[artoodeetoo]

THE WEEK THAT WAS: JULY 8TH
Cuthbert, Duffy make first All-Star team; West named number-two prospect overall
By artoodeetoo
07/08/2019

07/07/2019: DUFFY, CUTHBERT LAND ON AL ALL-STAR SQUAD

The Royals will have a pair of first-timers heading to the Mid-Summer Classic this year, as Danny Duffy and Cheslor Cuthbert have been chosen to represent Kansas City. Shortstop Adalberto Mondesi was a candidate for a spot in the final vote, but finished third in that voting as Texas' Joey Gallo won the vote to get in with his AL-leading 32 homeruns. Mondesi is top-five in the American League in doubles (28) and steals (30).

The aforementioned Cuthbert is having a career season, ranking sixth overall in the American League in BA (.325) and eighth in RBI (71); while leading all AL third basemen in BA, OBP (.378), and is second only to Gallo in RBI at the position. His 116 total hits also leads all ML third basemen.

Duffy is eighth in the AL in ERA (3.59), while ranking third in innings (117 2/3), seventh in strikeouts (114), and fourth in WHIP (1.12).

07/06/2019: ROYALS HAVE NEW TOP PROSPECT

Baseball America has come out with their first post-draft re-rankings, and second-round pick (47th overall) Derek West has supplanted shortstop Wilmin Candelario as their top prospect. In fact, West has been ranked as the number-two prospect in all of baseball, behind only Antoine Kelly of Houston. Candelario fell roughly a dozen spots to 25th overall from the previous ranking last month.

The six-foot-five, 230-pound West has been dynamic in his first two professional starts with Burlington, the Royals' highest Rookie affiliate. In ten and one-third innings over two starts, he's fanned twelve with three walks and nine hits allowed with a 1.74 ERA. He pitched collegiately at the University of Pittsburgh.

The Royals landed only one other player in the top 100 (Brady Singer, 28th), but had six others in the top 200, with catcher Adley Rutschman (107th), outfielders Seuly Matias and Khalil Lee (108th, 117th), right-handed pitcher Cody Ponce (138th), catcher M.J. Melendez (143rd), and first baseman Peter Alonso (163rd), who is now with the Royals while still qualifying for prospect status with less than seventy-five days of MLB service.

07/05/2019: TOBAR, MURRAAS SIGN INTERNATIONAL DEALS

The first two international signings for the Royals have commenced, as they inked southpaw pitcher Michael Tobar and Venezuelan shortstop Celso Murraas to minor league deals, according to Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com.

Tobar was amongst the top twenty international free agents, signing for a $1.25 bonus. The six-foot-eight, 205-pound Tobar throws in the mid-90's with a five-pitch mix of a fastball, curveball, slider, changeup, and forkball, with four of those pitches (with the exception of the slider) expected to be above-average MLB offerings. He is still only seventeen until August 26th, so he is unlikely to pitch this season; but rather begin next season with the Royals' Dominican League club next summer.

Murraas, just sixteen, is a rangy shortstop that will probably fill out and move to third base down the road. He was ranked as the forty-eighth best international prospect according to Baseball America, so the Royals are off to a solid start in the international signing period. He was signed for $340,000.

07/03/2019: ROYALS PREPPING FOR INTERNATIONAL SIGNING PERIOD

Kansas City should have the full allotment of bonus pool money for this class, as they have been forced to be a little more conservative the past few years per MLB regulations, after going over the threshold in 2015 to get Seuly Matias and Jeison Guzman, with each of them now in the Royals' top thirty prospects.

Matias is ranked fifth and is in Double-A, where he's off to a fast start after being called up from High-A roughly two to three weeks ago. Guzman is the 22nd-ranked prospect, and is splitting time at shortstop at Rookie-level Burlington. There's actually chatter that Matias could entirely skip; or at least have a truncated stop at, Omaha before the majors in 2020.

The signing period begins today, and will run through the first week of August.

07/02/2019: 2019 TOP PICK PROMOTED AFTER ONE WEEK

It was a short, but productive stay in Burlington for catcher Adley Rutschman, who hit .357 (10-for-29) in seven games, including three doubles, nine RBI, and four homeruns while throwing out three of seven baserunners.

Scouting director Lonnie Goldberg noted that this would likely be the only and last move for Rutschman this season; but predicted that he would make another move early next season, provided he continues to progress.

"He's the complete package," he said when interviewed alongside general manger Travis Greenleaf after the draft earlier this month. "His in-game acumen and leadership skills are second-to-none in this class. We hope, and expect, that he'll move pretty quickly through our system."