The White Sox haven't signed the first three players they selected in this year's draft, but the dominoes should start to fall now that first-overall pick Adley Rutschman has agreed to terms with the Baltimore Orioles. Rutschman's deal -- reported at $8.1 million by Jim Callis -- isn't the full top slot value ($8,415,300), but it breaks Gerrit Cole's 2011 bonus as a new record, and it should stand for a while.
As we wait for the White Sox to come to terms with Andrew Vaughn, Matthew Thompson and Andrew Dalquist, James Fegan talked to their collegiate and high school coaches to find out how they ended up getting drafted in the first three rounds. Regarding Vaughn, for example:
“The scariest thing with him is he can hit the ball out of the ballpark to all fields,” [California's Rick] Neu said. “You get a guy that just has some pull power, you can take away that pull power for the most part and maybe just have him hit a single. Maybe he’ll beat you with some singles and that’s OK, but he can legitimately hit to all fields. It’s a really rare combination of being a big-time power guy but also a big-time hitter. There’s really no method to getting him out. It’s not ‘we’re just going to pitch him in’ or ‘we’re just going to throw him all breaking balls’ or ‘we’re going to pitch him off the plate away.’ He can damage you in any type of situation against any type of pitcher, and that’s what scary. That’s why a lot of teams just decided to not pitch to him.”
Speaking of unsigned-as-of-yet players, FanGraphs unveiled its updated board for international prospects as the July 2 signing period approaches, and the White Sox are tied to 22-year-old Cuban shortstop Yolbert Sanchez, who ranks 18th. Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel previously called Sanchez a "$2-4 million type prospect," saying his defense is ahead of his offense. Also, "Yolbert" sounds like "Yolmer" when said with a head cold.
Durham 7, Charlotte 2
- Daniel Palka went 1-for-4 with a double and a K.
- Danny Mendick was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Seby Zavala was 1-for-3 with his 11th homer, a walk and a strikeout.
- Ross Detwiler was pulled after two innings. Not sure what that means.
Birmingham 7, Chattanooga 5
- Luis Robert went 2-for-5 with a double, two strikeouts and a stolen base.
- Nick Madrigal went 3-for-4 with a walk and two steals.
- Luis Gonzalez, 2-for-3 with a sac fly, HBP and a stolen base.
- Blake Rutherford singled four times and struck out once.
- Gavin Sheets was 1-for-5 with a K.
- Ti'Quan Forbes, 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Laz Rivera went 1-for-5.
- John Parke's Double-A debut: 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 HR
Winston-Salem 3, Myrtle Beach 1
- Steele Walker went 1-for-3 with an HBP and a stolen base.
- Jonathan Stiever aced his High-A debut: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
AZL White Sox 8, AZL D-backs 0
- James Beard doubled, singled, walked and struck out twice.
- Sidney Pimentel singled twice, struck out twice and got plunked once.
- Jose Rodriguez went 2-for-5 with a homer, triple and strikeout.
- DJ Gladney wore the golden sombrero.
- Bryan Ramos went 1-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout.
- Josue Guerrero went 1-for-4 with a K.
- Jacob Lindgren: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
DSL D-backs1 9, DSL White Sox 1
- Anthony Espinoza went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Benyamin Bailey, 1-for-3 with two walks and a stolen base.
- Alberto Bernal went 0-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout.
- Jefferson Mendoza walked thrice and struck out once.
- Cesar Jimenez went 1-for-4.
