The Draft signing period has come and gone so what b,etter time to discuss how I would’ve handled the draft for the Royals? While there are a few picks that I agreed with, there are a few others that I would’ve changed. There is a reason that I didn’t do this prior and that was due to the fact that I didn’t know what each player would sign for or if they would sign at all. Not knowing the advisors, I have to adjust what the players sign for if their slot rises.
Pick 18 Royals Select Brady Singer
Scoles Selection: IF Nolan Gorman Signed slot value $3.349M St. Louis made pick
The Royals selected the Florida Gator and paid him like the 12th best player in the draft which coming into the draft made sense on paper considering some outlets had him as a Top 5 talent. Still with the selection of Gorman, the Royals would add what some believe is the most powerful player in the draft while also saving $900,700 for a another prep selection a couple of picks later.
Pick 33 Royals Select Jackson Kowar
Scoles Selection: P Jackson Kowar $2.147M
Pick 34 Royals Select Daniel Lynch $1.6975M
Scoles Selection: P Adam Kloffenstein $2.45M; Toronto made pick
With the savings on Singer versus Gorman I decide to go with a high end prep arm that should fill out and add even more velocity while using his downhill plane.
Pick 40 Royals Select Kris Bubic $1.5975M
Scoles Selection: P Griffin Roberts $1.7863M; St. Louis made pick
The current game is built around getting strikeouts and there isn’t a college starting pitcher in the draft that has a better swing and miss pitcher than Roberts’ slider while being another Cardinals selection that I love.
Pick 58 Royals Select Jonathan Bowlan $697,500
Scoles Selection: OF Joe Gray $1.1683K
The Royals with this selection get an athletic defender with a bat that exhibits good loft. Scouts having seen Gray Jr. for many years started to pick him over quite a bit this year and an adjustment to his swing probably helped with that, still he possesses athleticism, loft and a feel for the game that should help him in the future.
Pick 94 Royals Select Kyle Isbel $592,300
Scoles Selection: Kyle Isbel $592,300
Pick 122 Royals Select Eric Cole $497,500
Scoles Selection: Robert Neustrom $450,000; Baltimore
The Orioles selected an outfielder who may have to move to 1B over time but already possesses elite hand-eye coordination and can play in a corner while he’s still young. There should be more power in the future to be had for Neustrom over what he has exhibited.
Pick 152 Royals Select Austin Cox $447,500
Scoles Selection: Austin Cox $447,500
Pick 182 Royals Zach Haake $297,500
Scoles Selection: Zach Haake $297,500
Pick 212 Royals Tyler Gray $2,500
Scoles Selection: Cason Sherrod, Texas A&M $20,000
The Royals drafted Sherrod last year before the hard-throwing right-hander chose to go back to A&M for his final year. He has a shot to make a bullpen in the future with 94-97 mph velocity should he refine his secondary pitches. Again, savings for the college senior here to add other players.
Pick 242 Royals Jackson Lueck $161,300
Scoles Selection: C Chris Williams Clemson $10,000
He’s a quality catcher for one of the top programs in college baseball while holding down the cleanup spot behind Seth Beer for a couple of seasons. There is power in the bat and decent enough catching feel to believe he can stick back there. In addition the bonus savings helps towards Kloffenstein and Gray bonuses.
Pick 272 Royals Kevon Jackson
Scoles Selection: Kevon Jackson $144,600
Pick 302 Royals Austin Lambright $2,500
Scoles Selection: Austin Lambright $2,500
With this scenario the Royals would have spent all of their draft allotment money and had been left with just about $600k in overages to sign any additional players meaning they may lose out on Rylan Kaufman in the 12th round should someone’s bonus ride higher than what I suspect here. Still I think the talent added in Adam Kloffenstein and Joe Gray Jr. would more than make up that loss. While I like what the Royals did in the middle rounds with Kyle Isbel, Austin Cox and Zach Haake, I think the addition of Robert Neustrom gives the Royals a strong bat for the future that even if he should have to move to 1b could have enough power to carry the position. Overall the Royals would have added quite a few pitchers with major upside from the prep and college ranks while adding a pair of plus bats in Gorman and Neustrom if they went with my shadow draft which could make this fun to monitor.
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