The following article was published in the Topeka Capital-Journal on April 21, 2018 – you can read it here.
Royals fans may look at the team on the field in Kansas City and wonder what happened to the rebuild they heard was happening. But truthfully, the rebuild that is happening isn’t happening where you can see it.
You can’t see it, that is, unless you live in Lexington, Kentucky or Wilmington, Delaware, home to the Royals’ class A minor league clubs.
When the Royals resigned Alcides Escobar and Mike Moustakas, brought in veterans Lucas Duda and John Jay, and opened the door to numerous aged pitchers, they signaled that the rebuild wasn’t going to happen at the big league level. At least not immediately.
Those late winter signings changed the timetable. Guys who looked two months ago to be in line for positions with the big league club are, due to those signings, instead honing their craft at Double and Triple A. Raul Mondesi and Hunter Dozier looked like sure bets to be in Kansas City, and Ryan O’Hearn and Frank Schwindel were fighting for big league jobs as well. Now they are forced to bide their time a bit longer in the minors.
This approach is probably wise. Anyone who remembers the failed efforts to rebuild the Royals from aout 2004 to 2012 will recall that they brought some prospects up too quickly, putting them in positions where their failure was likely.
That doesn’t mean Mondesi, Dozier and others won’t be in Kansas City soon. It’s safe to assume that General Manager Dayton Moore will be eager to listen to any offer for the veterans he brought to Kansas City on short-term contracts.
But like when Moore assembled the pieces of the 2015 champions – Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez, Yordano Ventura, Danny Duffy and Greg Holland – at the lowest levels of the minor leagues about a decade ago, he’s placing most of his emphasis on building at the lower levels.
Developments in Lexington this summer may provide the best indication of where the Royals are headed. Four of their top prospects – first baseman Nick Pratto, catcher M.J. Melendez and outfielders Seuly Matias and Michael Gigliotti – started their first full season in the system together at the low A level in early April.
A step ahead of that crew, but still just 19 years old, is the Royals top prospect, five-tool outfielder Khalil Lee. He’s off to a promising start at Burlington, the high A level club.
That means that the Royals’ top five prospects are all about four years away from competing for roster spots.
Aside from Mondesi, Dozier, O’Hearn and Schwindel, all at Omaha, there isn’t a lot of older talent to get excited about in the system. Former first-round selections Bubba Starling and Kyle Zimmer are still around, but their window is closing. Pitching help may be a year or two away in the arms of Josh Staumont, Scott Blewett, Foster Griffin and Richard Lovelady.
The Royals have been criticized recently for the depletion of their farm system. Moore took a big step toward improving that in the 2017 draft, and he holds four of the top 40 picks this year. He also is permitted by league rules to spend the most of any team on draft picks, as well on signing international amateurs. If the Royals capitalize on this opportunity (which admittedly requires as much luck as anything), they can infuse their farm system with a number of top-flight prospects. Trading some of the veterans at the big league level could further bolster the minor league system.
Enjoy the 2018 version of the Royals in Kansas City as best you can. Help is on the way, but it doesn’t look like it will arrive soon.