Angeibell goes to Arizona

Outside of the JJ Picollo and Matt Quatraro joint press conference scheduled for Wednesday to put a bow on the underwhelming and uninspiring 2026 season, I figured there would be little news on the Royals front this week.

Think again.

From Sam Dykstra at MLB Pipeline:

Angeibel Gomez was the Royals top international signing last January. An outfielder from Maracay, Venezuela he made his professional debut this summer for Royals Ventura in the Dominican Summer League. All the 17-year-old did was hit .361/.467/.653 with 13 doubles, nine home runs and 15 steals over 180 plate apperances. He drew 28 walks and struck out only 19 times. The kid is a capital-T Talent.

Maybe it’s all caps TALENT. After his performance this summer, Baseball America named Gomez as the top prospect in the DSL:

The gem of Kansas City’s 2026 international class, Gomez spent all summer bullying baseballs and wowing evaluators.

His short, powerful swing helped him earn a reputation as one of the few prospects in the league who projects as above-average or better in terms of hittability and impact. He has a decent chance to stick in center field, but his arm strength and power potential would profile nicely in right field if he had to move one day. Gomez is an above-average runner now but might slow down a tick as he matures. All told, he has a future as a strong everyday player who can make a few all-star games.

“Bullying baseballs and wowing evaluators.” I wish I had written that.

BA currently slots Gomez as the Royals second-best prospect, behind pitching phenom Kendry Chourio and just ahead of Josh Hammond and David Shields. That’s a helluva prospect quartet.

This will obviously be Gomez’s first trip stateside since he signed with the Royals. He will be the second-youngest player in AFL history. It's notable, too, because the AFL isn't some sort of entry-level league. It's a proving ground for prospects who are generally in the High-A to Double-A level. AL Rookie of the Year favorite, Kevin McGonigle, was the MVP of the AFL in 2025. This will be a moment for Gomez to measure up against talent a few levels above where he played this summer. It's an interesting gambit from the Royals, who clearly believe Gomez is extremely advanced for his age. They're being aggressive in seeing what they have in this young prospect.

The video on him has always been impressive:

Yeah, that’s the stuff.

Gomez will join 2026 first round draft pick, outfielder Zion Rose (#5 BA) on the Surprise Saguaros along with other Royals minor leaguers LHP Justin Lamkin (#9 BA), RHP Steven Zobac (#20 BA), C Brooks Bryan, INF Austin Charles (#24 BA) , RHP Josh Hansell, LHP Frank Mozzicato and RHP Hiro Wyatt.

Live streams will be available for select games. The Saguaros play their first game on October 3 at 5:30 p.m.

As noted above, the annual Royals autopsy will be performed on Wednesday when President of Baseball Operations/General Manager J.J. Picollo and Manager Matt Quatraro meet the media. Full coverage within the newsletter on Thursday. It should be an interesting session.

There is one word to describe the predictions I made for the 2026 season back in March: Rancid.

I had the Royals down for 88 wins. I missed by 19. (Hey! PECOTA had projected them for 85 wins and first place in the AL Central. PECOTA!)

For the division winners in the AL, I had the Tigers, Blue Jays and Mariners. None of those clubs will be playing in October. I literally got one playoff team out of six in the American League, so thank you Boston Red Sox.

The NL picks fared a little better as I got four of the six teams, missing on the Mets and the…Reds?

So, so terrible.

Since the postseason starts on Tuesday, I’m going to rank the participating teams in order of my interest in them advancing. I will also remind you that by the time the commissioner hands his piece of metal to the World Series champions, nobody will remember who the four teams were that lost in the Wild Card round.

12 - New York Yankees

The masses may try to tell me the Dodgers are bad for baseball, but the mere existence of the Yankees is always going to be a problem for me.

Yet knowing the Royals have a more recent World Series title than the Yankees is balm for my soul. Long may it continue.

11 - Los Angeles Dodgers

There was a moment in late August where the Dodgers were edging toward the number three seed in the National League. That would’ve been hilarious. Instead, the team built for October started putting it together in September. As you were.

I will forever maintain that the phase “winners of 13 of the last 14 NL West titles” has no place in the game. This is the fallout of splitting the leagues into three divisions. I don’t like it.

The Dodgers aren’t the problem. They’re just really good in just about every single facet of the game. Does the money help? Absolutely. But that’s not the only reason they’re postseason mainstays. If money solved everything in baseball, wouldn’t the Mets be here?

10 - Atlanta

Every October, it’s the same damn thing. Atlanta wins the NL East and they get thrown on as the first game of the day at home. (I wrote this before the schedule for came out that has Atlanta in the first game of the day against the Phillies. True!) The stadium will be about three-quarters filled and those who are there can barely give a damn in between stuffing themselves with bites of Chick-Fil-A and doing that infernal chopping action. The sooner they’re dispatched from the tournament, the better it is for me, noted hater of Atlanta.

9 - Cleveland Guardians

Why? Why? Why?

8 - Houston Astros

As a fan of all things chaos, I’m supposed to like the fact the Houston Astros got into the postseason with a .500 record and a -32 run differential. Yet I’m surprisingly unmoved by their presence here and am just glad they finished a game ahead of the Rangers who play in a nightmare stadium for watching on television.

I hope the flag the Astros fly for the 2026 postseason says “Particiapation Pennant” instead of “AL West Champs.”

7 - Philadelphia Phillies

Gotta admit that I was rooting for total collapse. The Phillies were something like four games up on a Wild Card spot with five games to go and then went into some sort of death spiral where they needed to win the last game of the season to punch their postseason ticket. Close call.

Still, it’s not looking good for the Phils as they had to burn their presumed game one playoff starter, Zack Wheeler, in their game 162 fight for survival. And I’m completely flummoxed by their position players where only Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper were producing above league average this year. What a bizarre team. They’ll probably go on a heater and knock the Dodgers out in the Divisional Series round. I wouldn’t hate that.

I docked them a few spots on this list because of the 1980 World Series. Never forget.

6 - Boston Red Sox

It feels kind of icky to drop the Red Sox so high on the list, but I sort of can’t hate on them. I visited Fenway for the first time last summer and it was everything I thought it would be. Still buzzing over being there. So points for that. Also, they’re playing the Yankees, so yeah, of course I’m going to prop them higher up this list.

Boston pushed into this spot via a midseason run where they went 32-5. They went 12-12 in September which seems to be more indicative of their true talent.

5 - Chicago Cubs

I want to see the stars shine in October so let’s go all-in on Pete Crow-Armstrong. The newest addition to the 40/40 club and the presumptive NL MVP, the dude is some fun to watch.

The Cubs frittered away their late season advantage in the Wild Card that would’ve seen them host the first round at Wrigley Field so I have to knock them a spot or two for that. I’ve been to Wrigley before, but never for a night game. Night vibes at Wrigley just feel different coming through the television.

4 - Chicago White Sox

I’ve never had the same kind of aversion to the White Sox that I have held at various times for other AL Central teams. Don’t ask me to explain because I cannot. And while I am not a religious man, I am interested to see the Pope’s team in October.

And then there is this:

The White Sox have been the vibes team for most of the summer…that plucky squad of underdogs that nobody believed in but the dudes in the dugout. Murakami has been a revelation and is crazy fun. They’re just kind of an enjoyable team for the neutral.

And then they traded for Tommy Pham. The vibes were fun while they lasted.

3 - San Diego Padres

The Padres have played in two World Series in franchise history and both times have come up against absolute baseballing juggernauts. First the Detroit Tigers in 1984 and then the New York Yankees in 1998. Bad luck for them. They last won the NL West 20 years ago and they have advanced to the NLCS just once over that span.

The Padres are baseball’s crazy uncle. They spend more than their market size would dictate and AJ Preller makes more trades than a baseball card collector mainlining Pixie Stix. Once owned by the late Peter Seidler, who gave off Ewing Kauffman vibes for being beloved by the fanbase, they sold this year for a whopping $3.9 billion to a husband and wife duo who made their cash in private equity. I kind of fear for their future. This may be their last, best shot for some time.

2 - Tampa Bay Rays

Back in October after two years where they finished under .500 and fourth in the AL East, you can’t keep Tampa down for long. What a unique team. The power of Junior Caminero, the speed of Chandler Simpson and the veteran Cedric Mullins. They’ve got the pitching to go far as well. Plus, they’re not the Yankees.

Fun fact: The Rays have won the East five times going back to 2008. Impressive given their competition for that includes the Red Sox and Yankees. As you know, over that stretch the Royals have won the Central exactly once. But the Royals have the World Series edge! Our trophy case is better than your trophy case!

1 - Milwaukee Brewers

Gotta cop to a bit of a soft spot for the Brewers, the standard-bearer for all small market teams. Somehow, year after year, they find themselves in the postseason. Sure, they find a way to underperform but still, they qualify. This year they won 100 games for the first time in franchise history and locked up the number one overall seed. They’re just one of those fundamentally sound clubs that are a joy to watch.

They’ve been in October eight of the last nine seasons. Last year, they were swept out of the NLCS by the Dodgers, so revenge could come into play. I think what I like the best about the Brewers is that the Cubs stole their manager a couple of years ago and Milwaukee got better!

Maybe this is their year!

Since my preseason predictions went so well, let’s take a stab at the Wild Card round of best-of-three matchups.

Phillies at Atlanta

This is one of those series that gives me weird vibes. The Phillies, as noted, nearly choked away their chance and their offense is below meh. Naturally, it wouldn’t be weird for them to go on some sort mad October dash because things like that happen. On the other hand, it’s possible they get rolled in two games without scoring a run. I’ll lean toward that scenario.

Atlanta has the added luxury of being able to set their starting rotation. Chris Sale gets the ball in opener with Tyler Mahle the presumed game two starter. Mahle has been nails since joining the team at the trade deadline.

Atlanta in two.

White Sox at Astros

I think it’s astoundingly dumb to invite six teams in per league and then not seed them according to record. The fact that the Astros host these games is an annoying bug in the proceedings.

This is shaping up to be a slugfest between two of the top offenses in the AL, with the Astros fronted by Triple Crown threat Yordan Alvarez. He will be countered by Murakami and the pope. That should be enough.

White Sox in three.

Red Sox at Yankees

Nobody outside of New York and Boston asked for this.

I'll watch though because Jason Benetti is on the broadcast for NBC and Payton Tolle gets the game one start for the Bosox. I doubt Aaron Judge plays.

Red Sox in three.

Cubs at Padres

Thank goodness there’s at least one west coast team in this round so we can gorge ourselves on baseball all day—at least on Tuesday and Wednesday. For awhile, it looked like the Cubs would be hosting a Wild Card series, but the Padres got hot down the stretch to push their way to the front of the pack. The Cubs have the superstar in PCA anchoring the best offense in the majors, but the Padres aren’t far behind. It just took the Friars a couple of months to find their groove.

The clearest edge in this matchup is in the bullpens where the Padres have Mason Miller closing games. That’s enough for me.

Padres in three.