It was just a matter of when, not if. We all knew the Chicago White Sox would select Ozney Guillen, the youngest son of Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, but while I was expecting his name to be called in a single digit round, it didn’t happen until quite a while later, which caused a fair amount of conflict.
The White Sox have been known to draft, and often overdraft, the sons (and daughter in the case of Ron Schueler) of their employees. Several of Kenny Williams’ sons have been drafted by the Sox, including Kenny Williams, Jr. who was selected in the 6th round in 2008 and Kyle Williams, who was drafted in 2006. Another of Ozzie’s kids, Oney, was also drafted by the Sox in 2007 (36th round).
There was some buzz around Ozney Guillen in 2008, and at that point it looked like he could become a legit high round draft prospect here in 2010. It didn’t work out that way though and Ozney is viewed as more of a fringe prospect, with average at best tools across the board, except from his raw power, which is viewed as above average. He’s a decent defender in the outfield and has good athleticism.
Ozzie gave his own “scouting report” on Ozney in the days leading up to the draft:
He’s a baseball player,” Ozzie said. “You have to see him everyday to like him. Some scouts think he’s kind of slow, but he averages 23-25 stolen bases in a very good and competitive high school league [in Florida]. I want him to be signed by his talent. Please don’t sign him as a favor.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
The pick itself is not all that interesting, but the post draft conflict that occurred between the Guillen’s and the Sox organization certainly was interesting. Ozzie was quoted as saying “It’s not an easy day for the family,” and when asked if Ozney would sign he replied “Nah, 22nd round? I give my kid 50 grand just to go to school. I got 50 grand in my pocket to send my kid to go to Niketown. Or buy something.” Oney Guillen also seemed most unimpressed by his brother’s free fall Tweeting “Ozneys better right now then the last 2 years the 6 round pics that sox had. Yeap as a HS. The other just sucked”. Clearly he’s taking a shot at the Sox’ selection of KW, Jr. here. Oney later went on to suggest collusion from the Sox by adding “And u told people to stay awya from him. U would.” with the inference being that the Sox persuaded other teams not to draft Ozney.
Despite what Ozzie seemed to think, Ozney was viewed as a later round draft prospect, someone who should be selected in the 17-24 round range. Ozzie’s comments make it clear that Ozney is not going to sign. He has a full scholarship to South Florida and he could develop into a decent prospect there if he can tap into his power potential, but I wouldn’t expect him to be more than a late single digit round pick in 2013 as a prospect with 4th outfielder potential.