KC Royals: Farm System Falls In Keith Law's Rankings

The KC Royals fell out of the top 10 in ESPN.com expert Keith Law’s farm system rankings for the first time since 2009. Law, who was once a personnel man for the Blue Jays, considers the Kansas City Royals to have the 15th best farm system in baseball in his ratings released Wednesday morning.

Law writes on ESPN.com’s insider:

"Years of strong drafts paid off by bringing the Royals one win from a world championship, and there’s actually quite a bit of talent still in the system, as the Royals didn’t have to trade much of what they already had. This organization has lost some depth, but the top 10 is still solid, especially in starting pitching."

Law cites declining depth for the KC Royals fall in the organizational ratings, but Kansas City’s top prospects mostly struggled in 2014. Right now, league scouts are down on many of KC’s top talents, which is what I believe has led to this ranking.

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2014 no. 3 ranked prospect Kyle Zimmer suffered through an injury plagued year in which he pitched a mere 4.2 innings at rookie league Idaho Falls. He made three starts in the Arizona Fall League before getting shut down to have shoulder surgery on October 28.

While Zimmer has started his throwing program after rehabbing at the team’s spring facility in Surprise, Arizona all winter, how soon he’ll be ready for game action in currently unknown.

Zimmer’s continued injury issues have dropped him all the way down to no. 6 in Baseball Prospectus’ Royals prospect rankings.

Current no. 1 prospect SS Raul Mondesi impressed scouts in the Arizona Fall League with his outstanding tools and young age (19), but he struggled with older pitchers all season while putting up a .211/.256/.354 slash line at High A Wilmington.

Number 2 ranked Miguel Almonte has impressed with his stuff, but his results at Wilmington lag behind the talent. Despite a notoriously pitcher-friendly home park, Almonte only put up a 4.50 ERA in 110.0 innings. Almonte did whiff 102 batters against a mere 32 walks, for an outstanding 3.16 K/W ratio.

Fifth ranked Hunter Dozier hit well at High A, but tanked after earning a mid-season promotion to AA Northwest Arkansas. While still considered the club’s top 3B prospect, Dozier’s .209/.303/.312 slash line in 267 AA plate appearances brought his progress through the system to a screeching halt.

Tenth ranked Jorge Bonifacio also wallowed at AA, hitting .230/.302/.309 in a mostly lost season in Northwest Arkansas. While Bonifacio is still only 21 and still young enough to turn things around, he is clearly not ready for a major league job before 2016.

Meanwhile, former no. 5 overall draft pick Bubba Starling has pretty much fallen off the face of the prospect earth with his continued inability to hit. Despite fabulous power, speed, range, and arm, Starling struggles to make contact with a terrible .218/.304/.338 at High A in his age 21 season.

Time is running out for Starling to get back on track.

The only top prospects with impressive seasons were pitchers Sean Manaea, (3.11 ERA, 146 K in 121.2 IP at High A), Brandon Finnegan (1.29 ERA in 7.0 IP in Kansas City after arriving in the June draft the same season), and Christian Binford (2.88 ERA in 140.2 IP across A+, AA, AAA).

While the KC Royals do not boast the loaded farm system that they’ve enjoyed the last few years, they still have viable talent in the minors that could bounce back in 2015. The Royals also figure to have two top 40 picks in the June draft, unless they decide to bring back James Shields.

While the Kansas City Royals farm isn’t as fertile as it has been in the past. the pipeline is far from empty.

Next: Chances For James Shields Return To KC Increase

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KC Royals: Farm System Falls In Keith Law’s Rankings

By John Viril | Jan 28, 2015

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