Royals reach tipping point in reshaping roster, organization

In trading veterans like Carlos Santana, Andrew Benintendi and Whit Merrifield, Kansas City has a crop of prospects and a young roster. A true youth movement is now underway.

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August 5, 2022 - 2:26 PM

In this photo from Feb. 18, 2019, Kansas City Royals assistant general manager J.J. Picollo in Surprise, Arizona. Photo by (John Sleezer/The Kansas City Star/TNS)

That wave of young Kansas City Royals prospects who’ve been forecast and anticipated for several years may have finally crested.

The last few seasons served to bridge the gap between the last wave of young talent to this one, represented by position players like shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., catcher/outfielder MJ Melendez, first baseman/designated hitter Vinnie Pasquantino, first baseman/outfielder Nick Pratto and infielder Michael Massey as well as starting pitchers Brady Singer, Daniel Lynch, Kris Bubic, Jonathan Heasley, Jackson Kowar and Carlos Hernandez.

While the turnover certainly didn’t happen in a blink of an eye, the youth movement is now the present.

That gap was bridged on the backs of veterans. But the past five and a half weeks have been about swapping those veterans to get younger and deeper.

“It’s starting to come together,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said less than two hours after the MLB trade deadline passed on Tuesday. “I think a lot of the pieces are there on the field right now, from a pitching staff perspective and from our lineup. There were some holes that I feel like maybe we’ve addressed throughout a few of these acquisitions”

Going back to June 27, the Royals traded Carlos Santana, Andrew Benintendi, Emmanuel Rivera, Whit Merrifield, Cam Gallagher and a competitive-balance round draft pick (35th overall).

Four of those five players traded were veterans with Rivera, who made his debut last season, the lone exception.

In return, the Royals acquired 12 players. They also acquired a 13th player in exchange for cash considerations.

The Royals added a potential center fielder of the future in Drew Waters via the draft pick trade with the Atlanta Braves.

They targeted a right-handed hitting power bat in Brent Rooker in the trade that sent Cam Gallagher to the San Diego Padres, and they also added pitching in deals with the Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays and the Braves.

The trade acquisitions coupled with the newcomers brought in through last month’s MLB Draft led Picollo to comment that the organization looks “quite different” than it did a few weeks ago, and he added that he’s “pretty excited” about that different look.

At the same time, Picollo acknowledged that this high level of turnover raises pertinent questions about leadership and club chemistry that will have to be answered particularly with Merrifield’s departure.

Merrifield had been not just one of the public faces and voices for the club, but also a prominent figure internally.

“Now, it’s time for some other guys to step up and take that role,” Picollo said. “It will evolve over time.”

Infielder Nicky Lopez falls somewhere between veteran and youngster being 27 and having more than two big-league seasons under his belt.

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