Format = Player Position | Age on 1-4-2026 | Highest level played | Estimated time of arrival
1. C Carter Jensen | 22 | MLB | 2025
Jensen is a 6-foot-4, 210-pound left-handed hitting catcher who plays good defense and takes an extremely patient approach in the batter’s box. His 20-match debut in 2025 couldn’t have gone better. He hit .300/.391/.550 with three home runs and 12 strikeouts against nine walks for Kansas City after posting a .290/.377/.501 slash line in 111 games in Double and Triple-A. It’s hard to predict his playing time this season with Salvador Perez in town, but I think we’re looking at around 500 plate appearances and an intriguing fantasy season.
2. RHP Kendry Chourio | 18 | A | 2028
At 6-foot-4 and 160 pounds, Chourio isn’t the most intimidating guy in the dugout, but things change when he takes the mound, where Chourio has a mid-90s fastball with a sneaky ride and a nasty curveball that drops off the table, combining with a solid changeup to round out an arsenal that tunnels well, thanks in part to Chourio’s plus control. He made a rare mid-season jump in the United States from the DSL to the complex league and was so good there that the club sent him to Low-A at the age of 17. The final total was 51.1 innings with a WHIP of 0.95 and 63 strikeouts against only five walks.
3. LHPDavid Shields | 19 | A | 2028
Kansas City took Shields 41st overall in the 2024 draft and signed him for $2.3 million. He was his team’s starting quarterback in high school, and that core strength, balance and athleticism can be seen in the 6’2″, 210 pound lefty’s delivery. He repeats his throw with metronomic precision, generating double-plus control over an above-average fastball-breaker combo and developing changeup. The command was too much for Low-A hitters. In 18 starts, Shields posted a 2.01 ERA and 1.02 WHIP, allowing just 15 starts were possible, walking against 81 strikeouts in 71.2 innings.
4. FROM Sean Gamble | 19 | AFTER | 2030
Gamble, the 23rd overall pick out of the IMG Academy, is a left-handed hitter with a picturesque swing at 6-foot-1 and 188 pounds. I’m always a little wary of the smoothest left-handed swingers, because I think there’s some kind of aesthetic trick of the eyes at play. Anyway, Gamble seems legit enough, spraying the ball everywhere with ease, even though we didn’t get any baseball card results to peruse. The Royals signed him for a He spent $3,997,500 and announced him as an outfielder, even though he may have bounced around a bit because he’s played a lot of infield on his way up.
5. SS Josh Hammond | 19 | AFTER | 2030
Hammond could try the Ohtani route, as he is a legitimate pitcher who was also among the best high school hitters in the draft. Kansas City moved him to 28th overall with the pick they acquired when Bobby Witt Jr. finished in the top three for MVP voting. I love that line, by the way. Baseball, man. Making things happen. At 6’1″ and 210 pounds, Hammond will start as a shortstop, but he could grow out of position or slow down. Both Royals first-round picks are intriguing FYPD picks at the right price. Good job on them. It feels like they’ve righted the ship a bit after some shaky selections (Lacy, Mozzicato, Mitchell).
6. SS Yandel Ricardo | 19 | A | 2030
Ricardo is a 6-foot-1, 180-pound switch-hitter who signed for $2.4 million but struggled to get through 45 games in the Dominican Summer League, slashing .213/.330/.366 with two home runs and 14 stolen bases. He was much better in the complex league, slashing .342/.438/.533 with two home runs and 17 stolen bases in 33 games. KC then waved him off to season-long ball, but he was back on the struggle bus there (.212/.279/.268 in 50 games). My guess is that past is prologue here, and that Ricardo will come back next season a little stronger, and a little better adjusted to the grind of minor league ball, which will lead to better results.
7. C Ramon Ramirez | 20 | A | 2029
A 6-foot-4, 180-pound righty, Ramirez may have last been weighed in on his signing day. It’s filled in a bit. It’s not all bad weight, though, and Ramirez held his own in full-season ball, slashing .244/.339/.442 with 11 home runs in 70 games, which may not seem like much but was 20 percent better than the league average at this level. Good enough to move on, I guess. Should open the year as a 20-year-old in High-A.
8. RHP Felix Arronde | 22 | A+ | 2027
Felix is always near the strike zone, posting WHIPs of 1.08, 1.02 and 1.17 over 128.2, 110.1 and 48.2 innings pitched over the past three seasons. He struck out just 101 batters in those 128.2 High-A innings this season, but kept the ball in the yard and posted a neat 2.80 ERA. That puts him at a pace of over 150 innings this season, probably split about evenly between Double and Triple-A. He could even push for a late-season debut. At 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds with a smooth three-quarter throw, he repeats well. Arronde’s best pitch is a split change that dives late and generates a lot of weak contact and misses a fair number of bats.
9. C Blake Mitchell | 21 | A+ | 2028
The 8th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Mitchell is a 6-foot-1 left-handed power hitter who frames and receives behind the dish with a steady calm. In the box, he brings an all-or-nothing approach of patience and strength, which earned him far more nothing in 2025 than the year before. He hit just three home runs in 60 games and hit .207/.372/.296 in 49 High-A games. The math isn’t really about his extreme passivity. Time to wave the stick, Blake. Try to make the team look less stupid by getting this guy over Kyle Teel to play draft pool roulette.
10. SS Luis Steven King | 18 | DSL | 2030
This spot could rightfully go to RHP Ben Kudrna or SS Ramcell Medina or OF Asbel Gonzalez, but I’m going to put out a flyer for first-year players this winter. Plus, I watched WELCOME TO DERRY, so that may have played a role in my willingness to dive into this. King signed for $170,000 and started slowly in the Dominican Summer League, but on June 27 something clicked, and from then on he hit .337/.487/.483 with 20 walks (16.9%) against 15 strikeouts (12.7%) in 31 games. He also has a twin brother in the organization: according to Francys Romero, the first twin to ever sign with the same organization. That can’t be right, can it? However, I have no reason to argue. And so far I have no reason to doubt Luis Steven King as a potential candidate. At least not until the entire Epstein case falls, if that ever happens.
Thanks for reading!
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