Royals Updated Top 30 Prospects List Reveals Remarkable Depth At This Position
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The Kansas City Royals' farm system isn't regarded as one of the best in Major League Baseball, but it's remarkably deep at one position in particular.
MLB Pipeline released its updated Top 30 prospects lists for each team earlier this week, and the Royals are opening the season with three of their top 10 at the same position: catcher.
Blake Mitchell is ranked the highest of the three catchers at number two. Carter Jensen follows closely behind at number three, and Ramon Ramirez comes in at number 10. The Royals also have two quality big-league catchers at the moment in captain Salvador Perez and backup Freddy Fermin.
So what will the Royals do with all that catching depth? According to MLB.com's Anne Rogers, the flexibility of having a succession plan for Perez and also being able to shift some of these players to other positions means all of them could have futures in the organization.
"With Salvador Perez only under contract potentially two more years (the team holds a club option for 2026), having this much talent behind the plate in the Minors bodes well for the Royals," Rogers wrote.
It’s not likely that (all of) these catchers remain backstops when they get to the Majors, which could help the Royals out, too. Behind Caglianone, there aren’t a lot of power-hitting first basemen in the system, and a corner outfielder could always be helpful to have."
Mitchell, who is likely to begin the season at Double-A, will likely hold the key to all of the Royals' decisions regarding the rest of the catching prospects. He could be poised to debut late in 2025 or early in 2026, and if he proves he's good enough to stick behind the plate, he could lock down the starting job for the foreseeable future.
And, of course, when it comes to talking prospects, it's always wise to keep an eye out for potential trades. As Kansas City looks to improve on its 86-win 2024 season, any of these top farmhands could be on the move for the right big-leaguer in return.
More MLB: Royals No. 1 Prospect Generating 'Buzz,' Could Debut During 2025 Season: Insider
Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org
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