The 2022 Draft

[Lake Shore Drive]

Here is an early list of the top 50 potential draft picks for the '22 draft, scheduled to commence on June 2nd.

MLB draft prospects 2022: Ranking top 50 players in the class, with Termarr Johnson at No. 1

These are the names to know as college and high school baseball seasons get started

www.cbssports.com

June is a long way off, including a full season of college and high school ball to be played, so a lot of things could change as to rankings of these players, as well as the direction of how the Sox will tag their top choices. But I'm going to be a broken record and again state that by position, catcher should be our main focus, which is the way I felt last year, altho I did end up liking our top picks from the '21 draft. We all know the brass will simply go with their BPA philosophy, which may or may not have a catcher in their eye sights. Whatever.

We're slotted at #26, so just looking around the ranking numbers, I see there are three catchers ranked back-back-back at #s 22-24, respectively. They are:

Logan Tanner, Mississippi State
Kevin Parada, Georgia Tech
Daniel Susac, Arizona

I'm guessing that at least one of these guys will slip to the Sox, altho it doesn't mean they'll take him. But in a draft that once again seems to be a bit thin in the catching ranks - only one other catcher makes the top 50 and he's a HS brat - plus given our serious lack of depth at one of the most important positions in the game, this may be too good of an opportunity to pass up.

 

[richig07]

It's hard to draft for need in baseball. You typically draft players who are multiple years away from stepping foot on a big league field (which is if everything goes as planned). Who knows what our needs will be by then? Grandal's certainly no spring chicken and will be 35 when his deal expires. But... what will the free agent market be? What team will be selling off pieces that could be looking to move a good catcher? Who knows?

Not much strategy in the MLB with drafting, IMO. Make your big board and take the highest ranked kid on it when it's your turn.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

It's hard to draft for need in baseball. You typically draft players who are multiple years away from stepping foot on a big league field (which is if everything goes as planned). Who knows what our needs will be by then? Grandal's certainly no spring chicken and will be 35 when his deal expires. But... what will the free agent market be? What team will be selling off pieces that could be looking to move a good catcher? Who knows?

Not much strategy in the MLB with drafting, IMO. Make your big board and take the highest ranked kid on it when it's your turn.

I agree in that the MLB draft should be viewed a bit differently than the drafts from other major sports. Altho pretty much what they all have in common is for the most part they all go with the BPA. It doesn't mean however that we can't look at what is our weakest position from a depth standpoint. Out of all the positions, catcher is without question the weakest in our organization. So to hope we'd at least give a strong look at this spot is more than reasonable.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

So here's an article from the very sharp minds of Sox Machine regarding two potential candidates for the Good Guys in this upcoming draft, Logan Tanner and Dylan Beavers. Unfortunately, this particular article is blocked unless you're a subscriber, so I have no idea what the content is. But I'm linking it anyway in the event someone in here does subscribe:

2022 MLB Draft Report: Early Look at Logan Tanner and Dylan Beavers

To view this content, you must be a member of Sox's Patreon at $2.00 or more

soxmachine.com

Interestingly enough, if you graze over the initial post from this thread, Tanner is mentioned, which means he's on their radar as well. I'm linking a bio site for each player:

Logan Tanner - Baseball - Mississippi State

Logan Tanner (19) C - Honors / Awards 2022 Second Team All-SEC 2022 SEC All-Defensive Team 2022 (Junior Season) Awards: Second Team All-SEC, SEC All-Defensiv...

hailstate.com

Dylan Beavers - Baseball - California Golden Bears Athletics

Dylan Beavers (17) Outfield - Accolades MLB First-Year Player Draft selection (2022 - 1st round, CB-A, No. 33, Baltimore) 2x All-Pac-12 First Team (2021,

calbears.com

Of the two, I'm definitely more interested in Tanner for previously mentioned reasons. In fact, if the Sox aren't planning on taking a catcher with their first pick, I suspect they would take a pitcher instead, as we all know you can never have enough pitching. But in Beavers' defense (that almost sounds pornish), he does carry some impressive stats and accolades - first and foremost bringing a talented L/H bat to the equation. There's very little info regarding his defense, so it's hard to say if his glove is considered a plus, altho it should be pointed out he has yet to make an error in collegiate play, so that says something.

But it's Tanner who really catches my eye here. A solid player both offensively and defensively, a member of the '21 College World Series Champions, he brings a winning attitude and experience to a position that is in dire need of fortification for this organization. If he's there when it's our turn to pick, I'm pulling for the Sox to nab him.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

So we're still in the way-too-early stage of any serious draft talk, but finding the article on the Sox Machine website regarding the top players in the coming draft at least provides us some updated information. It's kinda broken into two parts, the first discussing the top 20 pitchers, then about two thirds down we come across the top 100 overall:

2022 MLB Draft Report: Top 100 Update and Top 20 College Starting Pitchers

After posting the Top 100 2022 MLB Draft Average Rankings last week, Prospects Live and The Athletic shared their...

soxmachine.com

Being we're sitting at #26, it's all but impossible to determine who would be our top candidates, assuming they're available when it's our turn to select. In my initial post to start this thread I expressed an interest in the Sox choosing a C for their first pick. I had three names:

Logan Tanner, Mississippi State
Kevin Parada, Georgia Tech
Daniel Susac, Arizona

Two of them, Parada and Susac, have really shot up the board, whereas Tanner has fallen back, but not too much. And I'm surprised to see so few pitchers ranked in the top 30 - only 8 are listed. We arguably have another position of need - 2b - but there's only one, Jace Jung, and he appears headed for a top 10 pick. Should be interesting who the Sox have on their BPA board.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

And with the 26th pick, the Chicago White Sox select hard-throwing L/H pitcher and future TJ surgery recipient, Noah Schultz, Oswego East HS, IL.