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White Sox add plethora of players in 2024 Draft

By / / 2024 MLB Draft, Minors

Despite heavy reporting and rumors galore about the position player preference in the first round for the White Sox, the franchise ultimately decided to do what they do best as they grabbed Arkansas southpaw Hagen Smith with the #5 overall pick in the 2024 draft. As the clear top player on the club’s board, everyone involved felt comfortable handing out a record bonus to the newly minted top 50 prospect in baseball. Smith received $8 million to sign which equates to the biggest draft bonus in franchise history while also coming in as the top bonus ever given to a left-handed pitcher overall.

Our draft tracker has the signing details for all 20 selections made by the White Sox and the organization spent significantly on the draft once again. Coming into the 2024 Draft, the White Sox possessed a bonus pool of $14,593,300. With the 5% overage, penalties and day three selections that don’t count against the bonus pool, the club actually spent $16,812,000 prior to signing undrafted free agents.

Shirley made it clear that the White Sox were part of the “financial fight” at the top of the draft as well. “I mean, there was a lot of movement in the first five picks. It was a delayed process, a little bit with Cleveland. Everybody in the industry was waiting for the Guardians to set that parameter. Hagen was the guy that was a real target,” said Shirley. The Guardians ultimately settled on Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana who likely would’ve fallen to the White Sox at #5 overall otherwise. Sources have also told us here at FutureSox that the White Sox were ready to pay Georgia’s Charlie Condon upwards of $9 million if he lasted to their spot.

The importance of this draft has been echoed by a multitude of White Sox’s employees. Director of amateur scouting Mike Shirley noted the importance of the extra draft pick that was acquired while mentioning that flexibility would be provided by having five of the top 107 picks in the class. The White Sox added pitchers with different characteristics, plucked prep players and targeted college bats over the course of the three day draft as well.

White Sox Lean Into Pitching Development Model

Brian Bannister has been lauded as a not-so secret weapon for the White Sox of late but his “fondness” for low-slot lefties matches the proclivities of the organization that employs him. The White Sox have been successful developing this specific profile and it seemingly led them to their selection of Hagen Smith with the 5th overall pick. The 20-year-old southpaw was the SEC Pitcher of the Year while posting a .144 batting average against and averaging 17.3 K/9.

“During the meetings in the previous ten days, we’ve talked about the extensive arsenal that Hagen brings to our ball club, and it’s going to make an impact”, Shirley said. “Our success with the Chris Sales of the world, the Garrett Crochets of the world and the Noah Schultz’s of the world. This is another piece of the same puzzle that we have success with. And as you start to build out a rotation, these pieces are coming together. You guys know the guys that take that mound on that starting rotation is a key and integral part of building a championship club. We are starting to make a move into that process where you have real pieces that are going to make a difference for the White Sox. And we couldn’t be more excited adding Hagen Smith into this organization, and most importantly, the human, the competitiveness and stuff to make a difference for the White Sox.”

The 6-3, 225 pounder possesses a fastball in the 94-97 mph range that has touched 100 mph as well. The fastball has shown ride and plus velocity consistently with a delivery that creates deception and riding action. Smith’s slider is also plus with negative vert and high spin. The lefty has thrown a changeup with nearly 17 inches of fade but was mostly a two pitch guy for the Razorbacks. He could be a candidate for a sweeper but the White Sox are expected to figure out a more than viable third offering.

Smith is expected to become a top-of-the-rotation type left-handed starter and he’s ranked highly on top prospect lists. His estimated time of arrival will likely be dictated by the big club’s play in Chicago but his minor league resume shouldn’t be too long. One major moment for Smith came against Oregon State last year as he struck out 17 hitters in just six innings of work while throwing just 78 pitches in total. Mike Shirley was in attendance for the performance.

“Alright. So I’m I’m in Arlington, Texas, at the Rangers Stadium this year. It’s the best performance I’ve ever seen on a college pitcher ever. I’ve been doing this a long time. He took Oregon State for a ride. I’ve never seen a college pitcher take any lineup for one on the big stage like that. It was 17 punch outs. It was the most dominating stuff I’ve ever seen since I’ve been scouting. He has those type of weapons. He can put you away. He can make you uncomfortable, man, this guy’s real,” said Shirley.

The White Sox have drafted plenty of college pitching in Shirley’s five years in this job. The organization has gotten to the point right now where there’s a lack of rotation spots available at their affiliates however. After the selection of Smith, the White Sox only tabbed two potential starters the rest of the way. Shirley noted after day three that the organization does envision starting roles for 14th round southpaw Justin Sinibaldi and 15th round righty Mason Moore.

Sinibaldi is a 6-5, 220 pound lefty from Rutgers who posted a 3.47 ERA in 83 innings this past season. The southpaw made 13 starts and while he doesn’t strike out a lot of guys (65 in 83 innings), he did post a solid WHIP of just 1.08. Moore was a starter for the first time this past season at Kentucky. The 6-4, 200 pounder posted a 5.05 ERA in 92.2 innings with 83 strikeouts. He was very good in relief in 2023. Both likely serve as starting pitchers in A ball in 2024.

“We see them both as potential starters”, said Shirley. “Our east coast cross checker (Juan Álvarez) loves Sinibaldi. Moore competed in varsity league (SEC) every day. We liked him last year but he wanted to go back to school. While there aren’t a ton of spots throughout the organization for starting pitchers to hone their craft, bullpens can be tweaked throughout the season. The White Sox drafted multiple reliever profiles in 2024 and they all have unique qualities.

Pitch data, release points and power programs were all mentioned as Shirley described the plethora of pitching provided by this draft class. 11th rounder Blake Shepardson and 13th rounder Pierce George possess the biggest upside potential in the group but they come with a fairly low floor as well due to strike throwing. Shepardson is a 6-5, 220 pound righty from The University of San Francisco who was stellar of late in the MLB Draft League.

“I was lucky that I saw Shepardson myself. Adam Virchis had been chasing this guy for awhile and he had gotten lucky. He had seen him a few times. He went and saw Oregon play vs San Francisco”, said Shirley. “I saw the athlete, quality delivery and the type of arm speed you don’t run into every day. It was just about usage. College coaches have a different perspective. College coaches are trying to win games. It’s a tricky piece of the puzzle.”

Shepardson posted a 7.80 ERA in college this season but he runs his fastball up into triple digits and he shows a feel for spin. He’s also had command issues and he walks a lot of batters. The White Sox’s player development staff will have more patience for the struggles than college coaches however. George is a 6-6, 240 pound righty who threw just 11 innings for Alabama this season. He’s a massive athlete with plus velocity and a gamble seemingly worth taking in the 13th round.

The White Sox were familiar with George at Alabama but they really connected with him and others while he pitched in the Cape Cod Baseball League as a member of the Chatham Anglers. The White Sox selected two of George’s teammates from the cape as well and the franchise has a storied history of focusing heavily on cape performance throughout the scouting process. Shirley noted that Midwest Supervisor Rob Cummings “loved Pierce George” and the article from Cooper Andrews highlighted some of that.

The former Crimson Tide hurler punched out 11 hitters in 7.2 innings pitched for Chatham this summer. Cummings compared George to Mason Miller of the Athletics and said, “if we get this guy in the zone more consistently, he might have the best stuff in the draft.” 7th rounder Phil Fox and 18th rounder Liam Paddack are now members of the White Sox after teaming with George for Chatham as well.

Phil Fox transferred to Pittsburgh from Gardner-Webb and he became one of the best relievers in the country for the Panthers last year. The 5-10 righty posted a 1.47 ERA with 45 strikeouts and three walks in 36.2 innings in the ACC. He also posted a 0.00 ERA on the cape. Fox will need to develop secondary offerings and increased fastball velocity never hurts but his pitch metrics are promising. “He had the flattest fastball in the draft. It’s an up shoot fastball that hitters have a tough time with”, Shirley said. Fox also sat down with our Elijah Evans recently to discuss the draft process and his path forward.

Paddack was selected in the 18th round out of Gonzaga but the White Sox gave the 20-year-old $172,500 which generally implies that a commitment was made. $22,500 counts against the club’s bonus pool. The 6-4, 210 pound southpaw throws from a low arm slot with a 90 mph fastball. He made 12 starts for Gonzaga last year and struck out 77 batters in 65 innings but walks remained a significant issue. The stuff could play up significantly in a relief role and West Coast cross checker Scott Thomas recommended the “lanky” lefty due to his ability to spin breaking balls.

The White Sox also committed $250,000 to secure Tennessee reliever Aaron Combs in the eighth round. He has shown a low 90’s fastball with a high spin curveball. The fastball possesses huge ride and arm side run as well. The curveball has reached 2900 RPM. Combs posted a 3.32 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 40 innings. Mike Shirley was more impressed with the makeup however.

“I was in on a conversation with Tony Vitello just the other day, and he said, Hey Mike, that guy’s a real player. He’s a real dude man. He’s a real piece of a puzzle on a big part of a championship club, you know, and that’s what you do. You constantly chat with the coaches, who, you know are in the fight with these guys. Aaron Combs, checks that box, in a championship program,” said Shirley.

The White Sox also selected side-arming right hander Jack Young out of Iowa in the ninth round. He’s a low 90’s sinkerballer that needs to improve his other pitches. UC Irvine southpaw Nick Pinto rounded out the group in round 19. The club also inked 23-year-old Washington reliever Colton McIntosh who recently returned from elbow surgery along with Gray Thomas from Oklahoma and Clete Hartzog from Liberty.

Prep Plucking Continues for White Sox

Mike Shirley and the White Sox haven’t been afraid to prioritize the addition of high school players. It’s difficult to achieve throughout a draft with the rising costs of prep talent but swings are necessary when available. With $15.3 million to spend on the overall class, $4.4 million of was spent in the second round. Caleb Bonemer is a Michigan prep shortstop who ranked #36 overall in the class at Baseball America. Southpaw Blake Larson really started to put things together down at IMG Academy this spring.

Bonemer was a member of the White Sox’s Area Code Games team and the club values him highly as evidenced by the $3 million bonus they handed out; equivalent to the #29 overall pick in the draft. The 6-1, 195 pounder could stay at shortstop but likely remains on the left side of the infield. The Virginia commit is a strong athlete with a power/speed combo and he hits from the right side. Bonemer really stood out on the showcase circuit in 2023 and showed plus raw power while being a plus runner. The White Sox knew him well and were very intrigued by the summer performance.

“The circuit success is huge because Michigan high school baseball is not at the level of the summer circuit. So when he’s facing the pro level type arms all summer on this circuit, and he’s performing at an extremely high level and he’s driving in runs, it’s good to see. He’s coming up clutch. You know, we’ve been doing this area code team for a long time. Our 2023 area code team was one of the best teams we’ve ever had. It was one of the most impactful teams we’ve ever had”, Shirley said. The director also lauded two of his cross checkers in Cummings and JJ Lally for putting the squad together.

Makeup has been a focus for the White Sox, justy like it is with most other clubs. Shirley was impressed with the 18-year-old and they met again at the MLB Draft Combine. “Caleb answered the bell for us and our interview at the Combine was great. He comes from a great family. He’s very humble, but he’s also very confident. He’s not an overly outspoken kid. He’s there to play baseball. His intent is right, but he enjoys it and we think we got another winner,” said the scouting director.

Blake Larson was also a member of the Sox’s Area Codes team. The scouting staff was very familiar with the long lefty as an Iowa prep before he transferred to IMG Academy in Florida last year. The 6-3, 185 pounder is another low-slot left-hander with a high-effort delivery. It’s a profile that the club isn’t afraid of. There are lots of moving parts in the teenager’s delivery with a high leg kick and head whack in the finish. The southpaw has run his fastball up to 96 mph and he could hit triple digits in the future. He throws an upper 70’s sweeping slider and a changeup as well.

The organization seemed to be in unison with the 68th overall pick. Shirley noted that Brian Bannister was excited about working with Larson. The scouting staff clearly was as well. “Our scouts were excited about Blake. It’s now stuff with a bunch of projection. He’s originally from the state of Iowa and then went to IMG Academy for his development,” said Shirley. “JJ Lally had some real foundation with him as a high school player and as he transitioned down to IMG, Steffan Segui (East Coast Cross Checker) and Alan Marr (Florida area scout) followed him closely.”

White Sox
Mike Shirley via White Sox Zoom

Shirley discussed the “stuff world” that the baseball industry is living in and he mentioned that Larson was unique because he would often get better as the game went on. “His fifth and sixth inning was better than his first or second. He’s a guy that gets stronger as the game goes, which is uncommon in this world of stuff. Guys come out blowing heaters,” said Shirley. “This guy’s really competitive. You’ll see his best stuff sometimes later in a game, because he’s trying to put his foot on the gas pedal and he’s trying to get wins.”

Shirley has always waxed poetic about prep players and he has drafted quite a few in his five years in the big chair. He told the media after night one that it’s always imperative to take swings on prep talent. “Yeah, you’re trying. I mean that matters. I think the high school players I mean, I keep trying to say to everybody, these guys have a lot more ceiling, a lot more upside as a whole. So I think you have to take shots on goal with these players, and you’re trying to find that good combination of mix between the college player and the high school player to balance the portfolio draft. And you’re trying to be successful. It’s a little bit more tricky right now than it’s ever been,” Shirley said.

Infusion of College Bats for White Sox

The White Sox clearly understood their need for position players but they weren’t willing to force a selection in the first round. “You have a financial pool you’re working through. We’re trying to get talent. We understand we need position players. It was a goal yesterday (Night one), but Hagen was elite. That was big for us. That was what came to our forefront yesterday. We really believe in that guy. We feel like he’s a frontline guy”, Shirley said.

After adding Caleb Bonemer in the second round, the White Sox maneuvered and cut some deals on day three to land a trio of college players from big programs and the scouting department was very excited about the selections. Within their allocation of pool space, the franchise spent third round money to land outfielders Nick McLain of Arizona State and Casey Saucke of Virginia with their third and fourth round picks. In the fifth round, the Sox nabbed Coastal Carolina infielder Sam Antonacci with a fourth round bonus and the club had been chasing him for awhile.

“I’m very excited about the college position players we were able to acquire today,” said Shirley after night two of the draft. “I like the bats and I mean, I like big programs. These are quality people, real tools, real assets, you know. Think about picking these players from these big programs. Coastal Carolina has done a great job brewing hitters. Casey Saucke of Virginia and Nick McLain from Arizona State. You’re talking about real programs, guys that are in the fight. They’re in a competitive beast that they have to go through in these conferences. I’m really excited about that group and really excited about the people and what they bring the table. The group was excited and I was kind of intentional on the targeting of some of these position players. For today we were trying to acquire these services and get right today,” Shirley said.

The White Sox selected McLain first and they paid him an under-slot bonus of $800,000 while they took Saucke in round four and paid him $850,000 which equates to a third round bonus. “We did a good good job matching up McLain and Saucke today to get a two for one essentially. I was afraid that we weren’t going to get both players. We worked out a deal with McLain. We were able to get Saucke, so it was just a good move,” Shirley said.

McLain comes from a baseball family with Matt; a former first rounder and current big leaguer with the Cincinnati Reds and Sean who was a recent fifth rounder as well. Shirley referenced those bloodlines as a postive on multiple occasions. “You’ve grown up in a family that was very competitive with your brothers who have had huge success. We think about younger brothers, and how they grew up in that family household where they’re constantly getting beat up a little bit. You’re just trying to win with your own brothers and it has some connotation to development at younger ages, and I think this guy has the same type of attributes, and he’s a good baseball player,” said Shirley.

The 5-10, 190 pound switch-hitting outfielder can play all three spots but projects better in a corner with a plus arm. The 21-year-old missed his freshman season at UCLA with a back injury and he’s missed time in 2023 and 2024 after breaking the hamate bones in each of his wrists. He stormed back this year at Arizona State and hit .342/.457/.663 with 12 homers in 48 games with a 15% walk rate and 12% strikeout rate. McLain can drive the ball from both sides of the plate and he hit a bunch of homers in May.

Casey Saucke is an interesting case for the White Sox. He struggled with wood bats during his time in the Cape Cod League and the franchise doesn’t typically draft players who have previously struggled with wood bats. The scouting staff strongly believes that a swing adjustment that was made in the fall, led to the 21-year-old’s success this season. The scouts believe that his wood bat struggles had more to do with being out of sync mechanically rather than actually struggling with wood bats. Shirley raved about the hitting coaches at the University of Virginia and he also noted that Saucke was one of East Coast Cross Checker Juan Alvarez’s favorite players in the entire draft class.

The 6-3, 210 pounder can play both outfield corners and he offers plus bat speed. The ourfilder drives the ball to all fields and he hit .344/.407/.578 for the Cavaliers this season with 14 homers. Saucke is a solid runner and should have more power to come. “We’ve been following this guy for a long time. We love the body and the athleticism. I think there’s hit and power in his profile. He’s starting to understand how his swing executes he added a little creativity on his setup, and how his barrel is starting to move in the slot into launch. He started doing a better job using the other half of the field. He started controlling the strike zone. He improved the barrel entry and delivery of it is becoming elite. We just feel like he’s on the uptick. We’ve always been excited about Casey,” Shirley said.

Sam Antonacci is a Springfield, Illinois native who attended Sacred Heart Griffin High School prior to starring for Heartland Community College. While at Heartland, the 6-0, 195 pound infielder clubbed 28 homers in two years while winning the Community College Player of the Year award on his way to winning a national championship. In 2023, he led junior college baseball in batting average (.515), RBI (103), runs (105) and hits (106) while smashing 32 doubles as well. His triple slash on the year was .515/.618/.903 and he decided to attend Coastal Carolina.

While at Coastal Carolina this year, Antonacci hit .367/.523/.504 with a 16% walk rate while hitting six homers in 61 games. The left-handed hitter led the entire Sun Belt Conference in OBP and his bat-to-ball skills on on base ability definitely translated from the JUCO ranks. The infielder probably fist better at second base long-term despite playing third base frequently at Coastal Carolina. He takes a lot of pitches, doesn’t chase very often and makes lots of contact. Antonacci hasn’t typically produced premium exit velocities and he doesn’t drive the ball in the air that often however.

“We’ve been chasing Antonacci for a while and he’s got a good stroke. He’s really performed at a high level in Junior College. We we’ve been on him for a while and then to see him go to Coastal to continue to progress was good. The scouts love him and the data and metrics love him too. We think he can hit. It’s gonna be an every day second baseman who can swing the bat. We’re excited about him,” Shirley said. Shirley noted that he was a favorite of Cross Checker JJ Lally for years and the scouting director even saw him play live at Ball State last season.

“He just really controls the barrel. It’s gap power, it’s really good at-bats and bat control. He’s a resume manager. He does a lot. It’s going to be really competitive with those at-bats and you know, at the end of day, you stretch line ups and stress pitchers, stretch their pitch counts and he’s able to control it. That’s something that we’ve been attacking intentionally,” Shirley said. McLain, Saucke and Antonacci should get an opportunity to debut in A ball really soon and the White Sox have high hopes for the trio.

The White Sox also added Texas A&M catcher Jackson Appel (6th round) and Louisiana Tech outfielder Cole McConnell on day two as well. Shirley lauded the leadership qualities possessed by Appel. The backstop played four years at Penn prior to transferring to Texas A&M and many of the pitchers throughout the White Sox’s system should benefit from his presence. McConnell hit .378/.461/.671 with 18 homers in 60 games this past season. The 6-1, 210 pounder hits left-handed and plays on the outfield corners.

Day three brought in a few more bats as well and the organization secured some commitments in undrafted free agency as well. Nathan Archer was the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year for Bowling Green this past season and the White Sox tabbed him in the 12th round. The 6-1, 175 pounder hits left-handed and slashed .300/.362/.599 on the year with 18 homers. “Archer is a 70-runner and center fielder. We think there’s runway for him to continue to grow. He was the gut feel guy for JD Heilmann (Midwest Area Scout). 

Alabama outfielder TJ McCants was selected in the 16th round and White Sox have plans to turn him into a super utility player. The 6-3, 170 pounder spent three seasons at Ole Miss and finished off his college career at Alabama this past season. He posted a .957 OPS and clubbed 37 homers in college. Lyle Miller-Green has one of the coolest stories in the draft but he spent time at five schools and bashed 30 homers with a 1.432 OPS at Austin Peay this past season. He’s positionless but should entertain the natives of North Carolina in short order.

Bryce Eblin was a prospect years ago out of Greenwood, Indiana but his career at Alabama stagnated. The second baseman ranked at #336 overall on the most recent top 500 draft prospect’s list at Baseball America and the Sox signed him after the draft concluded. The 5-11, 185 pound infielder performed well in the Cape Cod League in 2023 and offers defensive versatility. The White Sox also signed North Carolina State third baseman Alec Makarewicz who slashed .380/.439/.744 with 22 homers last year along with Kentucky shortstop Grant Smith, Indiana State catcher Grant Magill, Louisiana Tech catcher Jorge Corona and DBU second baseman Miguel Santos.

It needed to be a formative draft for the Chicago White Sox. They are the worst team in the league, they can’t pick until 10th overall in next year’s draft and they currently have a middle of the pack farm system. Questions remain in regards to whether they’ve added enough. Those questions will remain for years in regards to the 2024 draft class. “I feel really good about our class. I love high school players. There’s huge upside in these high school kids. I feel like we balanced it out with the college picks behind them and I feel really good about what Hagen’s got a chance to do, continuing to anchor the starting rotation,” said Shirley.