Bradley Swagger has Arrived, Who’s Next Up in the Royals Prospect Pool?
KC has been talking up Swagger for a bit now, and prior to that, we had been excited about Kenny Funkhouser and Francisco Alvarez, and before that Kevin Knaust, Nander De Sedas, and Kris Bubic… so who is next?Well, after having a Top 5 ranked system for 4 or 5 years, we are now down to 10th, and ALL of that is due to Swagger still being listed as a prospect. Bradley Swagger is currently the #1 prospect in MLB-Pro, and no other Royals prospects are ranked in the top 100, so who comes next is less obvious than it has been in recent years. But fear not, because even though we might not have any other top 100 prospects at the moment, we have one guy who should enter the list within the next year and a couple other personal favorites, so let’s take a look:
Gunnar Gray, 23, SP
Gray was one of three players acquired from Tampa in the Garrett DeChambeau deal in April of 2023, and he is coming off of a pretty nice year in AAA Omaha. He started 27 games and was 13-8 with a 3.50 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP, good numbers for Omaha. Gray really needs to fix or abandon his change-up, as it’s a glaring weak spot in his game. He has a very effective curve and a nice fastball and cutter. We’ve got a crowded rotation, so look for Gray to be in Omaha again this year, but he should get a look in spring training next month.
Devin Kirkwood, 22, OF
Kirkwood was our 2nd round pick, 62nd overall, in 2021. He spent 2024 in A+ Wilmington and is slated to start 2025 in AA Northwest Arkansas. In Wilmington, he hit .278-7-61 with 32 doubles, 75 walks and 19 steals. Kirkwood is one of my favorite prospects, but he probably won’t rank very high due to his lack of power. He should develop into a nice gap hitter with a good OBP, as he has the ability to draw a lot of walks. He’s solid defensively as well.
Cam Caminiti, 18, SP
Cam was the 5th overall pick last June, a pick we lucked our way into with a nice bump from the middle of that pack in the draft lottery. He’s a lefty with 4 solid pitches and a great work ethic. Caminiti wants to play outfield as well, but we are keeping him on the mound full time, as he doesn’t quite have the defensive chops to be an effective outfielder. Still, he handles the bat well and could see some at bats. He had a bumpy ride in his first pro season, going 2-5 with a 5.13 ERA in 12 starts in the Vegas league. But he finished the year with a start for AKC, and allowed just 1 ER on 3 hits in 5.2 innings, fanning 7. He should make his way onto the top 100 prospects list relatively soon.
Jorge Quintana, 17, SS
Perhaps the highest ceiling in our prospect pool belongs to Quintana, who was signed as an international free agent on September 10th. While he’ll likely be moved to 2B or 1B when he comes to the States, he’s got a big bat that could match what Alvarez or Clemens currently brings to the ballclub. While we don’t agree with the OSA scouting report that raves “Quintana has the highest ceiling imaginable as an elite shortstop”, we do believe if they changed the word “Shortstop” to “Second Baseman” they may be onto something. It is unclear when Quintana will be assigned to a rookie league team, we like to wait until players are 18 if we can help it. But Quintata turns 18 in April, so this summer might be when he makes his pro debut.