KANSAS CITY -- Sean Gamble was 10 years old when he went to his first Major League Baseball game. He sat in the outfield seats with his buddies, next to a massive fountain display and watched a team that had just won the World Series the previous fall play a game in front of a packed stadium.
That was Kauffman Stadium in 2016. Nine years later, Gamble was back at The K, this time putting on a Royals jersey for the first time as the organization introduced him as its first-round MLB Draft pick on Friday.
Gamble, 19, officially signed with the Royals late last week, along with a $4 million signing bonus, sources told MLB.com, slightly over the $3.85 million slot value of the No. 23 pick. He was one of 20 selections who have already signed with Kansas City following the Draft on July 13, and the Royals also inked four undrafted free agents, including outfielder Hunter Ensley, right-handed pitcher Max Poirier and left-handed pitchers Cory Ronan and Ryan Ure.
Two selections remain unsigned -- prep pitchers Grayson Boles and Dylan Wood -- but the Royals have until Monday to get the deals done.
Despite Friday’s rainout against the Guardians, Gamble still got to visit the Royals’ clubhouse and walk out onto the field.
“You couldn’t help but think, ‘I want to play on this field, and I want to be a part of this organization and city and fan base,’” Gamble said, thinking back to when he was sitting in the stands at Kauffman nearly a decade ago. “When I was here, all that was running through my head. That was a ways in the past, and now we’re here. Stars kind of aligned for it. It worked out perfectly.”
The Royals selected Gamble out of IMG Academy in Florida, but he has Midwest roots as a Des Moines, Iowa, native. That’s why he and his family were so thrilled when Gamble’s name was selected by the Royals: Kansas City is an easy three-hour drive down Interstate 35 from Des Moines.
And, as Gamble’s father, Kyle, pointed out, most of the affiliates -- Triple-A Omaha, Double-A Northwest Arkansas and High-A Quad Cities -- are all drivable from Des Moines.
That’s a welcome sight for the Gamble family, who watched Sean from afar at IMG Academy for the past four years. He went to the boarding school and training center to pursue baseball, allowing him to develop his skillset and turn into first-round pick material.
Area scout Vance Vizcaino first saw Gamble in 2023 and said his athleticism, hustle and joy stood out. Gamble’s make-up is off the charts, but Vizcaino saw him develop into the hitter he is now, too, with a smooth left-handed swing that has a knack for finding the barrel and controlling the zone. Gamble is also an elite runner and plus defender in the outfield and at second base.
“Getting to watch someone develop the way he did, that’s what we hope to see as they get into the system,” Vizcaino said. “Getting to watch it from his sophomore year at IMG and watching him get better and better every year, you count on it being signs of things to come. If he continues the way he [was] there with us, which I believe he truly will, it’s going to be special.”
The development starts this summer. Gamble will head back to Arizona to build back up and begin to play in games there. Royals general manager J.J. Picollo didn’t rule out a move to an affiliate later this summer, calling the process “day to day.”
As for where he’ll play, Gamble is ready for whatever the Royals ask him to do. He started in the outfield during the Draft mini-camp earlier this week, working with longtime instructor Rusty Kuntz, but got some work in at second base with player development advisor Tommy Shields.
After a hectic two weeks since the Draft, Gamble is eager to settle in on the field now. Being at Kauffman Stadium on Friday only reinforced his dream; buttoning up a Royals jersey emphasized that it was just getting started.
“Putting on the jersey of a team like the Royals has been my dream since I started playing baseball,” Gamble said. “It definitely means the world. And when it’s on for the first time, it’s a deep breath of, ‘You’ve done it,’ but this is only the first step. I haven’t played on the big league field yet. I haven’t done anything. It’s just the beginning. It’s the beginning of a new dream.”