Kansas City Royals Top 5 Prospects
The Royals have had, to a lesser degree, the same ‘advantage’ that the Rays have had in terms of building a farm system: They’re perennially among the first few picks in the draft. Unlike the Rays, most of the Royals’ recent high draft picks are in the majors and producing - to varying degrees. This includes players like Billy Butler, Alex Gordon, Zach Greinke and Luke Hochevar. These graduations have caused the Royals’ farm system to become rather thin, although it’s still quite strong at the top.
1. 3B Mike Moustakas
Who?: The 2nd overall pick last year, Moustakas got off to a god-awful start this year, with a .479 OPS this year. Then, the 19-year-old began to display the contact and power skills that led to him being the first hitter chosen in 2007. Since May 1st, Moustakas has only been hitting .272 with a .482 SLG, with 57 K, 33 XBH and 14 HR in 301 AB in that time-frame. He’s even turned into a pretty good defender at 3B.
Projection: Moustakas is is obviously still far from being a major leaguer, but he’s started off on the right track. He could definitely be an Aramis Ramirez type offensively.
2. 1B Eric Hosmer
Who?: For the second year in a row, the Royals took the top high school hitter in the country, with Hosmer taking the 6th spot on my pre-draft value board. Hosmer has a very refined plate approach with excellent discipline and plus power to go with plus defense. He seems unlikely to see any time in pro-ball this year except perhaps the winter leagues, but he’ll be a masher when he gets here.
Projection: Hosmer should have everything offensively that you’d expect from a top 1B prospect, and due to his refinement I expect him to reach the majors faster than most high school picks.
3. RHSP Blake Wood
Who?: Wood was a decent prospect last year, mostly on the back of a plus-fastball and a deceptive change. This year, he’s really broken out, largely because his repertoire now includes a big, slow breaking curveball. Wood dominated the Carolina league to the tune of 63 K, 15 BB and 3 HR in 57.1 innings. He’s put up a respectable performance in the tough Texas League. You shouldn’t cherry-pick stats, but it’s interesting to note that if you take away his July 19th and 24th starts, he’s had 52 K and 12 BB in 47.1 IP.
Projection: Wood will be a very nice ~#3 starter for the Royals sometime next year.
4. 1B Kila Kaaihue
Who?: Generally, a 1B who breaks out at age 24 in the Texas League isn’t very highly regarded. Still, that should depend on the degree of the breakout; a .314/.463/.624 line probably shouldn’t go unnoticed. He’s always had a great plate approach (21% BB rate and 11 % K rate this year), and his power has really come along. Now, don’t go thinking that his power is as legitimate as it looks. 28 HR and only 11 2B this year means he’s been extraordinarily lucky, and those HRs will start to fall into the field of play soon enough. Still a guy who makes contact at that rate, walks at that rate, and hits extra bases at that rate definitely deserves some recognition.
Projection: Kaaihue is a hard one to peg. He could be anywhere from a complete fluke who’ll be a mainstay on the bench, or he could even be a late-blooming occasional all-star; look at the season Luke Scott is having. Still, he’s better than anything else the Royals have at 1B in the near future, so it shouldn’t be long until he gets a shot to show which one he is.
5. RHSP Carlos Rosa
Who?: Rosa is a fastball/slider pitcher who gets by mostly on control. He’s not the type to overpower anybody, but he has put up a respectable 23.3 K% to go with the xpected excellent 4.8 BB%.
Projection: You figure that by Opening Day 2009, Rosa will be given a chance at, and should probably win, one of the spots at the back of the Royals’ rotation. They could certainly use him.
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