With the Major League Baseball draft moved back a month, the outlets that project the selections haven't been turning over such information on as reliable a schedule, making the roundups of those projections threadbare and/or disjointed.
I'm pleased to report that with only two weeks before the draft is set to commence on July 11 during the All-Star break, said outlets have finally gotten their acts together, allowing us to compare and contrast results with information that's closer to contemporary.
The result: A rare amount of agreement, especially at the bottom third of the draft. It only takes one surprising pick in the 21 spots above to throw everything for a loop. For the time being, every outlook is coalescing around one specific prep infielder, one which Josh wrote about on Thursday for Patreon supporters:
PATREON EXCLUSIVE: A look at Colson Montgomery
* * * * * * * * *
Baseball America (June 25)
- White Sox select: Colson Montgomery, 3B, Southridge HS (Huntingburg, Ind.)
- Previous mock: Chase Petty, RHP, Mainland Regional HS, Linwood, N.J.
Carlos Collazo's view: "The White Sox have been linked to plenty of power-oriented prep bats, including Montgomery, James Wood, Peyton Stovall and Wes Kath. Montgomery seems to be one of the hottest names in recent weeks with plenty of landing spots, but both Chicago teams are mentioned most frequently with him."
* * * * * * * * *
Keith Law (June 24)
- White Sox select: Montgomery
- Previous mock: Petty
Law's view: "The White The White Sox come up the most around Montgomery’s name, while they’ve also been linked to Chase Petty and Isaac Pacheco, whom they were on heavily late in his season."
* * * * * * * * *
MLB.com (June 23)
Jim Callis' view: "The White Sox are targeting several high school bats, including Montgomery, Mack, Arizona third baseman Wes Kath, California shortstop Max Muncy and Louisiana second baseman Peyton Stovall.."
* * * * * * * * *
ESPN (June 18)
- White Sox select: Montgomery
- Previous mock: Jaden Hill, RHP, LSU
Kiley McDaniel's view: "Montgomery and SoCal prep SS Max Muncy have been tied to the White Sox most and at least one of them will be here, possibly both. After years of picking near the top with more conservative college prospects, teams expect the White Sox to make an upside play here."
* * * * * * * * *
FanGraphs (June 14)
The joint list of Eric Longenhagen and Kevin Goldstein is nearly two weeks old and only goes 17 picks deep in an official capacity, but they, too, cite the man of the hour.
Arizona high school shortstop Wes Kath has suitors toward the back of the first round, including the White Sox and the Rays. The Rays had three scouts at Kath’s last game. Beyond the Mariners rumors, the White Sox scouting director and a Yankees national cross checker were both at Michael McGreevy’s final start, though it wasn’t a great outing for the right-hander. The White Sox have been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Colson Montgomery late in the first round.
* * * * * * * * *
The question is if the White Sox like him so much that everybody expects Montgomery to go at No. 22, will somebody ahead like him as much as the White Sox and be as willing to devote a certain share of their draft pool?
He seems to be getting a lot of heat at the MLB draft combine:
... and his name also surfaced at various points ahead of the White Sox at No. 22.
- MLB Pipeline: Rockies (No. 8), Mets (No. 10), Giants (No. 14), Cubs (No. 21)
- Baseball America: Mets, Marlins (No. 16), Cubs
- Keith Law: Mets
For what it's worth, Josh represented the White Sox in Prospects Live's video mock draft, and he was able to draft both Montgomery and Muncy. His first pick is at 1:51:45, and his second one comes in at 3:59:58.
(Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)