Baseball America predicts KC Royals will select two NCAA standouts in 2025 MLB Draft

The Kansas City Royals certainly have minds—and scouting departments—hard at work at 1 Royal Way ahead of the 2025 MLB Draft. They find themselves in unfamiliar territory this year, holding the 23rd overall pick. It’s the lowest first-round selection the Royals have had since 1986—just one year after the franchise captured its first World Series title. For a fanbase accustomed to picking inside the top 10—something Kansas City has done in each of the past six drafts—this marks a notable shift in position and process.

Every MLB Draft pick is a gamble—but the further you go down the board, the longer the odds get. Kansas City holds two selections inside the top 30, at No. 23 and No. 28 overall, which should boost their chances of landing a future big-league contributor. Still, the draft is unpredictable by nature.

How different could late selections make the 2025 MLB Draft for the KC Royals?

Baseball America recently released a new mock draft—this time based on what they’re hearing from decision-makers, rather than their writers’ personal projections. For the Royals, they broke from some familiar patterns and mocked two collegiate position players, signaling a slight shift in Kansas City’s projected draft-day mold.

First up: Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy. The SEC standout has been climbing draft boards quickly, thanks to a strong second season with the Razorbacks. His standout performance in the Cape Cod League with Yarmouth-Dennis—where he slashed .309/.352/.642 with eight home runs in just 21 games—only boosted his stock further and solidified his profile as a legitimate pro prospect.

"Aloy started his career at Sacramento State then moved to Arkansas in 2024 where he struggled a bit with the bat. Scouts have been impressed with the improvements he’s made offensively in his second tour of baseball’s best conference. There are some miss concerns, but he’s having a career year, hitting for average and power while also displaying the athleticism and tools to give himself a chance to stick at shortstop. That athleticism and the edge in defensive profile he’ll have over some of his peers in this range could push him even further up the board."

Next up: Coastal Carolina catcher Caden Bodine. On the surface, this might seem like the Royals adding depth at a position they’ve already invested heavily in—but when a team has a shot at landing one of the best pure hitters in the 2025 class, it’s hard to pass that up.

Bodine impressed with a strong showing in the Cape Cod League, flashing advanced bat-to-ball skills and a mature approach at the plate. Still, there are split opinions on his long-term viability behind the dish, and questions about his limited athleticism could cause him to slide down boards—possibly to No. 28, where the Royals could be ready to pounce.

"Like many of the players in this range of the mock, Bodine is polarizing. There are scouts who view him as the best catcher in the class because of his excellent zone-contact skills and receiving, while others would prefer his toolset and power upside in the second or third round. College catchers tend to go at the top of their market because of scarcity (plus a distaste for the high school catching demographic) and perhaps a team with multiple picks like the Royals could make sense. "

These draft evaluations are never easy, and 2025 might be tougher than most. As Baseball America put it: "In conversations with decision-makers over the last few weeks, this year’s class is being described as one of the most muddled and lacking in separation that teams have seen in years. Teams picking at the top are scrambling to get as many looks as possible on essentially all of the top players in the class. That has put teams with mid-round picks in a position where it’s difficult to eliminate almost anyone from the possibility of falling."

In a class this chaotic, Kansas City’s 11th-largest bonus pool—and its stack of early picks—suddenly looks like a major advantage.