ICYMI: White Sox sign top draft pick Garrett Crochet

Garrett Crochet

Perhaps because of the labor negotiations, we neglected to mention that the White Sox signed their No. 1 draft pick, Garrett Crochet, on Monday.

Crochet, a left-handed pitcher out of Tennessee, received a $4,547,500 signing bonus, which is equal to the recommended slot value for the No. 11 overall pick in the draft.

Among the five Sox draft picks, second-rounder Jared Kelley and fifth-rounder Bailey Horn remain unsigned.

Kelley's slot value is $1,580,200, but as we stated in a previous blog, he's getting more than that. No doubt he's getting first-round money.

After signing Crochet for slot, the Sox have $3,157,300 remaining in their draft pool. The guess here is they can get Kelley in the fold if they offer him about $3 million.

White Sox have signed 2 of their 5 draft picks (but not the top 2)

Jim Callis, senior writer for MLB Pipeline, has been using his Twitter feed to keep the world updated on draft signings.

I'll spare you a lot of scrolling and just tell you that the White Sox have agreed on contracts with both third-round pick Adisyn Coffey and fourth-round pick Kade Mechals.

The Sox's top two picks, left-handed pitcher Garrett Crochet and right-handed pitcher Jared Kelley remain unsigned, although a tweet from MLB.com's Scott Merkin said Crochet would be in Chicago for a physical this week, and that contract could be wrapped up soon. Fifth-round pick Bailey Horn also remains unsigned.

Coffey, a right-handed pitcher and sometimes shortstop out of Wabash Valley Community College, signed with the Sox for $50,000, well below the slot value of $733,100.

Mechals, a right-handed pitcher out of Grand Canyon University, underwent Tommy John surgery in May, so he had no leverage in contract negotiations. He got the standard rate that you would normally assign to a college senior who was selected on the second day of the draft: $10,000. In case you were wondering, slot rate is $517,400.

So, if you combine the savings on these two underslot deals for Coffey and Mechals, you get $1,190,500 that the Sox can put toward signing Kelley for first-round money.

The slot value for Crochet is $4,547,000. The slot value for Kelley is $1,582,000. I'm expecting Crochet to get right at that figure, or somewhere in the neighborhood.

Assuming Crochet signs at slot, the Sox would have $3,157,300 remaining in their draft pool with which to sign Kelley and Horn. With the 5 percent overage, the Sox can spend as much as $3,545,540 before they would have to surrender future draft picks.

The slot value on Horn is $386,600. He doesn't have a lot of leverage here as a fifth-round pick, so expect most of that $3 million-plus to go to Kelley, who most people believe was a first-round talent who slid to the second round because of signability issues.

White Sox end up with two of the top 18 prospects in 2020 MLB Draft

There are two ways to look at the five pitchers the White Sox selected in the 2020 MLB Draft. Glass half full: They got two of the top 18 prospects in the draft. Glass half empty: Well, those two guys better pan out, because those other three guys are nothing special.

Believe it or not, the highest-rated player the Sox took in this draft was the guy they took in the *second* round. First-round pick Garrett Crochet was rated 18th overall by MLB Pipeline, while second-round pick Jared Kelley was ranked as the 12th-best prospect in the draft.

How did this happen? Well, let's go over it.

Kelley, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-handed pitcher out of Refugio High School in Texas, was considered the best high school arm in the draft. He can run his fastball up there in the high 90s, and he already has a changeup that he can use in games. The breaking ball is a work in progress, but this is a kid who has two pitches he can get outs with from day one.

Before the coronavirus ended high school baseball seasons everywhere, Kelley worked 12 innings this spring without allowing a hit. He struck out 34 batters and was named Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year.

So, how in the hell did the No. 12 prospect in the draft fall all the way to the Sox at pick No. 47? You could argue it's because of Kelley's lack of a slider, but the real reason is teams didn't think he would sign a contract. Kelley is committed to the University of Texas, and apparently, most clubs believed he intended to honor that commitment.

Not so fast, because the Sox are going to pay an overslot deal to sign him, and I'm sure they would not have chosen him had they not determined he was amenable to signing.

For those unfamiliar with the process, the Sox had a pool total of $7,764,800 that they could spend on their five draft picks. The No. 11 pick was slotted at $4,547,500, the No. 47 pick at $1,580,200 and so on.

The Sox might very well pay Crochet, the No. 11 overall pick, that $4,547,500. However, there's no question they are going to pay Kelley more than $1,580,200 to sign with them.

In fact, it's quite likely the Sox will pay most of that $7,764,800 on their first two picks. The other three guys? They will take whatever is left, and the Sox quite intentionally chose guys who aren't in position to command much:

Third round: Adisyn Coffey, RHP, Wabash Valley CC
Fourth round: Kade Mechals, RHP, Grand Canyon University
Fifth round: Bailey Horn, LHP, Auburn University

Coffey and Mechals weren't even ranked among the top 500 prospects in the draft. Mechals and Horn have already had Tommy John surgery. You can see how the Sox probably won't need much money to get these guys to sign on the dotted line.

Coffey is 21 years old, old for a junior college player, and he was slated to head to the University of Louisville, where he was going to pitch in the bullpen. But hey, he throws 95 mph and has a slider. Maybe that two-pitch mix will some day amount to something.

Mechals, a college senior, is a 5-foot-11 sinker-slider righty who is lauded for his command and pitchability. He had Tommy John surgery in May, so see you sometime in late 2021. Odds are, Mechals will be a guy who can provide competent innings as organizational filler in Triple-A Charlotte or Double-A Birmingham. A big-league career would be a pleasant surprise.

Horn, a 6-foot-2 lefty, is healthy after missing the 2018 season with Tommy John surgery. He made four starts at Auburn before the pandemic this spring, and he struck out 27 batters against five walks over 17.1 innings. The fastball sits at 92-93 mph. The slider is his second-best pitch, followed by his change. I've heard his curveball described as "meh."

In case you were wondering, the slot values for the third through fifth rounds are as follows:

Third round: $733,100
Fourth round: $517, 400
Fifth round: $386,600

I'm guessing those last three guys sign for below these figures, so that the first two guys -- especially Kelley -- can sign above theirs. Maybe Horn has a case to get the slot value, but Coffey and Mechals will definitely be below slot.

White Sox select left-handed pitcher Garrett Crochet in first round

Garrett Crochet

As expected, I had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned five players that the White Sox could draft with the No. 11 overall pick in Wednesday's MLB Draft.

The Sox, of course, selected none of those five players. They took left-handed pitcher Garrett Crochet out of the University of Tennessee.

I'm cool with taking a left-handed pitcher, even though Reid Detmers was my preference. Detmers was off the board when the Sox picked, however. He went No. 10 overall to the Los Angeles Angels.

When Crochet was chosen, the MLB Network guys compared him to Chris Sale. Um, OK.

I think there is some sort of rule that every player who gets picked in the first round has to be compared to someone who is a perennial All-Star, or somebody who is in the Hall of Fame. But I digress.

Crochet is a low-arm slot lefty with durability concerns. He's missed time in each of the past two seasons, with a broken jaw and then a sore shoulder. To be fair, the broken jaw came as a result of a line drive being hit right back at him, and what's a pitcher to do about that? That's just bad luck.

In any case, Crochet has the tools. His fastball sits at 96-100 mph, with the second-highest spin rate of any pitcher in the draft class. His slider is 70-grade, and it wipes out left-handed hitters. He's also got a changeup that he probably hasn't had to use much at Tennessee.

That actually sounds a little like Carlos Rodon when he came out of college. I'm not going to make the Sale comp, because Sale has three dominant pitches that he can throw for strikes in any count. Who has that? Not many people.

Crochet doesn't have great fastball command, and it's a pity he didn't get a chance to work on that this spring with the college baseball season being canceled.

Here's one way we might be able to draw a comparison between Crochet and Sale: Don't be surprised if Crochet comes to the big leagues quickly ... as a reliever. He's 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, and with his velocity and plus slider, he could probably pitch in certain situations out of the bullpen relatively quick. Given his arm angle and big body, he looks like a nightmare for lefty hitters.

Of course, with a first-round draft pick, you want more that just a situational pitcher. You want a cornerstone for your starting rotation. We'll see how the Sox plan to develop Crochet over the next year to 18 months.

5 players the White Sox could draft in the first round

The MLB Draft will be held Wednesday night, and the White Sox own the 11th overall selection. Who will they pick?

Under normal circumstances, you always say take the best player available, regardless of position, right? This isn't like the NFL or the NBA, where you're drafting for need and looking for immediate impact. In baseball, you figure even the best players available in the draft are a couple of seasons away from making a meaningful contribution, so it's folly to pick someone to address a need -- how can you guess what your needs will be two or three years from now?

Well, the Sox are in a unique situation. They have several young core position players under team control for the long term. Look at the roster, and you can find long-term solutions either already in place or on the way at first base, second base, shortstop, third base, left field and center field. The Sox also have an abundance of power right-handed starting pitchers.

You have to believe and hope that this core is still going to be around in two or three years, so the Sox might actually benefit from drafting for positions that don't have a long-term solution.

How about a young catcher? Yasmani Grandal is 31, and nobody really believes Zack Collins is the heir apparent anymore. How about a left-handed pitcher to complement the righties in the rotation? Maybe a left-handed bat? Aside from the switch-hitting Yoan Moncada, there aren't a lot of power sources from the left side in the lineup. Or, maybe the team needs to address its lack of middle infield depth.

With those things in mind, here are five guys the Sox could draft at No. 11 on Wednesday night:

1. Reid Detmers, LHP, Louisville: This 20-year-old pitcher is not overpowering, which is why he may slip down to the 11th spot in the draft, but he is widely considered the most polished college pitcher available. His fastball sits in the low 90s with good command. His curve is a plus pitch, and he's got a changeup too. He projects as a middle-of-the-rotation starter, and he could be a nice complement to a staff that is right-handed heavy.

2. Heston Kjerstad, OF, Arkansas: The Sox have two outfielders who are expected to be a part of the long-term plan in Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert. Both are right-handed bats. How about a left-handed bat to fill out the trio? Maybe Kjerstad can be that guy. He hit 37 home runs in 150 games at Arkansas. His college K rate (22%) is a little high, but the power that's needed to play a corner outfield spot is there.

3. Patrick Bailey, C, N.C. State: Grandal is under contract for three more years after this one, but there's nobody in the pipeline who looks like a candidate to replace him. So perhaps the switch-hitting Bailey is a fit. He's seen as a bat-first guy, but he's thought to be an adequate receiver with a good arm. Unlike Collins, the consensus seems to be that Bailey can stick at catcher as a professional.

4. Robert Hassell, OF, Independence (Tenn.) HS: The Sox have a long-standing reputation of playing it safe by taking college players, but if they want to gamble on a high school kid, they could do worse than Hassell. Some think he's the best high school hitter in this year's class, and if he's not, he's the second-best. Again, this is a left-handed hitter, something in short supply in the Sox's system. The hit tool is considered better than the power tool at this point, which you'd expect from an 18-year-old kid. Obviously, this would be a longer-term project.

5. Ed Howard, SS, Mount Carmel HS: Maybe the Sox take the local kid? Howard would be a longer-term project, but maybe he's ready for a shot about the time Tim Anderson reaches free agency. Howard projects as the best defensive shortstop in the draft. He's a plus athlete at 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, and most scouts say he's got the bat speed to hit for power one day. This is not a player who is a candidate for a position change. He's a shortstop, and he's a South Sider. He might be a reach at 11, but he's a definite first-rounder.

Of course, now that I've offered this opinion, the Sox will select someone who I haven't mentioned.

MLB Draft: White Sox take Carson Fulmer with eighth overall pick

The White Sox on Monday selected right-hander Carson Fulmer with the eighth overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft.

Fulmer is the staff ace at Vanderbilt, which won the 2014 College World Series and is headed back to Omaha after defeating Illinois in the super regional in Champaign this week. Fulmer was the winning pitcher in Vanderbilt's 13-0 win on Saturday.

For the season, Fulmer is 13-2 with a 1.82 ERA in 17 starts. He has fanned 152 hitters in 114 innings. Fulmer's fastball sits at 93-96 miles per hour, and his breaking ball is his strikeout pitch. Some scouts consider him to be the best pitcher in the college game this year, but there are question marks about his unorthodox delivery and frame.

Fulmer is 6 feet, 195 pounds. He doesn't fit the 6-foot-4 prototype that scouts drool over these days, so expect to hear questions about his durability. Some believe he projects as a relief pitcher for just that reason.

Of course, White Sox fans have heard that one before. Many scouts pegged Chris Sale as a relief pitcher because of his relatively slight frame and unorthodox delivery. The Sox, of course, made him a starter and have gotten three and a half years of excellent work from Sale in their rotation.

We'll see what the future holds for Fulmer. It might take a little while for the Sox to get him signed. They can't negotiate with him until the College World Series ends, and Vanderbilt might be playing in that all the way to the end.

White Sox select LHP Carlos Rodon with No. 3 overall pick

There are few rewards that come with suffering through a 99-loss season -- other than getting a high pick in the following June's MLB First-Year Player Draft.

Accordingly, the White Sox had the No. 3 overall pick as a result a disastrous 2013 campaign, and on Thursday they used it to select pitcher Carlos Rodon, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound left-hander out of North Carolina State.

Rodon came into the spring as the consensus top prospect in the draft. An inconsistent college season caused his stock to slip slightly, but the Sox were obviously unmoved. Rodon was widely considered the best college pitcher in the draft, and quite possibly, the most major league ready pitcher in the draft.

The left-hander has a fastball that sits in the mid- to low-90s consistently and can occasionally touch 96 or 97 mph. But it is his slider that might get him to the big leagues quickly.

"When they can bury a slider on the back foot of a right-handed hitter and get it in under his hands, then you know a guy has a really good one," White Sox scouting director Doug Laumann told MLB.com. "It's a dominant pitch. That's not to take away anything from his fastball and changeup, which are also plus pitches."

Rodon was overpowering during his 2013 sophomore campaign at N.C. State, going 10-3 with a 2.99 ERA and racking up 184 strikeouts against just 45 walks in 132.1 innings. This spring, his junior season was considered not quite as strong, but the numbers still look good despite a mediocre 6-7 won-loss record. Rodon posted a 2.01 ERA and fanned 117 against 31 walks in 98.2 innings.

As with all prospects, it's impossible to know for certain how Rodon will do once he signs a contract and joins the White Sox organization, but the team was smart to draft pitching in the first round. The Sox have a couple holes in their big-league rotation now, and aside from the struggling Erik Johnson, they don't have a lot of starting pitchers on the farm who are close to big-league ready.

Some say Rodon might be in the majors before this year is over, possibly in a situational relief role. Thinking optimistically, perhaps he could challenge for a rotation spot sometime in 2015.

If he does crack the rotation sometime before 2016, that would give the Sox four left-handed starting pitchers -- with Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and John Danks already in place.

For some reason, the idea of having four left-handed starters is a source of much consternation among Chicago media. I fail to see why that's a big deal. When the White Sox won the World Series in 2005, four of their five starting pitchers were right-handed. In fact, quite a few teams have four right-handers in their rotation. If a team has four lefties, so what? How is that different and what's the big deal?

Just find me five guys who can pitch. I don't care if they are left-handed or right-handed.

Speaking of right-handed pitchers, the Sox used their second-round selection on Spencer Adams from White County High School in Georgia.

Adams was ranked the 27th-best prospect by MLB and 21st-best prospect by Baseball America, so the Sox probably felt fortunate to see him available at No. 44 overall.

The right-hander has mid-90s fastball. The slider is his second-best pitch. He also features a curveball and a changeup.

The First-Year Player Draft continues Friday with Rounds 3 through 10. The event concludes Saturday with Rounds 10 through 40.