As with the Tigers in my previous article, holding the 23rd overall pick this year meant that this was the first time Kansas City had picked outside of the top 18 since 2016, when signing Ian Kennedy meant they had to wait until pick #67. However, with a PPI pick due to Bobby Witt Jr.'s Rookie of the Year Award and an extra CBB pick to boot, they were not short of draft capital and signed five different players to seven figure deals. They were able to do so while playing the bonus pool more or less straight up, only going significantly over or under slot a few times and giving no player fewer than six figures. As is their custom, this was a high school-heavy class with five preps drafted (four signed) including both of their first two picks, plus three more JuCo or JuCo-equivalent picks. It was also a pitching-heavy class after those first two picks. To me, while the pair of prep bats at the top in Sean Gamble and Josh Hammond have tremendous ceiling, most of the draft after that was focused on safety even if they did continue to hit the sub-21 years old demographic.
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Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.
1-23: OF Sean Gamble, IMG Academy [FL]
Slot value: $3.85 million. Signing bonus: $4 million ($145,400 above slot value).
My rank: #29. MLB Pipeline: #27. Baseball America: #45.
Many players see their stock rise, fall, and everything in between during the eventful draft cycle, but Sean Gamble was somewhat unique in that he just kind of stuck where he was, steadily hanging out in the back of the first round for about a year now. Originally from Des Moines, from which Kauffman Stadium is the closest MLB ballpark, he had initially planned on attending Dowling Catholic HS in West Des Moines before changing gears and heading south to the famed IMG Academy in Florida. There, Gamble has blossomed into one of the most exciting teenage prospects in the country. He is an explosive mover in the box, generating big bat speed in a leveraged left handed swing that could produce plus power in time. While that all out swing has led to swing and miss concerns in the past, he has done a nice job toning it down just enough to reach pitches all over the zone and give evaluators confidence he'll get on base at a consistent clip in pro ball. As he continues his development, the Royals will look to maintain both his power and his ability to hit for average without sacrificing one for the other. It's really substantial offensive talent for a teenage kid that brings some of the best upside in the class. He has played all over the field in high school and while some evaluators wanted to give him a shot to play middle infield, he has always looked more natural in the outfield and it looks like that's where the Royals will stick him. With plus speed and arm strength, he could end up an above average center fielder when all is said and done. The ceiling here is that of a 25 home run hitter with solid on-base percentages and valuable outfield defense, all of which was worth spending $4 million to buy Gamble out of a Vanderbilt commitment. It's a really fun all-around prospect.
PPI-28: SS Josh Hammond, Wesleyan Christian HS [NC]
Slot value: $3.28 million. Signing bonus: $3.2 million ($84,700 below slot value).
My rank: #27. MLB Pipeline: #26. Baseball America: #38.
With their extra pick gained from Bobby Witt Jr.'s Rookie of the Year award, the Royals picked up a second explosive high school bat in Josh Hammond. The son of High Point head coach Joey Hammond, Josh was a two way star in high school who might have been a top fifty talent as a pitcher alone. He sat low to mid 90's, touching 97 with plenty of life and high spin rates, while his slider flashed plus and his changeup flashed above average. I really, really liked the explosive package on the mound, but over the past calendar year it became apparent that he viewed himself as a hitter and that's how it was going to be. No matter, because he's a potential All Star with the bat too who signed for over $3 million rather than attend Wake Forest. At the plate, he has a big right handed swing that produces plus power when he gets it up in the air, not too dissimilar to a right handed version of Sean Gamble. There have been some swing and miss questions throughout his prep career, but he has improved considerably in that regard and last summer rarely whiffed against top competition. The offensive projection is similar to Gamble's if a bit more power-heavy, with the potential for 25-30 or more home runs annually and solid on-base percentages. He's not quite as quick as Gamble in the field, but his cannon right arm will keep him on the right side of the infield where he could profile nicely at third base. The Royals drafted him as a shortstop and will likely trot him out there to start, and while he's twitchy out there, there are quicker defenders in the system. Hammond and Gamble both bring middle of the lineup offensive upside and could team with Witt Jr. and Jac Caglianone to form an exciting middle of the order.
2-61: RHP Michael Lombardi, Tulane
Slot value: $1.49 million. Signing bonus: $1.3 million ($189,200 below slot value).
My rank: #95. MLB Pipeline: #75. Baseball America: #101.
The Royals went aggressive here, taking a non-traditional profile in Michael Lombardi about a round or so before he was expected to come off the board. Like Hammond, Lombardi is a two-way player with a career .381 on-base percentage in three years at Tulane, having shown a high contact approach to earn a regular spot in the lineup. Micah Owings, the closest thing we've had to a two-way player in recent baseball memory before Shohei Ohtani came around, was also a Tulane alum, but Lombardi will only be pitching in the Royals' system. When he wasn't hitting, he served as the Green Wave closer and looked nearly untouchable at times in 2025, running an elite 43.5% strikeout rate and just a .143 batting average against. The fastball sits in the low 90's and touches 96 in short stints, playing up with massive riding action. He has a big hammer curveball that looks to be a plus pitch, giving him a true weapon against pro hitters, while his changeup is a fringy third pitch at this point. While Lombardi has missed a ton of bats, his command has been below average to this point as he can lose his release point on what is otherwise a fairly simple delivery. The 6'3" righty comes over the top but does a nice job extending to create a lower than average release height, making the carry on his fastball even more impressive, and has never fully committed to pitching full time. Doing so in the Royals' system should help bring his command along, as well as his changeup which he hasn't had time or necessity to focus on. While he has spent most of his time in New Orleans in the bullpen, there is starting upside here due to his athleticism, physicality, and again, the lack of exclusive attention to pitching. The Royals think they can clean up his command and get that changeup going, then work him towards his upside of a #3 starter. If not, the New York native has already shown very well in the bullpen and can dice hitters up with his fastball/curveball combination even if he's not precisely hitting his spots.
CBB-71: LHP Justin Lamkin, Texas A&M
Slot value: $1.16 million. Signing bonus: $1.16 million ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: #121. MLB Pipeline: #111. Baseball America: #109.
This is another case of a pitcher going just a bit earlier than expected. Justin Lamkin has spent three years in the Texas A&M rotation racking up over 200 innings, but it wasn't until 2025 that he broke out to put up the best numbers of his career, highlighted by an incredible fifteen strikeout, zero walk, complete game shutout of Georgia (with one of the best offenses in college baseball) on May 16th. Lamkin doesn't have loud stuff, but he has grown as a pitcher during his time in College Station and has the look of a high probability back-end starting pitcher. The fastball sits low 90's and peaks at 95 with some running action, while his short, tight slider gives him an above average secondary and his changeup gives him a solid third pitch. Nothing will blow you away, but he does a very nice job of locating all three pitches to both sides of the plate and reduced his walk rate from 12.0% as a freshman to 7.6% as a sophomore to 5.4% this year as a junior. It's a very funky delivery with some stiffness and an awkward stabbing action in the back, but he has been extremely durable with 59.1, 65.2, and 84.1 innings in his three collegiate seasons and it hasn't impacted his command, either. The funk combined with his command makes it difficult for hitters to pick the ball up out of his hand, causing the whole arsenal to play up. Plenty physical at 6'4" and young for a college junior, the Royals see a lot of safety in this pick as a three pitch lefty with funk, command, and durability. He'll hope to join fellow Corpus Christi native Nick Loftin in Kansas City soon.
3-97: RHP Cameron Millar, Alhambra HS [CA]
Slot value: $788,500. Signing bonus: $1.5 million ($709,000 above slot value).
My rank: #124. MLB Pipeline: #138. Baseball America: #121.
After more or less sticking around the slot value with their first four picks, the Royals blew the doors open by nearly doubling their third round slot value for Cameron Millar, giving him roughly the value of their own 61st overall pick to sign away from an Arizona commitment. He doesn't stick out in any one area, instead bringing a very well-rounded profile with a few differentiators to provide some upside. Millar's fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and touches 97 with big riding life from an over the top slot, up a tick this spring. He gets nice dive on his two-plane slider to miss bats, though the Royals will help tighten it up a bit to miss even more bats, while his changeup really dives at the plate when he grips it right. With some refinement, he ends up with three above average or better pitches. The 6'2" righty is plenty physical already despite only having turned 18 in May, making him relatively young for a high school arm, and has a pretty clean delivery. The command can slip at times for now, which is normal for a high schooler, and that combination of physicality and delivery should help him get to average in time. It's a real mid-rotation starting pitcher profile that quietly went about its business in Northern California this spring, with a pretty straightforward development track to get there.
4-128: OF Nolan Sailors, Creighton
Slot value: $582,900. Signing bonus: $147,500 ($435,400 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Kansas City immediately recouped much of the money they spent on Cameron Millar by going with a semi-local kid in the fourth round. Nolan Sailors is an Omaha native who attended Ralston High School just south of the city, then stayed home to spend four years in the everyday lineup at Creighton. Impressively, he improved all three legs of his slash line each year in Omaha, working his way up from .247/.338/.343 as a freshman to .389/.485/.584 as a senior. A fan favorite with the Bluejays who played in over 200 games, he's a high contact type that likes to lace line drives around the field with a flat swing and excellent barrel feel. He's not much for elevating or turning on the ball, limiting his home run output to just 19 home runs over those four seasons, but he should hit for a good average in pro ball. Mostly a center fielder early in his time at Creighton, he has gradually spent more time in left field and played there almost exclusively as a senior. He's a strong defender that should be able to handle center at least in a part time role in pro ball with some speed. Sailors projects as a fourth outfielder who can fill in wherever needed and provide an advanced bat and leadership among his peers. Though he's a senior sign, he was young for the class and only turned 22 shortly before the draft.
5-158: RHP Aiden Jimenez, Arkansas
Slot value: $434,400. Signing bonus: $431,900 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Aiden Jimenez is a really talented arm who hasn't quite put it together yet, hence his being left off most major public draft boards. A Sacramento-area product, he began his career at Oregon State and showed promise as a freshman reliever in 2023, but missed the 2024 season with Tommy John surgery and transferred to Arkansas while he was rehabbing. Returning in a relief role on a loaded Razorbacks pitching staff, he posted a lower ERA and a higher strikeout rate than he had as a freshman. Jimenez sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball and touches 97 in short stints with riding action from a high slot. He works between a cutter and a slider to dip below bats and rounds out his arsenal with a changeup. To this point, he hasn't missed quite as many bats as you'd like to see, especially in a relief role, but has shown above average command to consistently stay ahead in counts. He had a couple of rocky outings near the end of the season, but righted the ship with three strong innings against UCLA in the College World Series. The 6'3" righty is physical and looks durable on the mound, and has been aside from his Tommy John surgery which these days has become all too standard anyways. If he can get more consistent innings under his belt, his stuff doesn't need to tick too far forward given his command and he could settle in as a back-end starter at ceiling or a long reliever as a more median outcome.
18-548: RHP Grayson Boles, St. Augustine HS [CA]
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $500,000 ($350,000 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #155.
Just before the end of the draft, the Royals unloaded the last of their extra bonus pool money on Grayson Boles, buying him out of a Texas commitment for fifth round money. Boles is a big, physical right handed pitcher with the look of a workhorse starting pitcher, albeit with a ways to go to reach that ceiling. At his peak, he can sit in the low 90's and touch 95 with his fastball, though if often parks a bit below that. His high spin slider is his best weapon even if it's a bit inconsistent, showing nice late snap when he gets it right. He can really spin his curveball, too, though it has been supplanted by the slider as his primary breaking ball and projects fringy. There is feel for a changeup, though like most high school pitchers, it could really develop in any number of directions. The 6'5" righty has a pretty simple delivery that lacks significant effort, giving him a chance to significantly improve his command as he just learns to repeat it better under Kansas City's tutelage. The Royals are buying the size and feel for spin here and will look to see Boles as a #4 starter in a handful of seasons. The San Diego native was also the first player drafted out of St. Augustine High School in over fifty years, per Baseball America.
20-608: RHP Kamden Edge, Northern Oklahoma JC Tonkawa
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $150,000.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
To close out the draft, the Royals headed to the backfields of Oklahoma to find Kamden Edge, the latest in what's becoming a growing contingent of pro ballplayers out of the Oklahoma JuCo ranks. Edge grew up in Soper, Oklahoma, a tiny town of 225 people in the Red River Valley that also produced country music great Ray Wylie Hubbard. He crossed the state to attend NOC Tonkawa, a small JuCo about three and a half hours down I-35 from Kansas City and just about twenty miles south of the Kansas state line. Though his missed his freshman season due to injury, he impressed this spring with an electric right arm that the Royals will look to tame. The fastball sits low to mid 90's and can touch 97 with angry running life in short stints, while he snaps off a pretty sharp slider in the low 80's. Edge also shows the full arsenal with a cutter, curveball, and changeup. For now, he's very raw on the mound with a high effort, low slot delivery with a violent finish. He tends to drop his arm at times, especially on the breaking ball when he wants to snap it off, which can tip pitches and also leads to below average command. The 6'1" righty looks physical but likely profiles best in the bullpen, where he can cut down his arsenal a little bit and focus on blowing the ball by hitters. Kansas City loves the stuff and thinks they can develop him into a legitimate bullpen weapon with a delivery that will make any at bat an uncomfortable one.
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