The Kansas City Royals have agreed to terms with 2024 first-round pick, Jac Caglianone. The signing bonus has been reported at $7.5 million, just north of the $7.2 million slot value for the sixth overall selection. Next up for the slugging first baseman is a trip to Arizona. He’ll join the rest of the draft class in Surprise as they get to work with the organization’s development team before eventually joining a full-season affiliate. Caglianone should head to Arizona tomorrow, meaning he could make his way to an affiliate by mid-August.
In 2022, first-rounder Gavin Cross debuted in the Complex League to start the month of August before eventually making his Low-A debut on August 10. With changes this season to the Complex League Schedule — it ends on July 25 this season — we won’t see Caglianone get any work in there this season. No one knows yet where he will end up later this season (or if he will at all). There’s a chance he spends the rest of this season in instructs, but that seems highly unlikely for an advanced college bat like Cags. If post-draft media sessions were any indication, Caglianone probably won’t pitch professionally this season but still has a chance to work as a two-way player next season.
With 17 picks now official, the Royals turn their sites to one more selection
With Caglianone now signed, the Royals have reportedly agreed to $12,994,900 in signing bonuses for the class. The team’s 2024 draft pool sat at $13.02 million entering the draft. That leaves essentially nothing for the remaining three picks. RHP Kyle DeGroat has agreed to sign by most reports, but that is still in talks as he’s yet to agree to a signing bonus with Kansas City. Expect to see that number in the coming days, but it will likely end the signings for the Royals this class. Teams can spend up to 5% over their allotted draft pool. They’ll still have to pay tax on the overage, but the team did just that in last year’s draft. Anything north of 5% isn’t really commonplace, as teams lose future draft capital as well as owe extra taxes on any amount north of 5%.
By that math, it leaves the Royals with somewhere around $678,000 to spread between DeGroat, OF Corey Cousin, and LHP Dane Burns. For all three players, the first $150,000 is exempt from draft pool consideration, but it still seems unlikely that the front office will find the dollars they need to sign Cousin or Burns. The coming week should give some closure to the class, as the August 1st deadline to sign draft picks approaches.