Royals Sign Chris Dwyer

Kansas City announced that they have signed their fourth-round pick, Chris Dwyer. The bonus is believed to be around $1.5 million, which is well over the suggested slot. The Royals have been more than willing to go over slot under Dayton Moore, so it is not terribly surprising.

However, sometimes a team will pick a batch of players with signability issues, and hope to get one of them. The Royals also selected Aaron Crow, who was the highest pick not to sign last year. As mentioned before, Kansas City has gone over slot several times in the past, so signing both Dwyer and Crow is not out of the question. Still, it is possible that coming to terms with Dwyer on a near-record deal for a fourth-rounder is an indication that the team is not hopeful it will ink Crow.

I'll really question what Aaron Crow is looking for if he does not sign with the Royals. He should have signed with the Nationals last year, but he lucked out and didn't fall a ton. Even more fortunately, he got picked by the Royals, a team that could use him in the majors ASAP, and that is willing to go well above slot value to get draftees signed. I'm not sure I'd even consider Crow in the 2010 draft if he is available, considering the opportunities he is passing up.

UPDATE/CLARIFICATION (5:58 PM PDT) - Aaron Crow doesn't need to sign by tonight because of his age. Same goes for Scheppers. However, the point I made still stands. KC can only have so much money to spend on draft picks, and I still wonder if they are a little concerned if they can sign Crow. There just isn't the urgency to get a deal done tonight though.