A Strong Draft Position in 2026 Is Huge for the Royals’ Future
After Tuesday's draft lottery, the Royals find themselves holding one of the most advantageous draft positions they’ve had in years.
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The MLB draft lottery tends to cause chaos each year, and boy, was there chaos in the this year’s lottery on Tuesday at the Winter Meetings. That chaos ultimately benefited the Kansas City Royals greatly.
Going into the night, the Royals had 1-in-119 odds of getting the #1 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. You knew that was unlikely to happen, and, of course, they didn’t get the #1 overall pick. But, as teams were called, the Royals all of a sudden found themselves guaranteed a top-six pick in the draft.
Entering the night with long odds to climb, Kansas City vaulted 10 spots forward and secured the sixth overall pick, their seventh top-10 selection in the last eight drafts. This was a massive jump, as they were expected to land somewhere around the 16th pick. Let’s dive in to what it all means.
More Money To Spend
In a system where every dollar of bonus pool space matters, Kansas City’s leap into the top six carries massive weight. They’ll have four picks in the top 100 with the No. 6, No. 30, No. 56, and No. 93 overall selections.
The Royals’ picking sixth guarantees them another $2.7 million in bonus pool dollars to spend based on projected slot values. That’s essentially the equivalent of an extra major overlot signing without lifting a finger.
For a scouting department that thrives on creativity, particularly under scouting director Brian Bridges, who has aggressively targeted high-upside prep talent, this financial bump opens up dozens of doors.
As we mentioned, Bridges has shown he’s not afraid to play the long game or take swings at elite athletes. Just last year, Kansas City loaded up on prep standouts like Sean Gamble and Josh Hammond, and the expanded pool gives them another chance to operate with that same ambition.
They’ll have the opportunity to manipulate the board a bit with that excess money and see if they can maybe pay down a guy to 30 that they really like.
A Top-6 Pick
In a draft that is a lot stronger than 2024, having a top-six pick for the Kansas City Royals is huge. The type of player you can get at six is much different than what might fall to you at 16. The front office will have more players to choose from who are on their board.
Now, guys like Roch Cholowsky and Grady Emerson are unlikely to fall to the Royals here, but it is still early, and anything can happen. Guys will rise and fall up and down the MLB draft boards all season long.
But that said, the Royals will have their choice from a strong crop. So, who are some of the names we should be paying attention to? Well, to start, here is the top 10 in the Just Baseball 2026 MLB Draft high school and college boards
| High School | College |
| 1. SS Grady Emerson 2. LHP Carson Bolemon 3. OF Blake Bowen 4. LHP Gio Rojas 5. SS Jacob Lombard 6. OF Eric “EJ” Booth 7. LHP Logan Schmidt 8. C Will Brick 9. 3B/SS Tyler Spangler 10. RHP Jensen Hirschkorn | 1. SS Roch Cholowsky, UCLA 2. OF AJ Gracia, Virginia 2. OF Drew Burress, Georgia Tech 4. SS Tyler Bell, Kentucky 5. 3B Ace Reese, Mississippi State 6. RHP Cam Flukey, Coastal Carolina 7. 3B Chris Hacopian, Texas A&M 8. SS Justin Lebron, Alabama 9. C Vahn Lackey, Georgia Tech 10. RHP Jackson Flora, UCSB |
The Royals will have their fair share of selections, and while these lists might change, some of these guys make a lot of sense.
As we mentioned, in the 2025 MLB Draft, the Royals went after prep upside in both Sean Gamble and Josh Hammond. We talked at Just Baseball about how the strongest side of the prep class was some of the prep bats, and the Royals dipped in that route twice.
In this class, the prep lefties are super strong.
Keep your eye on names like Carson Bolemon, Gio Rojas, and Logan Schmidt. The Royals haven’t shied away from young lefties in the past, as seen by their selection of David Shields in the 2024 MLB Draft.
Tyler Jennings talked about it on our latest On The Clock podcast, but these lefties were tough to rank, and it was really grasping at straws to differentiate them. Bolemon got the top slot just based on his track record and success over the last couple of years.
The Royals will have a chance to pick a favorite out of the three or other prep arms who might take a jump as the 2025 high school season takes off.
Outside of the prep arms, the Royals have been scouting Coastal Carolina RHP Cam Flukey pretty hard. And it is easy to see why. Flukey has some of the best stuff we’ve seen in college baseball since, say, Chase Burns.
Flukey fits exactly what the Royals have targeted under Brian Bridges: athletic, high-octane college arms with projection left.
His mid-90s fastball that touches the upper 90s, plus a deep-breaking curveball that missed bats nearly 50% of the time in 2025, gives him frontline traits the organization rarely has access to picking outside the top five. Add in his advanced command and continued physical growth, and it’s easy to see why Kansas City would be intrigued by his SP1 upside.
The last thing to keep your eye on is if a top college or just a top player falls to them. We saw in 2024 that Jac Caglianone was the best available on the board, and the Royals didn’t hesitate to take who they thought was the best player.
As we brought up earlier, could a Roch Cholowsky, AJ Gracia, or Grady Emerson fall to them? It feels like an implausible scenario, especially for Roch Cholowsky.
Now things could change during the season, and those guys could slide down boards if they face some struggles throughout the 2026 season. At that rate, the point would be moot for those names, but the point stands: If there is a guy who stands out as the surefire best player on the board, they could go in that direction.
All Eyes on July
Now that the dust has settled on a wild lottery night, the focus shifts to what comes next.
The Royals suddenly find themselves holding one of the most advantageous draft positions they’ve had in years, and the 2026 class is loaded with the kind of impact talent this front office has shown they’re willing to bet on.
With a top-six pick, a boosted bonus pool, and a wide-open board, Kansas City has a real opportunity to add a franchise-altering piece. How they capitalize on this unexpected jump could shape the direction of the organization for years to come.
Written by
Jared Perkins is a College Baseball and MLB Draft Director for Just Baseball. He's a Host and Co-Founder of The College Baseball Show.