***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.

[gblowfish]

I'm not trolling, I'm just stating facts. Holding up Mike Sweeney as a Royals role model is dubious. George Brett was hurt all the time in his career too. He made $23.5 million in his HOF career. Sweeney made more that twice that and never made a dent.

And I don't really blame Sweeney. It was the Royals brain trust that made that decision. I'm seeing a lot of the same kind of stupidity going on now. Like playing Carlos Santana at 1B because they're paying him $11 mill this season. See any similarities???

Oh, and DJ nut is only after me because our politics don't match. Again, when you can't build a decent argument, resort to name calling. Kind of like you're doing now.

[Nightfyre]

Originally Posted by jettio

I say the Royals are going to be have a winning record in June and a winning record in July.

I guess this tide of negativity towards GMDM is partly explained by WHB 810 being the leading sports talk station, but 610 has deals with the Royals and Chiefs. so 810 is mostly a bunch of haters and complainers and that is contagious.

I am out of area and do not listen to these stations. I simply watch games. Based on what I have seen, I would not be opposed to Moore and Piccolo staying on in their current roles - provided Matheny and Eldred, and anyone responsible for pitcher development are replaced by a staff that turns around pitching development as well as they did with the hitting development program last year.

Whoever they bring in to replace Matheny also needs to be a wizard with young players.

However, the only reason I am open to retaining front office staff at this point is that hitting development turnaround, and that they consistently find talented players.

Sherman also deserves heat for focusing his attention and resources on acquiring a new stadium rather than the product on the field.

[BeMyValentine]

Dayton is responsible for hiring three managers during his tenure

Trey Hillman
Ned Yost
Mike Matheny

I do not trust him to make a fourth hire.

[Demonpenz]

Mike Sweeney is in the top 5 royals hitters all time

[petegz28]

Team is ass....

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by petegz28

Team is ass....

That’s insulting to ass

[KChiefs1]

https://www.royalsreview.com/2022/6/...ie-pasquantino

Trying to understand why the Royals won’t promote Vinnie Pasquantino

FREE VINNIE

There are a myriad of issues with the Royals this season, but there are two that seem to draw the most ire from fans. One is the employment of pitching coach Cal Eldred, who I called to be fired last week (narrator: he was not fired). The other is the employment of Carlos Santana at first base while prospect Vinnie Pasquantino continues to mash in Triple-A Omaha.

Carlos Santana has been quite bad this year, and in fact, has been quite bad for a long time. This season, he is hitting .150/.287/.242 with two home runs in 35 games. Over the last calendar year, he is hitting .187/.287/.283 in 142 games, and his 61 wRC+ is the worst among all qualified hitters. In the last two calendar years, he is hitting .202/.322/.330 in 253 games, and his 84 wRC+ is the fourth-worst in baseball.

Meanwhile Vinnie Pasquantino continues to destroy the International League. In 47 games with Omaha, he is hitting .304/.395/.679 with 15 home runs and 25 walks to 30 strikeouts. He leads all Triple-A hitters in wRC+, is tied for the most home runs, and has the ninth-best walk-to-strikeout ratio. According to Alec Lewis, some opposing scouts have said he is ready for big league action.

So why isn’t the 24-year-old slugger in Kansas City? General Manager JJ Picollo addressed Pasquantino this week.

Vinnie, I was looking at this the other day, he just hit the 150 at-bat mark in Triple-A. He had 200 at-bats in Double-A.

So when you look at upper level at-bats, he’s had 350 upper level at-bats. That’s not even a season’s worth, over two levels. You’d like to get, really, a full season at the highest level. That’s not set in stone, but generally you’d like to see 500, 550 plate appearances at the highest level.

Pasquantino was an 11th round pick in 2019 out of Old Dominion, and the Royals sent him to Rookie Ball in Burlington that year. Despite being a college player and despite mashing that year (.294/.371/.592 with 14 home runs in 57 games) they kept him at Burlington instead of moving him up to the more advanced rookie ball team in Idaho Falls.

The entire 2020 season was wiped out due to COVID-19, so Pasquantino began the 2021 season in High-A. After just 61 games there, he was promoted to Double-A, where he finished his season combining for a .300 average, 24 home runs, and as many walks (60) as strikeouts.

The left-handed slugger began this year in Triple-A and has mashed from the start, but has been particularly torrid lately. He hit 12 home runs in 26 games in May with a .320 average, and earned International League Player of the Week honors last week.

Do the Royals typically require top prospects to get 500-550 plate appearances in the upper levels of the minors (defined as Double-A and Triple-A)? Here is how much time other top prospects during the Dayton Moore era played in Double-A and Triple-A before their initial promotion to the big leagues.



There are some exceptions - the rise of Salvador Perez through the system was meteoric, but also fueled in part because of how they valued him defensively. Eric Hosmer also came up very quickly, largely by making a mockery of Triple-A pitching. But for the most part, the Royals have kept their top prospects in the minors for at least 500 plate appearances.

However, you will notice that Pasquantino is older than any other prospect on this list. He is older than Bo Bichette, Andrew Vaughn, Dylan Carlson - or even Royals like MJ Melendez and Bobby Witt Jr., and played at a high level in Division I college baseball. You would think he would be a bit more mature and require less refinement in the upper minors than a young kid out of high school.

His advanced plate discipline would also suggest an easier transition to the big leagues than other players with more raw tools. Pasquantino has already developed a pretty good eye for the zone, an area that many Royals prospects struggle with upon their promotion to the big leagues.

Most of those players also spent very little time in Triple-A. Mike Moustakas played 107 games there, but Billy Butler spent just 57 in Omaha, Eric Hosmer was there for 26 games, and Adalberto Mondesi and Salvador Perez were each there about two weeks before being promoted. Typically, the Royals have not seen much value in facing Triple-A pitchers, instead wanting to challenge their hitters against top prospects in Double-A, although perhaps that has changed.

Picollo also expressed concern about putting too much pressure on Pasquantino to carry the offense.

“We just have to keep in mind, we’ve done this for a long time, young players can come up and certainly help an offense,” he said. “But it’s really hard to expect a young player to come up and carry an offense. We don’t want them to feel like they have to carry an offense.”

With all due respect to Picollo, this is laughable.

The Royals bat Bobby Witt Jr., a 21-year old who is expected to carry this franchise, in the middle of their lineup. Rookie catcher MJ Melendez has primarily hit fifth in the lineup. This is not a team that has been shy about asking its rookies to carry the offense.

What about service time manipulation? The Royals don’t really play service time games, and it probably shouldn’t be that big of a concern for a 24-year old first baseman like Pasquantino, who likely isn’t due a huge pay day when he reaches free agency in his 30s. Plus the Super-two arbitration date - which affords some players the chance to reach arbitration after two years - has already passed.

The most likely significant factor is that the Royals don’t want to move on from Carlos Santana. They paid him $17.5 million, and want to get something for their investment, either through production, or a trade return, or both. But Santana has been bad for so long, it is hard to imagine a hot spell for a few weeks will entice a team to trade for him. Santana’s age is not exactly a secret around baseball.

In about three weeks, Pasquantino will hit the magical 500 plate appearances threshold in the upper minors. Perhaps we will see him in a Royals uniform at that point, with Carlos Santana off the roster. But as Alec Lewis wrote at the Athletic, the decision to keep Santana over Pasquantino this long poses serious questions about the direction of this team.

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[KChiefs1]

Alec Lewis:

First, there’s the unsettling reality that comes with the $17.5 million the Royals agreed to pay Santana before 2021. Then there is the outrageous context to what Royals first-base prospects Vinnie Pasquantino and Nick Pratto are doing at Triple-A Omaha.

Last week, Pasquantino batted .478 with four home runs and 11 RBI. In 165 at-bats this year through Tuesday, he is hitting .303 with a 1.063 OPS and only 30 strikeouts to 25 walks. Pratto, meanwhile, has a .412 on-base percentage in May and a .831 OPS this season in 143 at-bats through Tuesday.

“Both are ready,” an opposing scout for a division-leading team recently told The Athletic.

If that’s too anecdotal, how about some more metrics: One analyst recently passed along Pasquantino’s batted-ball data. He ranked above the 75 percentile in the International League (and close to the 99th percentile) in the following metrics: average exit velocity (91 mph), max exit velocity (115.3 mph), percentage of hard-hit balls (46.4 percent), percentage of balls hit above 105 mph (15.2 percent), and the list continues.

Maybe the Royals now want to play Hunter Dozier at first base to see if they can increase his trade value. Or maybe the Royals, who have been open in their feelings toward service-time manipulation in years past, have their sights set on the date for when a select group of players becomes eligible for the Super Two designation. (That’s when players become eligible for arbitration before reaching three years of service time.)

“We’re still in this race,” Picollo said.

Meanwhile, Santana, who now has -0.4 wins below replacement in 143 plate appearances this season — which ranks 20th worst among 264 hitters in Major League Baseball who have tallied 100 plate appearances — has continued to play first base almost daily.

The Royals’ reasons for this have ranged widely. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal recently reported this: “Santana, earning $10.5 million this season, will become a more realistic trade candidate if he gets hot, and the team has two first basemen in waiting, Nick Pratto and Vinnie Pasquantino.”

There is a positive precedent for the wait-for-player-to-get-hot approach as it relates to the Royals, but it involves a player a half-decade younger. Last year, the Royals held on to Jorge Soler, who found his form and boosted his trade value after the Royals flew in special assignment hitting coach Mike Tosar before the deadline.

There is also a negative precedent. In 2019, the Royals kept slotting Chris Owings into the lineup. He posted a .415 OPS in 145 plate appearances before the Royals designated him for assignment.

All of these possibilities raise questions, but maybe the most important one is this: Do the Royals truly feel as if they are still in this race?

If not — if development is currently the sole focus — would Pasquantino, at minimum, not be best served alongside senior director of player development and hitting performance Alec Zumwalt, assisting hitting coach Keoni DeRenne and Tosar at the big-league level the same way fellow top prospects Bobby Witt Jr. and Melendez are?


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[Titty Meat]

Would Vlad Jr still be in Omaha if Skunkhead drafted him?

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by Titty Meat

Would Vlad Jr still be in Omaha if Skunkhead drafted him?

Juan Soto & Fernando Tatis Jr. would be too.


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[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by KChiefs1

Juan Soto & Fernando Tatis Jr. would be too.


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He is playing Witt Jr everyday no? He’s given his young pitchers every chance no?


The prob with Skunk isn’t the young players getting time. It’s his roster construction with veterans that sucks ball sack

[KChiefs1]

I’ve decided to boycott Royals games until Pasquantino is called up.


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[Al Bundy]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Damon and Dye were both way gone before Sweeney got a contract extension you worthless turd.

They jettisoned those 2 in order to save money. Don't think for a second they didn't do that knowing that Sweeney was going to get that extension. If they had signed either Damon or Dye then Sweeney wouldn't have gotten his extension.

[KChiefs1]

The Royals are on pace to lose 109 games.

They return to The K for a 10-game homestand, starting on Friday. It’s three against the Astros followed by three against the Blue Jays. They close it out with four games with the Baltimore Orioles.

Pay close attention to attendance. The club announced less than 10,000 for a couple of games in early April which could be explained away by the weather, kids in school and a lockout hangover.

None of those excuses play in June. If the Royals are drawing under 10k after the weekend series, that would mean fans are collectively giving the club the middle finger.


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[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by KChiefs1

The Royals are on pace to lose 109 games.

They return to The K for a 10-game homestand, starting on Friday. It’s three against the Astros followed by three against the Blue Jays. They close it out with four games with the Baltimore Orioles.

Pay close attention to attendance. The club announced less than 10,000 for a couple of games in early April which could be explained away by the weather, kids in school and a lockout hangover.

None of those excuses play in June. If the Royals are drawing under 10k after the weekend series, that would mean fans are collectively giving the club the middle finger.


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I'll be surprised if they get anywhere close to 10k during the week days.