Zion

Rose

Rose receives a $5.81 million signing bonus, which is well under-slot relative to the $7.74 million slot value for the sixth-overall pick. The 21-year-old was one of the biggest surprises of the first round when Kansas City made him a top-10 pick, but he’s the type of polished collegiate hitter whose well-rounded skill set lacks any glaring weaknesses. Unless the Royals overhaul his swing to add a few degrees of launch angle, his fantasy ceiling appears somewhat limited. There’s plenty of raw power upside here, which makes Rose a name to watch during the early stages of his professional career.

The first real surprise of the draft, with most believing Rose would go somewhere in the latter portion of the first round. That’s not to say that there aren’t things to like here, of course. Rose has plus power in his right-handed bat, and there’s enough power in his swing to suggest 25-to-30 homer seasons are a realistic number. He isn’t a great defender and likely will need to play left field, but the Royals will likely give him a chance to play center until it’s proven he can’t. There isn’t likely much development left for Rose, and he could be a fast-track player for Kansas City who reaches the bigs by the end of 2028 — possibly sooner if everything goes right.