Alec Stauffer went into his senior year of college with pedigree few could match - a three-time pick in the MLB Draft, Stauffer had returned for a second season at Cal-Berkeley after being selected in the 6th round by the Mets following a junior campaign in which he hit .292 with 11 home runs for the Pac-12 league champions. He had turned down a first-round selection and a seven-figure signing bonus from the Blue Jays coming out of junior college, and before that, he'd been a 10th-round pick out of high school, becoming the first player to be drafted in the first ten rounds three times, and one of very few to ever be drafted as many as four times, the most famous example being Matt Harrington, who was selected five times without ever signing.
Starting his senior season as Cal's cleanup hitter, he continued to show the skillset that had made so many front offices fall in love with his potential. In Cal's opening series he hit four home runs in three games, started games at shortstop, third base, and center field, made ESPN's Web Gems segment with a backhand and impressive throw from the hot corner, and led the Golden Bears to a sweep of the number-one ranked team in the nation, Texas, who would go on to win the College World Series that year.
The Bears followed that 3-0 start with two more wins against local rivals UC-Davis and CSU Fullerton, with Stauffer contributing another five hits between the two games, including two more home runs. He also made an impressive debut on the mound, touching 90mph in a perfect ninth inning against Fullerton, striking out two of the three batters he faced.
Cal's next game wasn't for another week, when they faced Seattle University in a three-game series. Stauffer was conspicuously absent from the lineup in the first game. "He's still feeling a bit of soreness in the shoulder," sixth-year skipper George Horton was quoted. "We didn't want to rush him in there. We don't expect him to be out more than a few days."
Once again, Stauffer defied expectations. He was not out for merely a
few days. He was out quite a bit longer that, undergoing first an arthroscopic shoulder surgery in April, then a knee scope following an injury suffered while rehabbing in May. Still, MLB teams were still enamored by his potential, and the then 22-year-old was selected in the 22nd round by Kansas City and signed with a $100,000 bonus. He reported to the team's GCL complex in June, and spent the rest of 2002 rehabbing. Just before camp broke for the offseason, Stauffer came in one day and informed trainers he could not reach above his head without feeling a sharp pain, and underwent a second shoulder surgery a few weeks later.
In 2003, Stauffer was invited to major-league spring training, and was ranked as an honorable mention among many team top-prospect lists, with most outlets noting that if he successfully returned to the field, he could have the ceiling of a future All-Star or even MVP, but given his injury history, only one magazine is known to have ranked him among their league top prospects list. Baseball America, which had previously given Stauffer its High School Player of the Year award (1998) and second-team College All-American (2001) recognition, ranked Stauffer as the #88 prospect in baseball, albeit with the caveat that his ceiling, if fully reached, could easily put him in the same company as top-five prospects Mark Teixeira, Rocco Baldelli, and Joe Mauer. Stauffer saw action in only one game during spring training, with the team admitting early on that he was mostly in camp to learn from veteran players and would not see much playing time. During his only game action, on March 22, Stauffer hit a warning-track flyball against Texas right-hander Joaquin Benoit, which rookie Laynce Nix made a leaping catch on. Stauffer then played one inning at first base, recording one putout, before being replaced on defence by 29-year-old Mendy Lopez in the eighth inning. Following the conclusion of spring training, Stauffer remained at the Arizona complex until the AZL season began in June.
Stauffer was quickly joined by a familiar face: second-round pick Shane Costa, a college rival of Stauffer's at Fullerton. The two were good friends on and off the field in college, and when Costa signed with the Royals, he told reporters that he "can't wait to see Alec". Shortly after reporting to Arizona, an article was written talking about the duo's history, headlined by a picture of the two hugging at the Arizona complex, and claiming that these prospects had the potential to change the course of the franchise, which was coming off of a 100-loss season, the first in franchise history, and its eighth consecutive season with a losing record.
But as the AZL season began, Stauffer was nowhere to be found on the field. He was occasionally spotted in the dugout by rabid fans, but didn't see game action for the first two months. Costa played 23 games for the affiliate and was hurried to Wilmington for a three-game cameo. Mendy Lopez visited the youngster he had once replaced on rehab from the major-league club for a calf injury, bashed three home runs in seven games, then returned to Kansas City to resume his role as the team's sixth infielder.
Finally, on August 17, 2003, Stauffer saw his first regular-season action as a professional, entering the AZL Royals2 lineup as a designated hitter, and batting seventh. Fans eagerly wrote the Kansas City papers to report the sighting, as Stauffer remained in the lineup for a week, DHing in all but one game. On August 22nd, the righty made his debut in the field, playing three innings at third base before leaving. Speculation rose as to whether his right shoulder was once again giving him issues, as he struggled at the plate, going a dismal 1 for 22, and striking out ten times to just one walk. The season came to a close shortly after, with Stauffer sitting out the team's final regular-season game.
In 2004, Stauffer, along with Costa, reported to major-league spring training in Arizona. Baseball America had just published its prospect lists, and Costa was ranked as Kansas City's #7 prospect. Stauffer received merely an honorable mention, with the publication noting that he was in danger of falling off the list, his scouting report having been updated to include such red flags as "swing-and-miss" and "potential first-base-only", a stark contrast to his college days when Stauffer played multiple premium defensive positions and recorded a strikeout rate of just 8.3% in his All-America junior year. Mendy Lopez once again was in camp with the club, and was quite predictably the only one to break camp in the majors. Stauffer again remained in Surprise after camp broke; Costa received his first full-season assignment, and started the year at High-A Wilmington, where he would remain all year.
When the AZL season started in June, Stauffer was finally allowed to take on a full-time role with the Royals1 team. In a typical week, he would start one game at each corner position, one at designated hitter, and have two days off. After a hot start, in which the now almost 24-year-old batted .329/.425/.575 in 20 games, with 11 walks and only 7 strikeouts, Stauffer was promoted to Low-A Burlington, where he homered four times in his first three games, finishing the year with a short stay in Wilmington, where he and Costa were reunited again, and where Stauffer continued to show off his power promise, with four home runs in nine games. Meanwhile, the major-league club, led by AL ROTY Ángel Berroa, finished with an 83-79 record, its best winning percentage since the strike-shortened 1994 season.
The 2005 BA rankings reflected the strong season Stauffer had produced across the three levels - while Costa held at the #7 position, Stauffer leap-frogged him to reach #5 on the team list, even receiving an honorable mention in the Top 100. Both players were once again invited to major-league spring training. Both showed off their upside, with Stauffer blasting a 454-foot home run in the spring opener, and Costa recording a batting average of .350 across all contests. Costa was assigned to Wichita (AA), while Stauffer received an assignment to the team's new High-A affiliate in High Desert, where he stayed for just a week before joining his friend in Wichita. Lopez, meanwhile, was out of baseball, his contract having been sold to Samsung of the KBO in July 2004. (The team didn't retain him following a paltry .162/.237/.294 batting line across 22 contests.)
In Wichita, Stauffer saw early success as the Wranglers' starting third baseman, bopping ten homers in April and two more on May 1 before landing on the disabled list for the first time in over 20 months with yet another shoulder injury. When he returned on May 30, Costa was on the verge of his first promotion to the big leagues; Stauffer, meanwhile, was moved into a hybrid role, playing mainly first base and designated hitter, but also seeing some action in left field for the first time since his time in the AZL in 2004. When Costa came back from the big leagues in July, he took back his starting job in left, and Stauffer was relegated to first and DH for the remainder of the year, admittedly a successful one for the slugger, who had turned 25 during the season but produced a .296/.423/.526 line with 15 home runs across 93 games in Double-A.
The next year, yet again, both Stauffer and Costa were invited to major-league spring training - only this time, Costa boasted a major-league contract and the inside track to a valuable role as the Royals' fourth outfielder. Stauffer merely hoped to show the club why they had bothered to draft him in the first place. He trounced a 477-foot moonshot in one game, then had a three-homer affair in another, and finished a triple shy of the cycle
twice. The team briefly considered keeping him on the Opening Day roster, but with three corner spots locked down, and Mark Teahen, ranked the #85 prospect in all of baseball prior to the 2005 season, was impressing the club at third base. Stauffer was optioned to Omaha to get his first taste of Triple-A.
On April 10, 2006, Stauffer left Omaha's game against Alburquerque with an undisclosed injury. The team would not disclose specifics, but Stauffer was placed on the 7-day DL, and in June, it was revealed that he had undergone surgeries on both knees to treat inflammation along with a torn left meniscus and minor ligament damage. He made a surprising return to the active roster on September 1, appearing in all four games of Omaha's final series against Iowa, albeit only as a designated hitter. He was replaced by a pinch-runner late in three of the four games (Stauffer went 0 for 4 in the other).
While Stauffer was eligible for the 2006 Rule 5 Draft, the Royals opted not to add him to their 40-man roster to protect him. However, no team selected him in the draft, and he remained in the Kansas City organisation to begin 2007, receiving another invite to major-league spring training, but appearing to show far more limited tools. Stauffer was, however, able to return to playing third base and the outfield; his range and foot speed was considered too limited to play up the middle, but most experts agreed that he would be at least serviceable in the corner outfield, and could be an average to above-average third baseman depending on how his shoulder held up with the longer throws. Stauffer was surprisingly sent back to Wichita to begin 2007, where he stayed for most of the campaign. Meanwhile, #2 prospect Alex Gordon made the Opening Day roster and was the team's starter at third base for most of the year. Gordon's play in the big leagues coincided with Stauffer's usage in the minors - as Gordon continued to show that he belonged in the majors, the team implored Wichita manager Tony Tijerina to resume experimenting with Stauffer as more of a "4C" or four-corners player. It seemed the team had all but given up on Stauffer becoming its next star, with Gordon instead taking the mantle as the face of the franchise. (Meanwhile, Shane Costa enjoyed a stellar season at Omaha, hitting .326/.402/.502, and receiving several call-ups to Kansas City throughout the season - his last taste of big-league action.)
As the autumn rolled around, beat writers and fans from Berkeley to Missouri wondered just what had happened to their fallen star. Some speculated that despite not being on the 40-man, Stauffer could receive a cup of coffee in September. While the now 27-year-old righty had not seen action in Omaha, he was making a case for promotion with an impressive .348/.396/.563 batting line, including 19 home runs, and had showed his versatility with significant action in all four corner spots as promised, along with a brief two-inning cameo in center field. However, the team's General Manager, Dayton Moore, told reporters on August 1 that Stauffer's 31.5% strikeout rate, against just a 6.1% walk rate, was cause for concern. "We will give him a look at Omaha before the year is up," Moore said. "We do still believe that he has the potential to be an impact player in the Big Leagues, and we hope that comes with the Royals."
Stauffer did, in fact, receive a promotion to Omaha in mid-August, seeing time in 18 games at the Triple-A level and struggling mightily. Playing primarily in the outfield, the righty batted a pathetic .188/.230/.232, heating up just slightly to post three doubles in the team's final series, a sweep of the Iowa Cubs.
Going into the 2008 season, Stauffer is eligible to become a minor-league free agent in October, and around baseball, fans and experts alike are wondering: When the heck will Alec Stauffer arrive in the big leagues?
Trajectory
3Contact
7Power
111Run Speed
5Arm Strength
13Fielding
7Error Resistance
9Clutch Hit 4
VS Lefty 4
Contact Hitter
Hot Hitter
Tough Out
GD B2B Hitter
GD Pinch Hitter
Pull HitterThrowing 4
Durability 4 (whoops)
HD 1st Slide
Tough RunnerAggressive RUN
Aggressive FLD
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