General Manager Dayton Moore shipped away four blooming prospects, including Minor Leauge Baseball’s top prospect last season and the Royals’ top pitching prospect, for the pitching services of James Shields and Wade Davis.

August 05, 2011; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost (left) with general manager Dayton Moore (right) before a game against the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Moore traded away some major pieces to the farm, but for the most part, the farm system is still intact and developing. However, it will be Moore’s and his player evaluation staff to patch the holes left by the departure of Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery and Patrick Leonard (but mainly Myers and Odorizzi).

The Royals will hope to restock the pantry through the draft, starting with a very important pick at No. 8. Now, the Royals can go a few ways with this. There is an abundance of talent in this class, possibly not as deep as recent drafts, but certainly a variety of options.

When you look at the big league roster as a whole, you see lots of young talent. There will be very few needs from an age perspective seeing as the oldest every day player will be Jeff Francoeur at 29 years old. However, the key loss in the Shields-Davis trade was obviously Myers, a young, 22-year-old slugging outfielder with one of the highest ceilings on a prosect from a hitting perspective. This leads me to the first scenario for the Royals.

Sitting at No. 8 gives the Royals the advantage of gaining legit talent ahead of just about everyone else. Some names which continue to cover the boards in connections to the Royals:

        Austin Wilson-Jr.-Stanford-OF

       Wilson is a big strong kid, 6-5, 245 pounds, who some describe as raw but exploding with potential. In 2012, Wilson hit .285, with 10 home runs, all while driving in 54 RBI. This season will dictate whether he’s seen as that top 10 type prospect, or if his stock will plummet. It should be noted that through 11 games this season, Wilson only has three plate appearances with two strikeouts

       Dominic Smith-Sr. (HS)-California HS-1B/OF

       Smith is one of those guys who has still yet to lockdown his premier position. Some say the 6-1. 200-pound lefty, lacks the defensive skills to play outfield,  but has the bat to supply power from either position. He excels at making consistent hard contact and while his defensive skills may need to be refined, scouts say he has a very strong arm to field the position.

        Clint Frazier-Sr. (HS)-Loganville HS-OF

         Frazier may not be catching headlines like some of his classmates, but after watching only a few seconds of his HR Derby tape, you see why his name is legit mention in the first round. The 6-1 righty has lightning quick hands (think Bryce Harper fast) and can really extend his arms for some major pop. He’s young, talented and committed to Georgia, so this pick may come with a bit of a risk factor.

         Trey Ball-Sr. (HS)-New Castle HS-LHP/OF

         Ball definitely benefits from being a left-hander, gaining attention as an outfielder and standout pitcher. His arm speed was clocked at 93 MPH on the hill, but his 6-6 frame and athleticism indicates he could show some flash as an outfielder. His bat is described as smooth and strong, with power and strength to come as he matures. Ball could definitely be groomed to be a major league pitcher, as well.

         Phillip Ervin-Jr.-Samford-OF

         Ervin is my dark horse at No. 8 in the outfield group. The 5-10, 200-pound outfielder collected MVP honors over the summer in the Cape Cod League, hitting .323 with 10 home runs and 11 stolen bases. At Samford, Ervin is on an offensive tear, hitting .340 with six home runs and 12 RBI. Last season, he batted .327 with 10 home runs and 52 RBI.

The Royals can definitely afford to go after a big bat and outfield impact with the pick, but there will be plenty of pitchers for Moore to choose from, if he so chooses. Most of the arms the Royals should be interested in are already at the college level, but a few high school pitchers will certainly catch the eye of the Royals.

           Mark Appel-Sr.-Sanford-RHP

           Appel was selected last year by the Pirates, but chose not to sign and return to Sanford for one more season. The righty is projected to go ahead of the Royals, but still carries a risk to sign, which could turn off some teams ahead of KC. Appel is 2-1 this season for the Cardinals and has a sub-1.20 ERA to start the season. He’s by far the most advanced and big league-ready arm in the draft.

          Jonathan Crawford-Jr.-Florida-RHP

          Crawford has some critics who doubt he will have the ability to make it as a big league starter. Crawford currently only uses two pitches, a mid-90s fastball and sweeping slider, and pitches from a funky delivery which some say uses too much effort and will causes problems later down the road. However, the kid went 6-2, with a 3.13 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 72 innings of work.

          Jordan Sheffield-Sr. (HS)-Tullahoma HS-RHP

          The big knock against Sheffield is his size. At 6-3, 195-pounds, some say his frame is too small for a big time work horse in the pros, but his strong arm and use of secondary and third pitches could make him a steal. He has a standing commitment to Vanderbilt, but being taken in the top 10 would be a hard thing to pass up over a college career. Rumors swirled that Sheffield peaked  out in the upper-90s over summer.

          Robert Kaminsky-Sr. (HS)-St. Joseph Regional HS-LHP

          Kaminsky measures in at 6-foot, 190 pounds, but already has the measures of an advanced arm when it comes to his pitching ability. The lefty sits mid-to-low 90s on his fastball, with a healthy back up of off-speed pitches. Many agree he is legitimate first-round talent, but not sure where he exactly falls. The Royals may want to take a gamble on Kaminsky at No. 8 for his advanced potential.

As you can see, the player scouting and evaluation department for the Royals has a bit of a task on their hands. There’s plenty of talent out in the draft this year, some which may make a late push to the top of the boards as the season progresses.

The hardest part with evaluating baseball talent is the shear amount of talent in the United States. With so many rounds and picks, it can be a gargantuan task finding the talent to fill all the picks. As June approaches, the Royals will make it clear their intentions on who will fill the No. 8 spot on the big board.

Several mock MLB Drafts have RHP Kyle Zimmer of the University of San Francisco joining Eric Hosmer and the Royals. Photo Credit: John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

Other names that could be in line are: LSU RHP Kevin Gausman, Richie Shaffer 3B from Clemson and Lucas Giolito of Harvard-Westlake School in California. In addition here are a few more names that have shown up during searches, Mike Zunino catcher from Florida, Max Fried who is a high school teammate of Giolito’s in California and Carlos Correa from Puerto Rico Baseball Academy.

The Royals did what many were hoping they would do and draft Bubba Starling.  Many were hoping for a pitcher but the best were off the board at that time so the question remains now of who is going to be picked up by the Royals with their next few picks today and Thursday.  The Royals will pick quickly again at #65 and there is still some good talent out there for them to get.  According to MLB.com’s list of 50 best prospects here are a few remaining that I think the Royals could go for (in the order I think the would take them):

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The Royals are virtually certain not to mess up their first pick with many strong picks available to them at their turn.

Jeff Herr and Ryan Wood have profiled the potential selections when it gets to the Royals.  If you’ve missed them, you can catch up from the list below: (more…)

Fellow writer Ryan Wood and myself are gonna bring something to Kings of Kauffman that you all will hopefully find interesting.  As the Major League Baseball Amatuer Draft is coming up on June 6th we thought it would be both fun and entertaining to outline draft prospects  the Royals could select at #5 (which is a good spot because there is a lot of talent in this years draft) and compare them to a current prospect or rookie that is currently in the Royals system.  The idea is to profile where they fit in the organization and how they will most likely be handled moving forward.  The Royals have a couple waves of talent coming but there is a slight hole after that. 

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The chat starts at 5:15 pm CST as we get ready for the first picks to come in.  Check in and you can join myself and other Fansided columnists as we discuss the picks.

As for the Royals, more and more noise is coming in that they’re leaning towards LHP Chris Sale over catcher Yasmani Grandal.  Those early reports of an agreement seem to have been smoke and mirrors as Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo have Grandal slipping all the way down to the end of the first round.

In other news, drafts are awesome.

The MLB Draft officially starts at 6:00 pm CST.

You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.

Thankfully, this year there’s a good amount of talent loaded in the first round, so no matter who Kansas City selects, they should get a good prospect. But which direction should they go?
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