It should come as no surprise to anyone who follows minor league baseball that the Kansas City Royals have five of the Top 20 propsects in Baseball America's list of Top 100 Prospects.

 

After all, former Phillies scouting guru Mike Arbuckle has been working for the Royals since November 2008 when he was hired as senior adviser for scouting and player development, working as the right-hand man for Royals G.M. Dayton Moore.

 

Arbuckle was with the Phillies for 16 years, joining the team in 1992 as director of scouting. Under Arbuckle, the Phillies drafted players like Pat Burrell, Ryan Howard, Ryan Madson, Brett Myers, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels and Scott Rolen. And let's not forget about all of the players the Phillies drafted and then traded over the past few years to get guys like Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. Players like Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, Lou Marson, Travis D'Arnaud and Jason Knapp. And Arbuckle was responsible, along with former G.M. Lee Thomas, for putting Latin American Supervisor Sal Agostinelli in charge of the Latin American scouting area, which brought the Phillies Carlos Ruiz, who was signed as a skinny second baseman and has developed into an All-Star catcher. OF course, current Phillies Scouting Director Marti Wolever made a lot of those picks, but who hired him? Arbuckle.

 

The Royals Top 5 in the Top 100 are: First baseman Eric Hosmer (No. 8) , third baseman Mike Moustakis (No. 9), former catcher turned outfielder Wil Myers (No. 10), and left-handed pitcher John Lamb (No. 18) and Mike Montgomery (No. 19). Moustakis is the oldest at 22, while Hosmer and Montgomery are 21. Myers and Lamb are 20. All could reach the majors this season in Septemeber.  

It's obvious the Phillies' future lies in the lower levels of the sytem.

 

Of the team's Top 10 prospect, according to Baseball America, nine are either at low Class-A Lakewood or high Class-A Clearwater.

 

Oufielder Jonathan Singleton (No. 2), RHPs Brody Colvin (No. 3), Jarred Cosart (No. 4) and Trevor May (No. 5), catcher Sabastian Valle (No. 6) and center fielder Jiwan James (No. 7) play for the Threshers in Cleawater. Lefty started Jesse Biddle (No. 8)  and outfielder Domnigo Santana and Aaron Altherr play in Lakewood for the BlueClaws. Singleton will be 20 Sept. 18, Colvin will be 21 Aug. 14, Cosart will be 21 May 25, May will be 22 Sept. 23, Valle will be 21 July 24, James turned 22 April 11, Biddle will be 20 Oct. 22, Santana will be 19 Aug. 5 and Altherr turned 20 Jan. 14.

 

The Phillies' top prospect, outfielder Domonic Brown, is recovering from hamate bone surgery on his right wrist. He will be 24 Sept. 3 

The Clearwater Threshers, the Phillies' high Class-A affiliate in the Florida State League, got the 2011 season off to a winning start Thursday night with a 10-1 thrashing of Dunedin, the Toronto Blue Jays' high Class-A affiliate. Stud Phillies prospect Jonathan Singleton, an eighth-round pick by the big club in 2009 out of Lakewood, Calif., began the 2011 season right where he left off last year when he led the BlueClaws to their second straight South Atlantic League title. The 19-year-old Singleton, who has moved to left field this season after playing first base his entire life, is one of the youngest players in the Florida State League. He won't be 20 until Sept. 18. The South Atlantic League's Most Exciting Player and top Major League Prospect in 2010 as voted by Baseball America, Singleton is ranked No. 39 by Baseball America among its Top 100 prospects. He went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored Thursday night. Joining him in the hit parade were former pitcher Joe Savery, the Phillies' No. 1 pick in 2007 (19th overall) out of Rice University. The left-handed hitting Savery went 4-for-4 Thursday night in his quest to become aneveryday player after flaming out out as a pitcher. Outfielder Leandro Castro, a 21-yaer-old Dominican who helped Lakewood win the SAL title last year, went 3-for-5 with an RBI, three runs scored and he stole a base. Speedy centerfieler Jiwan James, a 6-4, 200-pounder who many compare to Domonic Brown (I don't see it), went 2-for-4 and stole two bases. He was a huge reason Lakewood won the SAL title last year. He reminds me more of a Chris Roberson type, who played in the Phillies' system. Stud right-hander Jarred Cosart, a 38th-round pick by the Phillies in 2008, went six innings and allowed just two hits while striking out two to pick up the win. He did walk four batters, but it's only April 7. Cosart, a 6-3, 180-pounder, will be 21 on May 5, so his future is very bright. He was a Future Games selection last season while going 7-3 for Lakewood. He is ranked No. 70 by Baseball America among its Top 100 prospects. Coming out of high school, Cosart wanted big money and he had a commitment to Missouri, so teams figured he was unsignable. The Phils stayed with him and inked him at the signing deadline in August of 2008 for approximately $500,000. This Clearwater team is loaded with many of the prospect who led Lakewood to back-to-back South Atlantic League titles, so it should be a great season in Clearwater this summer.

After back-to-back South Atlantic League titles, what could the Lakewood BlueClaws do for an encore? The BlueClaws, the low Class A affiliate of the Phillies, began the 2011 season Thursday night with a 2-0 shuotout over the over the Kannapolis Intimidators, the Sout Atlantic League affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. Blue Claws Starter Mario Hollands, a 6-5, 205-pound 22-year-old left-hander whom the Phillies drafted in the 10th round in 2010 out of Cal-Santa Barbara, picked up the win in his first start as a BlueClaw, throwing five shutout innings. Hollands scattered five hits and struck out three. Relievers Tyler Knigge and Eric Pettis came in out the BlueClaws bullpen and slammed the door shut as they each pitched two perfect innings of relief. BlueClaws 1B Jim Murphy, a 6-4, 240-pound hammer, led off the 2nd inning with a home run for the first hit of 2011 for Lakewood. The only negative about Murphy is that the 17th-round pick out of Washington State in 2006 is 25 years old and will be 26 Sept. 16. In other words, he's an organizational player who fills out a lineup and protects younger prospects in the lineup. Playing at Lakewood this season would seem to be a demotion for Murphy. He spent last season at high Class A Clearwater last season, batting .239 in 397 at-bats, with six home runs and 43 RBIs. He spent the 2009 season at Lakewood, hitting .279 with 14 homers and 67 RBIs. The Blue Claws will send RHP David Buchanan to the mound tonight at 7:05 p.m., at FirstEnergy Park, and Kannapolis will counter with RHP Jake Petricka.