1) Mike Moustakas, 3B, Grade A: This guy is really damn good. I believe he can stick at third base, so he ranks ahead of Hosmer just barely.
2) Eric Hosmer, 1B, Grade A: This guy is really damn good.
3) Wil Myers, C, Grade A: If I trusted his defense a bit more, he would rank number one. As it is, even if he ends up in right field I have no hesitation giving him a Grade A rating. The bat should be outstanding.
4) Danny Duffy, LHP, Grade A-: Going to go with the higher grade here over a B+; fortune favors the bold.
5) John Lamb, LHP, Grade B+: Slippage in Double-A keeps him from A- at this time, but an outstanding prospect.
6) Michael Montgomery, LHP, Grade B+: Worried a bit about future of his elbow.Jon Sickels is notoriously a tough ranker and he's given the Royals 3 true grade A's as well as another 8 guys rated B- or above. None of these guys can be considered a sure thing, including the 4 grade A's but it's pretty wild that with the Royals top prospects they could field an entire 5-man rotation, an entire infield including catcher and one outfielder.
Dayton Moore has made some really really stupid moves* but his ultimate goal the entire time has been to rebuild the Royals, and judging by his farm system, he may almost get there. Hardly any of his signings has worked out but they haven't really hurt the teams future either. Beyond Gil Meche's expensive contract that once looked promising but now looks crappy, the Royals wasted money doesn't total too much. Plus, anyone who would have signed with the Royals won't still be on the Royals (I hope) by the time the youngins are ready.
*Signing Mike Jacobs, Jose Guillen, Willie Bloomquist, Gil Meche, Jason Kendall, Kyle Farnsworth, Horacio Ramirez, and trading for Yuniesky Betancourt. Even when the deal seemed like it worked out like in Gil Meche's case, it didn't. Meche was legitimately good in 2007 and 2008, but he was bad last year and was really bad/hurt this year (-0.2 WAR). After 2 unhealthy and ineffective years it's unlikely to expect Meche to give the Royals much next year. So, what started out as promising (4.4 and 5.0 WAR in 2007 and 2008) will pretty bad with the Royals likely going to have to pay Meche $35 million for 3 poor years of performance. This situation is similar to the Pedro Martinez signing with the Mets. It was said that Pedro "changed the culture" of the Mets, making other players want to come to Queens. The Mets were able to go to the 2006 ALCS and Pedro was a part of that, but they also paid him tens of millions of dollars to do hardly anything the next two years.
If some of these prospects work out the Royals will have some good-great players making little money. That won't make them competitors but it can give them a chance. Moore will have to hit on some free agents in order to really make it work, something he hasn't necessarily shown the ability to do. The Tamba Bay Rays are a model of what the Royals could do, but even the Rays who hit on their picks (Price, Longoria, Upton) couldn't compete with just their farm system. If Moustakas, Hosmer and Myers join Billy Butler and an improved Alex Gordon to form a solid offensive core, and maybe Montgomery and Duffy become rotation regulars then the Royals still have to find their Ben Zobrists, sign their Carlos Pena's and make their Matt Garza trades to really become a true competitor.
The Royals' killer farm system means that Moore isn't as bad as a GM as we may have previously thought, he did rebuild an entire system in a few years. However, if the Royals are going to compete, they'll not only need these guys to produce at the major league level but also sprinkle in some outside sources as well something they've failed at miserably in past years. But, Moore has shown the ability to scout and groom prospects like his old team and prospect powerhouse the Atlanta Braves and at least for the first time in a long time we can say the Royals have a future without lying about it.
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