Royals ready to tackle 'hectic' Draft with five Day 1 picks

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals will have to wait a bit longer than usual for their first pick of the MLB Draft on Sunday night, with this being the first time since 2018 that Kansas City doesn’t have a Top 10 pick.

But when the Royals go on the clock for pick No. 23? It’s full steam ahead.

Kansas City has a whopping five picks on Day 1 of the MLB Draft, which has been condensed to two days this year and will be held on Sunday and Monday to kick off All-Star festivities in Atlanta. The Royals will select their first-round pick (No. 23), then their prospect promotion incentive pick at No. 28, received after Bobby Witt Jr. finished runner-up in American League MVP voting last season.

Then it’s the second round (No. 61), a competitive balance pick (No. 71) and the third round (No. 97) to round out Day 1. The Draft will wrap up with rounds four through 20 on Day 2.

Whew. Got all that?

“Uncharted waters, with it being two days,” Royals scouting director Brian Bridges said. “They do have some built-in breaks there after certain rounds. I think it’s going to be really fun, but it’s going to be a little hectic.”

Bridges and the Royals’ amateur scouting department have been meeting to finish filling out their big board, but there’s a lot of unknowns due to the uncertainty at the top of the Draft. The Royals are connected to a variety of players as they prepare for all the different routes they could take based on how things fall ahead of them on Sunday.

“It’s as wide open as I’ve ever seen,” Bridges said. “You haven’t heard anything about who’s probably going No. 1. [The Nationals] probably have it narrowed down to a couple of players. And then No. 2 [the Angels] have to get their list, which is probably about three or four guys. There’s really no one locked in on anybody yet. But when there’s not a clear-cut, ‘This is the No. 1 pick,’ it makes it a bit harder.”

What’s interesting is that the Royals still have a large bonus pool at $12.8 million. They could go so many different ways with those first two picks so close to each other, including paying over slot or under slot value for one of the picks.

“Having those two picks, you’d like to get the best two players you can right there,” Bridges said. “So distributing your dollars may take away from a later pick a little bit. It’s really about how we’re going to use it. Are we going to wait on the best available player and then just run the board out? Or are we going to try to spread this thing out a little bit where everybody’s happy once they all come sign in Surprise, [Ariz.]? We’ve got to figure out the balance with the money.”

• Day 1 picks: 23, 28, 61, 71, 97
• Bonus pool allotment: $12,794,700, 11th most in MLB
• Last year’s top pick: 1B/OF Jac Caglianone… The best prospect the Royals have seen in years outside of Witt, Caglianone burst onto the scene in Spring Training and earned his way to the Major Leagues just 11 months after Kansas City selected him No. 6 overall. After mashing 15 home runs in 50 Minor League games at the beginning of the season, Caglianone hasn’t fared as well against big league pitching. But the Royals are being patient with their top prospect as he learns, and they have certainly not lost faith in how Caglianone could impact their future.
• Breakout 2024 pick: RHP Drew Beam… The Royals are seeing several strong starts from their 2024 Draft class, including the rapid ascension of Caglianone. Beyond their top pick, though, are several pitchers who are standing out. Beam, the third-round pick out of Tennessee, has settled into High-A Quad Cities well, posting a 3.49 ERA across 16 starts (80 innings). The 22-year-old righty has struck out 72, has a 5.2% walk rate and has allowed just two homers this season.

Along with the money, the Royals could also go so many different ways with the type of player they select with their first pick. College, high school, hitter or pitcher, Kansas City has to be ready for whatever direction the board begins to fall on Sunday.

So far, the Royals have mainly been tied to prep pitchers, including lefty Kruz Schoolcraft out of Sunset High School (Portland, Ore.) in MLB Pipeline’s latest mock draft -- and that’s where that large bonus pool will come in handy. The first prep pitcher they took in last year’s Draft, David Shields in the second round, has had a strong start to his MLB career. Kansas City could also use its pool to take a prep shortstop, another strength of the Draft.

“Every year, there’s going to be a difference in the Draft,” Bridges said. “This year, it’s high school shortstops sprinkled in with some college arms. Last year, you had premium college bats and some arms sprinkled in here. Prep lefties, that was a big thing last year.”

However it shakes out and whatever the chaos brings, the Royals are looking to add 20 new players to their organization over two days.

“The main message for me is I don’t want to let Kansas City down,” Bridges said. “I’m going to do everything I can -- and we as a scouting group are going to do everything we can -- to draft the best players we possibly can for this organization, no matter where we’re picking. And I want to do it year after year.”