Baseball America's new 2025 MLB Draft has KC Royals stacking up on current strength

The Kansas City Royals have plenty of present problems and strengths that they have to deal with, but they cannot ignore the future in addressing the here and now. The Royals should be buyers in the MLB trade market if they continue their current trajectory, rebounding from a six-game losing streak with an 8-1 record in their last nine games. But, back to the future. One avenue to address the franchise's future is through the traditional draft, and the college season so far is giving Kansas City a good look at who they could pick with their two top-30 selections.

Baseball America has a staff draft instead of a mock draft, making their writers' selection rather than predicting what the team would do. In the first iteration, Baseball America sensibly doubled up on collegiate outfielders. The position group is a problem for the Royals in the big leagues, with little natural outfielder (not you, Jac Caglianone) star power waiting in the wings. This time, Baseball America writers had Kansas City selecting two players at the same position again, but it was two shortstops this time.

Would the KC Royals really draft two shortstops over other pressing needs?

The Royals' first draft pick in 2025 is at 23rd overall, a welcome byproduct of winning baseball. The pick at that spot in this exercise is shortstop Kyle Lodise of Georgia Tech. The infielder was far outside the first-round picture heading into the collegiate season, with Baseball America ranking him as the 236th-best prospect and MLB Pipeline having him at 71st.

"As teams have their internal meetings to line up their board as the draft nears, they are going to look at the sum of the parts with Lodise and move him up their boards. He’s third in the ACC in OPS, his numbers are great on the road and he has been a barrel machine with a good balance of bat-to-ball skills, strike-zone awareness and consistent hard contact. Lodise has made good plays at shortstop, too, and has a chance to stick at the position. It’s his first season at Georgia Tech after transferring from a Division II program, so he’s not as famous as some of the other college players still available here, but the longer he keeps this up, the more teams are going to push him up their lists."

Baseball America Staff

Meanwhile, after four picks, the Royals will be back on the clock at 28th overall. This pick is thanks to shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.'s MVP voting finish last year, a byproduct of the league trying to promote teams to let their young stars shine rather than play service time games. Baseball America sends shortstop Josh Hammond, enrolled at Wesleyan Christian Academy in High Point, North Carolina, to Kansas City at this slot.

"Hammond might wind up being more third baseman than shortstop, but I love his physicality, his intensity on the field, his bat speed and power potential."

Baseball America Staff

Hammond is a better-regarded prospect from outlets, ranking as Baseball America's 39th-best prospect and MLB Pipeline's 40th-best prospect. Like Lodise, those rankings were made ahead of the respective season, so both Lodise and Hammond must be on the rise, or at least Baseball America thinks they are.

Many draft selections outside the top 10 will not suit up for their big-league club for years, spending time down on the farm developing. It is rarely smart to draft addressing current needs at that level, but Royals fans would be right to raise an eyebrow at starting the 2025 MLB Draft with two shortstops.