Nick Hostetler Draft History

[Chicago White Sox]

I thought it would be fun to do a quick review of the picks the Sox have made under Hostetler.  For clarity, Nick took over the draft process in 2015, but according to FutureSox it was Doug Laumann who handled the first pick (Carson Fulmer).  Therefore, I'm excluding that pick from his record.  For this exercise, I'll be listing all picks in the top 10 rounds of each draft and any other of significance.

2015 Draft

• 4. Zack Erwin, LHP
• 5. Jordan Stephens, RHP
• 6. Corey Zangari, 1B*
• 7. Blake Hickman, RHP
• 8. Casey Schroeder, C
• 9. Ryan Hinchley, LHP#
• 10. Jackson Glines, OF#
• 12. Seby Zavala, C
• 15. Chris Comito, *
• 22. Danny Mendick, SS
• 27. Alex Katz, LHP

Comments: Obviously not making the 1st round pick and not having 2nd or 3rd rounders is going to make the results look a little worse.  However, there are a couple of decent picks here, in particular Stephens in the 5th & Zavala in the 12th.  Mendick in the 22nd could also be considered a pretty good find.  Couple other things to note.  First, Erwin & Katz were used in trades, the former in the Brett Lawrie deal & the ladder in exchange for nearly $800k in slot money.  Second, Nick only selected/signed two high-school players and both to over-slot deals.  It remains to be seen what we have in Zangari, but the early results weren't overly promising prior to his injury.

2016 Draft

• 1. Zack Collins, C
• 1. Zack Burdi, RHP
• 2. Alec Hansen, RHP
• 3. Alex Call, OF
• 4. Jameson Fisher, OF
• 5. Jimmy Lambert, RHP
• 6. Luis Curbelo, SS*
• 7. Benardo Flores, LHP
• 8. Nate Nolan, C
• 9. Max Dutto, SS#
• 10. Zach Remillard, 3B#
• 11. Ian Hamilton, RHP
• 12. Mitch Roman, SS
• 20. Matt Foster, RHP
• 22. Joel Booker, OF

Comments: Now this has the chance of being a special draft.  Those first three picks all have the potential of being impact major leaguers.  Collins is currently 3rd in the Southern League with a wRC+ of 167.  Burdi struck out nearly 14 batters per 9 in AAA last year, has three plus pitches, and projects to be an elite back-end reliever.  And Alec Hansen, who led the minors in 2017 with 191 Ks, has legit TOR potential.  Getting three players of that caliber (still early I know) would be a huge win in any draft, but beyond on that there are several other players of note.  Lambert & Flores are both having good to solid seasons in the Carolina League, with Jimmy sporting a 2.77 FIP so far.  Ian Hamilton is dominating AA and looks like another future back-end option in the bullpen.  Call has regained some prospect shine with a solid start to the 2018 season.  However, the real wild card here is Curbelo.  Luis was Hostetler's only high school pick and a well-above slot signing.  Now playing 3B for Kannapolis, the kid has the tools to rapidly move up the organizational rankings.  

2017 Draft

• 1. Jake Burger, 3B
• 2. Gavin Sheets, 1B
• 3. Luis Gonzalez, OF
• 4. Lincoln Henzman, RHP
• 5. Tyler Johnson, RHP
• 6. Kade McClure, RHP
• 7. Evan Skoug, C
• 8. Sam Abbott, 1B*
• 9. Craig Dedelow, OF#
• 10. JB Olsen, RHP#
• 11. Will Kincanon, RHP
• 12. Justin Yurchak, 3B
• 13. Tate Blackman, 2B
• 14. Alex Destino, OF
• 17. Blake Battenfield, RHP
• 21. John Parke, LHP
• 28. Laz Rivera, SS

Comments: Still way too early to jump to any conclusions here.  Losing Burger for the year hurts and his injury adds further skepticism of playing 3B long-term.  Sheets has demonstrated excellent plate discipline in High A, but has yet to demonstrate his plus power potential.  The vast majority of these picks are college guys now playing in Low A.  While the numbers for these guys are generally good to insane (Luis Gonzalez's wRC+ of 168), everything must be taken with a grain of salt until they reach a more age appropriate challenge in High A.  Regardless, there is a lot to be optimistic about including 28th pick Laz Rivera looking like he just may be a thing.  Couple other comments.  Once again, Hostetler only selected one high school player, but Abbott wasn't a huge over-slot signing.  What's stranger is Hostetler signed multiple college picks to over-slot deals.  These include Sheets +$600k, Gonzalez +$120k, Johnson +$50k, McClure +$70k, & Skoug +$100k, along with Kincanon, Yurchak, & Destino each counting $25k against the pool.      

   

          

[fathom]

Great post...also I forget who said it but someone mentioned they saw Abbott hit a 430 ft homer in Arizona

[Chicago White Sox]

It will be interesting to see how Abbott develops this year.  Will obviously take some time with him given his water polo background, but the system desperately needs more wild cards like him.  In fact, looking back at these three drafts, the biggest issue I have is not selecting enough high school guys.  I really hope that changes with this year’s draft.  Even just three legit high school picks would be a nice change of pace.

[bmags]

The huge overslot signing by Sheets always confused me. 

[Chicago White Sox]

10 minutes ago, bmags said:

The huge overslot signing by Sheets always confused me. 

Sounds like they kind of pushed him to their spot, but still seems odd to me.

[fathom]

22 minutes ago, bmags said:

The huge overslot signing by Sheets always confused me. 

Didn't we figure out they wanted Seise initially

[bmags]

7 minutes ago, fathom said:

Didn't we figure out they wanted Seise initially

That was my guess, but when you say it like that it sounds like it was basically “well we have an extra 600k, uh just give it to sheets”

[Chicago White Sox]

11 minutes ago, bmags said:

That was my guess, but when you say it like that it sounds like it was basically “well we have an extra 600k, uh just give it to sheets”

Here’s a quote from Hostetler on Sheets shortly after the draft:

“We were sweating a few picks. We weren’t sure he would get to us. Contact with the agent finally got him to us, and we were very happy about it.”

Seems like they were targeting him all along (pretty sure they said they had a 1st round grade on him) and threw his agent an overslot offer to block some of the teams ahead of them from selecting him.

[maggsmaggs]

25 minutes ago, fathom said:

Didn't we figure out they wanted Seise initially

Langenhagen from fangraphs on SoxMachine pod I believe.  

[fathom]

9 minutes ago, maggsmaggs said:

Langenhagen from fangraphs on SoxMachine pod I believe.  

IIRC, someone asked Hostetler about not drafting high schoolers. He made mention of focusing on one in 2nd round last year but guy went before Sheets. Someone on here saw Seise got same bonus as Sheets.

[Boopa1219]

2 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

It will be interesting to see how Abbott develops this year.  Will obviously take some time with him given his water polo background, but the system desperately needs more wild cards like him.  In fact, looking back at these three drafts, the biggest issue I have is not selecting enough high school guys.  I really hope that changes with this year’s draft.  Even just three legit high school picks would be a nice change of pace.

To appears to me that Hostetler has been building the foundation of this org with college players who are high floor guys with advanced OBP skills. 

Now that they have the foundation, I would like to see the Sox go for more upside. Take more athletes with higher ceilings. I know that might scare some White Sox fans but the old regime (Laumann/Bell) is no longer scouting for the team and there’s a new development staff in place. 

[Chicago White Sox]

22 minutes ago, fathom said:

IIRC, someone asked Hostetler about not drafting high schoolers. He made mention of focusing on one in 2nd round last year but guy went before Sheets. Someone on here saw Seise got same bonus as Sheets.

I thought Hostetler said he had some high school guys in the 3rd round they were targeting but they all got scooped right before their pick and they ended up going with Gonzalez.  Looking at the draft results, six high schoolers went in the first 11 picks of the 3rd round: Enlow, Hearherly, House, Tarnok, Allen, & Pearson.  I honestly can’t recall if we were connected to any those guys.

[GenericUserName]

Something interesting to note is that of the limited high school guys we picked they all project as corner guys, even Curbelo who most think is a third baseman long term. I bring this up because there was the article from fangraphs about where players from each position come from and by and large middle infielders are either drafted out of high school or are international signings. Considering we have pretty limited success at signing and developing international players, I find it odd that we don't try to target more high school middle infielders, especially with how barren our farm is of them. Hopefully that is something that can be corrected this year. 

[Dam8610]

His draft history thus far is encouraging for the likelihood (specifically lack thereof) of him drafting Singer.

[bmags]

2 hours ago, GenericUserName said:

Something interesting to note is that of the limited high school guys we picked they all project as corner guys, even Curbelo who most think is a third baseman long term. I bring this up because there was the article from fangraphs about where players from each position come from and by and large middle infielders are either drafted out of high school or are international signings. Considering we have pretty limited success at signing and developing international players, I find it odd that we don't try to target more high school middle infielders, especially with how barren our farm is of them. Hopefully that is something that can be corrected this year. 

Yeah, though I think last year he learned his lesson to not say things like “we’re gonna draft HS to balance things out”.

They clearly evaluate with a favorability toward college, but also are going to let draft come to them and not force something like that

[GenericUserName]

2 minutes ago, bmags said:

Yeah, though I think last year he learned his lesson to not say things like “we’re gonna draft HS to balance things out”.

They clearly evaluate with a favorability toward college, but also are going to let draft come to them and not force something like that

I get that, but whatever evaluation they are using on high schoolers may need to change because if we don't draft any high school middle infielders then that will likely remain a weak point of the system because you generally don't find those guys in college. 

[bmags]

35 minutes ago, GenericUserName said:

I get that, but whatever evaluation they are using on high schoolers may need to change because if we don't draft any high school middle infielders then that will likely remain a weak point of the system because you generally don't find those guys in college. 

Yeah, I guess I don’t know if it’s an evaluation issue or a draft allocation issue

 

edit: I agree it’s an issue though. 

[southsider2k5]

11 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I thought it would be fun to do a quick review of the picks the Sox have made under Hostetler.  For clarity, Nick took over the draft process in 2015, but according to FutureSox it was Doug Laumann who handled the first pick (Carson Fulmer).  Therefore, I'm excluding that pick from his record.  For this exercise, I'll be listing all picks in the top 10 rounds of each draft and any other of significance.

2015 Draft

• 4. Zack Erwin, LHP
• 5. Jordan Stephens, RHP
• 6. Corey Zangari, 1B*
• 7. Blake Hickman, RHP
• 8. Casey Schroeder, C
• 9. Ryan Hinchley, LHP#
• 10. Jackson Glines, OF#
• 12. Seby Zavala, C
• 15. Chris Comito, *
• 22. Danny Mendick, SS
• 27. Alex Katz, LHP

Comments: Obviously not making the 1st round pick and not having 2nd or 3rd rounders is going to make the results look a little worse.  However, there are a couple of decent picks here, in particular Stephens in the 5th & Zavala in the 12th.  Mendick in the 22nd could also be considered a pretty good find.  Couple other things to note.  First, Erwin & Katz were used in trades, the former in the Brett Lawrie deal & the ladder in exchange for nearly $800k in slot money.  Second, Nick only selected/signed two high-school players and both to over-slot deals.  It remains to be seen what we have in Zangari, but the early results weren't overly promising prior to his injury.

2016 Draft

• 1. Zack Collins, C
• 1. Zack Burdi, RHP
• 2. Alec Hansen, RHP
• 3. Alex Call, OF
• 4. Jameson Fisher, OF
• 5. Jimmy Lambert, RHP
• 6. Luis Curbelo, SS*
• 7. Benardo Flores, LHP
• 8. Nate Nolan, C
• 9. Max Dutto, SS#
• 10. Zach Remillard, 3B#
• 11. Ian Hamilton, RHP
• 12. Mitch Roman, SS
• 20. Matt Foster, RHP
• 22. Joel Booker, OF

Comments: Now this has the chance of being a special draft.  Those first three picks all have the potential of being impact major leaguers.  Collins is currently 3rd in the Southern League with a wRC+ of 167.  Burdi struck out nearly 14 batters per 9 in AAA last year, has three plus pitches, and projects to be an elite back-end reliever.  And Alec Hansen, who led the minors in 2017 with 191 Ks, has legit TOR potential.  Getting three players of that caliber (still early I know) would be a huge win in any draft, but beyond on that there are several other players of note.  Lambert & Flores are both having good to solid seasons in the Carolina League, with Jimmy sporting a 2.77 FIP so far.  Ian Hamilton is dominating AA and looks like another future back-end option in the bullpen.  Call has regained some prospect shine with a solid start to the 2018 season.  However, the real wild card here is Curbelo.  Luis was Hostetler's only high school pick and a well-above slot signing.  Now playing 3B for Kannapolis, the kid has the tools to rapidly move up the organizational rankings.  

2017 Draft

• 1. Jake Burger, 3B
• 2. Gavin Sheets, 1B
• 3. Luis Gonzalez, OF
• 4. Lincoln Henzman, RHP
• 5. Tyler Johnson, RHP
• 6. Kade McClure, RHP
• 7. Evan Skoug, C
• 8. Sam Abbott, 1B*
• 9. Craig Dedelow, OF#
• 10. JB Olsen, RHP#
• 11. Will Kincanon, RHP
• 12. Justin Yurchak, 3B
• 13. Tate Blackman, 2B
• 14. Alex Destino, OF
• 17. Blake Battenfield, RHP
• 21. John Parke, LHP
• 28. Laz Rivera, SS

Comments: Still way too early to jump to any conclusions here.  Losing Burger for the year hurts and his injury adds further skepticism of playing 3B long-term.  Sheets has demonstrated excellent plate discipline in High A, but has yet to demonstrate his plus power potential.  The vast majority of these picks are college guys now playing in Low A.  While the numbers for these guys are generally good to insane (Luis Gonzalez's wRC+ of 168), everything must be taken with a grain of salt until they reach a more age appropriate challenge in High A.  Regardless, there is a lot to be optimistic about including 28th pick Laz Rivera looking like he just may be a thing.  Couple other comments.  Once again, Hostetler only selected one high school player, but Abbott wasn't a huge over-slot signing.  What's stranger is Hostetler signed multiple college picks to over-slot deals.  These include Sheets +$600k, Gonzalez +$120k, Johnson +$50k, McClure +$70k, & Skoug +$100k, along with Kincanon, Yurchak, & Destino each counting $25k against the pool.      

   

          

This is a great quality post. Thanks for taking the time here.

[Two-Gun Pete]

7 hours ago, Joshua Strong said:

Now that they have the foundation, I would like to see the Sox go for more upside. Take more athletes with higher ceilings. I know that might scare some White Sox fans but the old regime (Laumann/Bell) is no longer scouting for the team and there’s a new development staff in place. 

I know Buddy Bell has [thankfully] taken his high school diploma to Cincinnati with him. But isn't Laumann still shoveling food in  his mouth and serving as "senior advisor to scouting" or some-such?

 

That aside, no, I'd rather that they continue to take OBP types, rather than going back to the old, dumb ways of drafting Courtney Hawkins-types and other steaming piles of garbage in the draft. Take Madrigal, or Bohm, or India, and be done with it.

[mac9001]

All things considered you have to give Hostetler some props for 16/17 drafts. He gets a pass on Burger as no-one could have seen that coming, but I feel really good about a lot of the arms added from these last two drafts. My only complaint is if we're going to take advanced college players we need to challenge them faster.  I don't think there's a lot of value in guys like Gonzalez hitting the crap out of the ball in low-A ball or Henzman throwing a billion ground balls a start. We have way to much dead weight in AA/AAA where we could just push bodies up that may have some future value. 

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

I gave the "Thanks" icon, but just wanted to also directly commend you on the effort putting this together. Good stuff.

[GreenSox]

On 6/2/2018 at 8:50 AM, Chicago White Sox said:

I thought it would be fun to do a quick review of the picks the Sox have made under Hostetler.  For clarity, Nick took over the draft process in 2015, but according to FutureSox it was Doug Laumann who handled the first pick (Carson Fulmer). 

   

          

Does the scouting director actually make the pick?  Or does he give rankings and scouting reports to Hahn/Williams/JR and they decide.  Maybe I'm just over-parsing your words.

2015:  Fulmer (-.8 Total WAR)
2014:  Rodon, Fry, Bummer (4.9 Total WAR)
2013:  Anderson, Engel, Danish, May, Goldberg (3.1 Total WAR)
2012:   Beck, Micah, Coats (-2.1 total WAR)
2011:  K Smith, Semien, Devenski, Bassit, E Johnson, Snodgress (15.5 Total WAR)
2010:  Sale, Petricka, Reed, Saladino, A Wilkins (50 Total WAR)

Top WAR players:
Sale:  38.8
Semien:  9.5
Reed:  6.9
Devenski:  5.4
Anderson:  5.1
Rodon:  4.6
The highest ranked player from 2005-2009 is Hector Santiago at 7.9, which makes him the 3rd highest WAR draft choice in 12 seasons; amazing that the Sox were able to hang in with competitive teams as long as they did.

Edited June 3, 2018 by GreenSox

[Chicago White Sox]

1 minute ago, GreenSox said:

Does the scouting director actually make the pick?  Or does he give rankings and scouting reports to Hahn/Williams/JR and they decide.  Maybe I'm just over-parsing your words.

Hostelter makes the picks.  Obviously the first overall pick will have far more influence from Hahn & KW and they could dictate a certain direction (Burdi) or even override a proposed selection, but generally speaking the scouting director runs the draft.

[GreenSox]

5 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Hostelter makes the picks.  Obviously the first overall pick will have far more influence from Hahn & KW and they could dictate a certain direction (Burdi) or even override a proposed selection, but generally speaking the scouting director runs the draft.

That surprises me.   The GM makes the trades based on scouting reports; would seem that they would also do the draft.

On a different matter, I recall 2 years ago that the Sox were rumored to be on Dakota Hudson at #10; he was a mid-rotation ceiling pitcher who ended up going #30 ish. Maybe that was dis-information, maybe it wasn't.  But it is consistent with the affectation for Singer.

[Chicago White Sox]

Just now, GreenSox said:

That surprises me.   The GM makes the trades based on scouting reports; would seem that they would also do the draft.

On a different matter, I recall 2 years ago that the Sox were rumored to be on Dakota Hudson at #10; he was a mid-rotation ceiling pitcher who ended up going #30 ish. Maybe that was dis-information, maybe it wasn't.  But it is consistent with the affectation for Singer.

This is Hostetler’s full-time job.  Hahn doesn’t have the time to read the hundreds upon hundreds of scouting reports on amateur talent it would take to run a successful draft.  Again, the top pick may be a little different because we’re talking about a smaller subset of prospects to evaluate and the pick is vitally more important.