The Royals’ minor league clubs moved quickly into action as soon as the big league club broke camp. No sooner were the minors rosters set than they were on the field, starting games on April 5.

The Royals had the top rated farm system in all of baseball just over a year ago. But much has changed since then, and most of those top prospects are now doing battle in KC.

That doesn’t mean, however, that the cupboard is now bare. The minor league rosters are peppered with another crop of elite prospects. And though the games going on in KC should actually mean something this year, the minor leagues bear watching as the next wave of prospects matures.

Noticeably absent from the minor league rosters is John Lamb, Baseball America’s #18 prospect in 2011. Lamb is still rehabbing his surgically repaired elbow in Surprise. Still, Baseball America thought enough of Lamb to rank him sixth among Royals prospects.

Pitching prospects in the system ranked by Baseball America in 2012 are Mike Montgomery, #23, and Jake Odorizzi, #68.

Omaha:
Triple-A rosters are usually stocked at least in part with veterans who are ready to jump to the big leagues in a moment’s notice. KC’s Omaha farm team has a handful of starters who have already failed once (or more times) at the big league level.

Zach Miner fits that description. The 30-year-old who owns a 25-20 record in the bigs is still trying to work his way back from an injury that knocked him out of the entire 2010 season.

Also on Omaha’s staff will be Vin Mazzaro and Sean O’Sullivan, two who failed miserably in their chances in KC. No longer considered prospects, Mazzaro, O’Sullivan and particularly Miner will need to seize this as possibly their last opportunity.

Brandon Sisk, a 26-year-old who has received very little attention to this point, had a very good season split between NW and Omaha in 2011. Ryan Verdugo, 25, came over in the Melky Cabrera trade from San Francisco.

In the Omaha bullpen are three familiar faces to KC – Louis Coleman, Nathan Adcock and Jeremy Jeffress. Coleman has to be the most disappointed to not be on the big league roster. Coleman pitched well for the Royals last season, posting a 2.87 ERA and a 1.173 WHIP in 48 games.

Adcock was overmatched last year, but he has a chance now to prove who he truly is as a prospecT. Jeffress spiraled from KC all the way down to Double-A, struggling at every level. But his enviable physical ability keeps him in the “top-prospect” category.

Much to Ned Yost’s dismay, Montgomery solidified his spot in Omaha quite early in the spring. KC hoped to give the big righthander every opportunity to crack the big league rotation. But Montgomery failed miserably in spring training and took himself out of the running. Still ranked #1 among Royals prospects by Baseball America, Montgomery needs to improve on an awful 2011 in Omaha (5-11, 5.32 ERA), or he’ll be in danger of becoming a bust.

NW Arkansas:
Double-A tends to be the “proving ground” for prospects. Therefore it shouldn’t be surprising that most of the Royals’ premier pitching talents (aside from Montgomery) will start the season in Northwest Arkansas, even though many of them ended 2011 there.

Probably the team’s top pitching prospect at this point is 22-year-old lefty Odorizzi, the Royals’ #4 prospect according to Baseball America.  A key piece in the Zack Greinke trade, Odorizzi has moved slowly but steadily through the ranks. Odorizzi’s performances were spotty at Northwest Arkansas after dominating at Wilmington in the first half of 2011. He will probably get a promotion if he pitches well at Double-A.

The Royals’ #9 rated prospect, Chris Dwyer, will also start the same place he finished 2011. Dwyer was marginally successful last season, going 8-10 with 5.60 ERA. He will also be gunning for a mid-season promotion.

Northwest Arkansas will have an abundance of starting pitchers, and the most intriguing prospect is Noel Arguelles. The Cuban signee finally made his appearance in Wilmington last year after hiding in the shadows of a huge contract and mysterious arm troubles. Opinions of his ability vary greatly, but Arguelles had a 3.20 ERA and a 1.125 WHIP in his first professional season.

Other marginal prospects Tim Melville (22-years-old), Justin Marks (24) and Kendal Volz (24) will have a chance to prove themselves as prospects or just warm bodies against the tough Texas League competition.

Wilmington:
The Royals #8 prospect, Jason Adam and #10 prospect, Yordano Ventura, will begin the season in Wilmington. Both 20-year-olds had losing records and high ERAs at Kane County last year, but both have highly-regarded talent.

Keep an eye on 21-year-old Greg Billo. He went 9-5 with a 1.93 ERA and a 1.022 WHIP at Kane County. Billo struck out 7.9 batters per nine innings.

The discussion as of late has began to center around improvements that need to happen to the 2012 team. Even the Cardinals front office has started working towards next season. The rotation is set, potential veteran free agents are having open discussions about possible returns, and everyone is beginning to focus once again on Albert Pujols.

In the midst of all the September call-ups that should be getting playing time to determine if they are, in fact, ready for the big leagues, another player is slowly establishing himself in a key 2012 role for the team.

Jason Motte has become a closer.

He was one of the few back of the bullpen guys to not get a shot early in the season when Ryan Franklin fell apart. The pitchers that the team went through were generally given a few games to see what they could do. While Motte was being used in late inning situations, he was not being given the opportunity to close the door for the team. In the midst of it all, Motte started stringing together an impressive 2011 season. Consider some of the facts…

The most obvious show of dominance has occurred from July 26th through September 3rd. During that time frame, Motte would make 21 appearances over 18 2/3 innings pitched without being credited with a single run allowed. He would inherit 15 base runners, allowing one to score on August 22nd against the Dodgers in St. Louis. His command, which has frequently been in question, would stabilize as he would strike out 15 batters over this stretch of the season while only walking two.

Overlapping that time frame was a span of games from July 26th through August 28th in which Motte would pitchin 14 1/3 innings and only surrender one base hit. Gaby Sanchez would reach on a line drive that hit Motte on the sixth of August as the Cardinals played the Marlins in Florida.

This month alone, Motte has made eight appearances, striking out seven hitters over 8 2/3 innings, walking one, surrendering one run, and compiling a record of one win and six saves.

In short, Motte has started becoming the dominant pitcher that the Cardinals have hoped he would become. His control has been much better and his effectiveness has risen to the challenge.

When it comes to 2012, the Cardinals may not need to be looking for a closer to nail down the bullpen.

Seems to me, they already have their guy.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

The Royals’ farm system’s much-celebrated #1 ranking lasted all of about five months. The collection of talent that earned that lofty ranking was destined to remain intact only long enough to see the big league team eliminated from contention.

By May the overhaul of the KC club began, and some of the most celebrated prospects appeared on the scene. Eric Hosmer and Danny Duffy came first, followed by Mike Moustakas, Johnny Giavotella and Salvador Perez. A committee of relievers pitched in to give KC the youngest roster (by far) in the majors.

Next season’s ranking of the Royals’ farm system should be much more ordinary, but the cupboard is far from bare. After all, three of KC’s top four farm teams made the playoffs in their respective leagues.

With the Royals’ roster now sufficiently stocked with youngsters, the remaining crop of minor leaguers may find it much tougher to earn a promotion.

In a two-part series, I-70Baseball.com takes a look at the top players that remain in the Royals’ farm system, most of whom will begin next season at some level of the minors.

First, the position players:

Catcher: The promotion of Perez leaves Manny Pina as the primary catcher in the Royals’ system. Pina is a solid defender who provides security in case of an injury at the big league level. 23-year-old Ben Theriot hit well in limited action at Northwest Arkansas.

Seemingly always in need of catching, KC took Cameron Gallagher in the second round of the June draft. Gallagher got his feet wet in the rookie leagues this summer.

First Base: One of the saddest developments of the season was the demotion of Kila Ka’aihue in May. The big Hawaiian clearly demonstrated that he wasn’t going to capitalize on the chance he was given to prove he belonged in the big leagues. Hosmer wasted no time in relegating Ka’aihue to a plan-C role. He has most likely played his last game in a Royal uniform.

Meanwhile Clint Robinson’s situation is even worse. Making like Babe Ruth on minor league pitching won’t get you a ticket to the show, as Robinson has proven. In the past two seasons, Robinson has bashed 52 homers and driven 198 runs.

Ka’aihue and Robinson are both in their latter-20s. The team has no good first-base prospect below AAA Omaha, but first baseman aren’t usually hard to find.

Second Base: 21-year-old Rey Navarro split the season between Wilmington and Northwest Arkansas. He’s probably the best young second baseman in the Royals’ system. Two candidates at Northwest Arkansas who play both second and short, Jeff Bianchi and Christian Colon, struggled this season.

Shortstop: Colon should top this list, but he hasn’t exactly impressed in a season and a half in the system. This year he batted just .257 with only 8 homers. 19-year-old Michael Antonio, a third-round pick in 2010, played well in the rookie leagues this year.

Third Base: KC might have no better prospect in its system than Kane County’s 18-year-old Cheslor Cuthbert. Signed out of Nicaraguan at just 16, Cuthbert has already played 113 games as a pro and held his own against older pitchers. There are virtually no quality third basemen ahead of him, so Cuthbert will move up as quickly as his skills allow.

Outfield: The story of the winter will be what Bubba Starling does in his professional debut. Starling will have his baptism in the Arizona Fall League and won’t be rushed next season. His development will be a long-term project.

More relevant to the big league team will be what the Royals decide to do with Lorenzo Cain next spring. Few would have expected when Cain arrived as part of the Zack Greinke trade that he would be stuck in Omaha all season. But the play of the Royals’ big league outfielders, particularly Melky Cabrera, put Cain on hold. The 25-year-old Cain did everything to earn a spot in Kaufman Stadium short of purchasing a ticket. He batted .312 with 16 homers.

Cain’s outfield mate at Omaha, David Lough, is in a similar situation. He hit .318 with 11 triples, but will most likely start in Omaha again next year.

The top outfield prospect entering the season, heralded 20-year-old Wil Myers, struggled this season, but will most likely be in Omaha as well. A healthy Myers is expected to live up to the high expectations eventually. Pacific Coast League opponents will be in for it if next season’s Omaha outfield consists of Cain, Lough and Myers.

One of the biggest disappointments of 2011 was the lack of development from Kane County’s Brett Eibner. The University of Arkansas product has power and athleticism to burn, but struggled mightily against low-A pitching. For the 22 year old, a faster progression was expected.

Other than Cain, none of the players listed here are expected to break camp with the Royals next spring. Look for Cuthbert, Myers and Colon to receive high rankings by Baseball America this winter. Starling might get ranked as well, but his ranking will be based solely on his overall athleticism.

This group won’t by any means earn KC’s farm system a #1 ranking next winter. In fact the depth at nearly every position looks limited. The two most recent drafts and forays into the Caribbean must produce depth to replace all the prospects that were promoted to KC this summer.

It was only a week ago we invited the New Year, but only five short weeks marks a much bigger celebration around select Arizona and Florida cities. February 14^th is a day known for its love, but it will be pitchers and catchers who are building chemistry when they report on Valentine’s Day.

As Major League rosters gain shape and Spring Training quickly approaches, it’s beginning to look as if the group in need of the most lovin’ is the Royals pitching staff.

Photo by Erika Lynn

While the Greinke haul looks good projected into 2013 and beyond, it’s like robbing a cupboard with only a few cans of beef broth left for this year’s rotation.

GM Dayton Moore’s first offseason move is already taking immediate effect. Hindsight makes the deal of two young arms for DeJesus obvious after later trading Greinke. Vin Mazzaro, 24, will be asked to take quite a bit of the load for a staff with lots of options, but little consistency.

In his rookie season, Mazzaro only threw 91.1 innings, while he bumped his load to 122.1 innings last season. Mazzaro is slated as a middle of the rotation righty. He doesn’t have spectacular stuff or strikeout rates, but is a solid young arm. In small sample sizes his numbers could be ugly early, but if he is able to throw between 180-200 innings, the marathon will prove Mazzaro worthy.

Three major pieces of the pitching staff’s fate will be decided before every one reports to Spring Training. Starting pitchers Luke Hochevar and Kyle Davies, Royals since 2007, and reliever Robinson Tejeda, since 2008, all have arbitration hearings scheduled during February.

With the departure of Greinke, it looks like the promotion department will be busy as Hochevar seems the next probable Opending Day Candidate.

Hochevar is another young arm, 26, who hasn’t found stability on a big league level. Injuries have unexpectedly posed setbacks during his four year career, but Hochevar has never thrown more than 143 innings in a season. Teams with number one starters who have never made more than 25 starts in a season and have a career 5.60 ERA produce obvious results.

Davies looked like a non-tender candidate, because his $1.8 million salary should see a significant raise. Considering his mediocre stats it’s hard to believe such a big pay bump would be in order. Arbitration rulings are based largely around the field time a player has seen. Since Davies has thrown 470 innings in four seasons with Kansas City, his workload indicates he is willing of a pay raise.

I can still hear some of you hecklers out their ragging Davies. I understand the skeptics wondering why a replacement level player should be getting a big raise. The first is he has been in MLB for six years. The second, if Davies is such an awful pitcher, why could the Royals find anyone better to throw his innings?

Davies fate was sealed with the ‘Greinke effect,’ making his potentially pricey contract acceptable for a club with some cash and no big league arms.

The last real roster option who has seen big league time is Sean O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan is another young, 22, arm who is still finding his way at the top level. Bill James projects O’Sullivan to make 23 starts, 131 innings pitched, 4.88 ERA, and 4.90 FIP. While those numbers are far from spectacular, 23 starts from O’Sullivan could help carry a scarce staff through the season.

Everett Teaford

Even with only four fairly solid rotation commitments, I don’t think the Royals are in a panic to fill the void by their recent actions.

The most obvious solution for a team with nearly all of their major contracts gone, as well as Gil Meche’s $12 million coming off the books next year, is pay a major league contract for a MLB starter. Throughout the offseason the Royals have been linked to starters like Kevin Millwood, Carl Pavano, and Jeff Francis. It looks as if Pavano is going to resign with the Twins, making him a division foe once again.

I think Francis would be a cheap alternative, also adding a lefty to complement the four righties in place. Francis had built his innings total to 215, before missing parts of 2008 and 2010, and all of 2009. A torn labrum was the most significant damage, which was the cause for the missed time in 2009-2010.

Injury plagued pitchers are usually a gamble, but not including his injury marred years Francis has never thrown less than 143 innings. A cheap price tag and big league knowledge to pass down to a fleet of up and coming lefties makes me perk my ears.

The other potential solution was released in a January 3, announcement by the Royals. Kansas City released their Spring Training invitations, which included invites to six of the top ten Royals prospects according to Baseball America.

While Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer were obvious position players, LHP John Lamp. LHP Mike Montgomery, LHP Danny Duffy, LHP Chris Dwyer, and RHP Aaron Crow are all possible rotation options depending on spring performances.

Kansas City has also invited several pitching prospect outside the top ten. A few other roster contenders will be LHP Everett Teaford, LHP Noel Arguelles, RHP Nathan Adcock, and RHP Kanekoa Texeira. Adcock was a Rule 5 selection by the Royals grabbing him from Baltimore. His fate will most likely be sealed by the end of Spring Training. To retain a Rule 5 draft pick, the selection must be on the 25 man roster. If Adcock was not, he would be sent back to the

Despite a shaky starting staff, the bullpen should perform admirably depending on their amount of use. Quite frankly any bullpen with Joakim Soria doesn’t need much to make it serviceable.

Soria will anchor a group of Tejeda, Gil Meche, Texeira, and a few others. Tejeda has proved his worth out of the bullpen since coming to Kansas City from Boston. In three seasons as a Royal, Tejeda has a 3.47 ERA in 174 innings.

Gil Meche should offer some support on a diminished workload. Look for Texeira, 24, to improve on the 42 innings he worked in relief for the Royals. Texeira posted a 4.63 ERA with Kansas City.

A few other late additions or starting rotation contenders will be left over to round out the bullpen.

While the pitching performances don’t look to promising, they still should get a boost from multiple defensive upgrades.

Outfielders Jeff Francouer and Melky Cabrera were both major defensive upgrades when signed. Hopefully those two along with the speed and quick jumps from youngster Lorenzo Cain can make up for DeJesus’ outfield prowess.

Alcides Escobar immediately becomes the best Royals shortstop I can remember because of his love with the glove and fast feet. Of course, I’m only 23 which leave me the likes of Angel Berroa, Neifi Perez, and Yuniesky Betancourt.

Moore has constructed a lineup with solid offensive corners and fast, slick fielding up the middle players. With a stable of young arms, it looks like the only missing piece is a catcher.

Unfortunately for Royals fans, the catching question is one Moore could address a while down the road, since a quality product isn’t expected in Kauffman until 2012.

The Royals rotation mystery is a question which will be answered soon. Only a few short months will decide which starters will break into 2011 as a Royal.

Pencil in Greinke every fifth day and develop a few quality starters around him, keep them healthy, and build a bridge to “The Mexicutioner.” It seemed simple enough.

Going back a couple of years ago, it didn’t seem impossible to build a decent pitching staff. Zach Greinke was blossoming into a Cy Young pitcher. He was backed by a young and talented cast. And Ramon Ramirez and Leo Nunez were developing into quality set-up men.

Fast forward two years, and you’ve got a dissatisfied Greinke who might be on the trading block, Luke Hochever who can’t seem to live up to his potential, Kyle Davies who might be about out of chances to prove he belongs, Gil Meche who injuries have forced to the bullpen, and Brian Bannister who’s now gone.

The hopes for this group of pitchers is fading fast.

Losing seems to have taken its toll on Greinke. Lofty expectations following his remarkable 2009 may not have helped. Whatever the reason, the Royals ace struggled in 2010, and his frustrations bubbled over in August. He complained that the Royals’ current rebuilding effort is nothing he hasn’t seen before. He isn’t sure he wants to wait on a new crop of youngsters to develop.

Greinke didn’t seem to have the same magic in 2010, but a look beyond won/loss and ERA bears out that he’s still one of the best in the game. In fact, his WAR ranking would place him 7^th in the American League.

So what to do with him? The Royals should reap a haul if they do deal Greinke. But past blockbuster moves of superstars haven’t brought the desired return (remember Carlos Beltran?). Should they play him half the season and ship him to a contender? Or should they open up the bidding war now during the off-season? And with the minor league cupboard full, should the Royals accept prospects for Greinke?

The recent trade of David DeJesus for Oakland A’s right-hander Vin Mazarro raised some eyebrows. Was this move to fill a spot soon to be vacated by Greinke? Mazarro is just 10-17 with a 4.72 ERA in two big league seasons. But he just turned 24 and his defenders claim the statistics don’t tell the story of his ability. Reports are that he hits mid-90s with his fastball and is developing other quality pitches.

One is tempted to question why the Royals went after (settled for?) Mazarro. Was he a fair value for DeJesus, a proven commodity? Was this trade more motivated by economics than by Mazarro’s potential?

But we’re talking about Royals pitching, and like it or not, Mazarro is a Royal and DeJesus is an Oakland A. So add Mazarro to the mix and brace yourself for more development of young, unproven pitching.

Royal fans must hope Mazarro isn’t another Sean O’Sullivan, a youngster who would appear to have ability, but whose performance has thus far been disappointing.

O’Sullivan arrived in July and went 3-6 with a disastrous 6.11 ERA. The one ray of hope for O’Sullivan is that his WHIP was a bit more normal 1.557.

Hochever figures to be back in the rotation in 2011, but Davies is not a sure thing. The Royals will need to offer him another contract before December, or he could be cut loose. Both pitchers need to find some consistency. Flashes of brilliance are too few and far between for these two 27-year-olds.

And that leaves a mid-season addition to the rotation who had perhaps the group’s best season – Bruce Chen. Chen emerged in late April to lead the staff with 12 wins, and his 4.17 ERA matched Greinke’s. But Chen is a free agent and is unlikely to be back.

O’Sullivan and Mazarro will have a limited window of opportunity to prove they belong in the Royals’ rotation. The farm system is loaded with arms that should be making their way to the big leagues in the next few years.

Depending upon who you hear from, any one of Mike Montgomery, John Lamb, Chris Dwyer, or Danny Duffy could be the top left hander in all the minor leagues. Aaron Crow struggled making the transition to pro baseball, but the tools are there.

Most likely each of these young guns will start the season at AA or AAA, but shades of Saberhagen, Gubicza and Jackson have Royals fans counting the days. Regardless how the big league club performs, it should be another exciting year to follow the Omaha and Northwest Arkansas teams.

Now as for relief pitching, there’s Joakim Soria and… well…

Setting up “The Mexicutioner” could be interesting. Hughes, Wood, Bullington, Holland, Humber, Marte, Texeira… None seems any different than the others, and none seemed to get the job done in 2010. Meche will most likely figure into the bullpen, and the one guy who seems to have potential is Robinson Tejeda. His inconsistency was maddening, but he had a high SO/9 and low H/9.

The good news is, at just 26, Soria already has notched 132 saves and rarely blows an opportunity. He was selected the Royals’ Pitcher of the Year, was named to the All-Star Game, and yet still remains a great secret to the rest of the country because leads in the 9^th are all too rare. Imagine how valuable Soria would be if the Royals were a contender.

The prospects are bleak enough for the pitching staff even with Greinke. Should the team decide to deal him, it’s because they’ve given up not only on the team’s chances for 2011, but also for this entire group of pitchers. Royals fans can only hope the next wave of young guns can live up to expectations.