my royals top 20

by doublestix on Jan 16, 2026 4:27 AM EST

just finished it on my blog.

Rank	Player	Position	2009 Level
1.	Mike Moustakas	3B	Hi-A
2.	Eric Hosmer	1B	Lo-A
3.	Daniel Cortes	RHP	AAA
4.	Danny Duffy	LHP	Hi-A
5.	Tim Melville	RHP	SS-A
6.	Johnny Giavotella	2B	Hi-A or AA
7.	Kila Ka’aihue	1B	AAA
8.	Carlos Rosa	RHP	AAA or MLB
9.	Mike Montgomery	LHP	Lo-A
10.	Blake Wood	RHP	AA
11.	Danny Gutierrez	RHP	Hi-A
12.	Derrick Robinson	CF	AA
13.	Jeff Bianchi	SS	AA
14.	Kelvin Herrera	RHP	Lo-A
15.	Jason Taylor	1B/LF	Hi-A
16.	David Lough	CF	Hi-A
17.	Tyler Sample	RHP	SS-A
18.	Julio Pimentel	RHP	AA
19.	Joe Dickerson	RF	AA
20.	Chris Nicoll	RHP	AAA

A few of the next prospects, not in any order:

C Salvador Perez, C Sean McCauley, CF Paulo Orlando, CF Adrian Ortiz, RHP Sam Runion, RHP Edward Cegarra, RHP Keaton Hayenga, RHP Alex Caldera, LHP John Lamb

Few comments...

-I was "this close" to putting Hosmer #1. And it's not because I don't love the Moose, but Hosmer has a very special bat.
-Gutierrez might be a tad too low in retrospect.
-I really, really, really like Giavotella. Really like him.

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Good list

by killa on Jan 16, 2026 8:48 AM EST reply reply 0 recs

Melville vs. Montgomery

I’m interested in the split in their ranking. Not that it is wrong, but personally I see them as pretty interchangeable value-wise. Wondering what your reasoning is. Does seem to me that the 5-9 slots are all pretty comparable.

by aCone419 on Jan 16, 2026 9:09 AM EST reply reply 0 recs

i try not to put too much stock into first year performances

especially in rookie ball.

perhaps I should, but i’ve seen way, way too many guys be complete studs in rookie ball and then collapse after that. now granted MM also gets good reports from scouts, but still. so filtering out that, Melville was generally rated as the 1st or 2nd best HS pitcher in teh draft, while MM was more in the 6-7 range among his peers. in retrospect I might move Melville down a spot or two, actually.

Founder of the Johnny Giavotella fan club.

by doublestix on Jan 16, 2026 3:16 PM EST up reply reply 0 recs

I can see not being bothered very much by a bad performance in rookie ball, but why not move

a guy up if he is as impressive as Montgomery was?

It's not the results, it's how you look going about those results -- Tim McCarver

by WaddellCanseco on Jan 17, 2026 3:23 AM EST up reply reply 0 recs

like said

maybe I should recognize rookie ball a tad more, but I’ve seen players who are awesome there turn to crap. not that Matt Mitchell is crap, but he struck out 70 (or so) batters in 55 innings last year in rookie ball. this year he struck out like 75 in 115 (!!!!!!!) innings in Low A which is obviously not very good. that is just one example.

i wouldn’t move Montgomery up anyways. I’d take those 8 above him first.

Founder of the Johnny Giavotella fan club.

by doublestix on Jan 17, 2026 4:10 AM EST up reply reply 0 recs