Sytems Audit: Kansas City Royals
October 15, 2006
Systems Audit:
Kansas City Royals
1. Alex Gordon, 3B, AA. Gordon could be the top player in the minors. He's got power, patience and speed. There's not much more to say except if you didn't know who this guy is until now, you have a lot of studying to do.
2. Billy Butler, OF, AA. Butler and Gordon could very well have been 1a and 1b. They are very very close. Gordon has better numbers but is two years older. Butler has defensive issues and may project better as a DH but that won't matter when he's hitting .310/.410/.530. He projects as a power hitter with patience to boot.
3. Luke Hochevar, RHP, A. He'll probably be moved to AA or AAA to start the year. But don't be fooled by front office talk, this guy has a spot in Kansas City in 2007. He's worth all the attention he gets. Dominant pitcher who knows how to handle himself on the mound and knows how to beat opposing hitters.
4. Justin Huber, 1B, AAA. Above average OBP and ISOP numbers validate Huber's numbers more than anything else. He has a tremdous ability to find pitches he wants to hit and then hit them or wait out the pitcher. He began to discover as pitching gets better you can't always wait them out. He made the adjustments necessary and now just needs to carry that over to the big leagues.
5. Chris Lubanski, CF, AA. Lubanski was the third member of a dynamite offense in Wichita this year. He has some power but a good eye at the plate. Do you see a trend? The Royals have worked hard to develop patient batters and it's beginning to pay off. In 2005 he showed the ability to hit the ball for power and in 2006 KC asked him to just get on base and he responded well taking walks at double the rate he's done the rest of his career. He has speed though the Royals have been reluctant to turn him loose with Butler and Gordon hitting behind him.
6. Jeffery Bianchi, SS, Rk. Bianchi would likely be rated higher in most systems, but this is the creme de la creme. He has a good eye, great power potential, great speed and won't strikeout a lot. He's a prototypical #2 hitter.
7. Mitch Maier, CF, AA. Maier will move to RF yielding to Chris Lubanski. Maier isn't a long term solution at COF for most teams but this is the Royals. He doesn't take many walks and doesn't hit for much power, but he does hit for good average and has the speed to beat out infield hits, stretch singles into doubles and go from first to third on a lazy single.
8. Chris Nicoll, RHP, A+. One word to describe Nicoll is control. He doesn't give many free passes and doesn't give up many hits. He's more of a groundball pitcher and does a great job keeping everything down. When he doesn't, he gets in trouble. He needs to work on consistency but he's got a bright future and a fasttrack to the bigs in the KC system.
9. Chris McConnell, SS, A. McConnell is an athlete with lots of raw skill. Guys like him take time to develop and can't be rushed. He has lots to learn about batting but he has plenty of time to learn it as he's only 20 years old.
10. Angel Sanchez, SS, AA. Sanchez doesn't strikeout and doesn't walk. He has little power and is a total free swinger. That means he's probably going to be a part time player, at best. Combine his offense with his above average defense and you have someone who just doesn't have what it takes to be an everyday player but could find a nice role as a pinch hitter in KC.
Flier. Luis Cota, RHP, A+. He's a work in progress. Tons of potential just hasn't been able to put it together.
Future Lineup (arrival date)
C: John Buck
1B: Ryan Shealy
2B: Esteban German
3B: Alex Gordon (2007)
SS: Jeffery Bianchi (2010) (Berroa or Sanchez until then)
LF: Billy Butler (2007)
CF: Chris Lubanski (2007)
RF: Mitch Maier (2008)
DH: Justin Huber (2007)
Starting Pitching
1. Luke Hochevar (2007)
2. Zack Greinke
3. Chris Nicoll (2009)
4. Luke Hudson
5. Jorge De La Rosa
Bullpen
Closer: Joe Nelson
Setup: Ambroix Burgos, Ryan Z. Braun
Middle Relief: Odalis Perez, Runelvys Hernandez, Joel Peralta
The Kansas City Royals have a deep, deep, deep system. But it's all in position players. They have a solid core of young players and their future lineup will be all but carved in stone by the All Star Break next year. Pitching on the other hand is downright terrible. Hochevar is a legitimate ace in my mind. At least for Kansas City. They'll need to sign or trade for some pithing as they dumped their best (at the time) pitching prospect (JP Howell) for Joey Gathright (not in the long term plan) but trading anyone else is a longshot. KC has implimented a system for developing hitters based on plate discipline and they will begin to see the fruits of that labor in 2007 at the major league level. Don't count out the AA clan from 2006 if they don't make the ML roster out of the gates. The Royals have said they won't rush them, and they shouldn't, but you can't keep a good prospect down.
System Grade: A
Posted by Koby Schellenger: Oct 15 at 7:54 PM
Fantasy Baseball 
In my opinion a rotation of Perez, Hudson, Greinke, Hochevar and Lumsden starting the season would be fun to watch. It would be several magnitudes better than what the team started with in '06.
thats what we said a few years ago.
I am surprised at how far out you project Bianchi from reaching the majors. I like this kid a lot myself, and you're right in stating he's a legit 2 hitter for what should be a pretty potent offense in a few years. I guess I was expecting him to be in the lineup by 2009, figuring he'll start in Low-A ball this year, get moved up to High-A by year's end, then start 2008 in AA. I guess it all depends on how his bat progresses.
In my opinion a rotation of Perez, Hudson, Greinke, Hochevar and Lumsden starting the season would be fun to watch. It would be several magnitudes better than what the team started with in '06.
Thank you. Lumsden doesn't fit in my top ten because I just don't think he has the ceiling the other guys have. He's a nice player but doesn't have a lot of room to improve. Certainly he's not ready to start in the bigs next year but could possibly work his way up by the end of the year. We'll see soon enough.
I am surprised at how far out you project Bianchi from reaching the majors. I like this kid a lot myself, and you're right in stating he's a legit 2 hitter for what should be a pretty potent offense in a few years. I guess I was expecting him to be in the lineup by 2009, figuring he'll start in Low-A ball this year, get moved up to High-A by year's end, then start 2008 in AA. I guess it all depends on how his bat progresses.
Thanks. Everything I've heard about Bianchi, and seen, is that his raw skill is going to take some time to develop. If the Royals are going to honestly stick to their policy of not rushing prospects, as I believe they will, he'll have to wait, but he is still very young so there's no denying he could be ready sooner.
I think you're right about that. Hmm...If I could only remember which orgainization that was...
Presumably behind the likes of Bailey, Hughes, Gallardo, Pelfry, both Millers; but is he someone who should move up that board to sit near those guys?
Leads me to another question about player projection not for this thread... (I'll post seperately)
thanks
Presumably behind the likes of Bailey, Hughes, Gallardo, Pelfry, both Millers; but is he someone who should move up that board to sit near those guys?
Leads me to another question about player projection not for this thread... (I'll post seperately)
thanks
Hochevar is an excellent pitching prospect. He ranks behind the guys you mentioned but not too far. I think I ranked him 35th overall which would be at the top of the second tier pitching prospects, essentially. He's just more refined than the other guys he's around in my rankings like Inman, Adenhart, Lincecum and Rodgers.
As for Bianchi, he has to stay healthy. He has been injured in both of his first two seasons. There is no doubting the talent level.
Sure is nice to see the interest in the Royals. Has been kind of quiet around here.
Lol. The only real interest is in the farm system. There are not many farm systems I would rather have over the Royals'. Tampa is one I can think of, and both LA teams have decent arguements as well. Arizona graduated most of its really good talent. San Fran has the polar opposite of the Royals. They have great pitching, but not much offense. Combine the two, and you would have an unstoppable force