Chicago White Sox

I don’t see how our OF could be considered a position of strength if Eloy is going to be DHing the majority of the time.

Burger isn’t going to be a headliner for Gallo IMO. Lynn commanded a consensus top 100 prospect and he only had a year of control and has zero chance of getting you a comp pick if he leaves via free agency. Gallo is way younger, doesn’t have the same injury risk a mid 30’s pitcher has, and also would eligible for a QO under the current CBA rules. I think Gallo requires at minimum Crochet plus a second really nice piece. I think Burger’s value is quickly rising, but his age and lack of track record will cause his value to be discounted to some extent.

One thing I will add is this draft will hopefully do a good job of giving Kannapolis a pretty interesting roster next year. Montgomery & Kath should own the left side of the infield and will join guys like Bailey, Comas, Glass, Veras, Sanchez, Tatis (maybe), & Mendoza from the ACL club and possibly a repeat guy like Beard to form a promising young positional core. On the pitching side we’ve just added Burke & possibly McDougal to a staff that could also include interesting arms like Vera (at least initially), Guzman & Mena. That’s a pretty nice roster behind what should be a loaded Winston-Salem club. The upper minors will remain incredibly weak, but we can’t expect to fix everything overnight.

Let’s wait and see how today goes. I love the big four selections, but it’s not entirely fair to say they punted a lot of picks when they could still add some overslot guys today. I’m not sure how much Kath & McDougal will eat into their savings from all the senior selections, but it definitely seems like they should have some bonus pool to work with today.

Where are you seeing this?

Hopefully it’s not us after that pathetic performance in the Derby.

I’d personally take Ramos over Rodriguez. Either way, I’d take Colson over both of them. Think about it this way, would Rodriguez be the in the mix 22nd pick in this year’s draft if eligible? As fun / exciting of a prospect as he is, I don’t think he’s anywhere near that conversion. Also, I believe Longenhagen is lower on Montgomery than most of the other experts (except Law). And I say all this a big Rodriguez fan.

I’m more concerned about an overly aggressive approach at the plate hurting him as he moves up levels than his defense, but regardless he’s one of the more exciting prospects in the system.

Montgomery is pretty much the slam dunk #1 and Kath is arguably #2 overall. Just depends on how much your valuation of Kelley changes with a tough 2021 season.

So we real talk, but if can land an over-slot guy in the 2nd, they immediately become our #2 prospect after Montgomery? I know all clubs are re-upping right now, but the system feels like it’s in much better shape with Kelley ranked 3rd.

Exactly, I have zero problem gambling on an athlete like this at #22. The ceiling is pretty massive and our system is clearly lacking potential impact talent at the moment.

Yeah, I was just telling my dad the same thing. Also. I get the concern with taking a 19 year old HS kid, but he’s also a legit multi-sport athlete with plenty of room to grow physically. He would never have been available at #22 if he was 18.5 years old and serious value can be gained by zigging when most of the analytics heavy organizations are zagging.

So Montgomery or Madden will be there.

Motherfucker

Wow, wild card to start off the draft.

Because he gets hurt all the time and has a limited track record against RHP. We can’t let hot steaks cloud our judgement when it comes to upgrades. Engel is a great 4th OF, but we’d be taking a big leap of faith if we made him our everyday RF IMO.

Wasn’t Crochet at slot last year and we still got Kelley? It’s clear they’d be punting most if not all of rounds 4 to 10 to get a big overslot guy in the 2nd.

Thanks James! Appreciate the insights as always!

Yeah, not digging this move at all

Done & done

Holy fuck

I’m fine with it as I think they’re better role players, but still totally surprised by it.

You think that’s the pick James or just a high probability target?

He claimed to have some inside info before (can’t recall if it ended up being accurate) and may be involved in a group chat with some other people that have access to inside info. Not Steve Cishek also trying to jump on this train.