had written an apology to the victim, but he now says he did so because “there were certain requirements when going through counseling that had to be done to finish.”

He suggested the idea that his niece would face aggressive questioning in a trial factored into his decision to plead guilty.

“Trials aren’t fun things and, as I said before, it is a delicate situation within a family,” he said. “We didn’t want to do anything to complicate things.”

Pleading out held the promise that, “five years from the date, everything would go back to normal.”

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

Yep. Just read up on the situation. I'd feel every bit as disappointed with the Royals as I do with the Chiefs for drafting Tyreek. The nail in the coffin was his garbage denial when asked about the issue - which to me, was even worse than Tyreek's flippant responses to his personal situation in the months leading up to the draft.

Most of the where you'll find people falling on the situation comes down to how credible you find the denial.

I've told clients on several occasions that they have a 60/40 or 70/30 shot at a win but they're getting offered X and the X is good enough that they should just take the settlement and walk. They had a better case than the other guy, but a non-zero chance of losing and getting nothing.

Now I'd have a more difficult time doing that in a criminal situation but I can see a whole slew of situations where I'd at least consider that advice. And I have a hard time saying it's even 'bad' advice - had the information stayed private the kid would've almost unquestionably been better off for it and by all accounts this information was supposed to remain sealed.

And his former attorney would never be likely to come out and corroborate any of that even if it's true - it would paint him in a terrible light.

But I think a key difference that's perhaps being overlooked here, and it applies to Duncan's question regarding the distinction between his case and Hill's, is the legal and moral distinction between adult and juvenile offenders. We as a society have pretty much universally agreed that young kids ought not be held to the same standard as adults. It's the entire foundation of our juvenile justice system and that's the system that he was processed through and held accountable in.

So if we're going to hold someone morally accountable (or perhaps 'practically accountable' would be a better term) to the same level as someone who was adjudicated as an adult, why bother with a juvenile justice system at all? Societally we recognize the distinction and its benefit but when asked to actually practice what we preach here, we suddenly disregard the distinction?

Ultimately I'm not privy to any more information than has been made publicly available so I have no real way to make a credibility assessment here. Perhaps MLB teams have done interviews and simply don't buy his story, in which case the denial is troubling and maybe he shouldn't get a second bite. Then again, maybe several of them do believe him and simply don't want to put up with the backlash from their fans.

But even if you don't believe him, it does seem odd to me that people are treating a guy who committed this act as a juvenile, an act with an exceptionally high rate of rehabilitation, as though he was an adult when he did it and refusing to consider any additional nuance.

I've not sat down and really formed an opinion as to whether or not I'd want him in the Cardinals organization specifically because that's just not something I imagine Bill DeWitt would ever sign off on. But to say it poorly, I do kinda think that I think I would want some team to give him a shot. He truly might have been told to take a guilty plea and get his records sealed as a part of it; it's not beyond the pale at all. And even if he did do it, he was a juvenile who was was not actually guilty of a crime (that's not how it works in the juvenile system), who almost certainly presents no risk of recidivism and based strictly on merit has earned a shot.

I dunno - I think it's worth more discussion than simply "**** that guy..."