With a newly-located HQ, Royals take broad plan into the Draft

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals’ Draft room for years has been at the back of their offices at Kauffman Stadium, a spacious conference room with whiteboards everywhere and enough chairs to fit all the scouts and personnel needed to pull of Draft selections, logistics and all the work that goes into preparation ahead of time.

This year, they’re relocating all of it.

Due to the World Cup in Kansas City and the quarterfinal match set for July 11 -- the first day of the MLB Draft -- the Royals shifted their Draft operations down to their facility in Surprise, Ariz., and over the past week, the Major League Spring Training clubhouse has been transformed into the Draft room.

“It’s kind of neat, a little different,” scouting director Brian Bridges said. “We’re making it work, and we’ll be ready to go.”

The Royals will be on the clock fairly quickly when the Draft begins on Saturday, as the club won a lottery pick and has the No. 6 overall selection. There was a ton of excitement when they found out they’d be picking sixth back in December at the Winter Meetings, and then the focus immediately shifted to who would be available to them. With Rounds 1-4 on Day 1 of the Draft this year, the Royals will have five total picks, but a lot of attention will be on the No. 6 pick and their Competitive Balance Round pick at No. 30.

“It gives us a chance to really inject the system with some quality players,” Bridges said.

Like most years, there’s a strong mix of college players with experience and prep players with upside, and the Royals have been linked to both. Bridges noted that the Royals’ range for No. 6 is “pretty broad,” with a lot depending on how the teams directly ahead of them pick.

The Royals have been linked to shortstop Jacob Lombard out of Gulliver Prep (Fla.) -- if he makes it that far -- left-hander Gio Rojas out of Stoneman Douglas (Fla.) HS, outfielder Eric Booth Jr. out of Oak Grove (Fla.) HS, UC Santa Barbara right-hander Jackson Flora and Georgia Tech outfielder Drew Burress, among others. Maybe they shake up the board and go with Huntington Beach (Calif.) HS left-hander/outfielder Jacob Grindlinger, who is just 17 years old after reclassifying for this year’s Draft and has legitimate upside as a two-way player. Grindlinger is No. 16 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 250 Draft prospects list and is rising on boards as Draft day nears.

Prep players usually mean a lot of upside but with more risk, while college players bring a higher floor and more experience -- often with a chance to move quickly. Over the full Draft, the Royals are going to value both.

“There’s a good mix of high school and college,” Bridges said. “To tell you the truth, our range is pretty broad. There’s a clear-cut four players, five players in this Draft, and then believe it or not, where we’re picking, you can go a number of different directions. So we have a pretty good balance of what we’re looking at, both high school and college.”

The Royals have always valued athleticism up the middle when acquiring players, whether that’s through the Draft or internationally or on the big league team. It’s been even more apparent in the Draft under Bridges, though, and he wants to stick to that philosophy. He’s also expanded the amount of information available on each player entering the Draft, with a more cohesive approach among departments like scouting, research and development, medical and behavioral science.

By the time it’s all said and done, the Royals hope it nets them a strong Draft class.

“Strong guys with good swings that are going to make a difference, and guys that throw strikes,” Bridges said. “There are so many guys in the Draft who have arm strength and throw 100, but go watch them and see how many strikes they throw. We really think and believe in our process and what we’re doing. … And everybody’s included in these conversations, so there’s never really a surprise, and everybody understands exactly what we’re trying to do and get out of it.

• Day 1 picks: 6, 30, 56, 91, 119
• Bonus pool allotment: $15,954,000
• Last year’s top pick: Sean Gamble, 2B/OF, pick 23 … It hasn’t been the easiest of starts for Gamble in Single-A Columbia, with a .183/.302/.280 slash line, 10 doubles, four homers and 19 stolen bases. But he picked it up over the last month; his OPS since June 2 is .775, and he’s walking more (16.4%) while striking out a bit less (23.3%). He also has only played center field for the Fireflies, instead of bouncing in between the infield and outfield. Gamble, the Royals’ No. 5 prospect, was selected out of IMG Academy last year as an athletic, toolsy hitter with a good understanding of the strike zone, so a strong second half would be a good way to finish his first professional season.
• Breakout 2025 pick: Josh Hammond, 3B, pick 28 … Another prep hitter taken right after Gamble last year, Hammond is hitting .289 with a .773 OPS for Single-A Columbia while splitting time between shortstop and third base. He’s not walking much at an 9.1% clip, but the club’s No. 2 prospect has 17 doubles, five homers and 18 stolen bases. Like Gamble, Hammond is toolsy and athletic, but likely with more raw power to tap into as he grows. Honorable mention here goes to 17th-rounder Luke Pelzer, who leads the Midwest League with a .351 average for High-A Quad Cities.