How the Sox landed two of the top 20 in the draft

[Lake Shore Drive]

How the Sox landed two of the best players in the draft

Still amazes me that we got Kelley in the 2nd round. And while nothing's official yet, it does appear he's going to sign, thanks to a larger bonus than what would normally be allocated for his slot. Of course, it was at the expense of taking much lower ranked players in the 3-5 draft spots. But that's a small price to pay, especially when considering our minors are considered fairly deep overall.

 

[richig07]

Still amazes me that we got Kelley in the 2nd round.

This was my first thought based on nothing more than reading his bio.

As a junior he was basically the GOAT high school pitcher. lol. 0.22 ERA, hardly ever gave up a hit, and averaged over 2 K's per inning. National Gatorade Player of the Year.

Why did he fall to the 2nd? No senior season and scouts didn't get a long look at him? Thinking they had another year to do so?

Was his area in Texas super small and he dominated low level talent?

I was just reading about him and was like "There has to be an explanation".

 

[richig07]

Oh, and if this pair could avoid Tommy John whilst moving up through our organization. That would be LOVELY!

 

[Mingo]

This was my first thought based on nothing more than reading his bio.

As a junior he was basically the GOAT high school pitcher. lol. 0.22 ERA, hardly ever gave up a hit, and averaged over 2 K's per inning. National Gatorade Player of the Year.

Why did he fall to the 2nd? No senior season and scouts didn't get a long look at him? Thinking they had another year to do so?

Was his area in Texas super small and he dominated low level talent?

I was just reading about him and was like "There has to be an explanation".

His High School in Refugio (pronouced re - fur - eo) would have played ball around the corpus christi area. Nolan Ryan came from Refugio.

One criticism of him is he played suspect competition, but they play good baseball down in South Texas.

Another criticism is he is fully filled out - and therefore - he doesn't project to get bigger or stronger -he is at his upside.

Some say he doesn't look athletic and has no breaking ball.

On the good side - He will probably be ready to pitch in the Bigs inside of three years. He is accurate with the fastball which approaches 100 mph and has a top spin rate. His Changeup is very effective and accurate (IMO the changeup is the hardest pitch to master). The White Sox are famous for teaching the Slider so Kelley couldn't be in a better place to learn an effective breaking ball. He shows the same easy effortless motion for both the fastball and the changeup.

In terms of highly rated pitching prospects in the System - the Sox have Stiever, Thompson and Dalquist and now add - Kelley and Crochet. The Sox are back filling the starting pitching which is very wise.

Next is maybe signing a few more Cubans.

 

[richig07]

Next is maybe signing a few more Cubans.

I mean, when isn't that next for us?

It may even be a requirement during White Sox staff meetings to end every thought with "Then, after we do that, next is maybe to sign more Cubans".

 

[Mingo]

I mean, when isn't that next for us?

It may even be a requirement during White Sox staff meetings to end every thought with "Then, after we do that, next is maybe to sign more Cubans".

Fortunately for the White Sox - in Cuba there isn't much else to do but make more Cubans.

 

[ChiSoxFan]

Oh, and if this pair could avoid Tommy John whilst moving up through our organization. That would be LOVELY!

Seconded.

Kudos to Rick Hahn for this draft. Kelley falling to 47th is like getting that rare winning scratch off lotto ticket.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Some say he doesn't look athletic

Yet he was athletic enough to toss 54 TD passes in his sophomore season as he led his school to the state championship that year. I'm more than happy with his "lack" of athleticism.

 

[richig07]

Yet he was athletic enough to toss 54 TD passes in his sophomore season as he led his school to the state championship that year. I'm more than happy with his "lack" of athleticism.

Yeah, it's a shame.

He's practically fat John Daly on a golf course smoking heaters and still half drunk from the night before.

This guy is going to trip over his own feet trying to get to a bunt.

 

[Mingo]

I'm not sure how many new players the Sox need for the recently reconfigured minor leagues. I do hope they will be aggressive in pursuing UDFA position players.

It appears colleges will have a boom recruiting year - while the money shrinking on the pro-side and the covid-19 rules the collages have instituted - which will result in more athletes returning to and going to college.

 

[Jiddy]

Looks like we did good in the draft. That’s nice. Now let’s sign these two to a couple 8 figure contracts before they ever step onto the MLB field and play some freaking baseball.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

I'm not sure how many new players the Sox need for the recently reconfigured minor leagues. I do hope they will be aggressive in pursuing UDFA position players.

So far the Sox have been non-existent in the UDFA market. Can't help but wonder why there's no action at this point, unless they feel they're set at the minors. And I'm not sure why they'd feel that way if this was the case. We're in pretty good shape with the top 15 or so, but the talent level begins a steep drop thereafter. An organization's minor leagues can never be too deep.

Nondrafted free agent signing tracker

 

[Mingo]

So far the Sox have been non-existent in the UDFA market. Can't help but wonder why there's no action at this point, unless they feel they're set at the minors. And I'm not sure why they'd feel that way if this was the case. We're in pretty good shape with the top 15 or so, but the talent level begins a steep drop thereafter. An organization's minor leagues can never be too deep.

Nondrafted free agent signing tracker

I hope they are waiting to announce a bunch of signings.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

I hope they are waiting to announce a bunch of signings.

That would work for me.

 

[Mingo]

https://www.soxon35th.com/2020/06/1...igal-twin-brother-of-nick-in-first-udfa-deal/

Sox sign one - Madrigal's twin brother.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

I had no idea that he had a twin brother. Learn something new every day.

 

[Mingo]

The Sox have another UDFA signing. Brandon Bossard - son or Roger Bossard the ground keeper (known as the Sodfather).

If guys in the White Sox organization didn't have relatives - there would be no signings. there's a Long tradition of giving away a little money to the kids of Sox mangers and front office.

I'd like to hear the Sox explain why they seemed to have been left behind in the UDFA market.

 

[Jiddy]

The Sox have another UDFA signing. Brandon Bossard - son or Roger Bossard the ground keeper (known as the Sodfather).

If guys in the White Sox organization didn't have relatives - there would be no signings. there's a Long tradition of giving away a little money to the kids of Sox mangers and front office.

I'd like to hear the Sox explain why they seemed to have been left behind in the UDFA market.

Our whole team is basically young unproven talent...

 

[Mingo]

The guys they could be signing here though won't be unproven MLB talent for at least 3 years. It stands to reason to back up your current unproven talent by signing younger unproven talent. Sometimes you get lucky.

I think this is an indication that the Sox believe they will eliminate their rookie league team and with that they should have enough players to fill - without running around signing new guys because you have more slots.

Play ball - that's all I have to say.

 

[Jiddy]

The guys they could be signing here though won't be unproven MLB talent for at least 3 years. It stands to reason to back up your current unproven talent by signing younger unproven talent. Sometimes you get lucky.

I think this is an indication that the Sox believe they will eliminate their rookie league team and with that they should have enough players to fill - without running around signing new guys because you have more slots.

Play ball - that's all I have to say.

I have tickets to tonight's game...Sox vs. Indians at Progressive.

*tears flow*