Everyone woke up feeling good this morning, as the Royals did what they needed to do, signing most of their key pieces. The highest pick who spurned the Royals was 8th round selection Evan Beal, who choose to head to South Carolina. (Shakes fist.)
Of course, the biggest news of the night was Starling's signing, which Old Man stayed up to cover for us. Really, in the last few years, they've all seemed very hyped to me, although there are numerous mentions of Starling being the most watched, scrutinized, awesome, etc. For example, the subhead on one of the stories from the official page referred to Starling as "ultra-athletic." Well then. The fact that he secured the largest bonus in team history is interesting, but not really. Newsflash, things cost more now. Inflation, plus Starling having that little extra bit of leverage, plus a dash of him being a great talent, added up to $7.5 million.

Kudos to team ownership for signing off on another year of spending big in the draft. This is absolutely what the Royals have to do. Without ownership's willingness to spend heavily, year after year, a top flight farm system just isn't possible. Another small-market team, Pittsburgh, shocked the baseball world by signing Josh Bell, who was previously considered a lock to sign with Texas, and it only cost $5 million. (Wow. Lots of teams missed on that one.) The Indians also spent big.  There was a small window when the Royals may have enjoyed an advantage as one of the few big-money players, but it looks like that time has passed.

• Draft Scorecard - Royals Authority
• Royals come to agreement with several draft choices - KansasCity.com
• Royals sign second-round pick Gallagher | royals.com: News
• Royals come to terms with Nos. 3, 4, 5 picks | royals.com: News
• Restocking the cupboard | Pine Tar Press
• Royals secure No. 5 overall selection Bubba Starling just before deadline | royals.com: News
• Royals sign first-round pick Bubba Starling - KansasCity.com
• Royals sign 3rd Round pick Bryan Brickhouse | Pine Tar Press
• Pirates Top 30 Prospects, Gerrit Cole And Josh Bell Edition - Bucs Dugout