Moose promoted and Jordan Parraz not going anywhere

This post was entitled Jordan Parraz not going anywhere, well until I checked my twitter prior to posting. The announcement that Moustakas is going to Omaha while just another minor league transaction is an important one for KC fans. It shows that progress is happening and it will be quite the challenge for Moustakas. I think we've seen that David Lough who has equal amount of patience as Lough at times has struggled against these veteran AAA pitchers who throw much more solid offspeed offerings. Another reason this is important in my mind is that it confirms to me that GMDM is going to continue to run big prospects thru Omaha as opposed to bouncing them to the majors from AA. Hopefully Moustakas continues to build on a more patient approach and continues to kill the ball the way he did in AA and pushes for a look in September along with a few others, Gordon, Kila and a possible longshot Jordan Parraz.


It took a month for Jordan Parraz to adjust to AAA but has he ever came around since. Parraz is hitting .330/.404/.496 since the start of May, those are solid numbers after hitting well all last season. Parraz's April can be explained easily by rust after finishing '09 injured just look at his BB/K ratio and you can see the difference. His April ratio was terrible 4 BBs to 17 Ks and he was looking overpowered at times that I saw him but since April his numbers have stabolized 25/28 BB/K rate. Jordan is an awkward athlete but has good enough movement in the outfield as well as having a cannon for an arm. He's always been thought of as a 4th outfielder type but if he continues his stellar play since May in the second half might prove to be a solid corner outfielder.

Possible Omaha Royals OF should be exciting to watch.

Jarrod Dyson, David Lough and Jordan Parraz have all reported to AAA spring training. While I wouldn't be surprised if Lough or Dyson started the season in NW Arkansas the combination of the three would in my opinion make for the strongest defensive unit of any Royal minor league affiliate. Dyson showed off his speed and ability to track the ball in center field this spring while playing with the major league team. Dyson seems to be a Joey Gathright clone without the minor league hitting success, remember Gathright had a .761 OPS as opposed to Dyson's .668 effort so far. So temper any expectations to him being a starting CFr in Kansas City as I doubt he'll ever hit enough to make it but for us ORoyals ticket holders he should be fun to watch when he does get on base(82% SB %) and in the field. As for the corners Lough and Parraz are decently adept at tracking the ball and might also have the skills at the plate to contribute at the big league level. Lough exploded on the scene last season with a good effort at Wilmington(.850 OPS) prior to achieving quite a bit of success at NW Arkansas (.934 OPS). Lough probably has the speed to play CF but continues to be paired with speedsters in the minors and has only played parts of each season in center. Lough is the bright spot positionally in the system rated as my #4 prospect due to the fact that he continues to progress with the bat and his speed should make him playable in CF and a plus at the LF slot. As for Parraz he also was having an outstanding season in AA prior to some hamstring problems that developed. Before those problems Parraz was hitting at a .358 clip had earned more walks than strikeouts(29-25) and showed more pop in the bat than previous seasons with a career high .553 SLG. Parraz also has the athletic ability to play a little CF in a pinch but unlike Lough has a cannon for an arm rating #1 in the KC minor league system according to Baseball America. All things considered these three would probably give the KC current alignment a run for their money defensively.

I obviously like David Lough the best of these three but could see Parraz or Dyson as major league contributors in a 4th Outfielder role.