Down the homestretch

The 2006 season is gradually winding to a close as college and pro football season comes on strong. The only questions left at the KC level of the Royals organization are how the young players will play down the final month and whether the Royals will end up with the first or second pick in the 2007 draft. I don't think it really matters much other than if they pick first they're guaranteed to select any player they want whereas at #2 they could still miss out on their top guy. Some may advocate some tanking this month to ensure that #1 pick doesn't go Tampa Bay's way but I can see it both ways. I have trouble advocating what may not be purposeful losing but can be called not worrying about Ws -- either way the Royals should get a player with high-grade potential with the pick. At the same time, I could care less if the Royals run the table from today through game 162 -- I'm just rooting for their loss #s to be in double figures and not have a 1 in front of two other digits.

It was a nice season overall in the minor levels. You had two piss-poor teams (Omaha and Burlington (on offense, the Bees' pitching was nice to see), one really good team (Wichita), one overachieving team (High Desert), and two fine teams in Idaho Falls and the AZL. Wichita was the lone division champ while High Desert, IF and the AZL team were near-misses with the first two making the playoffs. Prospects P Luke Hochevar, C Adam Donachie, OF Mitch Maier and P Gabe DeHoyos are among the Royals' minor-leaguers headed to the Arizona Fall League and will play for the Grand Canyon Rafters when AFL play starts Oct. 10. The Rafters' roster also includes Rockies 1B prospect Joe Koshansky, Orioles OF prospect Nolan Reimold, Rockies SS prospect Troy Tulowitzki, Pirates C prospect Neil Walker and Pirates minor-league SP John Van Benschoten.

The complexion of the Royals' minors will change somewhat next season as the organization added a Rookie Appalachian League team in Burlington, North Carolina, that had been affiliated with the Indians. That team will be known as the "B-Royals". Yesterday another announcement came that the Royals are back with the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina League, which was a Royals' affiliate from '93 through '04 before spending the last two years as a Red Sox affiliate. I wonder if this signals the team's exit from the California League in High Desert, which is a move I would advocate. I've questioned the ability to accurately project players' potential coming out of High Desert since both batting and pitching numbers are inflated -- batters for the good and pitchers for worse. The organization needs to be able to see how players will do moving forward. The Cal League may work for the Rockies or D-Backs, who play in a different altitude level, but for a team like KC with no other teams in such conditions, it makes little sense. The situation remains stable in Omaha while Wichita prepares for a move to Springdale, Ark., for the 2008 season. What happens with the Royals' affiliation there remains to be seen.

As a postscript, I'm gonna try to do a better job posting about Royals and other stuff this off-season, since I did, oh, exactly zero posting last MLB off-season. This could be an interesting fall and winter to be a KC fan with Dayton Moore at the helm. Any Royals fan that pays attention should be optimistic about the future of the organization and some of that is put on DM. Hopefully this is the start of a long, fruitful relationship for him and the KC organization.