Meet your Royals draft picks

OK, well, now the fun begins. Eric Hosmer is the Royals' first-round pick, the third straight year the Royals take a Scott Boras guy with their first overall pick.

I'm not working with inside information here, but I'm thinking negotiations will be closer to Mike Moustakas (signed with a few minutes left before deadline) than Luke Hochevar (took about two months, but everyone knew it was getting done).

To me, it's another indication that the Royals really are taking the best player available, regardless of what that means, which is not something they've always done, and something you have to be encouraged about.

Right now, the kid is sitting with a lot of leverage. He's got the most advanced high school bat in the draft and he has Boras negotiating for him with a team that's absolutely desperate for bats at all levels.

He also has a scholarship at Arizona State and I don't know what his girlfriend situation is, but ASU isn't a bad place to be.

My guess is that the deal will get done because it's in everybody's best interests and high school kids (even though Hosmer's family is fine financially, not rich, not poor) just don't walk away from the kind of money the Royals will probably offer.

But a surer bet is that this will likely stretch until close to the deadline.

With the help of a few outlets, most notably Baseball America, the draft bible, here is some quick info on the Royals' other first-day selections:

Mike Montgomery, supplemental pick for losing David Riske (and that's a great signing when you get to pick 36th overall for losing Riske), 36th overall, HS LHP pitcher from California: Long, athletic build at 6-4 and 180. Very clean delivery, fastball reaches low 90s and is complemented by a slow-and-sharp curve and changeup that needs to get better. Profiles as a middle-of-the-rotation starter. Has some character questions after being kicked off his high school basketball team for getting too many technical fouls. Signed with Cal-State Fullerton. Rated 40th overall by Keith Law.

Johnny Giovatella, 2nd round, 49th overall, 2B from New Orleans U: Tiny frame (5-8, 185) but has walked more than he's struck out every year of college. Adequate defensively, plays hard, and can drive the ball to either gap. BA's comparisons are "Dustin Pedroia (without the same defense), Dan Uggla (without the same power) and Mike Fontenot (with more strength).

Tyler Sample, 3rd round, 80th overall, HS RHP from Colorado: Huge kid, 6-7 and 240 pounds with a low-90s fastball and a knuckle-curve. Red flag: Tommy John surgery as a sophomore, and he would sometimes appear in relief for his high school team three days after a start. Rated 66th overall by Law.

Tim Melville, 4th round, 115th overall, HS RHP from Wentzville, Mo.: Athletic 6-5 and 210 pounds, BA says he could be a star 3B in college. Stress-free delivery, fastball from 91-94 with a curveball that could end up being his best pitch. BA says he's the top high school arm in 2008 and was expected by most to be drafted in the first round. Rated 18th overall by Law. Signed with North Carolina.

John Lamb, 5th round, 145th overall, HS LHP from California: Smooth and fluid, fastball from 87-91 with improved curveball and a good feel for pitching. Was rear-ended in a car accident in February, diagnosed with a fractured elbow, and had his arm immobilized for 12 weeks.

Alex Llanos, 6th round, 175th overall, HS CF from Puerto Rico: Converted shortstop runs a 6.5 in the 60. Good bat speed and physical frame (6-3, 175).

Submitted by Sam Mellinger on June 6, 2008 - 7:11am.
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A lot of draft experts seem to think

Submitted by RoyalsRetro on June 11, 2008 - 2:28pm.

If the Royals sign Melville, they'll have one of the best drafts in baseball. Good to see us being aggressive.

Submitted by crawford on June 6, 2008 - 9:30am.

nice rundown. If Glass signs all of these players I'll never gripe about him going cheap on the drafts again. ( or at least untill next June~) Hosmers check is going to ~hurt~ and Tim Melville probably command 2 million in a slot that tops at 200 K.

The pitchers: This regime is actually pretty good with pitchers, I have learned to trust Dayton here. Based on what I was seeing as the picks went by, the Royals drafted pitchers right around their rank. Except Tim-may, of course. (the 2nd baseman was kind of a head scratcher) I know a couple things for sure, Dayton wants stuff, he wants strike outs, he wants it all, and he won't plug away with below average pitchers just to go through the process. Buckner and JP Howell got to AAA with bland stuff and even plainer numbers and Dayton flipped them for value. THat's the kind of inivative moves it takes to pull us out of this hole.

Hosmer?

Submitted by ryangoodwin5 on June 8, 2008 - 2:34am.

I don't care how good he ends up. The pick was Buster Posey of FSU. DESPERATELY need a quality catcher in the organization.

When you have the #3 overall pick

Submitted by RoyalsRetro on June 11, 2008 - 2:27pm.

You go for best available talent, not positional need. Who is to say Buck doesn't become a great catcher all of a sudden, or we acquire a catcher through trade? You don't draft based on need, you get the best player you can. By the time Hosmer reaches the big leagues, we have no idea what the organizational needs of the Royals will be.

Dock Doyle

Submitted by Brosiusjb on June 11, 2008 - 11:44am.

while I understand your concerns about catchers I would like to direct your attention to a player named Dock Doyle from Coastal Carolina University. He is a finalist for the Johnny Bench award as a Junior, He hit .370 with 16 homeruns, 22 doubles and 72 driven in. Defensively he grades ahead of Posey plus is less heralded. If the Royals wait a year they can snag Doyle in the 2nd thru 5th or 6th and again have basically two first round picks like this year with hosmer and melville, but save money. Once you see Doyle you wont feel so strongly about Posey.

Catcher?

Submitted by crawford on June 9, 2008 - 7:33am.

Posey projects as a 280/18 a year guy, which in our lineup would be 260/12: hello John Buck.

THe Royals desparately need a 25 to 35 HR a year player, among a lot of other pieces. Posey isn't that player, Hosmer is. And the more I read about Hosmer the better I like him.

Reserved Excitement

Submitted by lakewoodroyal on June 6, 2008 - 8:24am.

Lets pretend he does have a girlfriend: If he ends up going to Arizona St, he won't have a girlfriend much longer! If I'm the Royals, I'd find out which one of his harem he likes the most and offer to pay for the wedding. That might be easier than staring down Boras to the 11th hour.

Sam - nice profiles on each. Personally, its hard for me to get excited about draft picks in any sport. And draft picks for baseball are a little like recruits for college football. Very few actually live up to their hype and the best ones are the ones who nobody hears about. Probably the only head scratcher out of this was drafting a kid who's already had arm problems. Unless they see him switching to another position, he could end up being the first and only person a major league team has drafted to throw batting practice.

I'm less irked than I was yesterday afternoon.

Submitted by jayhawkowensjunior on June 6, 2008 - 8:13am.

I just don't like the first pick. I fully understand that you don't draft for immediate need in baseball. However, I'm biased towards college players anyway--it just seems like they're easier to project (which is the key to a loaded farm system, in my opinion), have somewhat less leverage than a HS player with a scholarship offer, and are that much closer to the majors. This last should have been a motivating factor--when your system's (and team's) cupboard is offensively bare as the Royals, you need guys that will be ready sooner rather than later. I'm not talking about "ready to step into a major league lineup." I'm talking about "Should make the 2010 team" rather than "Should make the 2012 team."

But a lot of people, inside and outside baseball would disagree with me. Fine. But the cherry on top is that he might be the most unsignable player in the first round -- for all of the reasons listed by Sam above -- I just don't like it.

And, um, we just drafted a pitcher in the fifth round who broke his elbow in February? Really? Gosh. I know about the miracles of modern medicine and all, but ... huh. I'm just having nightmare flash-forwards. I'm having some beers in 2013, complaining about how the team never has anyone good in the farm system, and something pops into my head -- "Hey. Remember that time we drafted the pitcher with the broken elbow? Son of a..."

I like the Melville pick. I've just got a suspicion that the kid's going to college.

Fifth round pick

Submitted by Royalbaseman on June 9, 2008 - 9:09pm.

This from Rany about our fifth round pick:

"And the Royals weren’t finished with their high-risk, high-upside approach. Their fifth round pick, John Lamb, is another SoCal left-handed pitcher who probably would have gone in the first two or three rounds, but was in a car accident in February that left him with a stress fracture in his throwing arm, and while surgery wasn’t needed, he’s been in a cast ever since. Ask the Phillies if they regret taking a chance on Cole Hamels after Hamels suffered a broken arm in high school. If Lamb heals fully – and there’s no reason to think he won’t – this is another great upside play."

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