David Cone

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Kansas City Royals #3 prospect in 1986
  Now is the time for Cone to make a move. After missing the 1983 season because of a major knee surgery (stemming from a collision with a runner while covering a base during spring training), Cone has proven durable the last two years at Double-A Memphis and Triple-A Omaha. He also showed that he still had the 90 mph-plus fastball that led the Royals to make Cone a fourth-round selection in the 1981 draft, despite the fact his high school did not have a baseball team. But he also continued to struggle with control problems (207 walks, 225 strikeouts in 338 innings), though it appears everything began to come together during the winter. Pitching in Puerto Rico, Cone had a 1-5 record, but his ERA was 2.26, and more importantly, in 56 innings he cut his walks to 27 while striking out 45.
• 
  Ranked Kansas City Royals #9 prospect in 1985
  Knee surgery forced Cone to miss the entire 1983 season and created some concern about how well he could bounce back after a long layoff at such an early stage of his career. The questions were answered in a hurry. Don’t worry about the 8-12 record and 4.28 ERA or even the 114 walks. The stat to consider in evaluating Cone’s return is that he led Double-A Memphis with 179 innings, and then had the second-lowest ERA in the Florida instructional league. Cone's knee never bothered him. He did appear to tire late in the season at Memphis but was strong again for the FIL. This will be a big season for Cone, a fourth-round draft pick out of a Kansas City high school in June of 1981, to show that as well as being physically sound, he can regain command of his pitches. He has a plus fastball and adequate breaking pitches.
• 
  Ranked Kansas City Royals #6 prospect in 1983
  Cone is a hometown boy who was the captain of the football and basketball teams at Kansas City’s Rockhurst High, which did not field a baseball team. He was the Royals’ third-round pick in 1981 and compiled an 11-5 record in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast and instructional league play. He split time in 1982 between Charleston and Fort Myers, where he posted combined record of 16-3 with ERA of 2.08 and nine complete games. At Fort Myers, he struck out 57 batters in 72 innings.

• December, 1985 Scouting Report
  Now is the time for Cone to make a move. After missing the 1983 season because of a major knee surgery (stemming from a collision with a runner while covering a base during spring training), Cone has proven durable the last two years at Double-A Memphis and Triple-A Omaha. He also showed that he still had the 90 mph-plus fastball that led the Royals to make Cone a fourth-round selection in the 1981 draft, despite the fact his high school did not have a baseball team. But he also continued to struggle with control problems (207 walks, 225 strikeouts in 338 innings), though it appears everything began to come together during the winter. Pitching in Puerto Rico, Cone had a 1-5 record, but his ERA was 2.26, and more importantly, in 56 innings he cut his walks to 27 while striking out 45.
• December, 1984 Scouting Report
  Knee surgery forced Cone to miss the entire 1983 season and created some concern about how well he could bounce back after a long layoff at such an early stage of his career. The questions were answered in a hurry. Don’t worry about the 8-12 record and 4.28 ERA or even the 114 walks. The stat to consider in evaluating Cone’s return is that he led Double-A Memphis with 179 innings, and then had the second-lowest ERA in the Florida instructional league. Cone's knee never bothered him. He did appear to tire late in the season at Memphis but was strong again for the FIL. This will be a big season for Cone, a fourth-round draft pick out of a Kansas City high school in June of 1981, to show that as well as being physically sound, he can regain command of his pitches. He has a plus fastball and adequate breaking pitches.
• December, 1982 Scouting Report
  Cone is a hometown boy who was the captain of the football and basketball teams at Kansas City’s Rockhurst High, which did not field a baseball team. He was the Royals’ third-round pick in 1981 and compiled an 11-5 record in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast and instructional league play. He split time in 1982 between Charleston and Fort Myers, where he posted combined record of 16-3 with ERA of 2.08 and nine complete games. At Fort Myers, he struck out 57 batters in 72 innings.