Our last couple of drafts had yield guys like Thompson, Mitchell, and Walker. Guys who are fairly young, and are tremendous athletes. Picks like Hawkins and Barnum are along the same line, albeit a bit younger. My pet peeve about the draft so far is both players could have serious contact issues, they could have more power and be just as good an athlete as Thompson, but if they are striking out once every three ABs, they will be more risk than reward.

 

I am not going to pretend I know too much about other prospects, but I was hoping the Sox would nab a guy who can hit for great contact, and could just be average across other areas, something our organization is missing from top to bottom.

 

 

That's exactly who the Cubs drafted with their first-rounder.

 

We'll see which team was right.

Our last couple of drafts had yield guys like Thompson, Mitchell, and Walker. Guys who are fairly young, and are tremendous athletes. Picks like Hawkins and Barnum are along the same line, albeit a bit younger. My pet peeve about the draft so far is both players could have serious contact issues, they could have more power and be just as good an athlete as Thompson, but if they are striking out once every three ABs, they will be more risk than reward.

 

I am not going to pretend I know too much about other prospects, but I was hoping the Sox would nab a guy who can hit for great contact, and could just be average across other areas, something our organization is missing from top to bottom.

The guys you listed are all unfinished products, so we shouldn't jump to conclusions about them yet. However, they all have a chance to be impact players, which is exactly what you should be targeting with your 1st & 2nd round picks. Obviously I wish the guys we drafted yesterday had better contact skills right now, but if they did they wouldn't be available when we picked them. Therefore, you're left with guys with some flaws or can take lower ceiling players. IMO, you always take the potential impact player if available.

Love Toronto's draft, solely because the three players they picked were all three linked to us and I was following them all, DJ Davis, Stroman, Smoral. Still shocked by the first two picks being high school position players.

Sox close to signing Barnum already.....

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,6238601.story

 

That means KW has been on this guy for a while.

Hawkins pick looks really promising. Barnum appears to have been a reach, but as others have said, I don't mind that in the comp round. And the kid does have a very high ceiling as well. Complete change in draft philosophy than several years ago. I'm happy with the day 1 picks

Hawkins pick looks really promising. Barnum appears to have been a reach, but as others have said, I don't mind that in the comp round. And the kid does have a very high ceiling as well. Complete change in draft philosophy than several years ago. I'm happy with the day 1 picks

 

His PG profile tells a different story than some of the scouting reports here.

 

"Plus, the ball comes off Barnum’s wood bat with a sound that every baseball scout recognizes but that few hitters can duplicate. While Barnum’s loose, fast and extended swing produces some titanic batting practice bombs and makes the field look small at times, he has a somewhat different game approach. You don’t see the lift, length and extension as much against live pitching. Barnum has a very mature ability for a big power hitter to let the ball get deep, stay inside the ball and line the ball to the gaps. You rarely see him take the big swing-and-miss cut many similarly talented hitters of all ages will unleash (especially the aforementioned Ryan Howard), but you are likely to see Barnum square up on a 92 mph fastball and line the ball firmly over the shortstop’s head. He’s also a patient hitter who is used to being pitched to backwards and he will sometimes become a bit too patient and watch a mistake pitch in his wheelhouse go by unchallenged."

 

 

http://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerp....aspx?ID=261982

I am happy with this draft....so far. Usually I am calling for a regime change by this point. Both kids have a lot of upside, much like Trayce Thompson has, but neither are as raw as Trayce was coming into the system. They are also a departure from the Keenyn Walker/Jared Mitchell types that rely mainly on athleticism/speed to be productive.

 

To me, it is all about projectability and where would you see Hawkins and Barnum being drafted in three years. Barnum sounds more like a LH Big Hurt in the profile from PG with his ability to drive the ball and remain patient at the plate. Hawkins seems more like a more athletic version of Viciedo. If thats what the Sox feel their ceilings are, then they are great picks.

Keith Law mentions Keon Barnum one of the worst picks of last night. Just one man's opinion. This pick was definitely a reach, but I like White Sox change in philosophy going after some high ceiling high school players. It will be interesting to see if they pick any more high school players in the 2nd or 3rd round. After the 3rd round majority of solid high school picks will be looking to enroll in college because the new financial hit. High school players are the strength of this draft, eventhough it's one the weakest drafts in years.

Draft starts again today at 11am Chicago time and will cover rounds 2-15 today. Rounds 16-40 are tomorrow.

Keith Law mentions Keon Barnum one of the worst picks of last night.

Duh.

Remember everyone, if you want to "adopt" a prospect, just go to this thread and claim him. Also, this thread shows who has what prospects right now, and who is available.

 

First post for a given draft pick gets that AAP, so post in that first linked thread above as the draft picks come in.

 

Keith Law also wanted to take a high school pitcher with arm issues #1 overall. Keith Law also doesn't work for an MLB organization anymore after he "resigned". He's entitled to his opinion but I don't put much weight into his.

Keith Law...

I could have stopped you right there. I've stopped taking what he says into consideration.

With the first two prospects considered very signable I wonder if KW eyes a tougher sign like Alford or Kelly in the second round.

Keith Law mentions Keon Barnum one of the worst picks of last night. Just one man's opinion. This pick was definitely a reach, but I like White Sox change in philosophy going after some high ceiling high school players. It will be interesting to see if they pick any more high school players in the 2nd or 3rd round. After the 3rd round majority of solid high school picks will be looking to enroll in college because the new financial hit. High school players are the strength of this draft, eventhough it's one the weakest drafts in years.

 

Chicago White Sox

The pick: Keon Barnum at No. 48

Summary: I'm guessing Barnum, a big kid with a terrible habit of swinging and missing, was off a lot of draft boards as unsignable for worth, meaning he wasn't a strong enough prospect to merit buying him out of a commitment to Miami. They got a steal at No. 13 with Courtney Hawkins, but Barnum had me and many scouts scratching our heads.

I actually know the 27th overall pick, Victor Roache. Played against him in HS in Michigan, guess that guy developed big time because he was scouted heavily in HS but never performed that well, at least not against my team.

One thing that stood out to me regarding Hawkins, sounds like the Sox had scouts at practically every game he played at. They definitely appeared to do there homework on Hawkins. That makes me very happy and i'm guessing that was the case with a lot of the guys they were looking at in the earliest rounds. Makes you wonder if the Sox saw something in Bynum other teams didn't.

 

Seems like there are a mixed bag of answers but some scouts saw a guy with patience who hit scorcing liners, but in BP, crushed the ball. Depending on how you project him, that could be a guy that could project as a .300 plus hitter with big time power. If that is the case, fantastic. In fact, some reports have both of the bats the Sox taking as being guys who can hit for a high average. When you add in there overall power potential, it is those projections (which I'm assuming the Sox scouts saw) which are the reason we see these guys picked where they were.

 

Plus Hawkins is a plus athlete.

Draft is back underway.

72nd pick on the clock, Sox sit at #76

Can I call him my Adapt - A - Prospect?

Maybe this is a bit superstitious on my part, but wait until the pick signs before making the threat.

 

White Sox on the clock in round 2.

White Sox are on the clock. Can you say pitching, pitching and more pitching right here.

Chris Beck RHP Georgia Southern

Nice. Chris Beck. Hard thrower, some project him as a reliever, but the dude has a strong arm. College pitcher from Georgia Southern. He was a top 10 pick in the preseason BA rankings. He did not have a good season, however, the guy was tremendous in the cape cod league. Beck has the stuff to be a front of the rotation starter though. This is a really sweet pick. I'm giddy.

Great pick in Beck!!