The Royals have made their draft picks, and news of their signings and their bonuses have begun to trickle in. Each of the picks in the first ten rounds is assigned a slot value that the Royals can sign a player above or below that number. After that round, each pick has a slot value of $150,000 where anything above that must come out of the bonus pool, but there are no savings if you sign someone below that number.
The Royals have a bonus pool of $12,749,700 to spend on their picks. If a team exceeds their total bonus pool, they must pay taxes on the overage. A team that exceeds their bonus pool by 0-5 percent will pay a 75 percent tax on the overage. If a team exceeds their pool by more than 5 percent, they will lose a future first-round pick. If they exceed by more than 10 percent, they will lose a second-round pick as well, plus pay a 100 percent tax on the overage. If a team exceeds their pool by 15 percent, they will lose two first-round picks, plus pay the 100 percent tax on the overage. Last year the Royals exceeded their bonus pool, but not by 5 percent.
The Royals have also signed some undrafted free agents:
OF Hunter Ensley is a fifth-year senior at Tennessee who hit .336/.418/.531 with 10 HR and seven steals in 64 games this year. He has above-average defense and was a College World Series hero for the Vols in 2024 with a tremendous running catch and epic slide to avoid a tag at home.
LHP Cory Ronan pitched at Hawaii this year, where he had a 4.81 ERA with 39 strikeouts and 28 walks in 33 2⁄3 innings with just 21 hits allowed. The redshirt junior originally hails from central Illinois.
LHP Ryan Ure was drafted by the Rangers out of high school and by the Giants in 2024, but went undrafted after a 6.20 ERA at Oklahoma State this year. Standing at 6’7’’, the lefty throws in the mid-90s with spotty control, but he struck out 31 with 9 walks in 24 2⁄3 innings and profiles as a reliever.
We will continually update this signing tracker to reflect which Royals picks have signed and for how much.
Royals 2025 draft class
Round
Overall
Player
School
Bonus
Slot
Difference
Round
Overall
Player
School
Bonus
Slot
Difference
1
23
OF Sean Gamble
IMG Academy (FL)
$3,852,100
1a
28
SS Josh Hammond
Wesleyan Christian Academy (NC)
$3,282,200
2
61
P Michael Lombardi
Tulane University
$1,486,700
2a
71
P Justin Lamkin
Texas A&M University
$1,163,700
3
97
P Cameron Millar
Alhambra HS (CA)
$788,500
4
128
OF Nolan Sailors
Creighton University
$147,500
$582,900
-$435,400
5
158
P Aiden Jimenez
University of Arkansas
$434,400
6
188
SS Tyriq Kemp
Baylor University
$147,500
$336,100
-$188,600
7
218
P Bryson Dudley
Texas State University
$263,500
8
248
C Brooks Bryan
Troy University
$217,700
9
278
P Shane Van Dam
North Carolina State Universiy
$198,600
10
308
P Max Martin
University of California-Irvine
$188,300
$295,000
$12,794,700
-$624,000
11
317
P Hunter Alberini
University of Arizona
$150,000
12
347
P Matthew Hoskins
University of Georgia
$150,000
13
377
SS Tyson Moran
F.E. Madill Secondary School (ON)
$150,000
14
407
1B JC Vanek
Chipola College
$150,000
15
437
SS Connor Rasmussen
Tulane University
$150,000
16
467
P Randy Ramnarace
University of New Haven
$150,000
17
497
OF Luke Nowak
University of Illinois-Chicago
$150,000
18
527
P Grayson Boles
St. Augustine HS (CA)
$150,000
19
557
P Dylan Wood
Franklin HS (CA)
$150,000
20
587
P Kamden Edge
Northern Oklahoma Junior College
$150,000
Total spent
Additional five percent overage
$639,735
Total bonus pool without penalty
$13,434,435