A look back at the Royals’ 2019 draft class, five years later

Flags fly forever, but the post-championship hangover hit the Royals hard in 2018. Once the core of the championship team departed, what was left were over-the-hill veterans and not-ready-for-prime-time players. The 2018 Royals were dreadful, losing 104 games, but their reward for enduring that misery was getting the second overall pick in the 2019 draft.

A year after going heavy on college pitchers in the 2018 draft, the Royals had a chance to grab a real impact player. As our Shaun Newkirk wrote leading up to the draft, it was their chance to grab a star.

People said last year, probably myself included, that the 2018 draft was maybe the most important draft for the Royals, and while that…