Both the Angels and Rockies farm systems have had at least some close to MLB ETA minor league talent that are performing half decently to this point in the season. The Royals, however, have an absolute dearth of talented players in the high minors. That absolutely screams that this team needs to sell, retool, and rapidly build around their true star. As such, Bobby Witt Jr. should in no way be moved, despite what half baked conversations you may see on the different social medias. 

Moving Out?

The Royals do have some very talented MLB players that are slightly underperforming, and could be seen as expendable this year to help make a more cohesive roster in the years to come. 

Vinnie Pasquantino, AKA the Pasquatch, however is someone that could definitely be moved at or around the deadline for some serious pieces. To a lesser degree 28 year old Michael Massey, the Royals’ current second baseman, could help out a team looking for a defensively adept however light hitting middle infielder with some outfield flexibility.

Thirty six year old Seth Lugo and thirty four year old Michael Wacha are the exact type of starting pitchers that you annually see moved for a larger than expected haul at the trade deadline. Their last big ticket has to be the now oft-mentioned Cole Ragans, who has not pitched to his ceiling, but has three years of control left as well as being a twenty nine year old left hander with great stuff. Even though he is injured, expect many callers on him.

Moving Up?

If these names get moved, then who would be expected to slide into a more prominent role or onto the active roster? What call-ups could we see in the wakes of some trade action? That is a bit of a hard question to answer. 

The Royals have talent in their farms, without a doubt. Is any of it truly close, though? Not really. According to the MLB.com top organizational prospects seven of the top ten prospects have a projected MLB ETA after the year 2027. Blake Mitchell is an exciting real life prospect, but has shown almost no aptitude to hit in the minor leagues. Kendry Chourio is extremely exciting but is still only eighteen years old, so expecting him to debut before 2029 is a bit naive. 

The first real exciting and arguably big league ready hitter is Carson Roccaforte, the twenty four year old outfielder at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. A former 2023 Competitive Balance Round B pick, he is currently an above average bat with a solid .853 OPS with fourteen home runs and ten stolen bases. Seeing power and speed categories being filled up at the minor league level may be enticing, however it is important to remember that often the minor league steal numbers do not translate well to the major leagues. Although he does have slightly above average speed, I would not expect him to be considered a true burner at the higher levels. His stellar eleven percent walk rate is offset by his gaudy thirty five percent strikeout rate, although all together it ends up leading to a 117 wRC+, meaning he is still performing at a 17% better clip than the rest of the league. If and when the Royals are ready to make Roccaforte a big leaguer, they will have to DFA or trade someone to make room on the 40 man roster, since it is already full. 

Outside of Roccaforte, there isn’t anyone terribly close to MLB that really moves the dial. An honorable mention includes Matthew Lugo, a twenty five year outfielder and old waiver claim from the Los Angeles Angels after they designated him for assignment. He has a great 14.7% walk rate and 24.2% strikeout rate this season at Triple-A between Salt Lake in the Angels system and Omaha in the Royals system. He should mainly be considered only in deep leagues for a bench or flex option in a pinch. 

The only other real player that elicits any type of intrigue is Steven Zobac, a right handed pitcher whose main enticement is that he is on the 40 man already. The Royals saw him as promising enough to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft this offseason, so at the least he is worth monitoring in deep leagues. He is currently pitching in what appears to be a sort of rehab assignment at the complex league, and despite less than inspiring numbers in the last few seasons, he’s at least been able to generally flirt with around a strikeout per inning rate. So he’s got that going for him, which is nice. 

This might be (hopefully) one of the toughest farm systems to look at with a short term lens. They badly need some high level talent, or for their younger prospects to absolutely tear ahead of expectations and beat their MLB ETA by a year or more, or they may be looking at a few years with some journeyman stop gaps while they wait for their future core to develop. 

The vision in Kansas City is there, building their offense around Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia, Jac Caglianone, and Carter Jensen. Hopefully Noah Cameron and Cole Ragans (if he’s still there) can hold down the rotation until Kendry Chourio and the rest of the young guns are ready to take the stage.