Does the disjointed season make it more likely Royals will fast-track top prospects?
While Major League Baseball and MLB Players’ Association officials continue to discuss the best and safest way to coordinate a return to the playing field during the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, new questions have been or soon will be plopped onto the plates of club executives.
For example: Might it be wise in the big picture to develop some of their up and coming prospects at the major-league level with the potential for added roster spots? How should they weigh the benefits and risks of fast-tracking young players to the majors against the a potential of a lost year, with the minor-league baseball season becoming an increasingly unlikely proposition?
“You’re always developing players at the major-league level to a certain degree, but if you’re developing too many at the major-league level it has not historically been a formula for winning games,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. “I want to focus on the players that give us the best chance to win each and every night. I think that’s what (CEO and chairman) John Sherman expects. That’s what our fans desire. It’s certainly the mindset of Mike Matheny and our players.”
No Royals players or staff members had contracted the coronavirus entering this week, according to Moore.
Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network and The Athletic reported earlier this month that MLB and the players’ union had discussed expanding rosters from 26 players to as many as 50 per team to accommodate injuries and potential illness. But that is no sure thing..
As of Tuesday, Moore told The Star that he’s still not certain what roster limits the Royals would have if and when baseball resumes.
“We haven’t been told what the rosters would look like as far as the numbers and so forth,” Moore said. “We’re just assuming that we’ll be able to have additional players on our active roster. If that’s the case, then you’d anticipate taking more pitching, which is going to give more players an opportunity. That’s a good thing for them and the industry.”
An expanded roster would allow the Royals to avoid decisions on players who are out of minor-league options such as outfielders Bubba Starling, Brett Phillips, pitchers Jorge Lopez, Randy Rosario and Jesse Hahn.
All of those players would be exposed to waivers if not on the opening day 26-man roster. An expanded roster would potentially let the club keep them all in the organization for at least one more year.
Teams will have to structure rosters to fit the demands of an altered schedule. The schedule remains undecided, so it’s not clear if teams would have to play every day as well as playing doubleheaders regularly during a condensed season.
Moore always prefers having more players under the team’s umbrella than the alternative.
“The more players you can give opportunity to, the better off you’re going to be at the end of the day simply because you have more time to evaluate,” Moore said. “You have more opportunity to give those players and challenge them. You have to use them in ways you weren’t necessarily planning.”
The reported scenarios for a resumption of the MLB season require regular testing, sequestering players and staff in an isolated area and the absence of spectators at games.
Creating a similar closed-off environment for all the minor-league affiliates seems highly unlikely. If it is not feasible to play a minor-league season, that will certainly change some of the front offices’ considerations.
The lack of a minor-league season could hurt players like the Royals’ quartet of highly touted starting pitching prospects — Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch and Kris Bubic — as well as minor-league position players already on the 40-man roster and top prospects in the upper levels of the minors. They could lack a means of gaining competitive game experience if they aren’t included on expanded major-league rosters.
Does that make it more likely club officials accelerate the timetables for some of those players and send them to majors earlier than anticipated?
“That’s a good question,” Moore said. “Do we decide to just push some guys in preparation for ‘21 and ‘22? But look, our focus was and remains that we’re going to do the best we can to win as many games as we can in 2020. I don’t want to lose that focus. I don’t want to alter that mindset one bit.
“But it’s an interesting question and it’s something that we’ll have to look at. I just don’t know what the operating structure is going to look like throughout baseball. Until we know, it’s very difficult to put all the pieces together.”
