2007 Kansas City Royals PRE-SEASON Prospects

2007 Kansas City Royals Top 20 Prospects

1. Alex Gordon, 3B, Grade A (the best prospect in baseball)
   
2. Billy Butler, OF, Grade A- (best case outcome: the new Edgar Martinez?)
   
3. Luke Hochevar, RHP, Grade A- (shoulder problems?)
   
4. Chris Lubanski, OF, Grade B
   
5. Jeff Bianchi, SS, Grade B
   
6. Tyler Lumsden, LHP, Grade B (this grade may be too high, please comment)
   
7. Justin Huber, 1B-OF, Grade B-
   
8. Brent Fisher, LHP, Grade B- (a real sleeper prospect)
   
9. Mitch Maier, OF, Grade C+ (maybe B-?)
   
10. Billy Buckner, RHP, Grade C+
    
11. Ryan Braun, RHP, C+
    
12. Mario Lisson, 3B, C+ (a sleeper)
    
13. Danny Christensen, LHP, C+
    
14. Chris Nicoll, RHP, C+
    
15. Carlos Rosa, RHP, C+
    
16. Jason Taylor, 3B, C+
    
17. Erik Cordier, RHP, C+
    
18. Jarod Plummer, RHP, C+ (a sleeper but C+ might be too high)
    
19. Donny Murphy, 2B, C (worried about health and stagnating bat, but maybe C+?)
    
20. Angel Sanchez, SS, C

Others: Dan Cortes, RHP; Luis Cota, RHP; Gabe DeHoyos, RHP, Joe Dickerson, OF; Adam Donachie, C; Jason Godin, RHP; Blake Johnson, RHP; Josh Johnson, 2B; Chris McConnell, SS; Harold Mozingo, RHP; Julio Pimentel, RHP; Derrick Robinson, OF; Mike Stodolka, 1B; Nick Van Stratten, OF; Blake Wood, RHP.

The Royals In One Sentence: A rebuilding organization with a strong offensive core for the future but not much pitching depth.

Note: ALL GRADES ARE PRELIMINARY. There is a lot of slack in the B-/C+ range and players may move up and down depending on how my thinking progresses. Feel free to make comments, point out sleepers I may have missed, etc. Note that there is only a limited amount of space in the book, and the max I can do is 35-36 players per team. This is your chance to have some input into the process. Note that newsletter subscribers have already been sent some of the preliminary player comments.

Of course, the best thing you can do is buy my book.