Actually seen Slightom as my best pal is a varsity coach in conference.

My concern there is he really doesn't have any secondary stuff right now. The change is getting some love but I'm not sold. Seems like a pretty big project but obviously great upside and a very good athlete. I would prefer contreras personally.

45 minutes ago, DirtySox said:

From Kiley's Mock on that Pirates pick. #34.

If Getz wants to get crazy and take a big risk, trade Hudson for the #34 pick and replace him with Hagen in the bullpen this year.

He concentrated a lot on football in high school, according to several of my buddies with connections to LT. That could be part of his issue with secondaries.

1 hour ago, DirtySox said:

Roch 9.5

Thome 2.5

Slightom 2.5

Contreras 3.0

If the Sox could shave off 500K from both Contreras and Thome and turn this into a 5 player class with another prep bat/arm I would actually be over the moon.

46 minutes ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

I'd love it if we got those 4.

Go college pitching heavy the rest of the draft and that could be a really good draft.

1 hour ago, DirtySox said:

Interesting that we've now heard Santarelli from both Kiley and Joe Doyle. The power is so tantalizing, but corner prep profile when all is said and done.

Slightom would be a huge get, but I have this feeling he doesn't make it to 41. Would feel a lot better if the Sox had that Pirates pick. I like Thome, but I think it depends on cost for me. I don't think he has this immense upside. I see him more as a 3rd round pick, but probably doesn't make it there. Contreras would be a fun one to get, but there are a few other prep arms I think I would take in his stead. Especially if the Vanderbilt tax puts him in the 3+ million range.

I would be pretty stoked with the those picks overall, but that's pretty much the entirety of your draft class I would wager. You actually might come up slightly short unless some of these "nepo" picks "cut" a deal. From the Over-Slot simulator which isn't perfect, but is probably the best we will do for bonus demands outside of @Y2Jimmy0 having intel on asks:

Roch 9.5

Thome 2.5

Slightom 2.5

Contreras 3.0

I would be okay with this being the entirety of the draft class. I know that some others would take umbrage at it being a 4 player class, but sign me up.

Dollars wise it feels like it could be doable if we can get Contreras a bit cheaper than the $3M you referenced. Honestly, I really want us to take two high ceiling prep arms tomorrow. For me, the draft is all about upside and there is a nice group of HS arms that fit to the billing in this class. As much as college arm could help the major league team faster, I don’t want to settle for safety or proximity with our day 1 picks.

Sharing the Slightom bit from BA today.

Helium High School Pitchers

Illinois prep righthander Jack Slightom was one of our biggest up-arrow prospects in this year’s draft cycle, but he could still wind up going much higher than our No. 101 ranking suggests.

Slightom might be one of the most buzzy players in the class right now, with a chance to go inside the first 40 picks or even inside the first round proper. I projected him to the Rockies with the 37th overall pick in our most recent mock draft, though that was mostly to capture his up-the-board movement rather than being based on any specific link to Colorado.

Slightom checks a ton of boxes as a still-projectable 6-foot-4, 200-pound righthander with great athleticism, a fastball that has been trending up for a year now and excellent under-the-hood pitching data. That pitching data component seems to be a key piece of why he’s flying up the boards, as teams have gotten a chance to dig into his spring numbers with a bit more detail.

That, plus some strong in-person interviews at the combine, has a number of teams considering him more than 60 spots higher on the board than his current draft ranking.

Another prep righthander who has a chance to go early is Colorado righty Ethan Wachsmann.

He’s the top-ranked player from the state in this year’s class, with a bit more effort to his operation than Slightom, but he has a huge fastball that has already been up to 100 mph. Teams also think there are some easy player development gains that could be made at the next level as he learns to fully incorporate his lower half in his delivery and generally become a more efficient mover.

Other points in both Slightom and Wachsmann’s favor are that they are young for the class. Slightom will be 18.2 at the draft and Wachsmann will be 18.1.

36 minutes ago, Rusty_Kuntz said:

He concentrated a lot on football in high school, according to several of my buddies with connections to LT. That could be part of his issue with secondaries.

Yeah, I also just don't love High Schoolers at 98 and 99 MPH. Especially given his very limited track record dedicated to pitching.

My ideal pitching prospect sits about 92-94 in high school and grows into velocity as a pro. This, from what I've looked into in my life, gives you a better chance of avoiding injury and sustaining velo throughout your pro career. There are tons of stories of high schoolers drafted throwing 98+ in high school who peak at that velocity and trend downward as pros.

Projectable pitchers, at that age, have a better track record of success imo.

Edited 15 minutes ago15 min by Look at Ray Ray Run

25 minutes ago, DirtySox said:

If the Sox could shave off 500K from both Contreras and Thome and turn this into a 5 player class with another prep bat/arm I would actually be over the moon.

Yeah, that would be fantastic. I wonder how much value those guys would put on being part of a Sox org that (unfairly or not) will provide some level of preferential treatment given their fathers being members of the front office.

49 minutes ago, Rusty_Kuntz said:

He concentrated a lot on football in high school, according to several of my buddies with connections to LT. That could be part of his issue with secondaries.

I'll add he didn't look great in the outing I saw versus a pretty bad team. My buddy is not a fan of his as a prospect and doesn't think he could be a freshman starter for a big school like FSU, for whatever that is worth.