(670 The Score) The MLB amateur draft that begins Wednesday will be unprecedented.
For the first time, the draft will be just five rounds. It was shortened from 40 rounds as part of the initial labor agreement between the owners and players in late March as MLB dealt with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic halting the season.
The draft appears to be heavy with solid college and high school pitchers, but there will be plenty of options when the White Sox are on the clock at No. 11 overall. Here are a few of the candidates for them.
Patrick Bailey, C, North Carolina State
Draft guru Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline has recently predicted the White Sox will select Bailey, who's considered the best college catcher in the class.
Bailey was first-team All-ACC in 2019 and has experience with USA Baseball. He hit .296 with six homers and 20 RBIs in 17 games in this shortened season. The White Sox signed Yasmani Grandal to a four-year deal back in November, but they're still looking for their catcher of the future.
Garrett Mitchell, OF, UCLA
Several mock drafts project the White Sox to select Mitchell, who was a preseason All-American ahead of his shortened junior season that lasted just 15 games. Mitchell had a .327/.393/.478 slash line in his UCLA career.
Reid Detmers, LHP, Louisville
Detmers is a Chatham, Illinois native. He has drawn a lot of praise and is considered to have big upside.
Detmers was the ACC Pitcher of the Year and an All-American in 2019 and was 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 22 innings in this shortened season.
"He is a tremendous kid and has a great family," White Sox director of amateur scouting Mike Shirley said of Detmers. "He has a very bright future ahead of him. He is somebody we are really paying attention to. He has a great strike-throwing ability. He does some things in his process that are really exciting. He is another kid Illinois can be proud of."
Max Meyer, RHP, Minnesota
Meyer was a preseason All-American and posted a 1.95 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings in four starts before the season was stopped. Many scouts and analysts consider him the most big league-ready pitcher in the draft.
Emerson Hancock, RHP, Georgia
Hancock posted a 1.99 ERA in 14 starts as a sophomore in 2019, when he was a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist and a second-team All-American. Many mock drafts have Hancock going in the top 10, so he may not end up being an option for the White Sox.
Ed Howard, SS, Mt. Carmel High (Illinois)
A member of the Jackie Robinson West team that advanced to the Little League World Series title game in 2014, Howard is expected to be selected in the top 20 picks. Losing his senior season of high school could hurt him in the sense that it didn't give him a chance to get more seasoning and prove himself, but he has a bright future ahead of him.
"He is first a tremendous citizen and someone Chicago should be very proud of," Shirley said recently. "What he did prior to this year and the work he did last fall will make him very valuable regardless of seeing him or not. Ed Howard was going to be a substantial part of this draft, whether he played 10 or 11 games in the Public League this year. I like Ed Howard the kid a lot. I wish him the best. He is a player we continue to talk about."
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
