Royalsblog

The Royals made a nice move by signing former Dodgers closer Jon Broxton to a one year deal.  Broxton has had his share of injuries lately and they were able to get him for $4 million with $1 million in incentives.  The Royals then announced that Broxton will set up Soria but it gives the Royals one more weapon in the pen.

After a rough 2010 season, Broxton pitched in only 14 games in 2011 and he just had surgery a couple of months ago on his elbow.  I like the move because of Broxton thrives and the Royals are still in “building” mode, they can use him as trade bait.  Broxton is a power arm and this is a guy who wracks up strikeouts.

The Royals signed Bruce Chen to a two year deal that’ll pay Chen $4.5 million each of the two years.  Chen had a solid season for the Royals last year and he was one of their better starters.  There’s also $2 million in incentives that Chen can wrack up if he pitches well.

Chen is now 34 but he’s been the Royals top winning pitcher in 2010 and 201 with twelve wins each.  He finished with a 3.77 ERA and he really shined against teams in the AL Central where he went 8-3 with a 2.47 ERA.

Not a bad pickup but the Royals still need help. If Chen is the team’s best pitcher, you know they’re not doing much.

The Royals farm system is stacked and it would be even more stacked if not for all of the early call ups last year.  According to Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus in his Top 11 Royals Prospects, the Royals fifth best prospect is still a four star guy.

Topping the list is outfielder Wil Myers, the Royals third round pick in 2009.  Myers had a really good year at Double-A and he could be roaming a corner outfield spot for the Royals for some years to come.  He’ll start with Omaha but we could see him with the Royals in the second half.

Number two is another outfield prospect, Bubba Starling.  The teams first round pick this past season, Starling signed too late to play.  This guy is both a power and speed guy so keep an eye on him down at Kane County next year because he should be tearing it up.

Jake Ororizzi (RHP), Cheslor Cuthbert (3b) and John Lamb (LHP) round out the top five.  None of these guys are major league ready but it’s looking like 2013 could be the year the Royals start seeing the fruits of their high picks and trades come together.