Friday, November 19, is the deadline for Major League Baseball teams to finalize their 40 Man Rosters leading up to the Baseball Winter Meetings and the Rule 5 Draft. Many players will be “protected” on their organization’s 40 Man Roster in the final hour leading up to the deadline, as a preventative measure, so that other teams will not be able to pry away someone who has Major League potential.
My eye is on Dynasty Athlete Representation client Clint Robinson, who is a part of the Kansas City Royals‘ deep and talented farm system. Robinson accomplished the following this past year, as a member of the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals:
- Triple Crown – The third player in Texas League history to hit for the Triple Crown (.335 AVG, 29 HR, and 98 RBI).
- Led the Double-A Texas League in doubles (41), total bases (298), slugging (.625), and on-base-plus-slugging (1.035). 2nd in the league in hits (160) and runs (90).
- Texas League Player of the Week three times and Texas League Player of the Month twice.
- Mid-Season and Post-Season All-Star.
- Northwest Arkansas Naturals Player of the Year.
- Northwest Arkansas Naturals Unsung Hero in 2010.
- Broke the Northwest Arkansas Naturals hitting streak after hitting safely in 20 consecutive games.
Many people have correctly pointed out to me that in the history of the Rule 5 Draft very few first-basemen have been selected, and while I always like to take history into account, how many of those Rule 5 eligible first-basemen just came off of a Triple Crown year? And how many of them have the character of Clint Robinson, a guy who won the organization’s Mike Sweeney Award, which is given to the player that best represents the Royals organization on and off the field? Maybe teams will take a pass on Robinson in the Rule 5 Draft, but do the Royals really want to wait and see?
I talk to Clint almost every single day, and he continues to reinforce the fact that he loves the Kansas City Royals organization and hopes to stay there. He continues to say that to me even though he understands that other very talented first-basemen exist within the organization (Billy Butler, Kila Ka’aihue, Eric Hosmer).
Royals Assistant General Manager, J.J. Picollo, recently stated, “You try to play the guessing game a little bit,” in reference to choosing who to protect leading up to the November 19 deadline. Their General Manager, Dayton Moore, said that he anticipates adding 3-5 players to the 40 Man prior to the deadline. All of us at the Dynasty family are waiting with anticipation. But whether Robinson is added to the 40 Man roster or not, he will be ready to play in 2011.
