White Sox select infielder Nick Madrigal with No. 4 pick in MLB draft

In a decision that wasn't surprising, the White Sox selected Oregon State infielder Nick Madrigal with the No. 4 overall pick in Monday's MLB draft.

Madrigal has been playing second base this season, but has played shortstop in the past. His fielding percentage is 1.000, and his offensive slash isn't half-bad either: .406/.470/.586 with three home runs, four triples, seven doubles, 32 RBIs and 32 runs scored in 32 games.

Unlike other Sox prospects, the hit tool seems to be Madrigal's strength. He has only struck out five times in 133 at-bats this season, and some consider him to be the best pure hitter in this year's draft.

Coming into the draft, the debate seemed to be whether the Sox would select Madrigal or Florida pitcher Brady Singer.

Me personally, I'm normally someone who says, "When in doubt, take the pitcher." This time, I broke from the norm and wanted the Sox to take a position player.

From everything I've seen and read, the only pitcher in this year's draft worth a top-5 selection was Auburn right-hander Casey Mize. Detroit took Mize first overall, as expected, and there was never a thought he'd still be on the board for the Sox at No. 4.

I think Singer can be a good pitcher, but I didn't see him as good enough to merit being drafted in the top 5. MLB executives seemed to agree, as Singer fell to Kansas City as the 18th overall selection.

Madrigal was a consensus top-5 pick in every mock draft I saw, so this seems to be a reasonable selection by the Sox.

But he's a middle infielder, you say. What about Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada? Yes, indeed the Sox have a pair of young players in the middle infield that they hope to make cornerstones of their future. However, if Madrigal pans out, and the Sox have too many good players in the middle infield, that's the sort of problem every team would like to have.

And, it's the opposite problem that the Sox have had for most of this decade, which is not enough good players at any position. Thumbs-up for more depth and more options.