‘Dream come true’: Jac Caglianone officially joins Kansas City Royals organization

Johanne Caglianone was overcome with a flood of memories.

As she prepared for a recent MLB Draft party for her son, Jac Caglianone, she was drawn to one of his many childhood art projects. In a small office crate, she noticed a poster filled with images of Jac’s childhood.

“It had all these pictures,” Johanne Caglianone said. “I have a sister that lives in Spain. (In school) they made him do like, ‘This is a picture of my house and my favorite vacation.’”

One more section really hit home for Johanne, who saw a depiction of what Jac wanted to be when he grew up.

“And it said ‘professional baseball player,’” Johanne recalled.

On Wednesday, Jac Caglianone officially signed with the Kansas City Royals. Last week, the Royals selected him sixth overall in the 2024 MLB Draft.

The 6-foot-5 Caglianon is a two-way player. He will play first base and get an opportunity to pursue a pitching career, too.

“It’s a dream that I had since I was little,” he said. “So doing that officially and being in such a great place, there is really no better feeling.”

The Royals are excited to add Caglianone to the fold. He starred for the Florida Gators and posted historic numbers there. He owns the school record for career home runs (75) with the Gators.

This past season, Caglianone hit .419 with 35 home runs, 72 RBIs and 58 walks in 66 games. He also matched an NCAA Division I record with a home run in nine consecutive games from April 6-19.

As a pitcher, Caglianone went 5-2 with a 4.76 ERA in 73 2/3 innings. The southpaw registered 83 strikeouts and touched 100 mph with his fastball.

“All the hard work to get to this point, it just felt like it all clicked,” he said of joining the Royals. “You know, there is no better place for me than this organization.”

As his mother recalled, Caglianone was young when he started visualizing the moment he would become a major-leaguer. He never had to ask his parents to go hit to the batting cage. He always prepared by watching former Tampa Bay Rays stars David Price and Evan Longoria on television.

Caglianone studied how they approached the game. Then, he applied what he’d learned to his daily routine.

“I think ever since I could grasp the concept of playing Major League Baseball was when I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do,” Caglianone said. “Just being out there (on the field) feels right and it feels that is where I belong.”

He carried that mentality to Florida. He maintains a close relationship with Royals starting pitcher Brady Singer and has trained with him. Now, they have a chance to be teammates as Caglianone matriculates through the Royals’ minor-league system.

The Royals will send Caglianone to Arizona on Thursday. He is expected to join the remainder of the Royals’ 2024 MLB Draft class at the club’s spring training facility in Surprise, Arizona.

So far, the Royals have signed 17 of their 20 selections.

“The priority right now is to let him go out and hit,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “He had a full season pitching this year. So I think that is the cognizant thing to do, to get him out hitting and taking the at-bats. Once we get into our fall programming, we will re-evaluate things and just see where he’s at and if it’s something we need to move forward with.”

Caglianone is excited to join the organization’s other draftees. He has already exchanged texts with several of them since receiving a special text message of his own on draft night: from Royals star Bobby Witt Jr.

“Bobby texted me less than 10 minutes after I got picked,” Caglianone said. “He seemed real excited and so the feeling is definitely mutual.”

The Royals had Caglianone high on their draft board. They like his physical and mental intangibles on and off the field.

“We went and met with the family,” Royals scouting director Brian Bridges said. “That’s the key right? The support system that they have and the ability.

“He has done a lot of good things. … So, that’s kind of the goal to get the best talent that we can, and we felt like Jac was the best anyway. I don’t know what else to tell you, but we love the kid.”

Caglianone demonstrated some of those intangible qualities after Wednesday’s news conference. He embraced Johanne, his dad Jeff, sister Samantha and girlfriend Elli McKissock. He thanked them for sacrifices that have enabled him to chase his dream and promised to make them proud.

He also had a touching message to his parents.

“All the sacrifices that they make, just to share it with both of them and having them here today means the world,” Caglianone said.

That moment made it all worth it for Johanne. She is proud to see her son take the next step in his journey.

“I can’t believe we are finally here,” she said. “You know, we have worked all this time for this and now it’s here.”