Kansas City Royals: Every First Round Pick Since 2000

Every Royals first-round draft pick since 2000: Mike Montgomery (2008)

After the Royals landed Eric Hosmer early in the first round in 2008, they later picked up Mike Montgomery with the 36th overall pick. Montgomery never played for the Royals in the majors prior to being traded but looked good in his first three minor league seasons.

Montgomery was one of the pieces sent to Tampa Bay when the Royals traded for James Shields and Wade Davis, but he didn’t get an MLB call-up until the 2015 season when he was with the Mariners.

That season saw Montgomery struggle a bit, but he looked good the following year with a 2.34 ERA. He was then traded to the Cubs and helped them win their first World Series in 108 years. In that World Series, Montgomery had an ERA of 1.93 and got the save for the Cubs in Game 7 after a wild game.

While Montgomery didn’t really do anything for the Royals, he brought two key guys to Kansas City. He’d later go on to win his own World Series and played a key role in doing so.

As Royals fans, it kind of stung seeing Montgomery pitch as well as he did in the playoffs, but hey… Him being traded ended up paying huge dividends for this team, as Shields and Davis changed the culture of the Kansas City Royals.

Funny enough, Montgomery ended up with Kansas City when he was traded from the Cubs to the Royals. Montgomery didn’t do much during his return to the organization, but it was nice to have him back considering KC drafted him a decade prior.