The Sunday before the All-Star break used to be known as the last day of the first half, but now it's also the first day of the MLB draft. You can follow the madness starting at 6 p.m. CT on NLB Network and ESPN. In a change from years past, only the first picks will be made this year, with the second through 10th rounds commencing on Day 2.
We'll have a DraftThread as usual, and Josh will be hosting the Sox Machine Draft Show on Twitter Spaces. Follow him at @soxmachine_josh and be ready for his pick-by-pick coverage. In the meantime, check out our 2021 draft coverage, in which Josh has covered the hell out of the various scenarios the White Sox could choose when it's time for the 22nd pick.
Below, I've rounded up the most recent summaries of mock drafts from the top five outlets, although at least one of them is expected to drop a significant update in the morning. I'll update this post if the revisions are limited, but if there's a flurry of mocks later in the day with substantial disagreement, I may post one last scrape before the picks start coming.
There's still a consensus prospect of the bunch, and Josh covered him in a Patreon-exclusive post a few weeks ago.
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ESPN (5:30 p.m. CT)
- White Sox select: Max Muncy, SS, Thousand Oaks HS (CA)
- Previous mock: Colson Montgomery, 3B, Southridge HS (Huntingburg, Ind.)
Kiley McDaniel’s view: “I think they're hoping for Colson Montgomery and are probably his floor, but I think this pick will come down to Muncy and Joe Mack. The backup options are mostly the leftover college arms, with McGreevy the only one who makes it here. Keep an eye on Cody Morissette, Andrew Abbott and some power prep arms (Painter, Jackson Baumeister, Petty, Chase Burns) at their later picks.”
Colson Montgomery goes one pick ahead of the White Sox to the Cubs at No. 21. McDaniel says Montgomery and catcher Joe Mack are in the mix.
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Baseball America (4:30 p.m. CT)
- White Sox select: Mongomery
- Previous mock: Montgomery
There was no change for the White Sox in BA's final update.
Carlos Collazo’s view: “Montgomery is heavily associated with the White Sox and would make sense here if he’s available. We’ve also started to hear more college arms to the White Sox lately, so perhaps they were happy with the Garrett Crochet selection a year ago. Previously we’d heard them tied to plenty of prep bats, which still should be in consideration—names like Peyton Stovall, James Wood, Wes Kath or Izaac Pacheco could still make sense for this pick or later ones.”
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FanGraphs (Today)
- White Sox select: Joe Mack, C, Williamsville East HS (East Amherst, N.Y.)
- Previous mock: Montgomery
Eric Longenhagen and Kevin Goldstein's view: "We don’t have enough room to list the high school position players the White Sox are considering with this pick. If there is a prep bat rumored to go anywhere from 20-50 on Sunday, he’s likely somewhere in their mix. They would love for Colson Montgomery to still be on the board for them, but that seems unlikely at this point. Teams think Jay Allen will come off the board sooner than we have him mocked here and he’s a player type fit with Chicago, but we have no hard intel connecting Allen and the Sox. Scouts vary wildly in their power projection for Mack, ranging from fringy to plus, but he’s a real catcher with a plus arm, and evaluators have more of a consensus in their praise for his hit tool. Chicago’s scouting director saw Michael McGreevy’s last outing for UC Santa Barbara, so maybe he fits here, but it wasn’t a great look."
Montgomery is long gone in this scenario, as the Mets take him with the 10th pick.
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MLB.com (Today)
- White Sox select (Callis): Mack
- White Sox select (Mayo): Montgomery
- Previous mock: Jud Fabian, OF, Florida
MLB Pipepline delivers a dueling mock draft between its experts, and while they disagree over the pick, it's mostly because Jim Callis has Montgomery going to the Cubs one pick earlier.
Jim Callis' view: "Besides Colson Montgomery, the White Sox are tied to a slew of high school bats: Mack, shortstop Max Muncy, third baseman Wes Kath and second baseman Peyton Stovall. But they may want a college arm (East Carolina right-hander Gavin Williams, Saint Mary's left-hander Ky Bush, McGreevy, Cusick) and also could take Fabian."
Jonathan Mayo's view: "It’s quite possible Montgomery will be gone, in which case the White Sox could go the college bat route with Jud Fabian."
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Keith Law (July 9)
- White Sox select: Montgomery
- Previous mock: Montgomery
Law’s view: “All spring it’s been Colson Montgomery, Chase Petty and Pacheco for the White Sox. They might have their pick of all three."
