Major League Baseball's owners may have locked out the players, triggering the league's first work stoppage since 1994-95 and bringing the offseason to a halt, but that doesn't mean we're letting it derail our typical offseason plans. Indeed, CBS Sports is in the process of highlighting the top three prospects for all 30 teams.
That journey finds us today focusing on the Kansas City Royals' farm system.
Do note that these lists are formed after conversations with scouts, analysts, and player development folks from around the league. There is personal bias baked in, as one would expect from subjective exercises, so some disagreement is to be expected.
1. Bobby Witt, SS (No. 2 on MLB top 20)
Witt proved why he was picked second in the 2019 MLB Draft last year by hitting .290/.361/.575 with 33 home runs and 35 doubles across Double- and Triple-A in his first full professional season. There used to be fear that Witt would swing-and-miss too frequently to maximize his loud offensive tools; those concerns haven't materialized, and he struck out in just 22.5 percent of his Triple-A plate appearances. Factor in an above-average glove, and Witt should accomplish something his father never did over the course of his 16-year big-league career as a pitcher: make an All-Star Game.
2. Asa Lacy, LHP
The Royals appeared to luck out when Lacy, widely considered the best pitcher in the 2020 draft class, slipped to them at No. 4. Alas, his first professional season did not go as planned. He started 18 times between High-A and the Arizona Fall League, and yet he averaged seven walks per nine innings overall. Lacy, to his credit, still showed off his high-grade stuff, including one of the best fastball-slider combinations in the minors. This might qualify as an understatement, but the only thing standing between him and being known as one of the best pitchers in the minors is his control.
3. M.J. Melendez, C
Melendez was one of two Royals prospects who overcame a horrid 2019 campaign by hitting the snot out of the ball last season; the other was first baseman Nick Pratto. Melendez, by virtue of having more positional value, gets the nod here. He batted .288/.386/.625 across Double- and Triple-A, and he led all minor-league hitters with 41 combined home runs. Melendez, who overhauled his swing, also chopped into his strikeout rate, reducing it from 39 percent to around 21 percent. He projects to be a capable defender behind the plate, but the Royals had him make his debut at third base late in the year, and he might have to pick up other positions to get into the lineup alongside Salvador Pérez. Wherever he plays, he'll debut in 2022.