Royals Predicted To Land 'Slick Defender' As Possible Bobby Witt Jr. Replacement

The Kansas City Royals have an intriguing long-term strategy decision in the coming years.

Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., the face of the Royals' franchise, is signed to the largest contract in franchise history. But as they build through the draft over the next few years, Kansas City has to determine how long they think their window of contention is with Witt.

Quite obviously, the Royals never want Witt to leave Kansas City. But he's got a four-year, $140 million player opt-out from 2031-34. He'll be entering his age-31 season at the time and by then, it's quite possible he'll be severely underpaid.

So should the Royals try to draft college players that can help them win sooner, or high schoolers to help infuse the next wave of talent after Witt's big decision? One baseball writer sees them going the latter route in July.

Carlos Collazo of Baseball America predicted Monday that the Royals would select Georgia high school shortstop Daniel Pierce with the 23rd overall pick in July's amateur draft.

"If Pierce slips past 20, the Royals are in a position to capitalize with more bonus pool money than anyone picking after the (Milwaukee) Brewers," Collazo wrote.

"After a run of model-heavy clubs, the Royals start a run of teams associated with high upside, athletic high school players. It sounds like the Royals have been scouting the slick defender heavily this spring. He shouldn’t last too much longer than this."

Drafting a high school shortstop like Pierce would be a good failsafe in case Witt does hit the road. At that point, Pierce will be 23, likely already with a little major league service time under his belt at another infield position, and ready to make the switch to shortstop if necessary.

With 20 rounds in each draft, the Royals can obviously still find quality college players this summer as well. But every first-rounder is under pressure to pan out, and going with a high-schooler could be questionable if the Royals think their window is somewhat short.

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