The 2012 MLB Draft is almost upon us this coming week, and the Kansas City Royals have the No. 5 pick once again — the exact same position they were in a year ago at this time. The selection then was high-risk, high-reward high school phenom Bubba Starling. This time, the Royals are expected to take the opposite route and grab a safe, polished arm that could pay quicker dividends in the major league rotation.

Matt Garrioch of MinorLeagueBall.com has the Royals taking Kyle Zimmer with the No. 5 choice. Garrioch writes, “I think the Royals would prefer Gausman here but I think Zimmer is next on their board.”

The two competing arms are Kevin Gausman of LSU and Kyle Zimmer of San Francisco. Both players would project well to the majors and could land in KC as early as 2013 depending on how aggressively the Royals handled them.

Zimmer has 104 strikeouts in 88 innings this year for the Dons with a 2.56 ERA.

Check out Royals Review for more info on the upcoming draft as well as Minor League Ball.