[Biggp07]

I got favorable contract responses from Josh Conway and Willie Concepcion so Tuesday morning, March 12th, started off good.

My scout, Jason McLeod, called from Adelaide, Australia, saying he believes he found a 16-year-old starting pitcher named Bailey Wiebe who could benefit our club in the long run and that we should make a concerted effort to follow his development. Bailey Wiebe is the first international player at 16 years old to be assigned to our international complex. It will be a few years before we know his potential, but hopefully, he proves he can play in the big leagues and help us win some championships. I also asked Jason to look at 7 players in this year’s draft pool and report back to me soon. He said give him about a week and a half, and he’ll provide me with accurate reports back on each of them.

I’m having him look at 2 high schoolers, a starting pitcher and catcher, and the rest are college-level players. One of the college players I’m most interested in is a guy out of Tampa, Florida, a junior attending UF at Gainesville, FL named Jac Caglianone. He looks to be a solid power hitter utility guy who can play 1st base and LF out of the gate. He might even have some utility as a reliever and two-way player in a crunch. With good development and coaching, we have a potential star prospect to grow in the next few years. Maybe we see him debut around the late season of 2025, but more likely, 2026 is his target year. A second guy I want to have a deeper look at is Braden Montgomery, a junior at Texas A&M out of Madison, MS. He shows great power bat and corner outfield ratings, so likely a high pick in this year’s draft.

Of the 2 high schoolers I’m having Jason scout, 18-year-old catcher Cade Arrambide looks to be our most promising. OSA already gives him a 60 framing and 60 arm, along with having good leadership and a work ethic. Still yet to learn his real personality, but even if he has no natural captain skills, he is an asset to have in our system. I’m hoping we get a chance at him early because I’ll pull the trigger fast. Karsten Sweum is the second high schooler, a starting pitcher who would likely develop out to be a back-end rotation starter. Although he seems to have a high work ethic, his intelligence and leadership may be lacking, so we will flesh that out if or when he gets in our farm system.

CF Will Taylor and LF Ian Petrutz are 2 college-level OF draft prospects that we should try to obtain in the draft this summer as well. Each of them looks to have good contact and defensive ratings, so it will be a great value for both our roster and/or trade if we need help sooner than they can develop.
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It’s March 13th, about one week into my new position as GM and Manager for the KC Royals. Josh Conway and Willie Concepcion both agreed to their contract offers, and I got favorable responses from both B.J. Roper-Hubbert and Zack Jones. My plan for the farm improvement is coming together. As the season progresses, it will prove good or bad.

With pre-season winding down, I needed to consider my budget limits for scouting and development. I have about $9MIL in total money available, so I might put a bit more into development to get it to the league baseline at least and try to increase the scouting budget a little. In considering the budget, I knew I needed to look at backup catchers for Salvy since he’s getting older and will likely need to have some heightened relief this year behind the plate. We have 3 catchers working in the minors right now, but I’m not convinced any of them are ready to be called up right away. Rodolfo Duran looks good stat-wise, but none of those stats are in Omaha. He was only picked up as a free agent this past December, and we haven't seen his work up close yet. So, I’d like to give him time there to the All-Star break before we make a call-up decision on him. But there's always the chance he'll be needed sooner, which is why he's there anyway. Logan Porter only had 11 games as a call-up last year and didn’t perform well. In 31 AB, he only got 6 hits and struck out 11 times for a 30% SO rate. Plus, his ability is below average, so he’s a call-up in a pinch at best. Luca Tresh is simply not ready or developed enough yet. But he has some good leadership qualities, so he shows promise.

My free agent wire checks revealed Juan Centeno, a 34-year-old catcher with great charisma, leadership, intelligence, and work ethic, and excellent defensive skills at 60/60 blocking and framing. I made him a minor league offer, and hopefully, he will accept. I’d only need him for the year, so being out of options, we can let him go at arbitration if he doesn’t pan out, but I’m confident he will at least provide some seasonal value.