MLB Draft starts Sunday. So what will Kansas City Royals be looking to do in Round 1?

The MLB Draft doesn’t officially start until Sunday night, but the Kansas City Royals started maneuvering more than a week before any team made a selection.

The Royals head into this year’s draft with one fewer pick than initially expected thanks to a trade, finalized on Monday, that had been more than a week in the making.

The Royals sent the 35th overall selection, a competitive-balance pick, to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for three players, including center fielder Drew Waters — a potential heir apparent at that position on their major-league roster.

The Royals will still pick ninth overall in the first round, which starts Sunday night at 6 p.m. Central Time. They also hold a second-round pick (49th overall) that they’ll make later that night. Rounds 3-10 will take place on Monday, while Rounds 11-20 follow on Tuesday.

“We’ll have to talk about strategy, it changes a little bit when you take $2.2 million — the number associated with that pick,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said of the impact the trade will have. “When you take that out of our hands, now how can you use what you have maybe a little bit differently? Do you play it straight up?

The Royals have stretched their money in recent years by first selecting a player they can sign for a lower price than the slot value of the pick. They’ve then used the savings there to spread more money around to other selections.

They did that with last year’s top selection, high school pitcher Frankie Mozzicato, saving money to spend on subsequent selections.

“Of course, so many things will happen between now and Sunday and the first eight picks,” Picollo said. “So we have an idea who we’re going to get number nine. But that’s where (VP of player personnel) Lonnie (Goldberg) and (scouting director) Danny (Ontiveros) have to strategize what they think is best, how do we use our money best. We’re not disadvantaged in the sense that we have other picks. That was an additional pick.”

The Royals enter this year’s three-day selection process with a draft pool of $9,466,200.

The club’s draft picks in recent years between Nos. 30-40 have included:

2020: Infielder/outfielder Nick Loftin, No. 32, ranked by Baseball America as No. 9 prospect in KC farm system.

2018: Right-handed pitcher Jackson Kowar, No. 33, currently with major-league club; left-handed pitcher Daniel Lynch, No. 34, currently with the major-league club; left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic; No. 40, currently with major-league club.

2015: Right-handed pitcher Nolan Watson, No. 33, with San Diego Padres Double-A affiliate

2014: Catcher Chase Vallot, No. 40, with Kentucky of the Atlantic League (Independent)

2013: Right-handed pitcher Sean Manea, No. 34, in the majors with the San Diego Padres.

McDaniel weighs in

ESPN’s MLB Insider and draft expert Kiley McDaniel, a former scout and front office-executive, understands the reasoning behind the Royals dealing away such a high pick so close to the draft.

“I can see where they’re thinking whoever we take with that pick is two or three years away and Drew Waters is maybe up tomorrow, maybe up later this year, whatever,” McDaniel said. “He’s a shorter-term answer and potentially a longer-term answer.”

McDaniel will work ESPN’s national telecast of the first round on Sunday night. Karl Ravech will host with analysts Eduardo Perez, Jessica Mendoza, Kyle Peterson, Chris Burke, Jeff Passan and McDaniel.

McDaniel said based on the rumors and various potential scenarios that he’s heard after the fifth or sixth pick, there’s a level of uncertainty surrounding who will still be on the board when the Royals select ninth. That uncertainty may have helped pave the way for the Waters deal.

“I think teams in that range have legitimately told me, ‘We don’t know who we are going to take, if it’s going to be over or under or whoever is going to get there,’” McDaniel said. “So you can’t feel great about your comp pick, and then you’re like, ‘Well, we’re hoping with the comp pick to get a guy that’ll make our team better in a year or two and Drew Waters is going to do that more likely than that pick will.’

“So if I’m trying inhabit Dayton Moore’s brain, I think that’s what they’re thinking is they’re not really sure what the first pick is giving them, so we could turn the second pick into a guy that we know will be a factor for us in the next year — so let’s go ahead and do that, especially since it’s not going to cost any money.”

As far as who the Royals may end up taking with that No. 9 pick, McDaniel sees a wide range of players as potential options.

“I think the top tier guys include Cam Collier, Brooks Lee, maybe Jacob Berry in that group,” McDaniel said. “I think Elijah Green might be the guy that finds his way down there. I think he fits their type. It then becomes an issue of, what’s the asking price once he gets below Elijah Green or he thinks he’s going to go? Is there a big number behind them? Do they want to cut and take a Justin Crawford? Do they want to take the first pitcher off the board, which they seem to be the first spot where that’s getting rumored.

“I think they’re considering, hey, let’s take Gavin Cross. If he gets here, we’ll take him. Let’s go over to get Elijah Green, keep from going lower. Let’s take a guy like Justin Crawford a couple picks ahead of where he’s going to go, save a little bit of money and keep playing down the board, or let’s just do something crazy and go way under.”

Robert Moore’s outlook

Local product Robert Moore, the former standout for Shawnee Mission East High School and son of the Royals president of baseball operations, is a potential first-day selection in the draft.

He graduated early from high school and enrolled early at the University of Arkansas. A 5-foot-9 switch-hitting middle infielder, he started for the Razorbacks in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

“So out of high school it was a guy with a lot of skills but not a ton of tools,” McDaniel said. “Then he gets to Arkansas as a freshman and is fantastic, better than anybody thought he would be, and looked like a late first-round pick, with the question being power.

“Then, this spring, while still younger than everybody else because he early enrolled, the contact came into question. The power has never really been a factor, and now it’s good-enough contact, or are you kind of buying low after an up-and-down season and then kind of speed and defense, which is not necessarily the profile you want to get out of college? So I get the impression starting in the 40s, 50s, people are kicking the tires. I think 60 to 80 he’s got a landing spot.”

MLB.com ranks Moore as the 108th-best prospect in this year’s draft, while Baseball America ranked him 98th.