PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 12: Kendry Chourio #34 of the Kansas City Royals looks on in the clubhouse prior to the 2026 All-Star Futures Game Presented by Nike at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday, July 12, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images

MLB Pipeline updated their top 100 list and there are now 3 Royals on it:

54. Kendry Chourio

70. Josh Hammond

84. Angeibel Gomez

However, in their story about the updates, I can’t help but notice something:

A year ago, we added a dozen members of the Draft Class of 2025 to the Top 100, the same number that was added in 2024. This time around, we’re being a bit more stingy with spots, putting just 10 from the most recent class on the Top 100, though two of them are debuting higher than anyone from last year’s Draft crop did.

10. Grady Emerson, SS, Rays (No. 2 overall pick)
11. Roch Cholowsky, SS, White Sox (No. 1)
19. Vahn Lackey, C, Twins (No. 3)
31. Jackson Flora, RHP, Giants (No. 4)
40. Eric Booth Jr., OF, Orioles (No. 7)
41. Drew Burress, OF, A’s (No. 8)
64. Tyler Bell, SS, Rockies (No. 10)
67. Jacob Lombard, SS, Marlins (No. 14)
91. Derek Curiel, OF, Pirates (No. 5)
97. Gio Rojas, LHP, Rangers (No. 16)

So, if the Royals had picked either of the players who went after them (Booth, Burress), they’d have 4 Top 100 prospects today instead of 3. I get that where they end up is much more important than where they are today. But early returns are less than ideal.

Looking at the new Royals Top 30 list, this is where their picks from this year landed:

Pick 006 (1st) Zion Rose (6th)
Pick 030 (CB-A) Taylor Rabe (9th)
Pick 056 (2nd) Jack Slightom (12th)
Pick 091 (3rd) Maxx Yehl (22nd)
Pick 119 (4th) Dominic Battista (27th)
Pick 269 (9th) Camden Johnson (23rd)

I’m definitely no prospect guy. There are people on this site good at that. I’m not. So maybe this is a really stupid read of it all. But it doesn’t look great, using my non-expert eyes.

Rose was picked under slot and ranked accordingly. It’s not like he’s 101st on the new top 100 either, as David Shields and Blake Mitchell ranked higher than him in the Royals system and I doubt Mitchell, in particular, was close to the top 100. But most of that underslot money went to the #89th ranked guy (Slightom). They picked him at 56th, and gave him more than $1M over slot and he only slides in at 12th. Wait, so you picked a guy well below his ranking /and/ had to give him a bunch over slot? Yikes. They had enough left over to give Camden Johnson over slot and he comes in at 23rd. But because they had to give Slightom so much, they didn’t have enough to sign their other potential overslot, 19th-rounder Hudson DeVaughan.

But, hey, that’s just one ranking system. And rankings are finnicky. Let’s see where Baseball America has the Royals in their newest rankings:

(scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll)

Kansas City Royals Royals Top 30 Prospects
Preseason Ranking: 21
Midseason Ranking: 19

Current Top 100 Prospects: RHP Kendry Chourio (No. 33), OF Angeibel Gomez (No. 47), SS Josh Hammond (No. 55)

Key 2026 Graduations: C Carter Jensen, RHP Mason Black, RHP Beck Way, RHP Luinder Avila

2026 Prospects Traded Away: None

Key 2026 Additions: Gomez, OF Zion Rose, RHP Taylor Rabe, RHP Jack Slighton, RHP Maxx Yehl, RHP Lucas Braun, LHP Carter Holton

The Skinny: The Royals have a trio of top 60 prospects for the first time in a while, but the group of players right behind them need to take a step forward.

So you’re saying that having a draft that isn’t highly regarded and then holding onto all of your players at the deadline despite being 20-odd games below .500 is not great for your rankings? The most disheartening thing to me was that they had been creeping up the charts over the last year or so. But it feels like they gave a lot of it back.

Anne Rogers profiles the brightest youngster in the org, Kendry Chourio:

This year, he’s been dominant. Chourio has a 2.06 ERA across two levels, first posting a 1.88 ERA in 11 starts for Single-A before a promotion to High-A in June. In Quad Cities, he has a 2.35 ERA, with 35 strikeouts and just five walks in 30 2/3 innings. MLB Pipeline’s No. 65 prospect, he pitched in the Futures Game during All-Star festivities this year. At a career-high 78 2/3 innings, Chourio hasn’t pitched since July 25, but will get back on the mound as early as this week, part of a long-term workload plan.

The only 18-year-old to pitch for a High-A affiliate this year, Chourio is clearly talented, armed with a 94-98 mph fastball and a curveball, changeup and slider. His pitchability is advanced already and something he’s continuously improving.

“The goal is to not throw hard, it’s to have pitchability,” Chourio said. “With all [my] pitches, to have a motive behind every single one of them. Whether it’s a fastball, making sure the location of the pitch is good. Making sure you get the curveball in the zone, and executing the changeup, throwing it in or out of the zone.”

ICYMI: Royals sign former All-Star pitcher Tony Gonsolin

At The Star, Jaylon Thompson profiles Randy Dobnak. Just a reminder that minor league players make next to nothing and have to moonlight as Uber drivers to pay the bills.

Long before Randy Dobnak became a shooting star in a lost galaxy that is the Kansas City Royals 2026 campaign, he was scrolling through available rides on his local Uber app.

It was a source of income. And for Dobnak, a chance to nurture a lifelong dream that hadn’t begun to bear fruit.

“I’d drive around Pittsburgh for a little bit just to see how it was,” Dobnak said. “Make some extra money because we didn’t make much at all in the minor leagues.”

Here’s a couple of stories from The Athletic ($) that aren’t specifically about the Royals but do talk about Royals players.

Eric Hosmer writes about the “

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