Royals Draft and other Notes

[SubGod22]

The rest to note...
Round 35 Pick 1085 Jose Sermo (Bethany Col) to the Brewers
Round 36 Pick 1107 Kenneth Hatcher (Dallas Baptist) to the Angels
Round 37 Pick 1135 Daniel Devonshire (Colby CC) to the Blue Jays

[SubGod22]

Royals Draft
Rd 1 P 5 - Kyle Zimmer. RHP San Francisco. JR. 6'3" 210.
Rd 2 P 66 - Sam Selman. LHP Vanderbilt. JR. 6'3" 185.
Rd 3 P 100 - Colin Rodgers. LHP Parkview Baptist School/LA. HS. 6' 180.
Rd 4 P 133 - Kenny Diekroeger. SS/2B Stanford. R/R. JR. 6'2" 200.
Rd 5 P 163 - Chad Johnson. C Galesburg HS/IL. R/R. HS. 6'1" 175.
Rd 6 P 193 - Zachary Lovvorn. RHP Oxford HS/AL. HS. 6' 185.
Rd 7 P 223 - Fred Ford. OF Jefferson Col/MO. R/R. J2. 6'5" 200.
Rd 8 P 253 - Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado. CF The Pendleton School/FL. R/R. HS 6'1" 180.
Rd 9 P 283 - Daniel Stumpf. LHP San Jacinito College North/TX. J3. 6'2" 200.
Rd 10 P 313 - Alexis Rivera. OF Montverde Academy/FL. L/L. HS. 6'2" 225.
Rd 11 P 343 - Zebulon Sneed. RHP Northwest Nazarene Col/ID. JR. 6'4" 190.
Rd 12 P 373 - Jackson Willeford. 2B Ramona HS/CA. L/R. HS. 5'9" 180
Rd 13 P 403 - Hunter Haynes. LHP Mexico Sr. HS/MO. HS. 5'9" 175.
Rd 14 P 433 - Mike Morin. C Utah. L/R. JR. 5'11" 195.
Rd 15 P 463 - Dylan Sons. LHP Halifax County SR. HS/VA. 6'3" 175.
Rd 16 P 493 - Austin Fairchild. LHP St. Thomas HS/TX. HS. 6' 175.
Rd 17 P 523 - Ariel Estades. OF Puerto Rico Baseball Academy. HS. L/R. 5'11" 150.
Rd 18 P 553 - Justin Alleman. RHP Holt HS/MI. HS. 6'2" 195.
Rd 19 P 583 - Andrew Triggs. RHP USC. 5S. 6'4" 210.
Rd 20 P 613 - Shane Halley. RHP Virginia. SR. 6'1" 200.
Rd 21 P 643 - Matthew Strahm. LHP Neosho CCC/KS. J2. 6'4" 180.
Rd 22 P 673 - Allec Mills. RHP Tennessee-Martin. JR. 6'4" 185.
Rd 23 P 703 - Kevin Allen. RHP TCU. JR. 6'1" 205.
Rd 24 P 733 - Beau Maggi. C Arizona St. L/R. 6'1" 208.
Rd 25 P 763 - Matthew Tenuta. LHP Apex HS/NC. HS. 6'4" 205.
Rd 26 P 793 - Mark Donato. 1B Indian River State Col/FL. L/L. J2. 6'2" 225.
Rd 27 P 823 - Ashton Goudeau. RHP Maplewood CC/MO. J2. 6'6" 205.
Rd 28 P 853 - Sam Bates. 1B Arkansas. L/R. SR. 6'5" 230.
Rd 29 P 883 - John Walter. RHP Penn St. JR. 6'5" 225.
Rd 30 P 913 - Ethan Chapman. OF Cal St San Bernardino/CA. L/R. JR. 6' 180.
Rd 31 P 943 - Hayden Edwards. RHP Blue Valley HS/KS. HS 6'7" 180.
Rd 32 P 973 - Patrick Conroy. LHP Marin CC/CA. J2. 6'4" 218.
Rd 33 P 1003 - Evan Phillips. RHP Clayton HS/NC. HS. 6'2" 215.
Rd 34 P 1033 - Marsalis Holloway. OF Columbia State CC/TN. R/R. J2. 5'11" 170.
Rd 35 P 1063 - Tyler Joyner. LHP East Carolina. JR. 5'11" 185.
Rd 36 P 1093 - Raphael Andrades. OF Lincoln HS/FL. R/R. HS. 6'1" 195.
Rd 37 P 1123 - Jake Newberry. RHP Mira Mesa HS/CA. HS. 6'2" 195.
Rd 38 P 1153 - Carlos Urena. OF Whitehall HS/PA. R/R. HS. 6'2" 200.
Rd 39 P 1183 - Justin Leeson. OF Georgetown. R/R. JR. 6'3" 200.
Rd 40 P 1213 - Taylor Kaczmarek. RHP South Mountain CC/AZ. J2. 6'2" 225.

Pitcher to fielder ratio - 24/16
Right to left pitcher ratio - 14/10
College to HS pitcher ratio - 14/10
College to HS overall ratio - 23/17
Pitchers = 24
C = 3
1B = 2
2B = 1
3B = 0
SS = 1
OF = 9

Signed players in BLUE

[SubGod22]

Sauce, I can't seem to find it but I'll keep looking. I'm certain I've read it somewhere. I sure as hell hope I didn't see the comment on Twitter from one of the writers for PTP or RA.

[SubGod22]

Royals expect more harvest from Draft crop

KANSAS CITY -- Building through the Draft. It's a phrase that has become more and more popular among franchises in recent years. And while teams like Tampa Bay and Washington are currently having success at the Major League level using the technique, there are few better examples than the Royals.

Take a look at the Royals' roster, specifically the players who are among the team's foundation. Most are products of the Draft. In fact, top picks Billy Butler (2004), Alex Gordon (2005), Luke Hochevar (2006), Mike Moustakas (2007) and Eric Hosmer (2008) are all everyday contributors. Johnny Giavotella, Danny Duffy and Louis Coleman were selected in the Draft's top five rounds, as well.
Assembling the roster through the Draft shouldn't be expected to change any time soon, with many draftees still developing in the Minor Leagues.

There's a lot of talent in the system. That's for sure. Myers and Odorizzi will be up in the next month or so. And there are some guys who could be in play in the next year or two that could have an impact. I'm excited to see Adam move up at some point this year. His W/L record sucks but everything else looks great. A little run support for him would be nice. Bubba is apparently heading to Burlington in a couple of weeks.

Royals make pitching a Draft priority

KANSAS CITY -- It typically takes a few years for Draft picks to make their way to the Major Leagues, but the Royals' need for quality starting pitching may have had an impact on the selections made in the 2012 Draft, which concluded on Wednesday.

The Royals kicked things off on Monday by making pitcher Kyle Zimmer the fifth overall pick. Zimmer starred at the University of San Francisco this season, and the Royals see him reaching the Major Leagues in a hurry.

"I think ability-wise, he has the ability and stuff to do it up here now," Royals director of scouting Lonnie Goldberg said. "I would say within two years. I know I've heard Kyle mention he doesn't want any limitations put upon himself."

If Zimmer signs as quickly as they expect, we'll see him in action soon. Wonder if he'll start in IDF/Burlington or if they'll give him a shot at KC. I'd like to see him at least get some A ball action and maybe speed up his arrival just a bit. Would love to see him start in AA next season.

The next step is signing the draftees, and the Royals announced shortly after the Draft's conclusion that they had already signed five of their top 15 picks: Rodgers, Ford, eighth-round center fielder Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado, 14th-round catcher Parker Morin and 15th-round pitcher Dylan Sons.

That's great news. Get these kids playing soon and get to work!

[SubGod22]

Royals set to make post-Draft announcement

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals announced they would be holding a news conference at 4 p.m. CT on Thursday afternoon regarding a major baseball announcement.

It is expected that they'll announce the signing of first-round draft pick Kyle Zimmer. After selecting the pitcher with the No. 5 overall pick on Monday, members of the Royals front office said over the past few days that they expected to get a deal done quickly.

Zimmer was a standout at the University of San Francisco this past season. In 13 starts he was 5-3 with a 2.85 ERA. He struck out 104 batters while walking just 17.

It's nice getting this signing done so quickly. Would be nice to see Selman sign soon as well.

Playing The Draft Rules

The Draft is finished and we at Pine Tar Press are in the process of giving you a breakdown of each player drafted. We will be talking to their coaches, instructors and the players themselves to give you as much knowledge as possible. You will see the breakdown next week and the individual players interviews as the season rolls on but until then I thought I’d give you a reaction of how the draft broke down this year and what I expect in the future.

1. Signing Quicker – It appears gone are the days of dragging players signings out until the deadline. MLB eliminated their draft-support program that used to prevent teams from releasing information about the signings until MLB okayed it. As a result the Astros have already signed the #1 overall pick according to MLB.com and the Royals are reportedly close to an agreement with Kyle Zimmer. Even in years where teams took signable first round picks it was unheard of to see players information released a couple days after the first round. Obviously not all first round picks will be signed quickly but with the signing period moved up having players in the fold and playing in the minors in June instead of instructs in October is a win for fans and organizations alike.

Some interesting thoughts on the new draft rules and how they'll play out down the road.

[SubGod22]

Royals are finally getting the draft list loaded onto their website. Still show everyone as unsigned though and only have the first 15 up. Now that they're getting it though, it'll give me an easy way to check if I've missed anyone down the road. I'm impatiently waiting to add Zimmer to the signing list above. But I'm holding off until I hear/see something officially say he's signed and not just the mass speculation that's going on with the press conference coming up at 4pm.

[SubGod22]

Royals Sign 3rd Rd Pick

[SubGod22]

Royals ink first-round pick Zimmer

The Royals have signed first-round pick Kyle Zimmer, the fifth overall selection in Monday's First-Year Player Draft. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Zimmer, a 20-year-old right-handed pitcher, went 5-3 with a 2.85 ERA in 13 starts for the University of San Francisco this season. He notched 104 strikeouts in 88 1/3 innings of work to lead the West Coast Conference, while also leading the conference in shutouts (two) and strikeouts per nine innings.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder spent most of his high school career as a third baseman before making the transition to the mound in his freshman year with the Dons. He made just five appearances that year, but was 6-5 with a 3.37 ERA in 2011, a season highlighted by his outdueling last year's first overall pick, Gerrit Cole.

I'm curious as to what kind of bonus he got. The 3rd pick has already been reported to have signed for more than slot.

[SubGod22]

Maybe the Royals site won't be the best source for signing info. They still only list the top 15 picks and only show Zimmer as signed. I've already seen contract numbers for at least one other player who they've signed. I thought they'd have it all up to date by today.

[SubGod22]

Royals have signed half of thier draft already. However, they only list one signing in their draft results. I'll be looking into who else has signed elswhere.

[SubGod22]

Draft Recap 2012.

I said before the draft that I would find it almost impossible to rip the Royals, no matter who their first-round pick turned out to be. And when the Royals took Kyle Zimmer, I accepted their choice with good cheer, even though I had my reservations. But with each passing day, I’ve warmed up to the pick more and more. On Monday, I thought that Zimmer was the safe pick. Today, I think he might have been the best pick as well.

On my pre-draft board, I had Zimmer ranked 8th, which of course means that he was not the top guy left on my list when the Royals picked. But let’s look at the guys that were still there:

At #7, I had Albert Almora, the Florida high school outfielder. Honestly, I didn’t have a strong feeling one way or another as to who to rank higher – I originally had Zimmer #7 and Almora #8. When it’s this close between two players, I have no problem drafting for need and taking the college pitcher over the high school hitter. And I wouldn’t question the Royals at all if they felt it was not close.

At #4, I had Lucas Giolito, the high-school right-hander who might have gone #1 overall before he strained his elbow. I still think he’s the one pitcher in this draft with #1 upside, and if the Nationals can get him signed at #16, that’s a massive steal for them. But I get the decision not to take him. Given the concerns about his arm, given the concerns about his signability, given that he might have to sit out a year at some point if and when his elbow gives out, I appreciate that there were a lot of risks involved. Obviously, the Royals weren’t the only team to pass on Giolito’s upside. They might have been wrong to do so, but if so, they have a lot of company.

And that leaves Mark Appel, whose slide to the #8 spot in the draft was the biggest surprise of the first round.

A nice read from Rany.

[SubGod22]

Royals Draft
Rd 1 P 5 - Kyle Zimmer. RHP San Francisco. JR. 6'3" 210.
Rd 2 P 66 - Sam Selman. LHP Vanderbilt. JR. 6'3" 185.
Rd 3 P 100 - Colin Rodgers. LHP Parkview Baptist School/LA. HS. 6' 180.
Rd 4 P 133 - Kenny Diekroeger. SS/2B Stanford. R/R. JR. 6'2" 200.
Rd 5 P 163 - Chad Johnson. C Galesburg HS/IL. R/R. HS. 6'1" 175.
Rd 6 P 193 - Zachary Lovvorn. RHP Oxford HS/AL. HS. 6' 185.
Rd 7 P 223 - Fred Ford. OF Jefferson Col/MO. R/R. J2. 6'5" 200.
Rd 8 P 253 - Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado. CF The Pendleton School/FL. R/R. HS 6'1" 180.
Rd 9 P 283 - Daniel Stumpf. LHP San Jacinito College North/TX. J3. 6'2" 200.
Rd 10 P 313 - Alexis Rivera. OF Montverde Academy/FL. L/L. HS. 6'2" 225.
Rd 11 P 343 - Zebulon Sneed. RHP Northwest Nazarene Col/ID. JR. 6'4" 190.
Rd 12 P 373 - Jackson Willeford. 2B Ramona HS/CA. L/R. HS. 5'9" 180
Rd 13 P 403 - Hunter Haynes. LHP Mexico Sr. HS/MO. HS. 5'9" 175.
Rd 14 P 433 - Mike Morin. C Utah. L/R. JR. 5'11" 195.
Rd 15 P 463 - Dylan Sons. LHP Halifax County SR. HS/VA. 6'3" 175.
Rd 16 P 493 - Austin Fairchild. LHP St. Thomas HS/TX. HS. 6' 175.
Rd 17 P 523 - Ariel Estades. OF Puerto Rico Baseball Academy. HS. L/R. 5'11" 150.
Rd 18 P 553 - Justin Alleman. RHP Holt HS/MI. HS. 6'2" 195.
Rd 19 P 583 - Andrew Triggs. RHP USC. 5S. 6'4" 210.
Rd 20 P 613 - Shane Halley. RHP Virginia. SR. 6'1" 200.
Rd 21 P 643 - Matthew Strahm. LHP Neosho CCC/KS. J2. 6'4" 180.
Rd 22 P 673 - Allec Mills. RHP Tennessee-Martin. JR. 6'4" 185.
Rd 23 P 703 - Kevin Allen. RHP TCU. JR. 6'1" 205.
Rd 24 P 733 - Beau Maggi. C Arizona St. L/R. 6'1" 208.
Rd 25 P 763 - Matthew Tenuta. LHP Apex HS/NC. HS. 6'4" 205.
Rd 26 P 793 - Mark Donato. 1B Indian River State Col/FL. L/L. J2. 6'2" 225.
Rd 27 P 823 - Ashton Goudeau. RHP Maplewood CC/MO. J2. 6'6" 205.
Rd 28 P 853 - Sam Bates. 1B Arkansas. L/R. SR. 6'5" 230.
Rd 29 P 883 - John Walter. RHP Penn St. JR. 6'5" 225.
Rd 30 P 913 - Ethan Chapman. OF Cal St San Bernardino/CA. L/R. JR. 6' 180.
Rd 31 P 943 - Hayden Edwards. RHP Blue Valley HS/KS. HS 6'7" 180.
Rd 32 P 973 - Patrick Conroy. LHP Marin CC/CA. J2. 6'4" 218.
Rd 33 P 1003 - Evan Phillips. RHP Clayton HS/NC. HS. 6'2" 215.
Rd 34 P 1033 - Marsalis Holloway. OF Columbia State CC/TN. R/R. J2. 5'11" 170.
Rd 35 P 1063 - Tyler Joyner. LHP East Carolina. JR. 5'11" 185.
Rd 36 P 1093 - Raphael Andrades. OF Lincoln HS/FL. R/R. HS. 6'1" 195.
Rd 37 P 1123 - Jake Newberry. RHP Mira Mesa HS/CA. HS. 6'2" 195.
Rd 38 P 1153 - Carlos Urena. OF Whitehall HS/PA. R/R. HS. 6'2" 200.
Rd 39 P 1183 - Justin Leeson. OF Georgetown. R/R. JR. 6'3" 200.
Rd 40 P 1213 - Taylor Kaczmarek. RHP South Mountain CC/AZ. J2. 6'2" 225.

Pitcher to fielder ratio - 24/16
Right to left pitcher ratio - 14/10
College to HS pitcher ratio - 14/10
College to HS overall ratio - 23/17
Pitchers = 24
C = 3
1B = 2
2B = 1
3B = 0
SS = 1
OF = 9

Signed players in BLUE

Moving this to page 3

[RoyalShock]

I'm rooting for Zebulon Sneed to reach the majors in a KC uniform. What a name!

[SubGod22]

Kansas City Royals Draft Breakdown - Rounds 31-40 - A nice look at each pick with a few thoughts from scouts/coaches. Some nice info to go over to get a feel for the talents they could bring.

[SubGod22]

Kansas City Royals Draft Breakdown - Rounds 21-30 - More of the same as yesterday. Good stuff.