Adcock Could Be First Marauder in Bigs
---
When I first got the phone call my agent was at the Winter Meetings and texts me and says "you're a Royal."
I tossed and turned all night and you're excited and hopefully something's going to happen. In my head I'm thinking they're going to take a High-A kid and give him the chance? I knew in my mind that I could do it just in terms of my self-confidence, but you've got to try to think realistic. When they called me I just jumped up for joy and was excited and of course I was at Pirate City which made it kind of awkward. But it's a business just like [Pirates Director of Player Development] Kyle [Stark] called me and told me what happened, that I'd been Rule V'd by the Royals. He said congratulations and things like that and it was a tough decision not to put me on the 40-man roster. He said it was a business decision, "you know we want to keep you and we hope to have you back," and things like that. It was kind of sad leaving all your friends that you've made with Pirates for the past year and the organization that I came over to and fell in love with, but it was a bittersweet moment.
I wanted to stick with the Pirates and do whatever I can to help their club out. But you know when I didn't get the call [to be protected on the 40-Man roster] I'm thinking in my best interests and looking with my agent at all the possibilities of what could happen and what teams could possibly be interested...Then you wait for the next day and see whether you're going to get taken or not. It's another step in my career and it was exciting. It was a pretty neat experience.
As soon as I got Rule V'd my dad was on the computer looking at stuff and trying to see what was going on and he called me all excited congratulating me. Then the rest of your family hears about it - my mom, my brother my sister, grandparents. Then being at Pirate City, Hunter Strickland, Kyle McPherson and Michael Crotta were doing the strength camp and everybody was happy for me and congratulating me and wished me the best of luck. That meant a whole lot to me being there and seeing these guys and still wishing me the best of luck even though I was a Royal sitting there in their clubhouse.
People back home came up and congratulated me and wishing me the best. In the community around here, being the only guy that's gotten drafted in a while, they were happy for me - trying to get this town some exposure.
When the Royals called they said they were happy to have me as part of their organization. They welcomed me in and everybody was very nice about it. They're excited to have me and what they're trying to do with the big league club is win the AL Central and compete in their division and hopefully I can go there and help them do that. But nothing's going to be given to me and I'm going to have to work for it at Spring Training. There are a lot of young guys, "a lot of young youth," they say over there. There's a lot of good talent which is going to make everybody push each other even harder which is going to make a lot of competition and a lot of fun.
It blows my mind how something like that can change in one night. Somebody calls your name in a draft and says "okay we're going to Rule V Nathan Adcock to the Kansas City Royals." It's amazing how your career can switch just like that.
Kyle [Stark] and [Pirates General Manager] Neal [Huntington] told me that it's a business and things like this happen. They can happen for the good and happen for the bad. It's amazing how things change. I went from down in the dumps about not getting put on the 40-Man, kind of bitter about it, to oh my God. Instead of being on the 40-Man roster in Double-A, I can be in the big leagues. My whole career just changes.
As for right now, I work here in Elizabethtown [Kentucky] at Players Dugout, a baseball facility I've always worked at since I was a young kid. I give lessons here to young kids. I throw here. I work out here. We have a fitness center across the street. Basically I'm just trying to stay busy and getting ready for big league camp. I go out February 6th and I'm not used to going out that early so as soon as I got Rule V'd I kind of had to step it up.