2014 Prospect Countdown: #40 Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado

40. Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado Outfield

Age: 18

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Position: OF
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 180
B/T: R/R
Acquired: Drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 8th round of the 2012 MLB June Amateur Draft.

2013 Rank: 40

Landon Adams (NR): Escalera-Maldonado failed to make my personal Royals top 30, because I haven't seen enough results to place him ahead of others on the list. With that being said, Escalera-Maldonado has age on his side and a respectable .287/.337/.373 line over 78 professional games. He should continue to make a slow climb through the Royals system. Next year he should burn his final year of Rookie Ball eligibility and head to Idaho Falls. Hopefully, from there he can hit full season ball in stride as a 20 year old in 2015.

Paden Bennett (30): I am a fan of Escalera-Maldonado.  He's a young outfielder with good talent and has showed improvement each year.  Obviously he is still extremely raw and has a long ways to go.  The power is below average as of now but as an 18 year old he did slug .380 in Burlington which is respectable.  I look for Escalera-Maldonado to make more strides this season and show a little bit more pop.

Joe Cox (NR): Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado starts off this annual list of Kansas City Royals top prospects.   Escalera-Maldonado will not be the last young, toolsy outfielder that we have ranked but he may be the youngest.  The former 8^thround pick made the move up from Arizona to Burlington and compiled another 204 professional at-bats, with all of his starts coming in center field.  Offensively there were nominal improvements in both BB% and K% but he continues to show no power (1HR in 332 career PA) or speed (5 career SB).  There is a chance we will see Escalera-Maldonado move up to full season ball in 2014, but nothing has changed from last year, he is too far away from the majors right now to have a good idea of how good this player is. 

Dan Ware (NR): With a great showing in the Arizona League 2 seasons ago as a 17 year old, Alfredo needed to do a little more in 2013, and he did.  K% dipped from 22.7 to 20.5%, BB% increased 12.6%, and his .277/.333/.380 line was well above the Appalachian League median.  Considering his strong start as a professional, it wouldn't be surprising to see Alfredo back in Burlington to get a few more at bats to start the year. No need to rush the soon to be 19 year old.

Total Points: 1