The new slate of mock drafts are arriving, fueled by more inside information and industry speculation of what could happen on July 11. As we move forward, I'm confident you'll see fewer mocks having Jack Leiter or Kumar Rocker slated to go number one overall to Pittsburgh. If I had to guess, the Pirates are taking a prep shortstop to help lead their rebuild efforts under Ben Cherington.
Suddenly options that we thought were reserved in the first four picks may find a way for those prospects to drop later in the Top 10. One such prospect is Rocker, one of our best friends of the Sox Machine Podcast, Jim Callis, who has mocked to Arizona. If the Diamondbacks don't take Rocker, it's almost certain that the Kansas City Royals will. So even if the Detroit Tigers pass on either Vandy Boy, it doesn't necessarily mean they will escape the AL Central.
That's one trend. Another is ignoring the defensive position a prospect currently plays at and instead focusing more on if the player can hit. We see that with the White Sox and Andrew Vaughn. Never considered to have the necessary skills to play the outfield, Vaughn is handling himself well despite little to no prior experience. That's giving scouts an idea. The White Sox ignored the defensive position because they needed Vaughn's bat to fill in the void left behind by Eloy Jimenez.
An excellent example in this draft class is Harry Ford. His draft stock continues to rise despite prep catchers' lousy track record. That's not what scouts are focused on. If Ford sticks at catcher, great, but what makes him a Top-15 talent is his hitting ability. As long as Ford continues to develop as a hitter, his future MLB team will decide what his defensive position will be later. With the slew of injuries we see across MLB, it's beneficial to have players learn multiple positions.
The bat is more important than the glove in this upcoming draft.
2021 MLB Draft Bonus Pool and Slot Values
Back to our friend, Jim Callis, he shared this year's MLB Draft Bonus Pool and Slot Values today. The Chicago White Sox 2021 MLB Draft pool is $6,618,600. Their first three round slot values are below:
1st Round: $3,027,000
2nd Round: $1,243,600
3rd Round: $618,200
For Round 4 to 10, the White Sox have a total of $1,729,800. Suppose they continue to follow their recent trend of frontloading bonus money in the first three rounds by drafting prospects who'll sign for $20K. In that case, there could be $1,589,800 to go over slot in Rounds 1-3.
If I were advising Rick Hahn, that would be my plan. Take $756,400 and add it to the 2nd Round bonus slot to draft a prospect who'll sign for $2 million (Equal to Pick 37). Then the remaining $833,400 adds to the 3rd Round giving scouts $1,451,600 to persuade a potential draftee.
Or push Round 2 slot bonus to equal $3 million and get two first-round talent players in this draft. The White Sox need more premium talent in their pipeline. I would advise quality over quantity and that strategy requires a lot of money.
A Look at Andrew Painter
Baseball America, in their third mock draft, had the Chicago White Sox taking Andrew Painter. Now Callis is also mocking Painter to the White Sox at Pick 22. I, unfortunately, don't have any information from my sources to say how hot on the Painter trail the Sox are.
I like this idea, though, of the White Sox adding another premium prep arm in Painter. Ranked #17 on the MLB Draft Average Rankings, the 18-year old from Florida is regarded as one of the best prep pitchers in this year's draft class. At times considered the best, but Jackson Jobe started to throw his slider more with elite metrics, and he's leaped over Painter in the rankings.
Painter is tall, standing at 6'7", and currently weighs 200lbs. A bit lean, but has good body control that Painter displays a repeatable delivery. He has a four pitch mix: four-seamer, slider, curveball, and changeup. Velocity has peaked at 97 mph and usually sits between 93-96 mph during his starts this Spring.
What I like most about Painter is the advanced feel for the craft at his age. Some prep pitchers in this class hone in on one premium offering that gets scouts drooling and hope that carries them to first-round bonus money. I can't blame that strategy. When I watch Painter, he's more of the total package. He is comfortable locating his fastball in each quadrant and not afraid in a hitter's count to spin a slider or curve. Painter has been racking more strikeouts in his high school season with a circle changeup that he admits is a work in progress.
Painter's profile, I assumed, would be Top-15 material and wouldn't be available to the White Sox at Pick 22. It's not a talent dropoff why Painter is a possibility for the White Sox based on other reports. It seems that teams lacking or desiring bats may reach in the Top 15 for prospects, and thus talent like Painter fall. It's hard not to be impressed watching film on Painter, and I'd rather have the White Sox draft him over someone like Wake Forest's Ryan Cusick.
Painter is committed to Florida, so we'll see if there are any signability concerns. He's mentioned in other interviews that he desires a setup with a pro team that provides hands-on assistance. Not just in player development but also with nutrition. The White Sox would have to prove they have furthered these areas in the lower minors as they have to compete against Florida's brand new baseball facilities.
I'm slotting Painter in the top echelon of possible draft targets for the White Sox. Still, I'm reserving excitement until things are a bit clearer as we march towards July.
