2012 Amateur Draft Complete!!
06/15/2012
While the press was all over the Number 1 pick of
Luke Thackery for the Washington Nationals, the Royals brass was celebrating their selections and considering their 2012 Draft a success.
With the 28th pick in the Draft the Royals selected
Benjamin "Golden" Fleury. The 22 year-old closer out of Canada will have the entire Royals Nation following his progress since the Royals have not had a bonafide closer in about three years.
"Being able to select Ben that late in the first round was awesome." said GM Torres. "We were 50/50 on him being there that late but it worked out in our favor. The guy is incredibly smart and a hard worker. But when you go to an Ivy League School what else do you expect."
The 6'6" 200lb closer will more than likely start out at AA and hopefully make it to the big leagues by the start of the 2014 season at the latest.
"I am elated to be selected by the Royals," Fleury said when reached on his cell phone. "Mr. Torres has certainly turned that franchise around and I can't wait to contribute to the team. But thankfully I can get some rest now because I now know where I am headed. It certainly has been a tough few days at my house."
Along with Fleury, rounding out the Royals top five selections in the draft are as follows:
18-year-old MR Kenny Byrd: Byrd comes to the Royals out of California. He has a huge arm and will more than likely be used as a setup man when he makes to the big leagues. He had scholarship offers to about every school on the West Coast but decided to take his game to the pro level.
23-year-old CF Ken Walker: A bit older for a third round draft pick but with the Royals lacking a true CF prospect near the ML level, he will get a lot of attention fast. On the upside he has tremendous speed so even if his bat does not come around, he will have an opportunity to make the club as a role player than can come off the bench and pinch run for the Royals.
22-year-old CL Jorge Martinez: A closer in college but will be moved to middle relief in the minors. With the draft being so arm heavy this year, Martinez slipped a bit because of his age and sometimes lack of focus when not pitching. Just think Matt Bush. He has tremendous size at 6'6" 215lb so the sky is the limit for this guy if he can just focus.
17-year-old 1B Ricardo Urbina: Of all the Royals picks, this pick earned the most boos from the fans. He had been demanding late first/early second round money as late as last night even when it was clear that he would not be taken that early. It even cost him a few rounds because of his outrageous money demand. Being only 17-years old, he is the typical me first player. All signs point to him not signing with the Royals but it was a chance pick late in the fifth round.
Overall the Royals drafted fourteen pitchers, three catchers, three outfielder and five infielders. The biggest surprise was the Royals not selecting one starting pitcher in the draft. There are few guys who might be able to start, but no one right out of the gate.
Torres explained it this way, "If you look at our organizational chart there was absolutely no depth for quality reliever prospects. We really needed to load up on them this year and if you look at our currect ML roster, we are doing just fine with our starting rotation. One year won't hurt that much."
Let's just hope that he is being truthful! Now on the ML level the Royals are currently at 42-20 after sweeping a two game series against the Cincinnati Reds. They are off tomorrow but then start at ten game road trip with stops in Atlanta, Florida and then Detroit for a four game set. Let's go Royals!!