Draft signings update

Big hat tip to the Royals scout.com site for most of the following information.  Their thread on draft signings can be found here .  Bold = signed

1. Eric Hosmer, 1B HS

1s. Mike Montgomery, LHP, HS

2. Johnny Giovatella, 2B, College, $787,000

3. Tyler Sample, RHP, HS, $500,000

4. Tim Melville, RHP, HS

5. John Lamb, LHP, HS, $165,000

6. Alex Llanos, CF, PR, $125,000

7. Jason Esposito, 3B, HS

8. Malcolm Culver, RHP, HS 

9. J.D. Alfaro, SS, JC, $75,000

As you can see seven of the top 10 picks have already been signed and 22 of the top 28.  So far it looks like the Royals really are committed to signing the guys with signability issues which fell to them.

In addition to the above, some other draftees appear to be close:

#28, Greg Billo - Baseball America says he has signed, but a recent article said that he's still considering pro ball vs. college

#7, Jason Esposito - Esposito said he received a signing bonus offer from Kansas City that he plans to take, meaning he will forgo a baseball scholarship to Vanderbilt.  "My parents and I sat down and came up with a number," Esposito said. "We said if a team can beat that number, we’ll definitely take it. (The Royals) said that with the amount they were going to offer, they could have picked me (in any round)."

This is what Rany had to say about Esposito shortly after the draft:

The draft adjourned for the day after six rounds, which meant that teams picking at the top of the draft could work the phones Thursday night and Friday morning to see what it would take to entice one of the players who had dropped because of bonus demands to sign. Which makes the Royals’ seventh-round pick so intriguing: Jason Esposito, a third baseman from aConnecticut high school, has committed to Vanderbilt. The Commodores have become the Stanford of the decade, the college team that almost always gets to keep its recruits as much for the school’s academic reputation as for its athletic one. Esposito could easily get away, but the timing of when he was picked makes me hopeful that the Royals had time to evaluate his signability and draft accordingly.

Rany's entire post-draft thoughts can be found here .

It appears that Glass really is spending more money throughout the organization.  He's going to need to significantly increase the MLB payroll to really prove himself in this regard, but so far all of the signs are positive.  On this topic, I thought I'd share a couple of comments from this thread at scout.com about Glass and his wallet:

ryansublett: yeah you know I have been a Glass hater, but i have to give credit we are being agressive in FA were spending money in the draft as well as latin amierica. People that cant see that hes changed wouldnt be happy if he uped pay roll to 100mill

duraflame: Glass is upping the payroll in addition to the FA money, the domestic and international procurement, as well as the minor league operations budget (extra affiliate), scouting budget (signing bonuses / personnel), and international budget (new academy).  And he should do all these things.  He just got a $275 MM handout from Jackson county.  But too many people around here cling to their guns and religion by insisting that Glass is having fun in Hell counting his jack.

Clinging to their guns and religion?  That's just not called for.  I, for one, reject all such incendiary comments.  My motto, as always: Peace, love, dope.