Top 50 Royals Prospects

Top 50 Royals Prospects

I intended to post this list prior to the season starting so my apologies on being late to the party. Here is my top 50 Royals prospects list for 2010. Keep in mind that I tend to be lenient with my perceptions of pure upside. In other words, I tend to rank 17- or 18-year olds with tremendous potential but little results higher than most sports writers. I also tend to be a bit harsh on players in the upper minors who I feel have more limited potential. I'll also include brief predictions at a later date. (I refuse to call Minor League conjectures "projections" as tools and development generate so much Minor League production, thus making sound "projections" difficult to make). Keep in mind that I'll try to prevent biases in terms of how these players have produced in roughly the first week and a half of Minor League contests. Keep in mind the player comparisons provided are the versions of that player in 2010, not in general.

***** = Perennial MVP candidate/Ace starter (Comparison: Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez, Zack Greinke)
****1/2 = Perennial all-star and occasional MVP candidate/#2 starter (Comp.: Dustin Pedroia, Matt Holliday, Josh Beckett)
**** = Occasional all-star and occasional MVP candidate/#2 or #3 starter (Comp.: Carl Crawford, Ian Kinsler, Javier Vazquez)
***1/2 = Above average player/#3 starter (Comp.: David DeJesus, Michael Young, Andy Pettitte)
*** = Average player/#3 starter (Comp.: Carlos Lee, Adam LaRoche, Bronson Arroyo)
**1/2 = Platoon player/part-time player/#4 starter (Comp.: Luke Scott, Jhonny Peralta, Jon Garland)
** = Bench player/reserve/#4 starter (Comp.: Mitch Maier, Nick Punto, Brian Bannister)
*1/2 = 24th & 25th roster men/#5 starter (Comp.: Scott Thorman, Emilio Bonifacio, Brandon Duckworth, )

Keep in mind that relief pitchers will naturally receive higher stars. Here are their rankings.

***** = Relief ace (Comp.: Joakim Soria circa 2009)
****1/2 = Excellent reliever (Comp.: Scot Shields circa 2006)
**** = Very good reliever (Comp.: Octavio Dotel circa 2004)
***1/2 = Above average reliever (Comp.: David Riske circa 2007)
*** = Average reliever (Comp.: Ron Mahay circa 2005)

Anything below three star relievers will very likely will not appear on my top 50 list.

1. Mike Montgomery (****1/2)
2. Aaron Crow (****1/2)
3. Wil Myers (****)
4. Eric Hosmer (****)
5. Noel Arguelles (****)
6. Dan Duffy (****)
7. John Lamb (****)
8. David Lough (***1/2)
9. Chris Dwyer (***1/2)
10. Mike Moustakas (***1/2)
11. Tim Melville (***1/2)
12. Cheslor Cuthbert (***)
13. Kila Ka'aihue (***)
14. Jordan Parraz (***)
15. Kelvin Herrera (***)
16. Johnny Giavotella (***)
17. Jeff Bianchi (***)
18. Carlos Rosa [****]
19. Tyler Sample (***)
20. Matt Mitchell (***)
21. Crawford Simmons (***)
22. Tim Smith (**1/2)
23. Keaton Hayenga (**1/2)
24. Louis Coleman [****]
25. Hilton Richardson (**1/2)
26. Carlos Fortuna (**1/2)
27. Carlo Testa (**1/2)
28. Clint Robinson (**)
29. Patrick Keating [****]
30. Justin Trapp (**)
31. Salvador Perez (**)
32. Jason Taylor (**)
33. Manny Pina (**)
34. Chris Hayes [***1/2]
35. Joey Lewis (**)
36. Brandon Sisk [***1/2]
37. Mario Santiago (**)
38. Greg Billo (**)
39. Irving Falu (**)
40. Victor Marte [***]
41. Jose Bonilla (**)
42. Alex Caldera (**)
43. Dusty Odenbach [***]
44. Yowill Espinal (**)
45. Greg Holland [***]
46. Edgar Osuna [***]
47. Blaine Hardy [***]
48. Eric Basurto [***]
49. Ben Theriot (**)
50. Scott Kelley [***]