The Royals’ President of Baseball Operations delivered pretty clear messaging to the media after selecting outfielder Zion Rose sixth overall. He didn’t sugarcoat it, especially after a brutal first half that saw the Royals go 38-59, which tied them with the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) for the worst record in baseball at the All-Star Break.
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“…I’ve been saying it with Brian all week long: ‘We can’t miss on our first pick. We have to hit on our first pick.’ And really, you want ceiling and you want stars, but the bottom line is, they’ve got to play in the big leagues and impact the Major League team. So the board lined up. … Your best way to go is make sure your first pick is a slam-dunk big leaguer, and I think we did that today.”
The Royals have long employed a strategy of selecting the “best available player” in the first round while still leaving enough money to sign some high-upside overslot players later in the MLB Draft. Picollo and Scouting Director Brian Bridges certainly aimed for that in this Draft, as they selected a mix of college and prep players who likely will command higher-than-expected slot deals from the Royals. This should help boost a system that is pretty thin in Double-A and Triple-A at the moment.
Still, the big mark on Picollo and the Royals’ scouting department and farm system has been that they haven’t “hit” on a majority of their first-round picks. This problem isn’t just a Picollo issue; it dates back to former President of Baseball Operations Dayton Moore, who struggled to find success with his first-round selections after the 2015 World Series.
Will Rose be the “slam-dunk big leaguer” that the Royals need from this MLB Draft? Furthermore, did they address any glaring needs in their system in this Draft (especially given the assumed savings from the Rose selection)?
What to Like From This Royals Draft
While the Rose selection was controversial, one can appreciate the Royals highlighting a guy who fit what they needed and going after him instead of waiting until pick 30 and missing out on him completely. Rose had gotten a lot of helium heading into the MLB Draft, and even Baseball America, in its post-Draft discussion, said that Rose going at No. 6 wasn’t as surprising as some may have thought, given the rankings.
I think things came between Rose and Eric Booth Jr., who was initially reported as the Royals’ pick by Joe Doyle of Overslot.com, who spoiled pretty much every first-round draft pick. In many ways, Booth and Rose feel like similar players in terms of their profiles, as they are both athletic guys with great speed and intriguing ceilings. The main difference is that Booth has a higher ceiling for power, while Rose has a better contact tool now (Booth’s contact tool may be the weakest part of his game).
The Royals liked both players and probably would’ve been happy with either. That said, they valued Rose’s proximity to the Majors and more polished profile more, even if it means they lose out on a player in Booth who may have more long-term upside. I don’t think the Royals’ poor record this year affected their decision to draft Rose over Booth. That said, there is likely urgency for Picollo to get this Draft on, and Rose carries far less risk than Booth, a prep outfielder. They can’t wait for a Booth to develop like Sean Gamble or Blake Mitchell.
Some may disagree with that strategy, but considering the Royals have heavily invested in prep guys in two of the past three drafts (Mitchell in 2023 and Gamble in 2025), I don’t mind the Royals going with the more MLB-ready prospect now, especially considering the Royals’ lack of high-profile outfielders in this system at this moment. That is
Rose is definitely a guy many have warmed up to, even though Jared Perkins, Joel Penfield, and I were shocked when the pick was initially announced.
While some have compared this pick to Gavin Cross in 2022, who was expected to be a fast-moving outfielder due to his polished profile from Virginia Tech, I think Rose has much better tools and batted-ball skills than Cross did coming out of college. Rose also definitely feels like an incredible competitor and high-grade human being, as evidenced by this interview with Jared Perkins and the Just Baseball team earlier in the year.
Speaking of the Royals needing players who could have an impact at the Major League level sooner rather than later, Kansas City seemed to nab a lot of college pitching in this Draft. Of the 16 pitchers they selected in this Draft, 14 of them were college arms. Here’s a list of all those college pitchers selected by the Royals over the past two days:
- Taylor Rabe, RHP, Ole Miss (No. 30)
- Maxx Yehl, LHP, West Virginia (No. 91)
- Ethan McElvain, LHP, Arkansas (No. 151)
- Justin LeGuernic, LHP, Clemson (No. 180)
- Dylan Vigue, RHP, Georgia (No. 209)
- Grant Fontenot , RHP, LSU (No. 299)
- Lance Hartley, RHP, College of Central Florida (No. 359)
- Dalton Hill, RHP, Nicholls State (No. 389)
- Madden Clement, LHP, Virginia Tech (No. 449)
- Dylan Alonso, RHP, Troy (No. 479)
- Richie Roman, RHP, Houston (No. 509)
- Cooper Corkrean, LHP, New Mexico (No. 539)
- Riley McDonald, RHP, State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (No. 599)
There are a couple of Junior College arms on that list (Hartley and McDonald), but for the most part, all these pitchers are polished college guys who could move quickly, especially as relievers. Rabe definitely has upside of any of the pitchers drafted and could be a No. 2-3 starter at the MLB level. Some have compared him to Brady Singer, and it’s easy to see that comparison based on their pitching styles, though I like Rabe’s repertoire a lot more than Singer’s coming out of college.
Yehl is another arm with some starter upside, though he may be more of a three- or four-starter type. He came back from Tommy John surgery in 2025 and really anchored a Mountaineers rotation that reached the College World Series. In fact, getting two pitchers who played in the 2026 CWS is an underrated aspect. That experience shows they can pitch against quality competition and big moments.
In Day Two, they went college-heavy, opting for arms with lower ceilings, but higher floors that can move quickly. There’s a nice mix of Power 5 and Mid-Major guys who not only have a solid outlook, but could sign right away. That is important because it means they will enter the Royals Farm System immediately and have a shot at making an impact in Low-A Columbia or High-A Quad Cities, at the very least.
While the college arms are nice, the low-ceiling approach with these arms also opened the opportunity to select some intriguing prep talents.
Prep pitchers Jack Slightom and Hudson DeVaughan could be the two best pitchers from this Royals draft after Rabe. Pipeline ranked them 89th and 138th, respectively, in their Top 250 ranking, and it’s easy to see why. Both are 6’5 dudes with great frames and solid fastballs that could gain velocity as they mature and grow into their frames.
Slightom is a four-pitch pitcher with an electric fastball that sits 94-96 with 98 MPH upside. He dominated Illinois high school hitters and also seemed to do well on the showcase circuit.
As for DeVaughan, he’s a special pitching prospect with serious top-of-the-rotation upside. He was hitting 98 MPH in high school, and many remarked that he has great feel and command for a prep pitching prospect. The main issue will be prying him away from his commitment to Alabama, so a lot of overslot money will be dedicated to DeVaughan (hopefully).
On the hitting side, the Royals made some nice splashes in rounds 4, 9, and 14.
In the fourth round, they selected Dominic Battista, a prep bat from the Chicago area. While he’s not a big guy now, he’s athletic, has budding power, and has tools that could blossom in professional ball. He’s a player I didn’t know much about going into the MLB Draft, but I like him as a high-ceiling, high-risk prep outfielder complement to the safer outfielder in Rose.
In the ninth, the Royals went with a college guy, but one with tremendous upside that will be an overslot signee. Camden Johnson was the starting shortstop on an Oklahoma team that won the national championship, and he’s an athletic player with four solid tools. He can play multiple positions well, and he feels like an upgraded version of Nick Loftin. That is great to have, and he could be a dude who could compete for a Royals roster spot in the second half of 2028 or on Opening Day in 2029.
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The Royals definitely had a nice balance of safety and risk in this Draft, and it’s easy to see the riskier picks pan out, as they fit this organization’s strengths on both the hitting and pitching sides.
What Not To Like From This Royals Draft
The Royals’ Draft this year is definitely deep, benefiting from a strong crop of pitchers, especially college pitchers. However, it did feel like this Draft was colored by the fact that Kansas City is 21 games under .500 so far this year.
Even though injuries have certainly taken their toll on the Royals this year, the reality is that this organization has disappointed greatly in 2026. Maybe thinking 85 wins was optimistic, but Kansas City is on pace for 100 losses. That is something that no Royals fan saw coming back in Spring Training, especially after back-to-back winning seasons in 2024 and 2025.
It definitely felt like Bridges and Picollo drafted with the next couple of years being crucial. Rose is not a project. Neither is Rabe, Yehl, Johnson, nor the slew of college arms they selected on Day Two. Thus, it feels like the Royals sacrificed some long-term upside in this Draft. While they did get some high-ceiling prep players, it didn’t seem as much as it could’ve been, especially since Bridges has preferred this profile in his past two years running the Royals draft.
The Draft is complicated because simply “drafting best available” is not always realistic in the current slot system. Teams have to be judicious with how much they can and need to allocate at each selection. There is a balance between drafting for “upside” and drafting for “practicality”.
This Draft seemed to lean more toward the former than the latter. Was that the correct strategy? Only time will tell.
That said, the good thing is Royals fans will know the answer to that question real soon, perhaps by the end of the 2027 season.
Overall Grade
On Day One, I gave the Royals a C+. I liked the Rose selection, but was curious whether Rabe, Slightom, Yehl, and Battista were enough to offset the Royals’ “reach” on Rose in the first round.
Day Two was a much better one. They built some nice pitching depth that has been sorely needed. Many of the 2026 college pitchers selected could be in Double-A by midseason in 2027. Considering their lack of pitching depth in Omaha and Northwest Arkansas, that is a good thing.
That said, they made some nice oversloots on Day Two. Johnson is an excellent selection who probably should’ve been a Day One guy, and I think he could move fast and be a borderline Top-10 Royals prospect by this offseason. DeVaughan will be a tough sign because of that SEC commitment, but if the Royals save money on Rose, it would make sense for them to dedicate a ton of resources to their 19th-rounder. He’s that good. He could be a first-round selection in two years.
Based on those results, I would give the Royals’ Day Two Draft an A-. Put those together, and the Royals have a B grade for this Draft.
And B is good. Granted, I think we were hoping for an A Draft, but Jackson Flora and Carson Boleman had to fall to Kansas City to make that happen. They didn’t (they went to the Giants instead). Thus, I think this is the best the Royals could have done given the circumstances. I don’t think drafting Booth or Drew Burress makes a difference on the grade, with all things considered. Even if the Royals drafted either of those guys, they likely don’t draft Johnson or DeVaughan in the process. I’ll take that quantity here over quality, especially considering the farm system’s needs.
Check out our 2026 MLB Draft tracker, with scouting reports, player information, total pool allotments, and much more!
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source royalskeep.com ’
