*** Official 2018 Royals Repository ***

[duncan_idaho]

The season is upon us, even if spring is not.

2018 MLB Draft Picks
#18
#33 - Compensation (Eric Hosmer)
#34 - Compensation (Lorenzo Cain)
#40 (Competitive Balance Round A)

018 Draft Names to Watch

RHP Kumar Rocker, N Oconnee HS, Georgia.

Spoiler!

Possibly goes top 10 but is a big, physical SP with ace potential. Moore and co. will be all over him if he slips a bit and could offer top 10 money at No. 16

OF Jarred Kelenic, Waukasha West HS, WI

Spoiler!

Kelenic is the top prep bat, toolsy OF. Royals would be ecstatic to have shot at him.

1B Triston Casas, American Heritage HS (FL).

Spoiler!

Tremendous raw power, best in HS bats. Royals typically like HS arms or HS bats with "special" tools. He qualifies.

RHP Carter Stewart, Eau de Gallie HS (Ga).

Spoiler!

Another big, physical specimen with huge upside. More likely to be available mid-first than Rocker.

ANY Any, Any (Any). Any current top projected pick who slides for injury concerns. Includes current top prospect prospect SP Brady Singer, U of Florida.

Current Prospects to Watch:

OF Seuly Matias - Huge tools. Hit 2 HR in Lexington (A) season opener.

1B Nick Pratto - Top pick in 17 has advanced approach and good glove; needs to start tapping into power in first full year in minors. Also at Lexington.

OF Michael Gigliotti - Good defender in CF, good OBP skills, plus baserunner. Next mainstay in CF for KC, IMO. Advanced college bat also starting at Lexington.

OF Khalil Lee - Probably has highest upside in Royals' system. Could hit 30 HR in majors, could steal 30 bases. Plus defensive ability in RF. Nice test at Wilmington this year.

3B Emmanuel Rivera - Really nice approach and good contact skills. Power is still developing. Also getting a good test at Wilmington.

SP Foster Griffin - Made nice strides in 2017. Needs to continue to progress in 2018. Could be a lefty version of Jakob Junis (good breaking ball that he can really manipulate, OK fastball, good command).

1B Samir Duenez - Duenez still is intriguing, hoping for a step forward in his power production this year at Northwest Arkansas, which would turn him into a legit prospect.

Others to keep an eye on:
SP Gerson Garabito (Wilmington), OF Marten Gasparini (Lexington), C MJ Melendez (Lexington), RP Tyler Zuber (lexington), RP Richard Lovelady (Omaha), SP Dan Tillo (Lexington), SS Nicky Lopez (NWA), SP Scott Blewett (NWA), OF Brewer Hicklen (Idaho Falls),

In general, Lexington and Wilmington are the most interesting spots to watch. Nice depth and a lot of interesting pieces at both.

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

Didnt Glass veto that idea?

During the draft, yes. But GMDM’s recent comments indicate the Royals are still “doing their homework on him”. Which is horseshit, barring either a complete 180 to a remorseful apology from Heimlich or a retraction from the victim, neither of which we have reason to believe will happen.

[Sure-Oz]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Hoping it’s at slot or just a little over. If it is, they should be able to throw big money at Ty Madden or Milan Walla, big talents who slipped past the first 10 rounds due to signability concerns.

@JonathanMayo: 1st rder Brady Singer will get $4.25 mil from @Royals. (pick 18 value = $3,349,300). @GatorsBaseball ace dominated SEC for 3 years with combination of stuff and command.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

@JonathanMayo: 1st rder Brady Singer will get $4.25 mil from @Royals. (pick 18 value = $3,349,300). @GatorsBaseball ace dominated SEC for 3 years with combination of stuff and command.

Welp. So much for that idea.

[Sure-Oz]

@jimcallisMLB: 4th-rder Eric Cole signs w/@Royals for $500k (pick 122 value = $451,200). Arkansas OF, switch-hitter with pop, could be average tools across the board. @MLBDraft

[duncan_idaho]

That’s going to do it for their bonus pool, I think. May have 220k to play with, but I don’t expect that to be enough to land Madden or Walla.

And that’s fine. They landed top 5 and top 20 talents with their first two picks.

[Nightfyre]

The royals signed an insane number of their picks, though.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Nightfyre

The royals signed an insane number of their picks, though.

Yeah. I just tend to get greedy. Really like Walla. Near-Bubba Starling level size and athleticism (less arm) with more advanced baseball skills. I think he could be a real steal if they can make it happen.

[OKchiefs]

I guess we have to hope that other teams busted their nut in the IFA market and will be less active next year. Perhaps then we'll finally get off our ass and attempt to add some talent. Either that, or maybe they'll finally institute an international player draft. That might be our only hope to find any talent. When the Yankees of the world load up on talent in IFA and still have every other advantage in the world it's really hard to imagine small market teams being able to compete, especially when they don't actually use every venue possible to gain talented baseball players.

[Al Bundy]

We’ve placed RHP Ian Kennedy on the 10-day disabled list (left oblique strain). His DL stint is retroactive to June 30, making him eligible to return on July 10.

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 4, 2018

[Al Bundy]

BTW it is very clear these players don't give a shit about winning this year.

[C3HIEF3S]

Originally Posted by Al Bundy

BTW it is very clear these players don't give a shit about winning this year.

As they shouldn't.

[Discuss Thrower]

.... what the **** was that.

[tk13]

That's how you lose a whole bunch of games right there. Have your chance against a struggling bullpen and you do that.

[Al Bundy]

Man.... losing teams

[Discuss Thrower]

Ball 2.