What would a 50-man Royals roster look like? Here’s a projection with those additions
An abbreviated Major League Baseball season with proposed protocols to prevent spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus would look very different from a health and safety standpoint.
It could also look very different from the standpoint of roster construction.
The 67-page proposal presented to the MLB Players Association, as reported by ESPN, The Athletic and The Associated Press, calls for each MLB roster to include 50 players instead of the customary 40, with the number of active players for each game yet to be determined.
That large number of players will provide teams with needed depth, especially with the minor-league season in serious doubt and top young players facing the prospect of a year without competitive baseball.
It also adds a dimension of intrigue to how teams such as the Kansas City Royals might choose to form their 50-man player pool. Royals general manager Dayton Moore told The Star recently that the top priority when baseball resumes will be too win now as opposed to manipulating the roster to develop players for the future.
“That’s a good question: 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,” Moore said. “I don’t want to lose that focus. I don’t want to alter that mindset one bit.”
The Royals and every other MLB team already have a 40-man roster of players who are eligible to be added to the active major-league roster. They could certainly remove players from the current 40-man group to make room for others.
For now, it’s clear they’d likely get to add at least 10 more players to their 40-man roster ... if the owners and players can agree upon how to play a 2020 season.
Top pitching candidates
Greg Holland
Greg Holland was impressive in spring training but signed a minor-league contract during the offseason. He wasn’t added to the 40-man ahead of the MLB transaction freeze. A veteran and former All-Star who was a crucial part of the Royals’ 2014 and 2015 success, he’s almost sure to be part of their bullpen.
Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch, Kris Bubic
The organization’s four top pitching prospects, all projected as starters, were in big-league camp together for the first time this spring. Singer was scheduled to pitch the day MLB suspended spring training, while the others had been assigned to minor-league camp.
Singer, the team’s first pick in the 2018 draft and last year’s Double-A Pitcher of the Year, has moved ahead of the rest thus far, but Kowar is not far behind. Both finished last season at Double-A.
All four have drawn high praise from both inside and outside the organization. Baseball America ranked Lynch the organization’s best pitching prospect. Bubic joined Singer in last year’s MLB All-Star Futures Game in Cleveland.
The case for adding these four is twofold. First, their raw stuff and talent could certainly help in some way at the big-league level. Second, they’d make more progress toward becoming polished pitchers by spending this time with the big club as opposed to throwing in backyards.
Tyler Zuber
Zuber, a right-handed reliever, more than held his own in his first big-league camp. His lone major hiccup came in the form of a home run that accounted for the only run he allowed in six innings while registering eight strikeouts and allowing three hits. His changeup elicited praise from manager Mike Matheny on more than one occasion.
Eric Skoglund, Braden Shipley, Heath Fillmyer
If the Royals prefer to go with pitchers with major-league experience in multiple roles, Skoglund, Shipley and Fillmyer could be considerations. All have shown flashes of potential both as starters and out of the bullpen in the bigs.
Catcher candidates
Nick Dini
Catching depth is always vital. Dini made his MLB debut last season after the club traded Martin Maldonado and when Cam Gallagher went down with an injury. The Royals dropped Dini off their roster this offseason, but he has had a taste of the majors and has experience with this pitching staff.
MJ Melendez, Sebastian Rivero
Similar to the pitching prospects who’ve shown promise, Melendez and Rivero — both All-Stars two years ago at Low-A — might be better served in the long runn by spending this time with the big club and learning from Gold Glove catcher Salvador Perez. Both have spent the past two years in big-league camp.
Infield candidates
Erick Mejia
A versatile player who can man the middle of the infield or the outfield, Mejia received a cup of coffee in the majors last season (nine games, 22 at-bats) after having been named the organization’s Triple-A Player of the Year in 2019. He led Class AAA Omaha in most offensive categories, including batting average (.271), total bases (189), doubles (22) and RBIs (63).
He started at five different positions last year in the minors, including shortstop, second base, center field, third base and right field. Mejia’s versatility and athleticism certainly caught Matheny’s eye this spring.
Matt Reynolds
An offseason free-agent addition to provide depth at shortstop, Reynolds has played in 127 MLB games between stints with the New York Mets and Washington Nationals.
Humberto Arteaga
A glove-first middle infielder, Arteaga played 41 games with Royals last season, primarily when Adalberto Mondesi was injured. He can handle shortstop defensively and has been in the majors before with the Royals.
Outfield candidates
Khalil Lee
Last year’s Royals Double-A Player of the Year, Lee figured to be at Triple-A this season, one step away from the big club. In his first full season at Double-A, he earned Texas League midseason All-Star honors, stole a career-high 53 bases and hit eight home runs. The 21-year-old may still have power potential that he hasn’t tapped into.
Kyle Isbel
Isbel struggled through injury and inconsistency at High-A last year, but he was impressive in the Arizona Fall League. Baseball America ranked him the second-best position player prospect in the Royals’ farm system behind Bobby Witt Jr. Isbel’s defense opened eyes this spring with multiple highlight-reel catches during big-league camp.
Current 40-man
Right-handed pitchers
Chance Adams, Scott Barlow, Scott Blewett, Jesse Hahn, Carlos Hernandez, Jakob Junis, Brad Keller, Ian Kennedy, Jorge Lopez, Kevin McCarthy, Jake Newberry, Trevor Rosenthal, Glenn Sparkman, Josh Staumont, Stephen Woods Jr. and Kyle Zimmer.
Left-handed pitchers
Danny Duffy, Foster Griffin, Tim Hill, Richard Lovelady, Mike Montgomery, Randy Rosario and Gabe Speier.
Catchers
Cam Gallagher, Salvador Perez and Meibrys Viloria.
Infielders
Maikel Franco, Kelvin Gutierrez, Jeison Guzman, Nicky Lopez, Ryan McBroom, Adalberto Mondesi and Ryan O’Hearn.
Outfielders
Hunter Dozier (also infielder), Alex Gordon, Nick Heath, Whit Merrifield (also infielder), Brett Phillips, Jorge Soler and Bubba Starling.
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 1:52 PM.
