The 2021 draft will be 20 rounds and Mike Shirley will make a second run in the big chair. He’s no stranger to the draft game though. The 51-year-old has been a member of the White Sox organization since 2001 after breaking into the scouting world with the Minnesota Twins.
The Indiana native served as an area scout, cross-checker and assistant director prior to being named the director of amateur scouting in September 2019. Much of the organization’s recent strategical shift has been attributed to Shirley and it’s expected to continue this year.
The White Sox haven’t selected a prep player in the first round since 2012 but the franchise has been nabbing younger players of late. Under the leadership of Nick Hostetler, the club selected college position players in four consecutive years and Zack Collins (2016), Jake Burger (2017), Nick Madrigal (2018) and Andrew Vaughn (2019) are currently contributing to a team in Chicago expected to win the American League Central. There were substantiated whispers linking the club to Georgia prep athlete CJ Abrams in 2019 and while that didn’t come to fruition, the Sox grabbed prep righties Matthew Thompson and Andrew Dalquist in consecutive rounds while nabbing six more high school talents in the class as well.
Many evaluators and draft observers were expecting the club to break the streak and select a prep player in the first round of the shortened draft in 2020. The organization was linked to multiple prep arms and bats but they ultimately decided to select Tennessee southpaw Garrett Crochet. Shirley loves premium pitching and athletes as much as anyone. They couldn’t pass on the tantalizing stuff possessed by the college left-hander. Shirley spoke to that process when addressing the assembled media in a conference call on Tuesday.
“We feel like if Garrett had pitched through a normal season, Garrett doesn’t get to pick No. 11,” Shirley said. “The pandemic benefited us being a part of that. It was unique and obviously him getting to the major leagues, he’s helped us. We’re a first-place club, he’s on our roster, he’s contributing.”
After agreeing to pay Crochet the full slot amount at pick #11, the White Sox selected Texas prep right hander Jared Kelley in the second round and met his $3 million asking price. It should be expected that the White Sox will target upside in this draft as well and maneuver within their bonus pool but their bonus pool is the sixth smallest in the league at $6,618,600.
White Sox Selections
1st round (22): $3,027,000
2nd round (57): $1,243,600
3rd round (94): $618,200
4th round (124): $460,000
5th round (155): $340,000
6th round (185): $261,600
7th round (215): $204,800
8th round (245): $167,800
9th round (275): $152,000
10th round (305): $143,600
Every pick in rounds one through ten counts against a club’s bonus pool but the slot values are merely recommendations. In rounds 11-20, teams can sign players for $125,000 and anything above that counts against the bonus pool. The slotting system is the major reason why players selected on day three often sign for bigger bonuses than players being selected on day two. For example, if a club signs a player for $150,000 in round seven, the entire amount counts toward the bonus pool.
However, if the club drafts the same player in the 11th round instead, only the overage amount of $25,000 counts against the bonus pool. Teams can spend 5% over their total pool without incurring significant penalties. For the White Sox, that means they could spend an additional $330,930 for a total of $6,949,530 and they should be expected to do so with such a small bonus pool.
Drafting for a first place club
Mike Shirley and his staff are working with a small bonus pool because the Chicago White Sox made the playoffs in 2020 and that’s the organizational goal in the end. Picking at 22 is a challenge because it’s hard to predict ahead of time with any real semblance of certainty but talent must be added to the organization regardless.
“Even last year was a little bit later than we’ve picked, you had 11 targets in mind, 15 targets in mind,” Shirley said. “Now you’re dealing with 25 targets, actually 30 targets we’re still looking at. Just walked out of the draft room, we’re still very open-minded on what may occur.”
With five rounds in Shirley’s first go around, they selected five pitchers. The 2020 class was deep in pitching talent and the class dictated the club’s direction a bit. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Rick Hahn adheres to the past and succumbs to the college pitching light flashing in the draft room. Getting younger should be an emphasis however and the organization could benefit greatly from adding gobs of younger talent to a farm system that isn’t very good currently. Prep players are more advanced than ever and spending premium assets on youth shouldn’t be perceived as the risky proposition it once was.
Teenagers are the currency of the game. Mike Shirley reiterated the fact that they could be drafting players who the front office ultimately trades to another club in order to augment a core that is attempting to win multiple world series titles. The scouting director noted that the data revolution is upon us and his team is thrilled with the progress in that realm in addition to holding private workouts with prospects and acquiring significant intel by speaking with players at the first ever draft combine held by MLB.
The data industry is live, it’s here every day and it’s a part of the daily process in any scouting department. Players will put it on Twitter, obviously we have so many pieces the White Sox acquire on a daily basis. I think it’s a way for the player to build his case now, so they share nonstop and they’re more than happy to help build their case by putting that in your hands as well. When you think about how much that has changed the industry, the player can be live with you at all times. Because if he wants to go work out, he can share his data with you at any moment, any time and share a piece he thinks is important and we can get our hands on it. That’s where the training model in amateur baseball has made such a significant impact on things.
Mike Shirley
Luckily for the White Sox, it’s very likely that the best player on the board when they choose on Sunday will be of the high school variety. Shirley agrees with the consensus that this prep class is loaded and the high school shortstop class is of particular interest.
“It’s considered a high school shortstop draft, which is substantial,” Shirley said. “We’ve all talked about how deep this shortstop class is and I think it’s going to have some loud effect through the first round and into the second round, because there are some really good players out there on a high school level that bring a lot to the table. I’ve stated this since the first day I got the job, these young players that are in high school today, even though they’ve lost some time, they come faster, they come quicker today than they ever have just because the training model and the competition model is so different than it’s ever been”.
The White Sox have been linked to Indiana prep shortstop Colson Montgomery pretty extensively throughout the process. He’s a 6’4″ shortstop that projects for plus power and has received Corey Seager comparisons. Thousand Oaks, California prep Maxwell Muncy, Wes Kath from Desert Mountain High School outside of Scottsdale, Arizona and Louisiana infielder Peyton Stovall are others who have been connected to the organization in recent weeks. Any of these players could be in play for the front office if they decide to settle on a prep performer.
“Do we upstairs feel like the high school position players especially have some noise for us? Yeah, we like a lot of those guys. Is it something we’re looking very intently at? Absolutely, because we feel like the skill set of some of these infielders that present themselves are significant for us,” Shirley explained. “And they’re the pieces of the puzzle that are screaming at us a little bit as we look at where these players may be available to be selected for us.”
Future third baseman Izaac Pacheco of Friendswood, Texas and catcher Joe Mack from Williamsville East High School in New York could be options as well as a host of college pitchers.
Regardless of what occurs with the 22nd overall pick, the second round pick is likely to be used in a similar fashion to 2019 and 2020. Trends are forming under the recommendations of this scouting staff and an over-slot bonus being used to sign another high school fireballer in the second round is gaining steam.
Kiley McDaniel of ESPN nailed the club’s first two selections in 2020 in his final mock for the publication and he’s expecting the White Sox to add another prep arm to their young stable. The former front office executive and lead prospect analyst linked them to Florida righties Andrew Painter and Jackson Baumeister in addition to Tennessee prep Chase Burns while projecting the club to select New Jersey prep right hander Chase Petty at #57 overall in his latest mock draft.
“Elite talent is hard to acquire,” said Shirley. “We always feel like if there’s a piece of this puzzle that is elite, that can separate itself, we’re always going to be in that conversation I feel like. Those transitional pieces make a difference for us so if there’s a portion of this draft, hitter or pitcher, that gets passed over and is sitting there, we have to look at it. They’re too hard to find so if we feel something has impact, we’re going to be ready to strike.”
Photo credit: Clinton Cole/FutureSox
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