MLB held their Competitive Balance Round Draft Lottery yesterday. Basically, MLB gives small market teams a competitive advantage by giving them an extra draft pick either after the first round or the second round. In even years, the Royals are part of a randomly ordered group after the first round. In odd years, the Royals are part of the group after the second round.
This year, the Royals were selected third in the CBA giving them the current 33rd selection in the 2020 MLB Draft. However, there are six unsigned players left who received a qualifying offer. When a team signs a player who received a QO, they could lose a draft pick in front of 33 moving the Royals up in the draft. It just depends on each team’s off season. Also, I fully expect the Astros to lose pick 30 for their change up drum sessions.
The Royals now have picks number 4, 33, 42, and 78 inside of the top 100. Just to give you an idea of the talent that could fall at those numbers, the 2019 players selected in those slots were JJ Bleday, Brennan Malone, Gunnar Henderson, and Jimmy Lewis.
Also, MLB released a Mock Draft of the first ten picks yesterday. Nick Gonzales was the player theoretically drafted by the Royals. Gonzales hit .432/532/.773 as a sophomore and tore up the Cape with wood in the summer season. Baseball America also mocked Gonzales to the Royals in their October 2nd Mock Draft. However, it is still way too early to know what players will separate themselves into the top tier. Currently it looks like there are three. Austin Martin, Spencer Torkelson, and Emerson Hancock. Tier two looks like Gonzales, Asa Lacy, Jared Kelley, Mick Abel, Garrett Mitchell, and a few others. As always, there will be a top pitcher who drops to the end of the first and early second the Royals could chose from.
I would love to see the Royals end up with one of the top college bats in the country at four and then one of the top college arms available at 33. Send both those picks to Lexington for the remainder of 2020 before the affiliate is eliminated for the 2021 season.
Royals Farm Report 
I prefer the big lefty from A & M first then college
bats for next several picks.
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It’ll be a hard choice. I like Asa Lacy a lot. I like CJ Van Eyk a lot. But, I think you have to take the best bat at this point. And someone who is close to the bigs. That’ll put their call up at the back end of Mondesi and Dozier’s tenure with our club. Then depending on bats and who has fallen, you make that 33rd selection count. I mean, Jackson Kowar was 33rd overall. He fell a little. I hope you do a Shadow Draft this year!
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I’m a big fan of Mitchell at 4. His hit+speed tools as well as decent power would make him a really solid top of the order hitter. Also had a decent strikeout:walk ratio with a 10% walk rate and a 16% strikeout rate.
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I like Mitchell as well. Our luck with OF draft picks hasn’t been great over the last few years (when did we take Bubba?) and you shouldn’t draft on MLB need, but if you could get Mitchell here and he does the same thing he did last year again… man, that’s good. Depending on how quick to the bigs he is it could move Whit back to 2nd if Lopez isn’t getting it done. Or sures up the rest of your OF. It gives you some options.
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