White Sox-centered Mock Draft

By / / Draft Coverage

Evan White - photo courtesy of the University of Kentucky
Evan White – photo courtesy of the University of Kentucky

1.) Twins – LHP Brendan McKay, Louisville
Reportedly the Twins are between McKay and Royce Lewis as the hours dwindle down. The former is far more likely than that latter. It is safe to expect the Twins to go with perhaps the safest pick in the draft in McKay over the prep shortstop who probably won’t offer much in the way of savings as a Scott Boras client. They could go Hunter Greene in a shock or turn to Vanderbilt righty Kyle Wright who had been the popular pick for them until recent. In any case, it seems McKay has emerged as the best mix of potential, security and potential cost savings.


2.) Reds – RHP Hunter Greene, Notre Dame High School (California)
Their Scouting Director has no clear patterns in his history. That being said, they are considered a lock to Greene assuming Minnesota doesn’t take him first overall. There hasn’t been much of a scouting presence from the Reds with any of the top prospects in the last few weeks leading up to the draft. Their marriage to Greene is so strong there hasn’t been much chatter about other possibilities past the young right-hander. Consider this the pick you can actually feel safe about.
3.) Padres – LHP Mackenzie Gore, Whiteville High School (North Carolina)
They want Greene – it’s as simple as that. However, Greene would only get here in a shocker and this would be his stop point.
As long as Greene has been expected to go before the Padres, the Padres have been attached to Royce Lewis. Lewis has been a very popular pick for the Padres all throughout the draft season. Gore has taken off since the beginning of the year and has become one of the safer options for high school pitching in recent memory. It would shock no one to see the Padres take Lewis here as they have been all over his games. The Padres’ brass hasn’t even bothered sending area scouts to see Lewis play and sent out an array of higher ups for the high potential bat. In this scenario I go with Gore, but it’s only by a slight nod as Lewis could easily go #3.
4.) Rays – SS/OF Royce Lewis, JSerra High School (California)
The Rays, along with the Braves, have been the two teams in the top ten who have been rumored to throw a wrench in the draft by cutting a deal at #4. Bubba Thompson would represent the most surprising leap of faith according to Piliere’s report.
It’s pretty simple for the Rays – they have been awful in the first round for a decade now. Tim Beckham’s reemergence could provide them something on the diamond, but past him, the Rays haven’t had success with their first round pick since they selected slam-dunk, first overall pick David Price in 2007. They are not really a team that needs to get cute and if Lewis is available, they should nab a guy who some peg as a 1-1 type in this draft. With that in mind, the Rays sent out several front office types to see Lewis showcase last week. They have also gone high school with three of their last four first round picks and ten of their last fourteen first rounders.
Past Lewis, the contact-oriented high schooler Thompson could be the surprise under-slot selection and Kyle Wright would be a viable candidate as well. Prep outfielder and potential White Sox target Austin Beck could go here as well, though it would be the earliest he’d go off the board and pretty big surprise.


5.) Braves – RHP Kyle Wright, Vanderbilt
For mockers and teams picking after Atlanta, this is the biggest pick in the draft. Atlanta has been tied to Royce Lewis, Mackenzie Gore, Austin Beck, Keston Hiura, Adam Haesely and Shane Baz. It is not atypical for GM John Copolella to get creative – surprising everyone with Ian Anderson at #3 last year – and it is atypical for him to go with a college player. In 2016 they went high school with their first three picks and they went high school with their first four in 2015. That being said, I’ve been told they love Wright. And why not? Maybe the best upside of any college starter in the draft and a guy who is very likely on most teams’ top five lists.
However, MLB Pipeline writers Jim Callis and Jonathon Mayo both have the Braves taking Keston Hiura in their mocks that were released together this morning. In any case, I am going to stick with the Braves plucking the top college righty in Wright as a guy who can jump in quickly with their ridiculous surfeit of notable prospects pushing closer to the bigs.
For Sox fans, if you want someone to fall to #11, the Braves are the big pick as they always have the chance to reach for someone outside of the top tier and make things interesting.
6.) Athletics’s – OF Austin Beck, North Davidson High School (North Carolina)
The A’s are typically one of the most quiet teams if not the most reserved. Slotting anyone here for Oakland would make me skeptical given the way the A’s operate.
Beck is a high risk, high reward guy. He has no wood bat track record and missed time with a torn ACL last year. He had been slipping on draft boards but has been impressive in workouts over the last couple weeks that include both the A’s, Brewers and the White Sox among others. He has less than an ideal swing path and doesn’t project to be a plus a on-base guy. Typically, when you’re projecting the A’s, you look for college bats who get on base but they’re not nearly as rigid on that strategy as they were in the past. Beck would serve as a deviation from the lazy stereotype.
JB Bukauskas has been popular pick here but has been slipping after a less-than-stellar showing in the ACC tourney and a rough start against Davidson last week. Whether that changes things for Oakland, who knows. The UVA boys in Haesely and Pavin Smith seem to fit the A’s stereotype. Keston Hiura could be an interesting play for the A’s and he did have frequent visits from the A’s Scouting Director. They’ve also been in on Jeren Kendall but things have seemed to have cooled on that front. A couple weeks back, the A’s were noted as the team the White Sox would have to sweat if the Sox did want to take Kendall at #11 but it seems that ideal is losing some luster as we get closer to draft night. If Mackenzie Gore somehow slipped past the Braves, this seems to be his logical stop point.
A’s, along with the Braves, are big pick for Sox fans. They’re a mystery and the guys in play include Beck, Bukauskas, and the UVA bats. Regardless of your preferred pick tonight, this is probably a spot some Sox fans will lose “their guy.”
7.) Diamondbacks – OF Adam Haesely, Virginia
Arizona’s new Scouting Director comes from the Royals organization. Kansas City is team that would go high school, small school or just random in general – for whatever that matters. Supposedly Lewis is their best-case scenario (Callis) but it doesn’t seem particularly likely he fall here.. For a team that has a foggy window of contention and a barren system, there’s a lot of incentive to grab a college bat under-slot and use the extra money later. They could go Haesely or Smith but they could be the stop point for top five talents that slip out of the top five after a surprise or two at #4 and/or #5. Reports say they have gotten past JB Buskauskas and are zoned in on a college bat given what figures to be available to them.
8.) Phillies – 1B Pavin Smith, Virginia
Law acknowledges they’re on everyone. Callis and Manuel expect a college draftee. Their rebuild has yet to have a prospect emerge as a star and one would think they may have a sense of urgency to grab someone on a shorter timeline given their growing but not incredibly exciting young core. If we have a surprise-less top five, it would seem the Virginia bats in Smith and Haesely should both go in the #6-#8 range.  Alex Faedo could be in play in a worst case scenario for the Phil’s and high schooler Shane Baz was their early attachment.
9.) Brewers – LHP Trevor Rogers, Carlsbad High School (New Mexico)
Adell has been the popular pick for the Brewers. More recently, Austin Beck has been right there with him and I tend to believe Milwaukee would prefer Beck but that’s entirely based off of conjecture.
The Brewers’ Scouting Director Tod Johnson is going into his first draft this year and his baseball background is a bit limited for your typical directors as a former executive at HP and Microsoft. Last year’s Scouting Director, Ray Montgomery, is still with the team in a scouting oversight capacity and Montgomery has never been afraid of drafting a high school kid in his time with Arizona and Milwaukee. Rising star executive David Stearns is always in on the high-ceiling guys regardless. I think the Brewers are more of a mystery team than the media has given credence to.
If the Brewers want to get crafty, I could see them signing Trevor Rogers under-slot so they can get a big ceiling arm and still use their savings later. Rogers is a 6’6″ thin lefty with a mid-to-upper 90’s fastball. Rogers isn’t in the same hot beds of talent as fellow left-handed preps but the lack of exposure can sometime lead to a diamond in the rough. If there’s a General Manager who’s shrewd enough to use his pool creatively I like Stearns as much as any – especially at this juncture in the draft. There’s a clear rationale to say that teams should sign guys under-slot early as the depth in the draft seems like more of a value than the value of below average crop of talent at the top of draft. If Beck is there, I think they take him. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be shocked to see something craftier from Milwaukee.
10.) Angels – RHP JB Bukauskas, Vanderbilt
The Angels are another team with no clear “guy” asserting himself. They are expected to go the college route and may be waiting on someone falling to them just as the White Sox supposedly are. I went with JB Bukauskas for the Angels over Keson Hiura who has some similarity to last year’s first rounder Matt Thais. In Bukauskas, the Angels get one of the best arms in the draft who has the slider to at least make him a great reliever if the body doesn’t hold.
The Angels could be in on Alex Faedo who is other college pitching option available.
11.) White Sox – 1B Evan White, Kentucky
In this scenario the White Sox get themselves the college bat they publicly said they’d prefer to come away with. White is a polished performer at Kentucky who has made strides every year. He is very strong defensively at first and athletic enough to make it work defensively at an outfield position.  The Giants’ Brandon Belt is the player comp that comes to mind for me as the power projection varies from scout to scout.
It is my opinion that the White Sox would prefer Pavin Smith or Adam Haesely fall to them but that seems unlikely at this point. Austin Beck could be in play if he gets past Atlanta, Oakland and Milwaukee. If Huira went to Los Angeles at #10 instead of Bukauskas, they would then be choosing between Bukauskas, Kentucky’s Evan White, Missouri State’s Jake Burger and in this scenario Jo Adell, who could just as likely go #9 to Milwaukee. I’d think the White Sox prefer Bukauskas but it doesn’t seem clear he’s there for them at #11.
As they have operated in the draft in the past, the White Sox wishes and intentions are very much difficult to keep abreast for the media. The names attached to the South Side club have been all over the place and speculative in nature. My guess would be that the wishes are that one of the UVA bats fall to them. Past that, Austin Beck was said to impress in his workout with the club. I do not expect popular mock pick Jeren Kendall to get the call at #11 and he does figure to be on the board for the White Sox.
Nevertheless, it the draft continues its past trend of being unpredictable, the White Sox may be in a position to have a desired talent fall in their lap. That being said, the closer we get to the draft starting, the less likely that it seems one of the top college bats fall to them.
Regardless of who the White Sox select, we will have our draft tracker following everything surrounding the White Sox draft.
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