With as much up and down as this day has featured, you'd think we had a lot more than 2 picks. But the Royals made those 2 picks count.
The Royals took Aaron Crow at #12 overall. He was ranked #7 by both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. I've never been a huge Aaron Crow guy--so I'm a little lukewarm on this pick. I had him ranked #8--so I don't think he's a dud--I just had Green ranked a little higher. But a lot of fans really like it. He's got a very good fastball--with good velocity and excellent movement. His slider is supposed to be his best pitch--but hasn't been quite as good in his limited time in the Independent League. He made up for that showing a vastly improved changeup. The changeup is good to hear about because without that he might be destined for the bullpen. There have been some concerns about Crow's mechanics--the "inverted W" delivery that may or may not have lead to some pitchers getting injured. Crow grew up in Kansas and was/is a big Royals fan.
There were rumors all day that the Royals were going to take Will Myers at #12 and, thankfully, we didn't. There were better players on the board. We did take him at #91--which is a much better place for him. Myers was ranked #31 by BA and #34 by BP. He has been rising up draft boards in recent weeks. He had a workout for the Royals recently and made a very favorable impression. He's a great athlete--with a very good bat, good power, good speed, and a good arm. He's new to catching and opinions are split as to whether he will stay behind the plate but I read that at least one scout thought he could move to CF if C didn't work out.
I'm going to speculate a little bit. Crow is projected top 10--many times Top 5 until the past couple of days when teams are getting scared off by his bonus demands and he drops to us. Will Myers was considered a mid-late 1st round pick but teams backed off in the past couple of days because he was said to want "Top 10" money. Both of those situations sound a little like Tim Melville to me. Teams backed off Melville because they percieved that he wanted a ton of money. In reality, he signed for a healthy bonus with the Royals because there was a good relationship there and we were one of, if not the only, team he wanted to sign with. I wonder if Crow and Myers started throwing out big bonus amounts to scare off other teams because the Royals had worked things out with them and they had a comfort level with the Royals. Crow will probably get $3.5-4 million and Myers close to $2. Just a theory but I think the Royals may be on to a good way to wrap up some talent. I think Crow will sign relatively quickly and go to either Burlington or WIlmington. I think Myers will agree to a contract that will not be announced until closer to the deadline (like Melville and other way above slot later picks) to avoid the full ire of raging Bud.
We shall see what tomorrow holds: if the Royals have any other big signability picks. I think we'll grab some more "up the middle" players and our normal bevy of young pitchers.