Baseball America has KC Royals doubling up on massive need in 2025 MLB Draft

The Kansas City Royals are back in Kansas City, with Opening Day now upon us. Their early-season returns haven't been stellar, but plenty of season remains for the team to turn things around and break out of the opening funk that many MLB clubs face right now.

For outlets like Baseball America, the focus is already shifting well past the opening games toward the 2025 MLB Draft on July 13, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia. The draft is a time when anything seems possible—whether it's a win-now team replenishing prospect power or a rebuilding franchise seeking a savior, each pick could be the perfect fit. Scouting prospects across the collegiate and high school ranks is no easy task, but Baseball America does that year-round.

One of their annual exercises is a staff draft, where writers share how they would approach the draft, rather than predict team moves based on inclinations and prior history. While any exercise outside the actual draft should be taken with a grain of salt, this one from Baseball America offers a good glimpse from experts who watch thousands of prospects each cycle.

Selecting later in the MLB Draft, what direction could the KC Royals go in 2025?

They tackled the top 40 selections in this draft, where Kansas City holds two picks at 23rd and 28th overall. Royals fans aren't accustomed to later picks after years of top-10 selections, but that's part of the game when the team reaches the ALDS.

There are several ways to build with picks so close together and later in the draft, but Baseball America has Kansas City selecting not one but two collegiate outfielders from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Royals’ first projected selection is Ethan Conrad from Wake Forest, and they circle back for Cam Cannarella out of Clemson.

Conrad would be Kansas City's fourth consecutive left-handed batter as their first pick, and his profile is more akin to that of 2022 first-round pick Gavin Cross than 2024 first-rounder Jac Caglianone. After transferring to Wake Forest following a breakout year at Marist last spring and a strong Cape Cod League showing—where he posted a .385 average and .919 OPS—Conrad has emerged as a well-rounded outfielder for the Demon Deacons.

He earned 50-plus grades on all tools from MLB Pipeline. Although there are some chase concerns and his walk rate isn’t strong, his bat speed and hand-eye coordination allow him to spray the ball with gap-to-gap power. That profile is similar to Cross', with the Virginia Tech product adding power down the line. Many outlets rank Conrad in the early 20s, making him a credible pick for the Royals at 23rd overall.

Meanwhile, his collegiate rival at Clemson, Cam Cannarella, is a bit more of a wildcard. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the 15th-best prospect, while Baseball America places him 20th in the 2025 class. Both outlets rave about his bat-to-ball skills, as evidenced by his .321/.475/.434 line through 30 collegiate games. The lefty has also walked 29 times while striking out 21, a positive sign for his career. Although he isn’t much of a power threat—popping for 11 home runs and 30 extra-base hits in 58 games last season—Cannarella shows promise.

He appears to have the speed and athleticism to stick in center field, though a torn labrum in his right shoulder last season sapped his arm power potential. That injury also reduced his aggressiveness on the basepaths in 2024, though he swiped 24 bases as a freshman in 2023; even if that production doesn’t fully return (he only had three stolen bases this season), it demonstrates his quick reflexes on the basepaths.

The Royals may need high-ceiling outfielders in the majors, but both Conrad and Cannarella bring major-league tools that the franchise can develop. Other teams have drafted in these positions for decades, finding gems even after the initial wave of talent has flown off the boards. Kansas City might need to adjust their draft strategy, but Baseball America's approach doesn’t seem all that crazy heading into the 2025 MLB Draft.