The Kansas City Royals have agreed to contract terms with all six of the players selected in the MLB Draft earlier this month, including 4th overall selection, Texas A&M southpaw Asa Lacy, and 32nd overall pick, Baylor shortstop Nick Loftin. In addition to signing the picks, Kansas City announced agreements with seven undrafted free agents, all from the collegiate ranks.
In addition to Lacy and Loftin, the Royals inked right-hander Ben Hernandez (De La Salle, IL), outfielder Tyler Gentry (Alabama), left-hander Christian Chamberlain (Oregon State), and right-hander Will Klein (Eastern Illinois).
Among the undrafted players agreeing to contracts with the Royals are left-handed pitcher A.J. Block of Washington State University. He was 2-0 with a 3.25 ERA and 34 strikeouts for the Cougars in four starts this season.
Twenty-two year old outfielder Tucker Bradley of the University of Georgia has signed. He was batting .397 for the Bulldogs this season, with six homers and 23 RBI’s in 18 games.
Adding to the organization’s depth at catcher, the Royals signed Arkansas-Little Rock’s Kale Emshoff, who was hitting .417 with seven homers in 17 games when the COVID-19 pandemic ended the spring season at UALR. A second catcher signed was LSU’s Saul Garza, who had three homers in 14 games this season. Prior to attending LSU, Garza, a 32nd round pick by the Royals in the 2019 draft, began his collegiate career at the JUCO ranks, with Howard College, earning Division 1 All-Region status.
Also signing with Kansas City are Texas Tech right-hander John McMillon, University of Michigan infielder Matt Schmidt, and University of Tennessee right-hander Chase Wallace.
McMillon pitched out of the Red Raider bullpen in his junior and senior seasons, including 9 1/3 innings of work this spring, striking out 20 batters.
Schmidt played in a total of 46 games in his career with the Wolverines, having spent time at Cypress College in California and the University of Texas prior to arriving in Ann Arbor. Matt is the son of Colorado Rockies scouting director Bill Schmidt.
Wallace was 1-1 with a 3.50 ERA in four starts with the Volunteers in 2020, having missed most of 2019 due to injury.