MINNEAPOLIS -- The Royals completed the final 30 rounds of the First-Year Player Draft on Wednesday evening, using just three picks on high school players -- two from Missouri.
In the 15th round, Kansas City picked Marquise Doherty from nearby Winnetonka High School. Doherty signed with Missouri to play both football and baseball for the Tigers, and persuading him otherwise would likely be tough to do after picking him with the 459th pick.
Royals scouting director Lonnie Goldberg said the team understood Doherty's situation and hoped the pick would pay dividends down the road.
"Just wanted to make sure we were able to select him and continue to build that relationship," Goldberg said. "We'll just continue to build a relationship and see what happens."
Goldberg said the team would check him out again in three years -- when collegiate players become eligible for the draft -- if it does not work out this year. According to Rivals, Doherty was a four-star running back, ranked No. 31 in the nation at his position. In baseball, he is an outfielder.
Kansas City also picked Jacob Ruder out of Nixa High School near Springfield. The Royals took the right-handed pitcher in the 37th round.
And they used their final pick on catcher Ford Proctor of Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School in Texas.
But that was it for high school players on Day 3 of the draft. Overall, the Royals selected 34 college players and just seven high school players, including their first two selections of the draft -- right-handed pitchers Ashe Russell and Nolan Watson.
Goldberg said the high volume of college players was not uncommon around the majors, but that the Royals' lower position this year impacted the decisions as well. When teams pick lower in the draft, the bonus pools shrink, limiting what the team can offer players to sign, particularly high school selections who have much of the negotiating leverage.
"You got to be deep in the colleges," Goldberg said. "You got to be strong there."
Kansas City chose 20 pitchers, four catchers, eight infielders and nine outfielders. The Royals' first three picks were all pitchers, and they didn't select an infielder until the seventh round. The club didn't pick a catcher until the 14th round.
"Right off the get-go, just looking at how Day 1 went, we attacked power arms," Goldberg said.
Goldberg said the team did not anticipate any difficulty signing its top picks, the Royals "not fearful that anything won't go like it's expected to." He expected the process to take the next week or 10 days.
Here is a full listing of 2015 Royals draft picks:
Round (overall pick). Name, Position, School
1 (21). Ashe Russell, RHP, Cathedral HS (Ind.)
1 (33). Nolan Watson, RHP, Lawrence North HS (Ind.)
2 (64). Josh Staumont, RHP, Azusa Pacific University
3 (98). Anderson Miller, OF, Western Kentucky
4 (129). Garrett Davila, LHP, South Point HS (N.C.)
5 (159). Roman Collins, OF, Florida Atlantic
6 (189). Cody Jones, OF, TCU
7 (219). Gabriel Cancel, SS, Padre Anibal Reyes Belen HS (Puerto Rico)
8 (249). Andre Davis, LHP, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
9 (279). Joey Markus, LHP, Indian River State College
10 (309). Alex Luna, RHP, UAB
11 (339). Ben Johnson, OF, Texas
12 (369). Daniel Concepcion, RHP, VCU
13 (399). Travis Maezes, SS, Michigan
14 (429). Nicholas Dini, C, Wagner
15 (459). Marquise Doherty, OF, Winnetonka HS (Mo.)
16 (489). Matt Ditman, RHP, Rice
17 (519). Matt Portland, LHP, Northwestern
18 (549). Brian Bayliss, RHP, Saint Joseph's College
19 (579). Emmanuel Rivera, SS, Universidad Interamericana (Puerto Rico)
20 (609). Junior Harding, RHP, Chipola College
21 (639). Austin Bailey, SS, San Diego
22 (669). Stephen Milligan, LHP, Delta State
23 (699). Colton Frabasilio, OF, St. Louis
24 (729). Jonathan McCray, 2B, San Bernardino Valley College
25 (759). Tyler Carvalho, RHP, Mesa Community College
26 (789). Alex Close, C, Liberty
27 (819). Jacob Bodner, RHP, Xavier
28 (849). Reed Hayes, RHP, Walters State
29 (879). Mark McCoy, LHP, Rutgers
30 (909). Luke Willis, OF, George Mason
31 (939). Brian Bien, SS, Bowling Green
32 (969). Jake Kalish, LHP, George Mason
33 (999). Nathan Esposito, C, Corcordia
34 (1,029). Taylor Ostrich, 1B, Old Dominion
35 (1,059). Trey Stover, SS, Hartford
36 (1,089). Tanner Stanley, OF, Richmond
37 (1,119). Jacob Ruder, RHP, Nixa HS (Mo.)
38 (1,149). Dylan Horne, LHP, Walters State Community College
39 (1,179). Billy Endris, OF, Florida Atlantic
40 (1,209). Ford Proctor, C, Monsignor Kelly Catholic HS (Texas)
You can follow Matthew DeFranks on Twitter at @MDeFranks or email him at matthew.defranks@gmail.com.
