The postseason is still going on, so while the Royals are in “offseason” mode, the rest of the league isn’t quite there just yet. That won’t happen until after the World Series, when the baseball world transitions from “postseason” mode to “hot stove” mode.
Thus, there is still time for moves and speculation to develop, especially concerning Royals players who are arbitration-eligible (as I discussed in a recent post). Furthermore, some players/prospects in the Royals farm system may be the subject of discussions this offseason, whether it is adding them to the 40-man roster this winter or perhaps utilizing them in a trade before Spring Training.
In this post, let’s take a look at five players in the Royals farm system, from Triple-A Omaha to Low-A Columbia, whom fans should be paying close attention to this offseason before players report to Surprise, Arizona, for Spring Training.
Omaha: MJ Melendez, OF
Melendez is arbitration-eligible this offseason, which puts his future a bit in doubt. MLB Trade Rumors estimates the arbitration amount to be around $2.2 million for 2026, which seems a lot for a hitter who posted a -14 wRC+ and .151 wOBA in 65 plate appearances with the Royals last season.
The Royals had MJ primarily play in Triple-A Omaha in 2025, and honestly, the results were encouraging, especially considering his brutal showing at the Major League level.
In 480 plate appearances with the Storm Chasers, he slashed .261/.323/.490 with an. 813 OPS, 20 home runs, 70 runs scored, 64 RBI, and 20 stolen bases. In fact, last year in Omaha was the first time Melendez put up a 20-20 HR-SB season at any level in his professional career.
In addition to solid home run and stolen base numbers, Melendez also hit the ball well in Triple-A. His barrel rate was 9.1%, his hard-hit rate was 58.1%, and his average exit velocity on batted balls was 93.1 MPH. That illustrated that Melendez’s power was legitimate and could transition to the MLB level if given another chance.
The issue with Melendez, at both the Major and Minor League levels, is that he’s swinging and missing a lot. With the Storm Chasers, his K rate was 27.7% and his walk rate was only 8.2%. Those unfavorable rates were primarily connected to his low Z-contact% (76.6%; anything under 80% is not good), and high O-Swing% (32.5%). This over-eager approach is not a recipe for success, especially if Melendez is not effective in making contact on pitches that ARE in the strike zone.
The Royals have given Melendez ample time in the Major League to prove himself. Unfortunately, the results just haven’t been there.
In 435 career games with the Royals, he has a .299 wOBA, 88 wRC+, and -1.1 fWAR (though the latter is primarily due to his lackluster defense at catcher and in the outfield early in his career). Even with a Minor League option in 2026 (which gives him more roster flexibility), it’s hard to imagine the Royals thinking that he has a future right now in their organization.
Conversely, other teams may be interested in Melendez to see if a change of scenery and opportunity could help turn him around.
Ryan O’Hearn is a prime example of a hitter with lackluster numbers but strong batted-ball metrics who benefited from going to another team. Perhaps the same could be true for Melendez, who profiles as a bit more athletic than O’Hearn and showed some positive skill improvement in 2024 before over-tweaking his mechanics in 2025.
If there is interest in Melendez on the market, JJ Picollo should consider trading him rather than non-tendering, so they can get something for him instead of nothing (which would happen if they non-tender him).
Northwest Arkansas: Gavin Cross, OF
Cross has had a weird, up-and-down tenure with the Royals since getting drafted 9th overall in the first round of the MLB Draft out of Virginia Tech in 2022.
After blowing up Low-A pitching in 2022 (168 wRC+ in 123 plate appearances), Cross struggled in High-A Quad Cities, only posting a 93 wRC+ in 407 plate appearances. Reports surface that he dealt with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (which comes from a tick bite), and that was a prime reason for his regression, especially in the power department (.177 ISO in High-A compared to a .303 ISO in Low-A).
The former Hokie showed progress in 2024 in Double-A Northwest Arkansas. He posted a 114 wRC+ in 436 plate appearances with the Naturals and hit 15 home runs and stole 30 bases. However, he was worn down by the end of the season due to injury, having played only 101 games and not being able to play in Omaha as expected.
This year, many Royals fans predicted that Cross would eventually make his way to Triple-A. Unfortunately, that never materialized because Cross struggled at the beginning of the season in Northwest Arkansas. The numbers eventually corrected themselves a bit, thanks to a solid August performance from Cross (157 wRC+).
Overall, Cross hit 17 home runs and stole 23 bases in 507 plate appearances, a career-high as a professional. However, he only posted a 92 wRC+, and his 0.25 BB/K ratio was the worst of his career in a single season. He also suffered from a high whiff rate (29.2%) and high O-Swing% (35.1%), which led to his lackluster walk and strikeout numbers.
The Royals need to add Cross to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft in December during the Winter Meetings. Right now, I’m not sure the Royals do that, even with the solid finish to the season. Kansas City needs outfield help, but it seems like Picollo is more open to finding those reinforcements from outside the organization than within the farm system.
If that’s the case, one has to wonder if another team would select Cross, though it seems unlikely that he would be able to stay on a Major League roster for an entire season, given that he hasn’t played yet in Triple-A.
Quad Cities: Blake Mitchell, C
Going into the season, Mitchell was seen as the higher-rated catching prospect over Carter Jensen. By the end of 2025, that projection looks incredibly foolish now, especially after Jensen’s stellar Major League debut in September (.403 wOBA and 159 wRC+ in 69 plate appearances with the Royals).
That said, I do think Mitchell’s 2025 season should be taken with a grain of salt.
In Spring Training, Mitchell suffered a broken hamate bone in his hand that put him on the shelf for six weeks to begin the season. When he did return, he struggled to regain his power, which is typical for players with that injury. Furthermore, the fact that he had to play catcher regularly in Quad Cities didn’t help that recovery process in the power department, either.
After hitting 18 home runs in 466 plate appearances in 2024 in Columbia, Mitchell only hit two in 216 plate appearances. Even though we don’t have public batted-ball Statcast data, his .089 ISO and .347 wOBACON illustrate that Mitchell’s quality of contact wasn’t consistently there in Quad Cities.
On a positive note, it does seem like Mitchell’s stroke is back in Surprise in the Arizona Fall League. In eight at-bats with the Saguaros, he is slashing .500/.636/.500 with a 1.136 OPS. He also still showcased excellent plate discipline with the River Bandits. He posted a 20.9% walk rate and only had a 20.1% O-Swing%, showing that he didn’t chase much junk out of the zone.
That said, one has to wonder if Mitchell can be a bit too passive at times, as illustrated by his high strikeout rate (37.2%) and low Swing% (41.6%) and Z-Contact% (70.1%). Regardless, expect the new Minor League Director of Hitting (who would be replacing Drew Saylor) to target Mitchell as one of their first major priorities this offseason.
I think Royals fans should still be optimistic about Mitchell. When fully healthy, he can be one of the most talented players in the Kansas City farm system, as he demonstrated in Columbia in 2024.
Staying healthy will be key for Mitchell this offseason and in Spring Training. If he does, then making significant progress in 2026, especially in terms of cutting down the strikeouts, is essential, especially if he wants to have a long-term future in the Royals organization.
Quad Cities: Sam Kulasingam, OF/2B/3B
Kulasingam is the classic Royals prospect story: A late-round pick with no eye-popping tools but a lot of polish, which makes him a solid Minor League player. We have seen stories of varying success in this mold with Nicky Lopez, Peyton Wilson, and Javier Vaz.
In his first full season of professional ball, the former Air Force Falcon hit .291 with a .366 wOBA and 123 wRC+, the latter being the seventh-best mark of qualified hitters in the Royals Minor League system, according to Fangraphs. Kulasingam has a high-contact, low-strikeout approach, as illustrated by an 86.8% Z-Contact%, 15.6% strikeout rate, and 0.73 BB/K ratio.
Not only did Kulasingam collect a bunch of hits for the River Bandits in 2025 (136, to be specific), but he also earned the Alex Gordon Hustle and Heart Award, which is a special award given to a prospect in the Royals farm system.
The primary concern with Kulasingam is whether or not his batted-ball profile will transition well as he moves up the Royals’ farm system. His .347 wOBACON is the same mark as Mitchell’s, even though Kulasingam’s .332 wOBA is 31 points higher. That light-hitting approach caught up with Vaz in Double-A, Wilson in Triple-A, and Lopez in the Major Leagues.
Can Kulasingam buck that trend and differentiate himself from those three?
It’s possible, and all signs point to his work ethic being one of the best in the Royals’ system (being an Air Force grad will do that). That said, what batted-ball data looks like in Spring Training could be key to determining whether Kulasingam will be a genuine dark horse prospect in Double-A, or just another light-hitting prospect who will fizzle out against better defenses and pitchers in the upper levels.
Columbia: Asbel Gonzalez, OF
I was really high on Gonzalez in the preseason and early on this season, and things initially looked great for him in Colombia.
In 107 plate appearances with the Fireflies from April 1st to May 1st, Gonzalez hit .395 with a 174 wRC+ and 1.63 BB/K ratio. He didn’t hit for much power (.023 ISO), but he made decent contact, didn’t strike out, and utilized his speed effectively on the basepaths (24 runs scored and 30 stolen bases).
Unfortunately, things really regressed hard for him after that initial month of play.
From May 2nd to September 5th, he hit .198 with a 78 wRC+. He still stole 48 bases, but his BB/K ratio regressed to 0.53. That’s still good, but it wasn’t quite as elite as he demonstrated earlier in the season. Furthermore, the contact quality wasn’t there either, as illustrated by his .283 wOBACON overall in 2025.
At the very least, Gonzalez showed that he can steal bases (78 in 115 games) and play excellent defense in center field. In fact, the Royals awarded Gonzalez with the Willie Wilson Award, which goes to the best baserunner in the Royals farm system in a season.
However, Gonzalez is currently showing that he may not be more than just a Terrance Gore or Billy Hamilton at the Major League level. I think Gonzalez has more upside than that, and he won’t turn 20 until January 2nd. Thus, he still has plenty of physical development to do.
Still, the new Royals Director of Hitting Performance will likely work heavily with Gonzalez this offseason and spring, with the hope they can help him tap into his power more in 2026 and beyond. If he can develop more gap-to-gap power and exit velocity on batted balls at the very least next season, he could turn into one of the best outfield prospects in baseball as soon as 2027.
Photo Credit: NWA Democrat-Gazette/Caleb Grieger
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