Kansas City Royals: What to expect from new prospects

The Kansas City Royals received two young prospects after trading away two of their relief pitchers to the Dodgers and White Sox respectively. What should the organization expect from these two young players?

Fans were expecting trades to be aplenty this offseason, but it took until the new year for the Kansas City Royals to make good on that promise. The first trade of the offseason took place on Thursday evening and resulted in Scott Alexander going to the Dodgers in exchange for pitcher Trevor Oaks and infielder Erick Mejia. Joakim Soria was also a part of the deal, getting sent to the White Sox.

The Royals haven’t kept it any secret that the 2018 season will be a rebuilding year for the team. This is the start of that, as Oaks and Mejia are two young players that have the ability to help the Royals in the long run.

Oaks is a 24 year old right-handed pitcher out of the Dodgers farm system. Los Angeles drafted him in the seventh round in the 2014 MLB Draft and since then, he’s been a rising prospect in their minor league system.

Last season Oaks threw 91.2 innings for three different minor league clubs and had an ERA of 3.75 during that stretch. He struck out 81 batters, walked 19, and only gave up six home runs on the season.

Drew Osborne of Royals Farm Report wrote that the best part of Oaks’ pitching is the lack of walks he gives up. The Royals could use that type of guy in their rotation, as well as an innings eater, which Osborne also describes Oaks as.

"The biggest asset to this big righty is the lack of walks. He does not walk guys. He doesn’t get behind guys. And when he does walk a guy you can bet the next guy up has a 70% chance of hitting something on the ground. Oaks has a starters frame and he is always ahead in the count. Because of this he can be profiled as an inning eater. Baseball America described him as a future 200 inning guy in the majors."

The Royals could potentially find a spot for Oaks in their rotation as early as the 2018 season, but if not, he surely could be placed in the bullpen. The Royals have a spot open in the starting rotation with Jason Vargas no longer on the team, so there is a vacancy and Oaks could be that fifth guy as early as this year.

As for Erick Mejia (also from the Dodgers farm system), he’s 23 years old and has experience at second base, third base, and shortstop. As of right now, the Royals still have Whit Merrifield at second base, Cheslor Cuthbert at third base, and Raul Mondesi Jr. at shortstop. Cuthbert and Mondesi will be two young guys that the franchise rolls with moving forward, but Merrifield is 28 years old and in the prime of his career.

If the Royals made this deal for Mejia, it could mean that Merrifield is going to be traded before the 2018 season commences. Mejia slashed .278/.344/.397 in 443 at bats with three different minor league clubs last year.