{"id":680333,"date":"2026-04-21T12:45:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T12:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/680333\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T12:45:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T12:45:58","slug":"royals-finally-release-all-time-depressing-mlb-draft-bust-after-confounding-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/680333\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals finally release all-time depressing MLB Draft bust after confounding career"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Kansas City Royals have had their fair share of first-round draft wins over the years, with Bobby Witt Jr. back in 2019, the mid-to-late 2000s trio of Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas and Zack Greinke back in 2002. However, they’ve had their fair share of misses in between their hits. One of the most notable busts in franchise history<\/a> came just a year after they found their franchise cornerstone in Witt. <\/p>\n

That was when they selected Asa Lacy with the fourth overall pick, but unfortunately for him and the Royals, draft night appeared to be the height of their union. Between injuries and sheer underperformance, Lacy never latched on with the Royals. This made their decision to release him on Monday<\/a> one that was all but written on the wall.<\/p>\n

The former Top 30 prospect in baseball back in 2021 hadn’t appeared in an affiliated game with the Royals since his Double-A stint back in 2022. This was due to a plethora of injuries<\/a>. It started with shoulder surgery back in 2021, then a pair of back injuries in 2022 and ’23 before undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2023 as well as 2025.<\/p>\n

And on the field it was underwhelming to say the least, as alluded to earlier. Apart from some impressive strikeout abilities Lacy’s lack of control left him falling short in essentially every other statistical category in his time in the top four minor league levels.<\/p>\n

Level<\/p>\n

ERA<\/p>\n

FIP<\/p>\n

WHIP<\/p>\n

K\/9<\/p>\n

BB\/9<\/p>\n

High-A (2021)<\/p>\n

5.19<\/p>\n

4.81<\/p>\n

1.58<\/p>\n

13.67<\/p>\n

7.10<\/p>\n

Double-A (2022)<\/p>\n

11.25<\/p>\n

7.96<\/p>\n

1.85<\/p>\n

11.25<\/p>\n

12.60<\/p>\n

Royals director of player development Mitch Maier told Anne Rogers of MLB.com that this decision was “difficult” and one that was made for the benefit of both Lacy and the organization.<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s extremely talented, and that\u2019s been our goal from Day 1, is to get him to realize that potential and that talent, which warranted the selection in the Draft where he went,” Maier said.<\/p>\n

“Our medical team was outstanding, working with Asa and his representation to make sure that no stone was unturned as we went through this process of trying to get him healthy,” he said. “Asa worked extremely hard through the process, even when it was frustrating to not see the results.”<\/p>\n

Royals’ first-round draft luck hasn’t really improved since Lacy in 2020<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for the Royals, it’s not as if the hits really came all of a sudden after Lacy. While recent picks like Blake Mitchell in 2023 and the duo of Sean Gamble and Josh Hammond in 2025 are still a bit early to make final evaluations on quite yet, there’s certainly been misses.<\/p>\n

Their first opening round selection after Lacy was Frank Mozzicato, who’s never been able to be a consistently high-performing prospect in his now five seasons in the minors. Apart from his Futures Game-worthy 1.24 ERA in High-A to start 2025, Mozzicato has struggled with his control, such as immediately following up that strong ’25 start with a 7.46 ERA in Double-A in the second-half with 8.42 BB\/9.<\/p>\n

The following year it was Gavin Cross whom the Royals also took in the Top 10. While he managed to carry some late season Double-A momentum in 2025 into his first taste of Triple-A action in 2026, the fact it took him this long to make it to Omaha is concerning. And so far, he’s looked overmatched with a .328 OPS and -10 wRC+ in 17 games with the Storm Chasers.<\/p>\n

Luckily for Kansas City, 2024 first-round pick, Jac Caglianone motored through the minors and is occupying a regular role with Kansas City in the big leagues. However, a poor rookie season in 2025 plagued by injuries followed by some mixed results to start 2026 means there’s some reason to worry that perhaps Caglianone might not live up to his immense draft day potential<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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