The Kansas City Royals need help. As they limp toward 100 losses, the deficiencies of the big league club are on full display.

With new ownership on the horizon, the direction of the team remains to be determined. There is but a small core with the big league club at this moment that appears to be set – Adalberto Mondesi, Hunter Dozier and Brad Keller. Jorge Soler and Whit Merrifield could be long term fixtures, or they could be trade commodities. That’s about it. Everything else seems to be unknown.

But what the Royals do have is a rapidly improving farm system that in just the last couple of weeks claimed multiple minor league championships. These titles aren’t meaningless to the franchise. In the years prior to their 2015 championship, the Royals placed a lot of emphasis on bringing up a wave of talent that won at each level as it progressed through the minors.

A new wave of talent just claimed championships in two A-ball leagues, a rookie-ball league, and in the Dominican developmental level.

The franchise is winning at the developmental level, and it is suddenly stocked with pitching. The Royals went all in on college pitching in the 2018 draft, and that investment may start paying off sooner, and with greater returns, than even the Royals could have hoped.

One thing is certain, however, about baseball prospects: few of them pan out. The Royals know as well as anyone that turning pitching prospects into productive big leaguers is not easily accomplished. The raft of studs on the farm today may not turn into a good pitching staff in the future. But for now, the Royals have an enviable collection of talent, and almost all of it came via the 2018 draft.

Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar progressed to Double-A midseason and therefore were not part of the minor league playoff hunt. But their performance this season validated the Royals’ use of first round draft choices on them in 2018. Singer and Kowar, former teammates at the University of Florida, split the season between High A Wilmington and Double A Northwest Arkansas. Singer posted a 12-5 record and a 2.85 ERA between the two stops, while Kowar went 7-10 with a 3.52 ERA.

Joining them at the top of prospect lists are fellow 2018 draftees Daniel Lynch and Kris Bubic. The four-headed monster might start next season at Double-A, and an extreme optimist could envision it as four-fifths of the Royals starting rotation in the very near future. Lynch went 5-2 with a 3.10 ERA at Wilmington and is rated the eighth best left-handed pitcher in the minors. Bubic went 11-5 with a 2.23 ERA between the two A-ball clubs and saw his stock skyrocket.

Casual followers of minor league prospects should keep their eyes trained on this foursome. But that’s just the beginning. The A-ball teams were particularly flush with pitchers who excelled in 2019. Integral to Wilmington’s championship were two more 2018 draft picks, Jonathan Bowlan and Austin Cox. Bowlan went 11-5 with a 3.14 ERA between the A-ball teams, including a no-hitter, while Cox also split the season between the A-ball clubs, going 8-6 with a 2.76 ERA.

Guiding Lexington to its title were Carlos Hernandez, who rebounded from injuries to go 3-3 with a 3.50 ERA, and 2018 picks Zach Haake and Jon Heasley.

As encouraged as fans should be about the pitching prospects the Royals have collected, they should be just that concerned about the position prospects they were heralding a year ago. Wilmington was a deathtrap for hitters in 2019, snaring several hot prospects in disastrous seasons. 2017 first round pick Nick Pratto and second round pick M.J. Melendez crashed upon their promotion to Wilmington. Pratto finished with a .191 average and just nine homers in his sophomore season, while Melendez was even worse, hitting .163 with nine homers. Shockingly, slugging outfielder Seuly Matias was even worse in his debut at Wilmington. After crushing 31 homers in just 94 games in Lexington last year, Matias managed just a .148 average with four homers in 57 games before being shut down with injuries.

The Royals preached patience and calm with these three, but the organization will have to decide whether to promote them to Double-A despite their failures or send them back to the hitters hell of Wilmington.

Should first baseman Pratto, catcher Melendez and outfielder Matias rediscover their potential, they form a nice trio to team with 2019 first round pick shortstop Bobby Witt, Jr. Evaluations of Witt’s talent are through the roof, but he scuffled a bit in his debut in the rookie leagues, hitting just .262 with one homer in 37 games. The Royals can’t afford for many of these top draft choices to fail.

The organization’s fourth rated prospect, outfielder Khalil Lee had a decent year at Double-A, hitting .264 with eight homers and an eye-popping 53 stolen bases. The 21-year-old will be brought along slowly, but is the major league club’s best hope to improve its lackluster outfield.

Three other athletic outfielders are making their way through the lower ranks. Kyle Isbel battled injuries and put up lackluster numbers similar to the others trapped in the Wilmington black hole. Michael Gigliotti returned from knee surgery to keep his name in the prospect ring. And forcing his way into the conversation was Brewer Hicklen. A bit of a late bloomer, the 23-year-old Hicklen had perhaps the best season of any position prospect in the Royals system, batting .263 with 14 homers and 39 stolen bases for Wilmington.

These hitting prospects are light years away from the major leagues and cannot afford to scuffle the way they did in 2019. With such a drastic upgrade in their stable of pitchers, the Royals now desperately need to upgrade the talent around the diamond. They won multiple minor league championships almost entirely upon strength on the mound.

Witt may well develop into a star. But Kansas City needs its other prospects to get things going with the bat. Continued failure by Pratto, Melendez and Matias would be disastrous. And by means of the draft, trades and international signings, the club needs to add more top positional talent that doesn’t stall out in the minors.

Major League Baseball mandates that teams play out the games scheduled in September, regardless how far out of contention they are. Players are contractually obligated to play in those games.

Fans, on the other hand, are under no obligation to watch or listen to those games, check the box scores, or to give any regard whatsoever to what happens.

Most fans of the Kansas City Royals have moved on, as of last Sunday, to football season, and rightly so. But still, the baseball games go on. And a lot has happened, and will happen, this September that is worthy of note.

New Ownership:

The sale of the Royals to Kansas City businessman John Sherman requires approval at the league meeting this winter. But with that approval essentially guaranteed, Sherman can get a jumpstart this fall on deciding the direction of the franchise. He’ll certainly be paying close attention to the product on the field, as well as evaluating what help can be realistically expected from the minor league system.

Little is known about Sherman’s plans for the team as it is currently constituted. There are rumors that he’ll keep general manager Dayton Moore in some capacity. Whether or not manager Ned Yost returns for another season remains to be seen.

Sherman’s evaluation, and his philosophy toward spending on free agents (to this point unknown) will affect the futures of several current Royals. Should Alex Gordon be brought back for a swan song? Should the team lock slugger Jorge Soler up long term? Should veterans Whit Merrifield, Danny Duffy and Ian Kennedy be traded for prospects?

Roster Expansion:

Major league teams are expanding their rosters in a big way for the last time this September. By rule, teams have been permitted to bring anyone on their 40-man roster up to the big leagues on September 1. If a club so desired, it could fill its dugout with prospects and give them a chance to gain experience on the big stage.

The tradition of roster expansion in September allows a handful of men every year to realize the dream of playing in the major leagues who would otherwise never make it. For all the players called up, the expansion allows them to showcase their abilities for future opportunities.

Backup catcher Nick Dini was called up to Kansas City earlier in the summer due to an injury to Cam Gallagher. But Dini knows what September roster expansion means to fringe players like himself.

“It’s huge. You play the whole season with the hopes of getting to play in the big leagues,” Dini said. “All the work you put in during the offseason, and during the season, it’s all for this, to get to get to the big leagues and show what you can do. September is a huge opportunity that we all want to take advantage of.”

Dini admitted part of the challenge of September call-ups is that playing time for so many players is limited. Men accustomed to playing every day suddenly find themselves sitting on the bench for days at a time.

“It’s tough but that’s part of being a professional,” the 26-year-old catcher said. “When it’s your turn to play, you’ve got to be ready to play. The days when you aren’t playing, you’ve got to put the work in to make sure you’re ready to go when your name is called.”

The rule of September roster expansion was recently amended. Starting next season, teams will only be allowed to expand their rosters to 28. Dini said this fact is well known to minor leaguers.

“Guys are aware of (the change) and how it’s going to affect opportunities. That’s 12 less slots for each team, so 12 less opportunities for guys to get called up. But that’s what’s going on. There’s nothing you can do about it. My mentality has been just to go out and prepare, and if, God willing, it happens, then you’re ready to go.”

The Royals’ September call-ups include utility player Erick Mejia and pitchers Gabe Speier and Jesse Hahn. Each has a good shot at being on the roster next summer, so this exposure should accelerate their learning curve.

Keller On Ice:

The Royals announced in late August that it would limit pitcher Brad Keller’s innings and pitch count. The team indicated that Keller still had a ways to go in the season, but it hinted at concern for the 24-year-old’s health. He got blasted on August 26, and that was all the Royals needed to immediately shut Keller down.

“It was a consensus among the coaches that it’s what I needed,” Keller said. “It sucks, from the competitive side. You always want to go out there and compete with the boys. But it’s like a stepping stone for the future. They’re looking out for my best interest, and I agree with what they’re doing. So I just have to (accept it) and keep moving forward.”

Keller’s absence in the starting rotation will open up opportunities for others. Giving starts to Jorge Lopez will open up relief opportunities for Speier, Hahn and others. The final month should see Kyle Zimmer, Josh Staumont and Eric Skoglund get a long look in the bullpen.

“I’m really excited to see how we do in September and what the other guys can do,” said Keller. “It’s a showcase. It’s going to give them a chance to get their feet wet, to get an understanding of what it’s like to play in the big leagues, on and off the field.”

Minor League Playoffs:

When the prospects that eventually won the 2015 World Series worked their way up through the farm system, a premium was placed on winning minor league championships. The franchise wanted the Royals of the future to learn to win together. New prospects, now at the lower levels of the minors, are reviving the winning tradition.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks, a club flush with premium prospects, is competing this weekend for the high A classification Carolina League championship. Meanwhile the lower A-ball Lexington Legends are playing for a South Atlantic League title. And down at the Royals Dominican Academy, a collection of Latin American prospects claimed the Dominican Summer League championship.

Fall League Action:

Some of the Royals’ top prospects in the minors will get additional seasoning in the Arizona Fall League. Brewer Hicklen and Kyle Isbel, seen by the Royals as outfielders of the future, will be joined by versatile slugger Gabriel Cancel. Pitcher Daniel Lynch, considered the Royals #3 prospect, will see some additional innings in Arizona to make up for time lost due to injury earlier in the summer. Lynch will be accompanied in Arizona by fellow pitching prospects Daniel Tillo and Tad Ratliff.

The Kansas City Royals major league season got off to a great start. But quickly reality set in – this team won’t be very good.

Rather than focus on that sad fact, however, Royals fans have somewhere to look for hope. The truly important baseball played this year will be at Wilmington, Delaware, and Lexington, Kentucky, not in Kansas City.

The Royals are doing their best to find a winning combination to put on the field this season. But more importantly, they are trying to ascertain which of the current Royals could play on a playoff contender in 2021 and beyond. Brad Keller and Adalberto Mondesi are definitely keepers. Whit Merrifield, Jorge Soler and Salvador Perez might still be around. Others are auditioning for roles.

But the Royals’ true hope for glory is still in the minors. A couple of solid drafts and some trades for prospects have restocked the developmental system. So while you grin and bear the current reality, keep an eye on the following farm teams, which kicked off their seasons on Thursday.

Omaha Storm Chasers: Several players starting the season for the Triple-A affiliate were only held off the big league squad to retain their service time for a more opportune window. And more than a handful will see time in Kansas City this season.

The big league Royals bullpen has been an unmitigated disaster thus far. The Royals elected to start the year with some veteran acquisitions in order to allow a few key prospects to activate their major league service time a little further down the road. But that time will come soon. Richard Lovelady should be an instant upgrade when he’s called up. The Royals might also find some pitching help in Scott Blewett, Josh Staumont and Arnaldo Hernandez.

Nicky Lopez is big-league ready and just waiting for the right time to step into the Royals infield. (If current Royals utility man Chris Owings doesn’t get things going, the right time may come sooner than later.) Humberto Arteaga is in the same boat and plays essentially the same position as Lopez. There will be room for one, if not both, in Kansas City soon.

Former big leaguers Jorge Bonifacio and Brett Phillips have got to prove they can hit in order to be reunited with the Royals. Meanwhile Bubba Starling appears ready to finally realize his immense potential, and a call to KC should happen later this year.

Northwest Arkansas Naturals: Most of the attention at Double-A will be on outfielder Khalil Lee, the Royals’ #2 prospect. He combines elite-level speed, power and athleticism, and just needs more polish. Playing in Lee’s shadow, but not to be overlooked, is Junction City native Nick Heath, who possesses the type of speed that plays well in Kansas City.

The Naturals’ catcher, Meibrys Viloria, is so advanced defensively that when the Royals were in need of a backup last season, Viloria was promoted from the Single-A level all the way to the big leagues. He’s starting the season in Double-A just to make sure he gets to play every day.

Wilmington Blue Rocks: This is the team to watch. The high-A affiliate of the Royals will be bulging with top prospects. In fact, if you want to see what the 2022 big league Royals will look like, just check out a Blue Rocks team photo. Eleven of the Royals’ top 30 prospects, including six of the top seven, started the year in Wilmington.

In last June’s amateur draft, the Royals loaded up on college pitching prospects, and now those elite prospects are all clustered in Wilmington. The Royals’ top rated prospect, Brady Singer, will front a rotation that includes Daniel Lynch (the #4 rated prospect) and Jackson Kowar (#7). That trio may soon make up three-fifths of the Royals’ big league rotation.

MJ Melendez, the Royals’ #3 prospect, will share catching duties with Sebastian Rivero, another prized backstop. Nick Pratto (#5) is at first base.

Seuly Matias, who clubbed 31 homers last season, headlines the outfield as the #6 prospect. He’s joined there by Kyle Isbel (#10), Brewer Hicklen (#13) and Blake Perkins (#23).

The Royals don’t always leave players at Wilmington for the entire season. If the top prospects excel at high-A, they may find themselves fast-tracked to Northwest Arkansas, bringing them one step closer to the big leagues.

Lexington Legends: This pitching staff merits close watch this summer. The rotation is packed with potential in Chris Bubic (#9), Austin Cox (#22) and Jonathan Bowlan (#29), and should soon be bolstered by Carlos Hernandez (#11), Yefri Del Rosario (#12), Yohanse Morel (#20) and Janser Lara (#30), who stayed back in extended spring training. That means seven of the Royals’ top 15 pitching prospects should pass through Lexington this summer.

The most intriguing member of the staff, however, will be Ashe Russell. Picked in the first round of the 2015 amateur draft, Russell ran into off-the-field problems and disappeared for more than a year. But he resurfaced in the Royals’ training program last summer and may finally be ready to realize his potential.

In the field, the Legends will feature the Royals’ #13 and #24 prospects in outfielder Michael Gigliotti and shortstop Jeison Guzman.

Prospect watching can provide a lot of relief during the lean years. Watching from afar as players like Perez, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and the late Yordano Ventura climbed the minor league ladder made all the Royals’ losing prior to 2013 a little more bearable. The same will be true during the current rebuild.

The Kansas City Royals went 71-91 in 2011. While that sounds great in comparison to the current iteration, it was at the time considered by most to be just another rotten season by an inept franchise.

But anyone really paying attention might have noticed that on May 6 of that year, a rookie named Eric Hosmer was promoted to the big leagues at just 21 years of age.

Just a few days later, on May 18, Hosmer was joined by 22-year-old pitcher Danny Duffy. The two knew each other well, having played together at nearly every level of the minor leagues.

On June 11, 22-year-old Mike Moustakas joined the party. Then on August 10, Salvador Perez got called up not long after his 21st birthday. And on Sept. 21, yet another 21 year old, flame-throwing reliever Kelvin Herrera, was promoted to the big leagues.

At the time, hardly anyone noticed the tidal wave of talent crashing upon Kauffman Stadium. To some it might have appeared to be another move of desperation by a team without direction. But that wave had been planned, nurtured and timed with great precision.

Fewer still noticed when pitcher Greg Holland and outfielder Jarrod Dyson debuted in Kansas City at the tail end of 2010. But those seven players were a wave drafted or signed to international free agent deals by General Manager Dayton Moore several years earlier. Moore wasn’t just collecting talented players either. He was uniting them at the lowest levels of the minors, where they could play video games and cards together, go out at night together (years before they could legally buy a drink), sleep on the bus together, and learn the game together.

“In the minor leagues you don’t really have anybody else,” Duffy said. “You spend more time with these guys than with your own family. Hosmer is one of my best friends. Same with Moose. Same with Salvy, and so forth. That’s not only because of what we’ve done here (in Kansas City) but the road we took to get here.”

In a game where it’s hard to find one or two good major leaguers in one year, Moore signed Perez and Herrera as 16-year-olds in 2006, the same year he lucked into Dyson in the 50th round. The 2007 draft brought Moustakas (first round), Duffy (third round) and Holland (tenth round). Hosmer was added in the first round of 2008.

Duffy mentioned several others when recalling the wave of talent that came up around him, including Wil Myers, John Lamb and Mike Montgomery, each of whom was traded for key components of the championship club.

“I wouldn’t say we felt pressure. I think it’s exciting more than anything,” Duffy recalled. “We just had a good time playing. It feels, looking back, like it was one of the best Double-A teams ever. We were like 94-56 when you include the playoffs.”

Coming up together experiencing success is part of the process. Putting that many good players together should foster a winning culture that moves with them as they matriculate up the minor league ladder.

Moore is trying to replicate that wave again, and the ripple is currently building strength at Lexington, Kentucky, home of the Single-A Legends. The 2017 amateur draft brought a highly-regarded cohort that forms the foundation for the wave. First baseman Nick Pratto, catcher M.J. Melendez, pitcher Daniel Tillo and outfielder Michael Gigliotti, drafted in the first through fourth rounds, respectively, gave the farm system an instant boost. After getting their feet wet in rookie ball, the quartet, plus seventh round pick outfielder Brewer Hicklen, moved up to Lexington this spring.

The 2018 draft, heavy on college pitchers, doubled the size of the wave instantly. Added to the group at Lexington during the summer were pitchers Jackson Kowar and Daniel Lynch and outfielder Kyle Isbel.

The prospects from those two drafts are teamed with a handful of international signings including sensational outfielder Seuly Matias, who leads all of minor league baseball in home runs. In all, Lexington served as home to 13 of the Royals’ top 30 prospects, including six of the top 10. They have nearly every position covered, apart from second and third base, with a top 30 prospect. And they have six top 30 pitchers.

As happened with Duffy and friends, the Lexington wave is experiencing winning. The Legends, who finished their regular season schedule on Labor Day, are currently battling in the South Atlantic League playoffs.

“Learning to win together is a big part of it,” said Duffy. “We won in the Midwest League, we won in the Texas League, we won in the Pacific Coast League three times. We were pretty successful in the minor leagues. Fortunately it translated to the big leagues. We won a World Series and almost another one.

“It’s not about the kind of players they are, but how great these guys are, how good these people are off the field. I have no doubt that Dayton is going to put together the same type of clientele as far as character goes.”

Duffy has seen the majority of the players making up his wave depart over the years. Only he and Perez remain. He admits it’s hard to watch players you’ve grown up with go their separate ways.

“My advice to (the Lexington team) would be just to enjoy every moment of it, because it goes by really quick. Once you get here, you start seeing people part ways. So just enjoy your time together because that’s what it’s all about.

“It happened very fast. I had a lot of people telling me it would go by really quick, and yet you don’t see it until it’s gone.”

The Lexington wave will take time to arrive. Most of those players will advance just one rung of the minor league ladder per year. That means you won’t see most of them on your TV any sooner than 2021.

Duffy said he would encourage the next wave to try to soak up each day, while still keeping the end goal in mind and working hard towards it.

“You’re always looking to get to the big leagues. That’s your number one goal and the destination. But there is something to be said for trying to just enjoy where you are each day. I would tell those guys coming up to just enjoy every moment. Enjoy the Arizona days, even though they’re hot. Enjoy the 12-hour bus rides. Because it’s a simple time. It doesn’t seem like it in the moment, but you have a lot of fun in front of you if you just enjoy it.”

On June 3, the Royals had a record of 13-36, far and away worst in baseball. The 2018 season was already a lost cause. And to make matters even worse, their farm system was considered to be one of the weakest in the game as well. The team was horrible, and there was little hope in sight.

But when the team stumbled out of the gate and quickly ruined the year, it allowed the team to focus on talent acquisition, and to leverage the few assets it possessed.

General Manager Dayton Moore’s handling of the roster the past two years has been roundly scrutinized. But this summer, he leaped at a chance to improve the pipeline considerably.

First, the Royals utilized compensation picks in the amateur draft, which kicked off on June 4, to quickly inject an infusion of new talent.

The Royals were already pinning their hopes on a collection of youngsters in A-ball – the Lexington and Wilmington clubs – considered the next “wave” of talent comparable to when Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy, Salvador Perez and Yordano Ventura matriculated up through the system. On June 4, they doubled down on that wave by drafting a passel of college pitchers.

The decision to put so many eggs in this one basket was questioned by some. But by doing so, they essentially doubled the size of the wave. The farm system lacked quality arms, and they Royals added several who could move up quickly, particularly Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch and Kris Bubic.

Then Moore kicked into action a plan he’d initiated during the winter.

Rather than just hand over positions in the major leagues to unproven rookies, Moore had chosen to stock up on cheap veterans under one-year contracts, hoping to flip them like one would a fixer-upper. While it didn’t work with each of his projects, Moore was able to sign and flip Jon Jay and Mike Moustakas for pennies on the dollar.

The Royals paid Jay about $1.2 million for a couple months of work, then on June 6, acquired a high-ceiling 18-year-old project named Elvis Luciano, plus a minor league pitcher with some potential in Gabe Speier.

On July 27, just before the trade deadline, Moore sent Moustakas to the Milwaukee Brewers for top prospect Brett Phillips and pitcher Jorge Lopez, both of whom had seen some action in the majors. Thus the Royals invested a mere $3 million in salary to Moustakas to acquire a top outfield candidate and major-league caliber arm.

Between those deals, the Royals flipped reliever Kelvin Herrera, whose contract was about to expire, for two developing minor leaguers in Blake Perkins and Kelvin Gutierrez, plus another young project in 17-year-old pitcher Yohanse Morel.

Beating the bushes even further, Moore picked up a versatile and speedy switch hitter of waivers from the Cincinnati Reds in Rosell Herrera. Then he traded a low-level prospect for former first round draft pick Brian Goodwin. The two joined the Royals and immediately paid dividends.

And just like that, Moore had dramatically restocked the empty cupboard that was the Royals farm system, and added some new blood to the big league team to boot.

Of the Royals top 19 prospects rated by MLB.com, nine were not in the Royals’ system prior to June 4. The wave at the lower levels of the system that was started in 2017 gained strength with college pitchers and college outfielder Kyle Isbel. The mid-level minors was fortified with Perkins, Gutierrez and Speier. Furthermore, Kansas City took a flier on a couple of “lottery tickets” in Luciano and Morel.

Talent wasn’t just injected into the minors. Judging by the recent play of Phillips, Rosell Herrera and Goodwin, help is already arriving in Kansas City.

Next up, the Royals will try to get something – anything – for short-timers Jason Hammel and Lucas Duda via deals that are permitted past the trade deadline. Over the winter, they might listen to offers for their three most prized possessions – Salvador Perez, Danny Duffy and Whit Merrifield.

And then they will be in line for one of the top picks in next June’s draft, the reward for being awful in 2018.

The Royals will continue to be bad for the foreseeable future. But perhaps the worst has passed. The youth movement will at least be entertaining to watch.