FanPost

The Royals' 20/20 Hindsight 1st Round Draft Roster

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports



To celebrate the closing of the 2018 MLB Amateur Draft and the impending ascension of Nolan Gorman (selected 19th overall by the Cardinal immediately after the Royals' pick at 18) as a perennial All-Star and homerun champion, I took a look back at recent past drafts to look at who the Royals should have selected in the first round, based on current MLB production (as measured in fWAR, as of 6/7/18). I limited this hindsight to fellow first rounders, as those fellow first-rounders in theory should have been looked at and considered by the Royals before passing, and of course, to players picked after the Royals. I won't fault the Royals for not picking a player that was not on the board. To avoid judging on the most recent classes where there are still a lot of guys still putting in time in the minors, I start with the 2013 draft:

2013

Royals Selection: Hunter Dozier (0.0)

Shoulda Picked: Aaron Judge (10.9)

Honorable mentions: Tim Anderson (3.4), Austin Meadows (0.9)

2012

Royals Selection: Kyle Zimmer (NA)

Shoulda Picked: Corey Seager (14.9)

Honorable mentions: Michael Wacha (12.0), Marcus Stroman (10.7), Lance McCullers, Jr. (9.1), Joey Gallo (3.9)

2011

Royals Selection: Bubba Starling (NA)

Shoulda Picked: Francisco Lindor (19.0)

Honorable mentions: George Springer (17.2), Jackie Bradley Jr (9.6)

2010

Royals Selection: Christian Colon (0.6)

Shoulda Picked: Chris Sale (37.6)

Honorable mentions: Christian Yelich (19.5), Noah Syndergaard (12.8), Drew Pomeranz (9.0)

2009

Royals Selection: Aaron Crow (0.2)

Shoulda Picked: Mike Trout (60.1)

Honorable mentions: James Paxton (12.3), Garrett Richards (11.0)

2008

Royals Selection: Eric Hosmer (11.5)

Shoulda Picked: Buster Posey (38.0)

Honorable mentions: Lance Lynn(15.3), Eric Hosmer (11.5), Jason Castro (10.5)

2007

Royals Selection: Mike Moustakas (12.2)

Shoulda Picked: Josh Donaldson (35.6)

Honorable mentions: Madison Bumgarner (29.4), Jason Heyward (27.8), Rick Porcello (24.3), Todd Frazier (21.8)

2006

Royals Selection: Luke Hochevar (8.0)

Shoulda Picked: Clayton Kershaw (58.9)

Honorable mentions: Evan Longoria (48.4), Max Scherzer (47.5), Tim Lincecum (28.6)

So there you have it. Between 2006 and 2013, the Royals had the opportunity to pick up 275.0 fWAR in the first round of the draft. They ended up with 32.5 fWAR. Even in the years where the Royals ended up doing pretty good, they still well undershot the potential available (Hosmer v. Posey; Moose v. Donaldson, Hochevar v. Kershaw).

All this goes to show is that drafting is really hard. But it always stings a little bit to go back and realize that your had a very real opportunity to pick up a generational talent like Trout, Kershaw, or Posey. Who knows? Maybe 5-7 years from now, we'll all look back and say "How did 17 other MLB team pass on reigning Cy Young winner and obvious future HOFer Brady Singer?"

This FanPost was written by a member of the Royals Review community. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the editors and writers of this site.