Naturals' season still on hold

The Kansas City Royals took a step toward playing baseball on Sunday with the announcement of their 60-man pool, but the Northwest Arkansas Naturals are still in a holding pattern.

Naturals General Manager Justin Cole said he's expecting some sort of news soon.

"I feel like with the finalizing of the rosters you'd anticipate some news soon," Cole said. "I'm not sure with the holiday this week. We're just waiting, hoping for the best but preparing for either scenario."

Professional baseball has been on hold as the Major League players and owners hashed out details for a shortened season brought on by the covid-19 pandemic.

But now Major League teams will head for an abbreviated spring training on Wednesday. The season is scheduled to start on July 23 or 24. Active rosters will be 30 during the first two weeks of the season, 28 during the second two weeks and 26 after that. There will also be a 30-man taxi squad. Up to three players from the taxi squad can travel with a team to a game, and one of the three must be a catcher.

Some have chosen to have roster split among two sites. For instance, St. Louis has announced Hammons Field, the home of the Double-A Springfield Cardinals of the Texas League, will will be utilized as a workout site for the Cardinals' taxi squad. Other Texas League ballparks in Tulsa, along with Frisco and Amarillo, Texas, have committed to hosting Texas Collegiate League games.

The Royals will have their 60-man pool all working out at Kaufman Stadium for now. But Cole said he's let team officials that Arvest Ballpark is ready if they need it.

"The ball's in their court," Cole said. "They are going to do what they think is best for their players. We're just taking it day by day. If needed, we'll be ready. If not, then we'll figure out our next step from there."

Cole said there's been discussion of alternative uses for the ballpark such as youth baseball tournaments possibly later in the summer if the minor league season is wiped out. But he's also holding out some hope there will be some sort of season for the Naturals.

"We've kicked some things around but we've purposely taken a little more deliberate approach not knowing so many things," Cole said. "From our perspective, if it's not the news we want then we'll deal with it and figure out the long term.

"It's weighed heavy on everybody and you just kinda want to know. We've heard reports on and off for about five weeks now. Our thing is we want to be ready no matter what the news is."

A group of talented pitching prospects who were likely headed for Northwest Arkansas this season are among the Royals' 60-man pool.

First-round pick Daniel Lynch along with Kris Bubic and Austin Cox, all left-handers, showed promise at High-A Wilmington last season. All three are rated among the top 10 prospects in the Royals organization by Baseball America.

Pitchers Daniel Tillo, Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar all finished the season with the Naturals last year and are also among the Royals' 60-man group.

Three other players with Northwest Arkansas ties were among the 60-man pools on their respective teams. Prairie Grove native Jalen Beeks was among the Tampa Bay Rays' pool, while Rogers Heritage graduate Hunter Wood was in the Cleveland Indians' group.

In addition, Prairie Grove's Ty Tice, who has not appeared in a Major League game, is listed among Toronto's 60-man pool. The reliever spent last season in Double-A and Triple-A in the Blue Jays' organization. The 16th-round draft pick out of Central Arkansas combined to go 3-4 with a 2.34 ERA and eight saves, while striking out 64 in 57.2 innings.

Both Beeks and Wood finished last season on their respective team's Major League rosters. Beeks, a left-hander, went 6-3 with a save and a 4.31 ERA over 104.1 innings for the Rays. He appeared in 33 games, including three starts.

Wood, a right-hander who was acquired by Cleveland in a trade last season with Tampa Bay. He finished 1-1 with a save and a 2.98 ERA in 45.1 innings. He appeared in 36 games combined last season, including two starts for the Rays.