ROYALS NEWS (06/02)
ROYALS DESIGNATE HUNTER DOZIER
In a move that seemed to be a long time coming, the Royals appear to finally be putting the disastrous Hunter Dozier deal behind them and moving on. Despite being one of the heroes of Tuesday's win over the Cardinals that extended their winning streak to five games, the Royals unceremoniously parted ways with their former first-round selection the following day.
He'll have to pass through waivers first, which is highly likely due to the money that is still owed to him. From there, he can accept an outright assignment or elect free agency. If he ends up being released, he'll still be owed roughly $13 million that will have to be paid out by the end of 2025.
Drafted in 2013, he finally reached the majors in 2016 for a short cup of coffee before not cracking the big leagues again until 2018, where he accumulated just a .673 OPS (83 OPS+) in 387 plate appearances. 2019 was his breakout season, leading the AL in triples with ten and smacking twenty-six homeruns and twenty-nine doubles in 581 plate appearances, coming out to a 3.5 fWAR. Then the pandemic hit the following year, along with signing a brand-new extension that would pay him nearly $26 million over the next four seasons.
A bad bout with Covid and injuries caused him to miss the first quarter of the truncated 2020 season; and he still put up a 103 OPS+ in 186 plate appearances, including an impressive 14.5% walk rate, which meant he was still getting due respect from opposing pitching at the time despite a precipitous drop in power that was largely attributed to the after effects of the virus.
2021 and 2022 were back-to-back below-average seasons, posting OPS+ marks of 85 and 93 respectively. He also missed nearly six weeks this season with a tibia fracture, and only made it through forty-two plate appearances prior to getting designated. Omaha right-hander Nick Wittgren was added to the 40-man roster in his place, which gives the Royals an impressive (unnecessary?) twenty-three pitchers on the 40-man.
VENEZIANO TOSSES NO-NO
Down in Double-A, left-hander Anthony Veneziano threw his first career no-hitter, a 5-0 shutout win over Corpus Christi on Tuesday night. He walked four and struck out nine in the outing, moving him to 3-3 on the season.
A 10th-round pick out of Coastal Carolina in 2019, Veneziano has stalled a bit in Double-A, but was one of the few top prospects in the system that didn't pitch at all in 2020, so it's likely he's a year behind schedule in his development.
GET TO KNOW A PROSPECT: HURSTON WALDREP
With the eighth overall pick in the upcoming draft at a slot value of $5,980,100, we are going to highlight eight players over the next five weeks and change leading up to the draft that could be in play for that spot, so that takes players such as Dylan Crews, Paul Skenes, Wyatt Langford, and Max Clark out of the conversation as there's probably .00001% that any of them fall out of the top five, let alone all the way to eight.
One such prospect is Florida righty Hurston Waldrep, a hard thrower that spent his first two years at Southern Miss before transferring to Florida for this current season. The preseason All-American came in with a ton of fanfare, but has had issues with his command and control in his first season with the Gators, walking forty-five with a 4.67 ERA in his first eighty innings of the season, although he continues to post outstanding swing-and-miss numbers with 118 strikeouts in that same time frame.
Waldrep, much like Singer, has largely gotten by in college with two pitches, his being an upper 90's heater and sweeping slider. Also like Singer, his changeup is a developing third pitch; but unlike Singer, has shown more of a willingness to throw it at the same points in their career.
Of course, the Royals are intimately associated with the Gators' program in recent years, with current pitchers Jackson Kowar and Brady Singer currently on the teams' 40-man roster. Singer is the only pitcher from the 2018 class that is really contributing at the major league level, while Kowar is struggling with his control at the Triple-A level, and has not impressed in brief moments with the Royals in the past few years.
Without the problems, Waldrep is a sure-fire top five selection, and maybe the second pitcher taken behind Skenes, who is just an absolute animal. Perhaps the Royals would be confident they could correct his mechanical issues, as scouts have come forward in saying that he doesn't have the most repeatable delivery, meaning that command issues are more likely. If the Royals are looking to take a pro-ready college pitcher that they can get to the majors in around two years or so, then Waldrep probably isn't the guy for that. They're better off taking someone like Tennessee's Chase Dollander or Wake Forest's Rhett Lowder.
ROYALS DESIGNATE HUNTER DOZIER
In a move that seemed to be a long time coming, the Royals appear to finally be putting the disastrous Hunter Dozier deal behind them and moving on. Despite being one of the heroes of Tuesday's win over the Cardinals that extended their winning streak to five games, the Royals unceremoniously parted ways with their former first-round selection the following day.
He'll have to pass through waivers first, which is highly likely due to the money that is still owed to him. From there, he can accept an outright assignment or elect free agency. If he ends up being released, he'll still be owed roughly $13 million that will have to be paid out by the end of 2025.
Drafted in 2013, he finally reached the majors in 2016 for a short cup of coffee before not cracking the big leagues again until 2018, where he accumulated just a .673 OPS (83 OPS+) in 387 plate appearances. 2019 was his breakout season, leading the AL in triples with ten and smacking twenty-six homeruns and twenty-nine doubles in 581 plate appearances, coming out to a 3.5 fWAR. Then the pandemic hit the following year, along with signing a brand-new extension that would pay him nearly $26 million over the next four seasons.
A bad bout with Covid and injuries caused him to miss the first quarter of the truncated 2020 season; and he still put up a 103 OPS+ in 186 plate appearances, including an impressive 14.5% walk rate, which meant he was still getting due respect from opposing pitching at the time despite a precipitous drop in power that was largely attributed to the after effects of the virus.
2021 and 2022 were back-to-back below-average seasons, posting OPS+ marks of 85 and 93 respectively. He also missed nearly six weeks this season with a tibia fracture, and only made it through forty-two plate appearances prior to getting designated. Omaha right-hander Nick Wittgren was added to the 40-man roster in his place, which gives the Royals an impressive (unnecessary?) twenty-three pitchers on the 40-man.
VENEZIANO TOSSES NO-NO
Down in Double-A, left-hander Anthony Veneziano threw his first career no-hitter, a 5-0 shutout win over Corpus Christi on Tuesday night. He walked four and struck out nine in the outing, moving him to 3-3 on the season.
A 10th-round pick out of Coastal Carolina in 2019, Veneziano has stalled a bit in Double-A, but was one of the few top prospects in the system that didn't pitch at all in 2020, so it's likely he's a year behind schedule in his development.
GET TO KNOW A PROSPECT: HURSTON WALDREP
With the eighth overall pick in the upcoming draft at a slot value of $5,980,100, we are going to highlight eight players over the next five weeks and change leading up to the draft that could be in play for that spot, so that takes players such as Dylan Crews, Paul Skenes, Wyatt Langford, and Max Clark out of the conversation as there's probably .00001% that any of them fall out of the top five, let alone all the way to eight.
One such prospect is Florida righty Hurston Waldrep, a hard thrower that spent his first two years at Southern Miss before transferring to Florida for this current season. The preseason All-American came in with a ton of fanfare, but has had issues with his command and control in his first season with the Gators, walking forty-five with a 4.67 ERA in his first eighty innings of the season, although he continues to post outstanding swing-and-miss numbers with 118 strikeouts in that same time frame.
Waldrep, much like Singer, has largely gotten by in college with two pitches, his being an upper 90's heater and sweeping slider. Also like Singer, his changeup is a developing third pitch; but unlike Singer, has shown more of a willingness to throw it at the same points in their career.
Of course, the Royals are intimately associated with the Gators' program in recent years, with current pitchers Jackson Kowar and Brady Singer currently on the teams' 40-man roster. Singer is the only pitcher from the 2018 class that is really contributing at the major league level, while Kowar is struggling with his control at the Triple-A level, and has not impressed in brief moments with the Royals in the past few years.
Without the problems, Waldrep is a sure-fire top five selection, and maybe the second pitcher taken behind Skenes, who is just an absolute animal. Perhaps the Royals would be confident they could correct his mechanical issues, as scouts have come forward in saying that he doesn't have the most repeatable delivery, meaning that command issues are more likely. If the Royals are looking to take a pro-ready college pitcher that they can get to the majors in around two years or so, then Waldrep probably isn't the guy for that. They're better off taking someone like Tennessee's Chase Dollander or Wake Forest's Rhett Lowder.
Last edited by artoodeetoo; 05-27-2023, 05:31 PM.
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