The Royals not only hit rock bottom in the standings last year, but they bottomed out in farm system rankings as well. The team went from having the top-ranked farm system by Baseball America and many other experts in 2011, to having the 29th-ranked system last year. Success gave the Royals later draft picks, but the team has had a long dry spell in the draft that stretches to the days when they were picking in the top ten, depriving the minor league system of top-tier prospects.
Slowly, things are improving, at least according to most experts.