Cougars give fans a chance to meet new Royals personnel

On a night when the landscape was littered with snowdrifts as high an outfield wall, the Kane County Cougars welcomed coaches and front office personnel from their new major league affiliate, the Kansas City Royals.

More than a hundred fans joined Cougars Assistant General Manager Jeff Ney, broadcaster Jeff Hem, and other management staff members Friday night in welcoming several of the people who will be most responsible for putting a quality product on the field in Geneva for at least the next two seasons.

“It’s terrific for us to know that we have an affiliate that takes their minor league development seriously,” Ney said.

The event was held in the banquet room, overlooking a snow-covered field in Elfstrom Stadium.

“The ball’s not going to jump right now,” former major league all-star Mark Davis said, joking about the field conditions.

Davis, the 1989 National League Cy Young Award winner, now serves as the Royals’ Minor League Pitching Coordinator, a key role in any organization, but especially one that has emphasized pitching during the past decade.

“We have a pitcher’s ballpark in the major leagues, so knowing that, we’ve signed a number of quality arms over the past several years,” Davis said. “Any organization that is pitching-rich is going to have more success. If we have a strong staff, we’re going to be in every game.”

Davis’ coaching experience ranges across the baseball spectrum, from his years as the pitching coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks, to his current position, and just about every other level.

“As you move up though the levels, the emphasis is more on the mental side of pitching,” Davis said. “In the lower levels there’s more emphasis on a pitcher’s delivery, mechanics, and there’s a lot of repetition. Each level has it’s own little process.”

Though Davis will spend his summer traveling to the Royals’ various minor league sites, another former major leaguer, Vance Wilson will become well-known to Cougars fans. Wilson, who makes his managerial debut this spring after ending his eight year career in 2010, believes his experience will be a big plus.

“I was a backup catcher once I got to the big leagues, and mentally I was always doing the kinds of things I’ll need to do to be successful here,” Wilson said. “All of our guys are talented, but what I’m excited about is teaching players how to be a professional person and get the most of their talent.”

Like most people who were there, Wilson is excited about being part of an organization that has made player development a priority.

“The plan the Royals have in place right now is about being a championship organization, and I think we have the right approach to do that,” Wilson said.

Recently, Baseball America named the Royals’ farm system the best in baseball, a point that was talked about and celebrated throughout the night.

“That almost makes us look smart,” Ney said. “We won’t know how good a move this was from the perspective of players coming through our team and winning championships for a few years, but Baseball America saying in this is the best system in the business doesn’t hurt.”

The Royals will be the fourth team the Cougars have been affiliated with during their 21 year history. Beginning with the Baltimore Orioles, a franchise known for its frugality, and continuing with small market teams—the Florida Marlins, Oakland A’s, and now the Kansas City Royals, the Cougars have had the good fortune of being affiliated with major league franchises that focus their resources on building though the farm system.

“We’ve got great commitment from our ownership to invest in scouting and player development,” J.J Picollo, Royals Assistant General Management for Scouting and Player Development said. “We haven’t changed our philosophy from one year to the next. We have been very patient with our players. We like to say there’s no road map or timetable for any of our players, and we let them each develop at their own rate.”

That’s good news for Cougars fans. It means the next Carlos Beltran or Zack Greinke could be pitching in a Kane County uniform as early as this season.

Royals Director of Minor League operations Scott Sharp listed Brett Eibner, a pitcher-outfielder at Arkansas University who will be playing center field, shortstop Alex McClure, first baseman Murray Watts, and infielder Brian Fletcher, son of former Chicago White Sox Scott Fletcher, as some of the players to keep an eye on.

The pitching side is less certain, but that’s not due to a lack of talent, far from it.

“Right now I have a list of thirty pitchers who could probably be here this season,” Sharp said. “We have a lot of good young arms.”

Changes in team affiliation are common throughout minor league baseball, as two-year agreements are the norm. It wasn’t until last fall that the Cougars began looking for another major league partner after spending the past eight seasons helping to develop players for the Oakland A’s.

“We wanted to be able to explore the options and see what else was out there,” Ney said. “The Royals made a very good first impression on us. We got very excited about that and thought this would be a good fit for us.”

Fans won’t see much of a change around the ballpark. When it comes to a franchise as established and successful as the Cougars, the nuts and bolts operations remain the same regardless of whose players are wearing the familiar unis.

“There will be a whole new set of guys on the roster and a new field staff, but there are just a few minor adjustments from our standpoint,” Shawn Touney, the Cougars’ Media Relations Coordinator said.

The Royals were previously affiliated with the Burlington Bees, who will now serve as the farm club for the Oakland A’s.

“In the past few years Burlington has won a couple of Midwest League titles, and that means a lot,” Touney said. “We saw how competitive those teams were, so we’re familiar with how rich their farm system is, and our affiliation with the Royals makes us believe that we can contend to a league title.”