The Farm Thread

[Fountain City Blues]

I will start off with this:

BA's top 10 Royals prospects: 2014 Top 10 Prospects Index - BaseballAmerica.com

1. Kyle Zimmer rhp
2. Yordano Ventura rhp
3. Raul A. Mondesi ss
4. Jorge Bonifacio, of
5. Miguel Almonte, rhp
6. Sean Manaea, lhp
7. Hunter Dozier, 3b
8. Bubba Starling, of
9. Jason Adam, rhp
10. Christian Binford, rhp

 

[CaptainStubing]

the royals really need one or more of their young pitchers of zimmer, ventura, and duffy to become a stud, legit #2 fairly quickly this season as there is a huge void there in their rotation and i don't think they will be able to win the division without a legit #2. vargas, guthrie, and chen are more in the 3/4/5 mold.

 

[da55bums]

the royals really need one or more of their young pitchers of zimmer, ventura, and duffy to become a stud, legit #2 fairly quickly this season as there is a huge void there in their rotation and i don't think they will be able to win the division without a legit #2. vargas, guthrie, and chen are more in the 3/4/5 mold.

nailed it Stube

 

[Fountain City Blues]

the royals really need one or more of their young pitchers of zimmer, ventura, and duffy to become a stud, legit #2 fairly quickly this season as there is a huge void there in their rotation and i don't think they will be able to win the division without a legit #2. vargas, guthrie, and chen are more in the 3/4/5 mold.

Nailed.

As of right now, we have a 1/4/5/5/? for a rotation. Not all that good. Chen will only start for a month more than likely so Ventura can avoid super 2 status. Zimmer should be up around midseason assuming his shoulder permits.

We could then have a rotation of 1/4/?/?/?

Granted, Vargas could be a #3 if he can have one of his better years and eat IP like he can. Got to dump these #5's into the pen as fast as is reasonable to do so. I'll take the unknown over bleh IP eaters any day of the week.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Now, another update from BA regarding the top 100. The Royals have 4 prospects that made the list this year.


2014 Baseball America Top 100 Prospects: The 25th Edition - BaseballAmerica.com


23. Kyle Zimmer (RHP)
26. Yordano Ventura (RHP)
47. Raul A. Mondesi (SS)
90. Jorge Bonifacio (RF'er, could be a DH later on though)

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Fun fact about Ventura.



Pete Grathoff @pgrathoff
Didn't realize Yordano Ventura's 101.9 mph was fastest EVER by starter in history of PitchFX (which started in '07), per Lindy's. #Royals

 

[Fountain City Blues]

MLB.com top 100 for 2014. Again, 4 Royals are on the list. 2014 Prospect Watch | MLB.com: News


25. Kyle Zimmer
36. Yordano Ventura
38. Raul A. Mondesi
91. Jorge Bonifacio

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Baseball Prospectus top 101 for 2014, the Royals have 7 prospects on this list.



Only the Twins have more with 8 prospects on the list. However, there are a few clubs with 7 including the Cubs, Pirates, and Rangers. That doesn't mean our farm is a top 5 system, hint, it isn't, but it is nice to see some depth.

Baseball Prospectus | The Top 101 Prospects of 2014


12. Yordano Ventura
29. Raul A. Mondesi
34. Kyle Zimmer
46. Miguel Almonte
78. Sean Manaea
96. Hunter Dozier
99. Jorge Bonifacio


Just in case people don't know, they do list Dozier currently as a SS, but he projects to play at 3B... NOT SS. Manaea is a LHP. Almonte is a RHP.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Fangraphs top 100 had 5 Royals in it. Tied for 6th with the most "top" pitching prospects.


24. Kyle Zimmer
33. Yordano Ventura
46. Raul A. Mondesi
83. Jorge Bonifacio
95. Miguel Almonte


"Notes: For me, the three names that could really come on strong in 2014 and see their prospect values skyrocket are Zimmer, Stewart and Rodriguez. The Royals prospect almost got pushed further up the list but I decided to temper my enthusiasm — for now. The majority of these arms have a shot at graduating to the Majors in the coming season."

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Fangraphs top 100 had 5 Royals in it. Tied for 6th with the most "top" pitching prospects.


24. Kyle Zimmer
33. Yordano Ventura
46. Raul A. Mondesi
83. Jorge Bonifacio
95. Miguel Almonte


"Notes: For me, the three names that could really come on strong in 2014 and see their prospect values skyrocket are Zimmer, Stewart and Rodriguez. The Royals prospect almost got pushed further up the list but I decided to temper my enthusiasm — for now. The majority of these arms have a shot at graduating to the Majors in the coming season."

Notes: Guerrieri would be much higher if not for his surgery and makeup concerns (much more troubling than Dahl’s). I like Nelson’s chances to be a significant contributor to the Brewers’ starting rotation over the next five or six years more so than sophomores Wily Peralta and Tyler Thornburg. Berrios and Almonte could be two pitchers to watch in 2014.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

It appears Kyle Zimmer has Biceps Tendinitis. Ugh.... not this again.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

From BeyondtheBoxScore 2014 Consensus Top 160 Prospects - Beyond the Box Score


A synthesis of all the major lists out there. They Royals have 8 players on this list of 160 players. For any fantasy players out there, they also arranged this by fantasy rank as well as a real life prospect rankings.


24. Kyle Zimmer
30. Yordano Ventura
36. Raul Mondesi
79. Miguel Almonte
101. Jorge Bonifacio
106. Sean Manaea
123. Bubba Starling
129. Hunter Dozier

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Baseball Haven had 7 Royals in their top 100


2014 MLB Top Prospects: Final Revision « The Baseball Haven


24. Kyle Zimmer
29. Yordano Ventura
55. Raul Mondesi
62. Bubba Starling
71. Sean Manaea
82. Miguel Almonte
95. Jorge Bonifacio

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Here is John Sickels top 75 list on Minor League Ball after the season with honorable mentions (he hasn't made an offseason list yet) so I will list the end of the season list anyhow. Four Royals made this top 75 list. Hunter Dozer was an honorable mention though.


Minor League Ball Top 75 Prospects: End of Season Update - Minor League Ball


17. Kyle Zimmer
25. Yordano Ventura
55. Miguel Almonte
62. Raul A. Mondesi
HM's- Hunter Dozier

 

[Fountain City Blues]

MLD-DI's top 100, Royals have 2 in the top 50, and 1 other player in the bottom 50 to push the Royals to 3 total prospects in the top 100.


1-50


The MLB-DI Top 100: 1-50 |


50-100


The MLB-DI Top 100: 51-100 |


10. Kyle Zimmer
25. Raul A. Mondesi
62. Yordano Ventura

 

[Fountain City Blues]

MLB Prospect Guide's top 300. 11 of them are Royals. Only 3 in the top 100. Some just missed the top 100 such as Manaea and Almonte.


MLB Prospect Guide: Top 300 Pro Prospects


23. Yordano Ventura
43. Raul A. Mondesi
70. Kyle Zimmer
103. Sean Manaea
106. Miguel Almonte
150. Robinson Yambati (intriguing to see this name; RHP)
172. Jorge Bonifacio
218. Hunter Dozier
236. Jason Adam
242. Bubba Starling
248. Cheslor Cuthbert

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Prospect Digest's list. This list is going all-in on Zimmer's potential it looks like and likes the top of the farm system in general.


4. Kyle Zimmer
17. Yordano Ventura
48. Raul A. Mondesi
81. Jorge Bonifacio

 

[Fountain City Blues]

MLB.Scout.com's list. Seven Royals made this list with Zimmer just missing the top 10.


1-50


Scout.com: 2014 Minor League Baseball Top Rankings


50-100


Scout.com: 2014 Minor League Baseball Top Rankings

11. Kyle Zimmer
23. Yordano Ventura
26. Raul A. Mondesi
48. Miguel Almonte
68. Hunter Dozier
90. Sean Manaea
92. Jorge Bonifacio

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Prospect Digest's list. This list is going all-in on Zimmer's potential it looks like and likes the top of the farm system in general.


4. Kyle Zimmer
17. Yordano Ventura
48. Raul A. Mondesi
81. Jorge Bonifacio

Woops, here is the link: 2014 Top 100 Prospects | Prospect Digest

 

[Fountain City Blues]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Feels good to finally throw to hitters again, been a long time!</p>&mdash; SEAN ANTHONY MANAEA (@BABYSMGIRAFFE) <a href="https://twitter.com/BABYSMGIRAFFE/statuses/439901190352953344">March 1, 2014</a></blockquote>
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