Round 1--Christian Colon--you've read all about him--solid player who could help soon

Round 2--Brett Eibner--two way player from Arkansas.  Sounds like he will play CF for us--lots of power/lots of Ks and defense is supposed to be pretty good.  Was projected to go middle of round 1

Round 3--Michael Antonio--toolsy HS SS--may not stick at that position.  But he is supposed to have a potentially good bat and good speed

Round 4--Kevin Chapman--U. of Florida closer--who had TJ surger a couple of years ago.  Very good FB, OK change, needs a better breaking pitch. 

Round 5--Jason Adam--Blue Valley NW pitcher who has a Missou commitment.  Has a decent FB but is projected to add velocity.  Work in progress.  Keith Law says we'll sign him for about $1 million

Round 6--Scott Alexander--former Pepperdine pitcher who transfered to Sonoma State.  Decent FB, needs to improve secondary stuff and his command has not been good.

Round 7--Eric Cantrell--George Washington U's ace--the opposite of Alexander--not so great FB but good command of his pitches

Round 8--Michael Mariot--Nebraska pitcher with OK FB and not much else

Round 9--White Merrifield--South Carolina--tweener OF who doesn't have big tools but has had decent production

Round 10--Tim Ferguson--Ole Miss's CF--good defensive player with speed--not much bat

I thought the Royals did pretty good in Rounds 1-5.  I liked the Colon and Eibner picks quite a bit and the other 3 have some things about them I like and other things I'm not crazy about.  Round 6-10 were less inspiring--seems like we took a bunch of low upside college picks who will struggle when they get to AA.  So far, this draft stands in contrast to the past 3 Royals draft when they mixed some high upside picks.  Last year we definitely began to see a shift towards college players--but several of those were intriguing at the time.  This draft definitely looks like it will cost less than the past few drafts from the Royals.  Jason Adams will cost a fair amount--but there is no Will Myers/Chris Dwyer/Tim Melville so far.  There are a few conclusions we could draw from this:

1. the Royals have cut their amateur budget--this would be horrible if true

2. the Royals are saving their money for the July international free agent market--could be smart and we'll find out soon

3. the Royals were not wowed by the talent and decided to save their pennies for a rainy draft---like next year when the draft is dripping with enough talent to make me hope the Royals (again) have a Top 5 selection

Of course, there are 40! more rounds to go, so we'll see who the Royals add from here on out.