[SPEAKER_00]: Everybody JJ Cooper Bill Mitchell another the baseball America prospect podcast deep dives today We are talking all about Kansas City Royals a team that let's give a lot of credit not just has developed a star a homegrown star in Bobby with Jr But a nice kind of supporting cast Michael Garcia They've locked those guys up for longer for the longer term as well the Royals note and they've made a playoff run two years ago

[SPEAKER_00]: made it a run at the playoffs last year and obviously are right in the mix again this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: But now as they do so, they do so with the highest ranked prospect we have had for the Royals in since Bobby would junior at the top of their list.

[SPEAKER_00]: Bill does the Royals for us.

[SPEAKER_00]: Bill great to see you.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just going to dive right into it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like you see the Royals a lot in surprise.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're spring training home, but also they're home for their complex league team and much more.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I do feel like that we've seen over the last couple of years.

[SPEAKER_00]: The talent level there is just kind of been edging up a little bit on the back fields.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I wonder what you thought.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, definitely.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think that, uh,

[SPEAKER_01]: their top 30 is very deep and I attribute more recently to two things.

[SPEAKER_01]: They brought in Brian Bridges as a director of amateur scouting.

[SPEAKER_01]: I have a high opinion of Brian and I really like what they did with last year's draft.

[SPEAKER_01]: They had a good mix of high school and college players and they've added a lot of talent especially pitching.

[SPEAKER_01]: They've been very good with developing

[SPEAKER_01]: one of the key attributes they have, but they've also done well internationally and I can't wait to see some of the newer players when they bring them up this year that I haven't gotten to see.

[SPEAKER_01]: They've done a good job internationally and I think it's great things ahead for the royals.

[SPEAKER_00]: So diving in, first question we always ask is how difficult was it to rank the number one?

[SPEAKER_00]: In this case, Carter Jensen, catcher is the number one prospect.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna guess that wasn't particularly difficult considering the season that Jensen had.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was very easy.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, for one, the previous number one, Jack Kangley on a graduated.

[SPEAKER_01]: And Carter, he had the season we've been waiting for him to have, he's always had low,

[SPEAKER_01]: batting averages high on base percentages.

[SPEAKER_01]: And my question always was, is he not being aggressive enough, but no, you know, he's got the advanced swing decisions.

[SPEAKER_01]: Good barrel control.

[SPEAKER_01]: He really just matured as a hitter, started picking out pitches.

[SPEAKER_01]: He knew he could drive using all fields.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it just all came together for him.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's hard.

[SPEAKER_01]: hit launch angle was better, just a really good season, starting in Dubway, even got better in Tripway and then did well in his time in the major leagues.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's set for success, series a hometown kid, has followed the Royals all his life, it's a dream come true for him, and his favorite player was Salvador Perez, and now he's looking as he might be the one to take over when Saudi retirees, that might be at age 50, but

[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like so, okay, I'm old.

[SPEAKER_00]: I remember like the long stretch where Cal Ripkin was the Orioles shortstop and there was always the guy who was gonna be the guy who would step into a place Cal Ripkin eventually.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that Cal at shortstop, like out did like three or four of those guys full careers, you know, before eventually Cal did eventually succumb to age and have to move to third base and then did retire.

[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like Salvador Perez has kind of done that, you know, usually we expect catchers.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, okay, you know, Southe obviously came up with part of the Big Blue wave, part of the World Series teams in 14 and 15.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you're like, okay, how long can it got catch?

[SPEAKER_00]: And in his case, the answer is for a very, very long time, you know, we've had catchers come through, we've had MJ Melendez moved to the outfield, we had Freddie for me, who was a

[SPEAKER_00]: But it does seem like that this is the guy to logically.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think if it's very well because when you look at this job share, you've got two guys who can catch and two guys who also can hit.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you don't need to, it's not a case of, well, this guy can catch one of the days he doesn't, you know,

[SPEAKER_00]: catch and south of the Perez obviously can date also like you know southeast part of play a little bit of first base as well like potentially like you have different ways to keep both of their bats in the lineup and both keep both of them a little bit fresh because I do think though we saw like you mentioned, Jensen's power like

[SPEAKER_00]: really did kind of become, it went from kind of something that we saw flashes up to something we saw very consistently last year and kind of even showed that after he reached the majors at the end of the year.

[SPEAKER_00]: But also the feedback I think that you got was this is not, there's not really not a whole lot of questions about his defense either.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is a guy who should be able to stick behind the plate long term and be a solid defensive catcher as well, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: I got that from scouts, I had seen a lot of improvement in just as receiving is blocking everything related to catching.

[SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, I don't think there's any doubt he's very athletic too, and that's that's got to help.

[SPEAKER_01]: That help him behind the plate and if he needs to play other positions and I did ask him about that he said, I played every position when I was a kid playing.

[SPEAKER_01]: Travel ball.

[SPEAKER_01]: in high school ball, so I can play anywhere, but you know, he's a catcher art.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's a catcher.

[SPEAKER_00]: And, and the thing I would also say with that, I know that we've used this on the podcast before, but it was eye opening at the future's game.

[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, the cardgence and was at the future's game.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the thing that stood out to me was, is the easiness of that power you saw.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was matching everyone's swing for swing.

[SPEAKER_00]: They have a very short kind of cool, you know, they have the restaurant and then they have the building.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, at Truus Park in Atlanta and he was putting the balls on top of that play, you know, place just basically swing for swing with pretty much anyone at the future's game.

[SPEAKER_00]: The power is absolutely legit.

[SPEAKER_00]: I do feel like with him, like the other thing you said, like with there have been a debate here, it would have been if Jack Haggleon hadn't graduated, then it would have been a fun one, an interesting one, because obviously Jack has massive power as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: And did move very quickly to the big leagues, although his big league debut was a little bit rockier than just a bit.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if he had stayed in the minor leagues, the way he was hitting it, the way in Tripoy,

[SPEAKER_01]: I think he would have still been the number one, you couldn't have taken him out of that position, but that's neither here nor there, he's in the big leagues and showing some signs of better numbers in the future.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you've already touched on us a little bit.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I'll kind of phrase it this way.

[SPEAKER_00]: How is the system better now than it was a year ago?

[SPEAKER_00]: The one thing that's going against it is, as you said, Jack Hagglin was their first trumpet.

[SPEAKER_00]: In, you know, a year ago, he was prospect eligible.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's not now, but how is this system better now, do you think?

[SPEAKER_01]: They've done a good job with developing pitchers.

[SPEAKER_01]: Not as much hitters, and they had a tough time.

[SPEAKER_01]: That was there, what hurt them in the major leagues.

[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of hitters did not come together.

[SPEAKER_01]: But pitching Paul Gibson is the coordinator of pitching and minor leagues.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if you look at what they had just at high A level, they had five or six legit prospects pitching there.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then we had Kendri Curio coming up

[SPEAKER_01]: from the DSL at the age of 17, and doing well both in the ACL and then in the low-A.

[SPEAKER_01]: David Shields had an outstanding season.

[SPEAKER_01]: And what I like about their pitching development, it's not all about velocity.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know a lot of people wonder about David Shields, because he was pitcher there in the Carolina League, yet he was really most of the season.

[SPEAKER_01]: was around 90 miles an hour.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I've seen him higher on night when he first came to instructions.

[SPEAKER_01]: I saw him up to 95.

[SPEAKER_01]: What a lot of people didn't know that he had a hamstring problem coming out of spring training.

[SPEAKER_01]: Not enough to put him out of action.

[SPEAKER_01]: But they just said, dial it back and let the velocity come later.

[SPEAKER_01]: And by the end of the year he was up to 94.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think eventually he's going to have

[SPEAKER_01]: in above average fastball right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: So it's probably a tick below average or fringy.

[SPEAKER_01]: But he was good enough at age of 18 for most of the season to dominate the Carolina League.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think what you're going to see with Kendri Churio is I've talked to one individual.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we know he can tell 98 there's questions of can someone his size consistently throw 98 and not get hurt.

[SPEAKER_01]: and let him learn how to pitch.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if all of a sudden he's throwing 94.95, and everyone panicked, oh, what happened to the 98?

[SPEAKER_01]: It'll be intentional.

[SPEAKER_00]: In some ways I like that.

[SPEAKER_00]: At some ways I have a little bit of concerns because then there are also, is the Frank Mazakato case where

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like they haven't found that there's more in the tank there, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Like you said, so it's a show in it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Masakato has gone the other way.

[SPEAKER_00]: Masakato first ground pick from several years ago, like was 92, 93, then he was 91, 92, and then we've seen like high 80s, like you, you know, again, there's a difference between dialing it back and having it in there.

[SPEAKER_00]: when you need it versus dialing it back.

[SPEAKER_00]: But wait, where is it?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's, again, Mazikato, the Velo picked back up a little bit last year, but not, you know, again, it still's got a, you know, it just hasn't been.

[SPEAKER_00]: But when you, when you say that, like the other thing here that kind of sets up the next question very well, which is when we look at next year's number one,

[SPEAKER_00]: I would say there's, we can assume that Carter Jensen will graduate, but this is the organization that's got a lot of guys who I could make a case for, I feel like, that could end up being number one.

[SPEAKER_00]: Kendra Torio, I would say, is kind of in the poll position considering what he did last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's already number two.

[SPEAKER_00]: But Cheerio Shields, like Mitchell, if he hasn't helped the year, the two first rounders from last year could also, you know, fit into that kind of discussion.

[SPEAKER_00]: How do you kind of see, like, who are the candidates we would see for next year?

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, you just named Cheerio and Shields, how they will be teenagers for most of the season.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm sure there's going to be ups and downs.

[SPEAKER_01]: Also, Mitchell,

[SPEAKER_01]: And will he be, he finally showed his timing was back and showed his power in the fallway.

[SPEAKER_01]: It took him that long from a spring training injury.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, but then also they will have the number six over all draft pick and should get a good player.

[SPEAKER_01]: They pick college player, do you rank him over Churio and shields because they're still developing?

[SPEAKER_00]: That'll be an interesting choice

[SPEAKER_00]: I would also kind of throw in that number six pick in this draft should be an excellent player.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like we are like you are talking a range of, I think we can assume that Rock Chaloski would be off the board.

[SPEAKER_00]: You could assume that probably the top college arm in the classes off the board.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think you could probably assume Brady Emerson's off the board, the top high school shortstop.

[SPEAKER_00]: But you could be on that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like you're talking really good college bats this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: It feels like, you know,

[SPEAKER_00]: will see like whether it's Justin LeBron off the board is Drew Burris off the board.

[SPEAKER_00]: Really good college bats.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some really good other high school, you know, short stops, especially.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of possibilities there where I could see that being the case for number one.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I would say though, like with Tureo, we saw last year, like you said, he made it up to low A.

[SPEAKER_00]: The thing that stands out to me about him is, we're seeing, you see a lot of politics, to move a guy like they did with him.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're seeing a level of polish with him that you don't often see in pictures that young.

[SPEAKER_00]: I would be shocked, like again, I could see him going to full-season ball this year and just being one of the better pictures in class A this year where we're kind of looking at this,

[SPEAKER_00]: Man, I know he's a pitcher.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know it's still a ball, but there's a lot really to like here, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Cause you've got like a kind of look at what, you talked a little bit about the frame and all that, but like what else kind of really stood out about Cheeria?

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, he hardly walked anybody, and how do you see that?

[SPEAKER_01]: How often do you see that from any picture, much less a 17-year-old in his first professional season, just coming to the state so the first time, and his walk rates were extremely low, and there's a big jump right there that really is a good positive sign for him.

[SPEAKER_01]: Paul's, and again, he was up to 98.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's going to work more like around 95, 96 is here, I suspect.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that'll be plenty of velocity.

[SPEAKER_00]: Solid secondary, too.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is not a guy who's just using a fast ball either, which is another thing that's a strong indicator for what you're expecting this year out of them, and then beyond.

[SPEAKER_00]: But what about the first round picks?

[SPEAKER_00]: So obviously Josh Hammond, Sean Gamble,

[SPEAKER_00]: They had two kind of later, you know, first round picks, but those guys kind of also like this will be a very interesting.

[SPEAKER_00]: We'll get to see a lot more of them this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm guessing you've gotten to see probably more of them than most because again, being in Arizona, but what are what should we expect to see out of them this year?

[SPEAKER_01]: I am really high on Josh Hammond.

[SPEAKER_01]: In fact, you know, Gamble was drafted a few positions before him when I put out their final list.

[SPEAKER_01]: I had, I had them back to back, but I had Hammond just above him.

[SPEAKER_01]: He comes from a baseball background.

[SPEAKER_01]: Your area in North Carolina is a long time coach and high point.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I talked to him, I interviewed him for an article, and I was amazed at a kid's 17 years old or maybe 18 by them, that just how well-spoken he was and intelligent, polite, the makeup is outstanding.

[SPEAKER_01]: And keep in mind, when he was coming out of high school or going into a senior high school, he was regarded as a prospect as a pitcher.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he said, no, I want to play every day.

[SPEAKER_01]: So he went into the draft as a short stop, probably it's going to be a third baseman long term, but he, uh, I just really was impressed with what he did in a structural league.

[SPEAKER_01]: Gamble, I think they're still trying to figure where he fits in the field.

[SPEAKER_01]: I believe, you know, whether he was played second baseman high school, he played some outfield.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's a plus runner.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think he's going to run it wind up in the outfield.

[SPEAKER_01]: They weren't ready to commit to that yet, but I believe that's where he's going to be.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's the Royals, like I can't help but not think of the fact that the Royals always need and want guys who can really run roaming center field for them.

[SPEAKER_00]: And to be honest, a lot of times roaming, the corner is as well, it's a big outfield there.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I would not be shocked at all by that either.

[SPEAKER_00]: Is there anyone else like Ramon Ramirez, Drew Bean?

[SPEAKER_00]: Is there anyone else who's like maybe a little further?

[SPEAKER_00]: off, you know, who could kind of at least be a name to watch, like as far as maybe not being number one next year, but being a little bit in the mix for that, you know, a guy who could really kind of emerge this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: Don Deau, Ricardo.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think Ramon Ramirez, I've been hearing hints that he could be the guy this year that breaks out.

[SPEAKER_01]: It really breaks out.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's got the bat, he's got power, his catching skills are stronger to them

[SPEAKER_01]: Until he signed, he was more of an outfielder.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he's built more of like a catcher.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's got that big bulky build.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I think outfield was long ago.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if he continues to develop his catching skills and the bat keeps growing, I think he could be a guy that jumps up there.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you mentioned it before.

[SPEAKER_00]: When you asked a question, what is this organization good

[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, you know, get casually owned, just graduated, I would say that the key thing that this organization has done, and we see the value of it is, if you can, they had, yes, they had, they were picking at the very near the very top of the draft, but if you pick a Bobby with junior.

[SPEAKER_00]: and you develop a Bobby Witt Jr into a homegrown MVP caliber player star.

[SPEAKER_00]: It transforms an organization.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, it's not just that, we've also got like St. Michael Garcia, and you've asked Quintino, there are others as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: But like when you look at it, I've got an idea of something I want to talk about after you, but I want you to go first.

[SPEAKER_00]: What do you see at this organization?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's been good at developing.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, again, like I said before, they've done a good job of developing pictures.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like I said, the staff at high AA, really perform well.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to say they overachieved.

[SPEAKER_01]: And again, Kendri Cheerio, and there's some other pictures.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's another one coming up from the DSL.

[SPEAKER_01]: If he comes up this year, Freddie Contreras, we had him in the back end of the list.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's really, you know, still slender, he pitched most of the last year at the age of 16 in the DSL.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think he turned 17 till late summer.

[SPEAKER_01]: Does that mean they won't bring him up for another year?

[SPEAKER_01]: Will they loom in the DSL?

[SPEAKER_01]: The way they moved Cheerio, I think I can expect to see him and for all I know, maybe he's already in surprise and I just haven't heard that yet.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, true the organization, they've just done a great job of developing pitching.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I would actually, my answer that would be a slight tweak of what you're saying, which is like, cause you know, they, I would say the thing that the Royals have really done a good job of in recent years, which is not a farm system type thing, but it is important is their ability to identify and develop what I would describe as like second tier big league pitching, like, so,

[SPEAKER_00]: Col Regens is a great theft, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: They call Regens for World of Chapman.

[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, it was a transformational move because Col Regens, when he's been healthy, has been really good.

[SPEAKER_00]: But it goes beyond that, it's like it's the Seth Lugos and Michael Waccaz and Noah Cameron's helping the Chris Boobix and the Daniel Lynch's into valuable players after they've been around for quite a while.

[SPEAKER_00]: Brady Singer becoming valuable and then being traded in a move,

[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like they've done that a lot better in recent years and it's really been kind of to me kind of one of the keys is of why this team has been, you know, in the playoff hunt in recent years.

[SPEAKER_00]: You made the playoffs in two years ago, we're in the hunt for all of these last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: And again, the other thing I kind of want to say with that is it's sad to say that this is something that deserves credit, but the Royals do deserve a lot of credit in that there

[SPEAKER_00]: kind of seem to kind of throw their hands up in the air and say oh well you know it's you know we're not going to be able to sign guys whatever.

[SPEAKER_00]: The the royals would not have been as good as they have been in recent years without signing for agents making some good trades spending some money and then because kind of I've seen partly maybe probably because you're able to do that then you are also able to lock up your star like the royals fans know

[SPEAKER_00]: that if you're a royal fan, you got to see Salvador Perez.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I expect you're going to be able to see Salvador Perez play the entirety of his career.

[SPEAKER_00]: And all time great for the royals, play his entire career for the royals.

[SPEAKER_00]: But now, you also, like Bobby would junior, there is a high likelihood if the royals so desire and which so desires, there's options down the road.

[SPEAKER_00]: But like Bobby would junior is at least going to be

[SPEAKER_00]: a royal to be a royal through the entirety of his time as a star and there's a good chance that he's going to just be a royal for life.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's, that's a huge to me, not just a sale of pitch of for a team to, for a smaller market, lower revenue team to have a guy like that.

[SPEAKER_00]: for the long term.

[SPEAKER_00]: But as a fan to know that you're going to have this guy, it is easier again.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you think of it from a fan perspective to me, it is easier as a fan to fall in love with your team.

[SPEAKER_00]: When you know that you have some players that have real staying power, and I can't think of someone that would be better to have to be able to know that than with Bobby Witt Jr. a guy who you know is 25 now is already a big league star, but you can say,

[SPEAKER_00]: He's probably signed for many, many, many years to come.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's to me, another thing that really does stand out about what the world has done in recent years.

[SPEAKER_00]: And again, is a credit to not just for an office, but basically the overall plan of what they've done.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's going to wrap up the video portion of this on YouTube side.

[SPEAKER_00]: But if you want more on the podcast feed, we'll be back right after this quick break.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we're back.

[SPEAKER_00]: So Bill, looking beyond the top 10, what are some names to know after the tenth spot on that?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because you said this has gotten to be a deeper system.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mentioned before earlier a Freddie Contreras.

[SPEAKER_01]: I might just see him coming up from the DSL.

[SPEAKER_01]: If he comes up this year, keep an eye on Stephen Zobach, who had a knee injury last year that affected his landing knee and we will talk more later about knee injuries, pictures.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I think Zobach would have been in the big leagues last year if he hadn't had the injury.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, and he's on the 40-man roster look for him this year.

[SPEAKER_01]: Watch out for Michael Lombardi, who did not pitch in official games after the draft.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was out of the draft out of two lane.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was a two-way player, basically a DH, maybe played some outfield, but then also a relief pitcher.

[SPEAKER_01]: The royals were on here, and I had a long talk with Brian Bridges about how they scouted him.

[SPEAKER_01]: I wrote about that one of my royals player features, how well they scouted him, and they were convinced that he could build up to be a starter.

[SPEAKER_01]: They drafted him to be a starting pitcher.

[SPEAKER_01]: And what they saw so far in structural league last year, I believe they're right.

[SPEAKER_01]: Another one I'm anxious to see where he does this year is Dennis Coleron.

[SPEAKER_01]: This guy, he's electric stuff, throws in the high 90s, touches into the triple digits.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was out of northeastern where he was starting pitcher and didn't do as well there, but he's also got a good slider.

[SPEAKER_01]: He just needs to throw more strikes, better control, but he could be a back-end bullpen guy.

[SPEAKER_01]: So there's some of my favorites to watch out for in that team or that organization.

[SPEAKER_00]: So and you said like there is also you've mentioned a couple of guys were coming over I do think that they're also like

[SPEAKER_00]: Some of them might be in up being role players.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some of them will see what they develop into.

[SPEAKER_00]: But on the international side, they've also got guys come over.

[SPEAKER_00]: We got to ask for Gonzaloas, we got Warren Calcano, Conconio, and we've got a ransom Adina.

[SPEAKER_00]: There are some guys here that when I read about them, they're like, okay, that's, there's something interesting.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're to see kind of how it develops.

[SPEAKER_00]: How it comes together.

[SPEAKER_00]: But you mentioned, I also highlight those in some ways because those are some of the position players,

[SPEAKER_00]: You get passed about 15 on this list, and man is it pitching heavy.

[SPEAKER_00]: Is that intentional, do you think?

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, again, you know, when I said there, they've been really good at developing pictures.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think they don't try to do a cookie cutter approach.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, they work to the pictures strengths.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hunter Patterson is in the 21 to 30 range.

[SPEAKER_01]: And they've really gotten the best out of him and he's improved.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's a little older because he was a college guy, missed time to Tommy John surgery.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, you look at, okay, here he's, he's like 25 now.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you know, hasn't been above double way, but you know, give him time and I think you're going to see something from Hunter Patterson this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I do look, when we look at this, the last question and again, you know, I kind of have some opinions here too, like is when we look at the royals right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're going for it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, this is not a team that's aiming for the future.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that the window is now.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, the window is not the same window as like the Dodgers window, or the Met's window.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's 90 wins and it's playoff spot.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then see what you do in the playoffs.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think is a hopeful goal for this team.

[SPEAKER_00]: But kind of how do you kind of, like, how has it changed?

[SPEAKER_00]: You've been doing the royals for a while for us now.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's at a different spot that it was, you know, a couple of years ago when you were doing this.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, when I first started doing it, they weren't trading prospects for big leaders at that point.

[SPEAKER_01]: But they've done that more recently.

[SPEAKER_01]: Last year was a bad year.

[SPEAKER_01]: They just, the hitting was not there.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're outfield.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're combined outfield.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't know the numbers, but they're combined outfield was just, you know, their numbers were just a visible.

[SPEAKER_01]: And they're making steps to improve that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, last year their big acquisition was Jonathan India and he didn't do quite what they went in the other from top of the order.

[SPEAKER_01]: This year they had they've made small moves.

[SPEAKER_01]: They picked up Isaac Collins from Milwaukee, who he was a surprise last year at age of 28.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can play both outfield and infield, but

[SPEAKER_01]: will he repeat that?

[SPEAKER_01]: They signed Lane Thomas who really has been hurt most of the last two years.

[SPEAKER_01]: Before that, he was a good, at least a good platoon outfielder playing center field, he could always hit left handers.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, we'll Lane Thomas contribute this year, but they need bounce backs from other players more than anything else.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he'd help.

[SPEAKER_00]: I would say obviously Pasquantino's been a guy who's had some struggles with injuries.

[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously they have to have Bobby Witt Jr and Michael Garcia.

[SPEAKER_00]: I would say like the other thing to me that really does stand out that jumps out is that is defensively as good a left side of the infield as you probably have in the American League.

[SPEAKER_00]: does help pitching stuff too.

[SPEAKER_00]: And especially if, again, Isaac Collins was great, defensively, you know, at least analytically in 2025.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's see how he plays and left.

[SPEAKER_00]: If Israel can be a solid center of fielder, Jack is not going to be a great right fielder, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think there's any.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think that's going to be something that you can really count on.

[SPEAKER_00]: But,

[SPEAKER_00]: defensively this team could be very good as well, and we'll see how it all develops.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that's another other baseball America deep dives.

[SPEAKER_00]: We hope you enjoyed this one.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you did, do check out on the YouTube channel and on the podcast feed.

[SPEAKER_00]: We have we are almost home.

[SPEAKER_00]: We have very few of these left to go and we are rolling out one for each and every organization.

[SPEAKER_00]: I would say that when you're listening to this by this time next week