White Sox hope MLB Draft helps continue team’s progress

Welcome to your first draft as White Sox director of amateur scouting, Mike Shirley.

Not only will Shirley, who was promoted in September to replace Nick Hostetler, be at the helm of his first draft in that capacity, but he’ll also navigate it through uncharted territory. This draft, with one round plus compensation picks Wednesday (37 players in all) and four more rounds Thursday, will only be five rounds. Blame the coronavirus pandemic which scrubbed high school and college seasons everywhere.

It will be short. And sweet? It almost has to be for the Sox, who have the 11th pick.

“You want to get five right,” Shirley said. “The thing that’s most interesting about this draft is it’s a deep draft. You feel good about the selections you’re going to get. It’s a heavy pitching draft and it’s a depth of college pitching draft. And there are high school pitchers that we really like.

“We are prepared for any scenario that rolls off the board.”

The Sox also have their eyes on hitters, including switch-hitting catcher Patrick Bailey of North Carolina State, who is linked on multiple mock drafts to the Sox but might not make it to 11, left-handed hitting California high school catcher/third baseman Tyler Soderstrom and college outfielders Heston Kjerstad (Arkansas) and Garrett Mitchell (UCLA).

Louisville left-handed pitcher Reid Detmers of Springfield is the best player who could fall to the Sox, MLB Pipeline expert Jim Callis said. Scouts love his sweeping curveball. The Sox probably would be fortunate to see right-handers Max Meyer of Minnesota or Emerson Hancock of Georgia fall to 11, but Tennessee lefty Garrett Crochet might be there for the taking.

And what about Mount Carmel High School shortstop Ed Howard? He went through the Sox’ ACE program, is friendly with shortstop Tim Anderson and excels defensively. Howard seems like a perfect match, but he’s projecting closer to the middle or late rounds.

Because of social distancing restrictions and limited travel, scouts have been off the road since March. A 20-year veteran in the Sox scouting department, Shirley suggests he was, on the heels of his promotion, “more giddy than most” and “prepared extremely well” before the shutdown. Personal interaction with players, with the help of Zoom technology, was at an all-time high, giving scouts a better grasp of player makeup than ever before.

“It’s been different due to the fact that obviously the world stopped about the middle of March in terms of baseball and our ability to be boots on the ground,” Shirley said.

Undrafted players will be limited to sign for $20,000. It presents an unprecedented scenario for which “we have no playbook for,” Shirley said.

“We have a list of players we’ve been active with that we hope after the draft is over, if they’re available and they want to sign, we hope they want to be White Sox.”

When we last saw the Sox, they were about two weeks shy of starting a season with an arrow pointing up, built at last after three seasons of rebuilding to compete with a mix of veterans and young talent cultivated through trades, drafts and the international market.

“We’re looking to get our bus moving in the right direction, or continue moving in the direction we’re all excited about,” Shirley said. “We’re excited about where the White Sox are. There is so much exhilaration about where this organization is, and to continue to add to this and make this thing right.

“It’s different having five rounds but we feel really good about this draft.”

SOX DRAFT INFO

When: Wednesday, 6 p.m., ESPN, MLB Network (Round 1). Thursday, 4 p.m., ESPN2, MLB Network (Rounds 2-5).

Picks: 11, 47, 83, 112, 142

Last 10 first-round picks: 2019 1B Andrew Vaughn, 2018 2B Nick Madrigal, 2017 3B Jake Burger, 2016 C Zack Collins and RHP Zack Burdi, 2015 RHP Carson Fulmer, 2014 LHP Carlos Rodon, 2013 SS Tim Anderson, 2012 OF Courtney Hawkins, 2011 OF Keenyn Walker, 2010 LHP Chris Sale.