With the likes of Billy Butler, Luke Hochevar, Tyler Lumsden, Billy Buckner, Mitch Maier, Chris Lubanski, and Angel Sanchez in our minor league system, Omaha Royals manager Mike Jirschele is pleased to see a philosophical change at the Triple-A level for the Royals—formerly seen as a graveyard for 30-something year old players who went to Omaha to see their careers die.
“When you've got young kids coming up who are prospects, you’ve got guys on their way up instead of on their way out,” Jirschele said in an article in today’s Omaha World Herald. “It gives us a chance to do a lot more on-field work with those guys, and you'll see more improvement as the season goes along.”
Since I live in Omaha, I’m hoping to get out to the park often this summer to let you know how these young guys are progressing. I suspect that attendance will be higher this season than in years past—especially if Alex Gordon makes a stop here. But even if he doesn’t, I think more people will show up because they want to see the rest of these guys before they play in Kansas City.
And, as Jirschele said, the change in philosophy is good news for the coaching staff in Omaha because they will finally get the chance to help develop some of our young talent so that it doesn’t fail when it does reach Kansas City.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
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The World Herald article was good to see. I think that they forget that they have the Royals' top minor league affiliate in town sometimes.
They name Angel Sanchez as the up and coming shortstop prospect that could start in 2008. While this may be true, I'm going to keep a close eye on Jeff Bianchi coming through the system in the next year. Despite two years of injuries he has had an incredible stat line thus far. I wouldn't forget about him as a shortstop of the future for the Royals.
Watching the Royals right now. Bannister procedes to blow up after 2.1 giving up 3 HRs in a row. Ouch!
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