Nick Hostetler spent four years as the Director of Amateur Scouting for the Chicago White Sox and the club spent just under $45 million in those drafts from 2016-2019. A group of 11 players from those drafts have spent major league time with the franchise (Zack Collins, Zack Burdi, Jimmy Lambert, Bernardo Flores Jr., Ian Hamilton, Matt Foster, Luis Gonzalez, Nick Madrigal, Jonathan Stiever, Codi Heuer and Andrew Vaughn). Current scouting director Mike Shirley was very influential during Hostetler’s final season at the helm and there was a noticeable change in strategy during that year.
Vaughn signed for $7,221,200 as a college slugger as the No. 3 overall pick. Rumors swirled up until draft day that Georgia prep shortstop C.J. Abrams would be the selection, but, in typical White Sox fashion under the ownership of Jerry Reinsdorf, a college player was the choice. The rest of the draft lined up atypically however. The organization drafted and signed eight prep players, including righties Matthew Thompson and Andrew Dalquist. Local product D.J. Gladney and Missouri prep Chase Krogman were given significant bonuses on Day 3 in a similar fashion to the Bryce Bush addition the year prior.
The trend continued in 2020 under the stewardship of Shirley as a first-year scouting director. With only five rounds, the White Sox were afforded the right to spend $7,764,800 on the draft class. Upside was the play as the organization decided to spend $7,547,500 on their first two picks. Garrett Crochet went No. 11 overall as a college lefty out of Tennessee requiring the full slot value of $4,547,500. The franchise also successfully pushed top 20 draft prospect and prep right-hander Jared Kelley into the second round by guaranteeing him a bonus of $3 million.
Upside and premium traits seem to be the modus operandi under Shirley. He’ll have 20 rounds to work with this time around. Earlier this month, Major League Baseball officially announced the draft and international pools for the 2021 season. The 2021 draft will take place on July 11-13 as part of the league’s All-Star Weekend in Denver. This is the latest the amateur draft has ever been held and it’s likely to remain in July moving forward.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have the first selection and will have a league-high total bonus pool of $14,394,000. The White Sox have just $6,618,600 to spend on their draft class. The rest of the AL Central all have significantly more draft capital to work with: Cleveland Indians ($7,398,800), Minnesota Twins ($8,101,400), Kansas City Royals ($10,917,700) and Detroit Tigers ($14,253,800). Small market clubs get extra perks in the draft and on the international market. It’s the biggest reason why the White Sox must spend more money than these clubs do to compete annually in the American League.
Adding premium talent to the organization will be imperative for the White Sox to prolong their contention window. The Los Angeles Dodgers are the gold standard in regards to scouting and development but the money plays a significant role as well. If the scouting and development staff in Chicago can identify talent and develop traits into baseball skill on a consistent basis, the decade should be enjoyable on Chicago’s South Side.
The draft bonus pools encompass the first ten rounds of the draft. In rounds 11-20, players who sign for more than $125,000 will have their overage count against the draft pool. Undrafted free agents will receive no more than $20,000 in addition to team gear and further educational expenses.
At FutureSox, we’ve published Mock Draft 1.0 and Mock Draft 2.0. The third iteration will come in mid May. Picking at No. 22 overall, I selected Wake Forest right-hander Ryan Cusick for the White Sox in the first attempt and went with Georgia prep athlete Harry Ford in the second version.
The White Sox have less money to work with than they’ve had in previous years. It’ll be interesting to see which strategy they employ. The college pitching class is stellar and there are a plethora of high school bats available as well. Those seem like the most logical choices for the club at this stage. The area scouts have done an incredible job of unearthing some gems on the draft’s third day of late. That success must continue for the White Sox to maximize their efforts without an upper echelon payroll.
Top Ten Rounds for the Chicago White Sox
- Round 1: #22 ($3,627,000)
- Round 2: #57 ($1,243,600)
- Round 3: #94 ($618,000)
- Round 4: #124 ($460,000)
- Round 5: #155 ($340,000)
- Round 6: #185 ($261,600)
- Round 7: #215 ($204,800)
- Round 8: #245 ($167,800)
- Round 9: #275 ($152,000)
- Round 10: #305 ($143,600)
The international signing period is a much different situation than the annual amateur draft. Instead of mostly neat and tidy, the international period has the feel of the Wild West. July 2 is an institution and was a day to celebrated by baseball fans and prospect followers. It was the day on the calendar in which teenagers in the Dominican and Venezuela would officially sign contracts with big league clubs. The sheer euphoria in the photos taken by family members always signified a dream that was on the verge of coming true. January 15 just doesn’t have the same appeal.
The White Sox’s international efforts are led by Special Assistant Marco Paddy and the organization is excited about their most recent signing class. Cuban outfielder Yoelqui Cespedes and pitcher Norge Vera are both highly regarded and the prizes of the period for the Sox. Ben Badler wrote about the rest of the club’s international signing class for Baseball America recently as well. The current signing period began on January 15, 2021, and runs into December. As a large market club, Paddy and his staff were given the ability to spend just under $5.4 million on players. They spent the entire allotment. The scouting department has another big fish on the hook for next year as well.
On the most recent big board put together by Badler at Baseball America, it’s confirmed that the White Sox are expected to land Cuban slugger Oscar Colas in the signing period that begins next January. With an expected bonus of $2.7 million, the 22-year-old will occupy half of the club’s pool space. The White Sox aren’t linked to any other prospects as of now for next year’s period. Chicago’s American League club will have $5,179,700 to spend next January. Small market clubs receiving Competitive Balance B selections in July’s amateur draft can spend $6,262,600 internationally while clubs receiving Competitive Balance A round choices will be able to spend $5,721,200.
In addition to Colas, there are some younger prospects expected to receive significant bonuses from other clubs next January. Cuban outfielder Christian Vaquero, 16, is regarded as the top player in the class. He’s expected to receive in excess of $4 million from the Washington Nationals. Dominican shortstop Roderick Arias will land with the New York Yankees for the same amount. The Cincinnati Reds will ink shortstop Ricardo Cabrera out of Venezuela. Dyan Jorge, another young and dynamic Cuban player, will land with the Colorado Rockies for more than $3 million. The top pitcher in the class is righty Jarlin Susana. The hard-thrower from the Dominican is expected to sign with the San Diego Padres.
The White Sox are championship contenders at the big league level and that’s the ultimate goal in regards to player development. 2021 will be a significant year for Chris Getz and the minor league staff members who will be getting back to the grind. It will be imperative for the organization to develop players going forward without the ability to spend heavily on the draft. The resources provided must be utilized and maximized but the most important aspect of scouting is finding the right players. This year will be Step 1 in the post-rebuild development process and all involved have to hit the ground running.
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