With the eighth pick overall in the 2008 MLB Draft the White Sox selected drum roll some guy we may never hear of after he gets a fat signing bonus, shortstop Gordon Beckham.
Actually, that might not be the case, which the Sox are counting on.
Duane Shaffer, who was in charge of the teams draft until he was fired last season, has received a lot of the blame with the Sox inadequate farm system, as his philosophy seemed to be drafting the safe player. In other words, a bunch of soft-throwing right-handed pitchers that could best be described as finesse.
But general manager Ken Williams took over last year, and had even more responsibility this season with the dismissal of Dave Wilder.
Last June, Williams took left-handed power pitcher Aaron Poreda, and now followed that up with Beckham.
The Georgia shortstop was considered the sixth best overall player in the draft, according to Baseball America. Hes a middle infielder that has power to all fields, as well as an ability to hit for average.
The right-handed hitter is a late bloomer, going undrafted out of high school, but now seems to be on a quick path to the big leagues.
Mel Kiper Says: “That’s the steal of the draft. The Sox can shut down their computers and go home. It’s over. I give their draft an A+.”
By the way, the Mel Kiper used for this blog is my building engineer, who I’ve nicknamed Mel Kiper because of his nifty hairdo.
