Wrangling 2020 White Sox prospects: New in town

California first baseman (20) Andrew Vaughn in a college baseball game against Washington Huskies on May 23, 2019, at Husky Ballpark in Seattle, WA. (Photo by Jesse Beals/Icon Sportswire)

As we enter the third day of Prospect Week, we’ve already touched upon more than 20 prospects who fell into various categories:

Today we’ll start with the players with the most limited bodies of work.

Notable 2019 draft picks

First round: Andrew Vaughn

The White Sox didn’t really need another right-handed first baseman, but Vaughn’s hitting skills at Cal were too prodigious to ignore. The Sox aren’t alone in this assessment. Vaughn has been a top 30 prospect, including a No. 16 spot on MLB.com’s list, which is highly unusual for an undersized righty who can’t be moved to any other position.

Given his profile’s reliance on his bat, the .252/.349/.411 line at Winston-Salem is slightly underwhelming, but like Nick Madrigal the year before, one has to account for fatigue and the shift to an everyday schedule. His plate discipline is immediately evident, not just in the numbers (16 walks, 17 strikeouts over 29 games), but in watching him go to work. He’s good for a battle three or four times a game. Once that all-fields power shows up, it should be a lot of fun.

If he’s on the Madrigal (or Luis Robert) plan, he’ll return to Winston-Salem to start the season, prove he’s immediately overqualified and then jump to Birmingham.

Second round: Matthew Thompson
Third round: Andrew Dalquist

They’ve been attached at the hip as the highest prep arms taken by the White Sox in years. Thompson has a history of bigger stuff, but it fluctuated over the course of his senior season and dropped him out of the first round. Dalquist doesn’t have Thompson’s best fastball yet, but his fastball/curve/changeup mix was more reliable over the course of the year.

We’re relying on pre-draft reports mostly, because they combined to throw just five innings in the Arizona Rookie League. The White Sox look like they want to build a couple of pitchers from the ground up here, so I’m guessing we won’t see them until June.

Fourth round: James Beard

Another high-school pick we won’t see until June, Beard was regarded as the fastest guy in the draft with some ability to get bat to ball for firm contact, but he didn’t face much in the way of advanced competition. That more or less played out in his pro debut, as he hit .213/.270/.307, 9-for-12 stealing bases and a 39 percent strikeout rate.

Other of note:

*DJ Gladney, the ACE alum who slugged .428 in the Arizona Rookie League after being taken in the 16th round. He also struck out 82 times in 50 games, but the exit velocity the Sox saw in predraft workouts came to play early.

*McKinley Moore and Caleb Freeman, this year’s annual high-octane college arms taken early on Day 3 (14th and 15th round).

*Logan Glass and Chase Krogman, high school picks who signed deeper into Day 3. Glass signed for $175,000 in the 22nd round, and Krogman for $190,000 in Round 34.

International debuts

Yolbert Sanchez: The 22-year-old Cuban shortstop was the White Sox’ only seven-figure signing of this July 2 period ($2.5M). He spent his pro debut beating up on the Dominican Summer League, likely for tax purposes a la Robert’s first season. He hit .297/.386/.441, with more multi-hit games (10) than single-hit games (six). He also walked more than he struck out, although this is not particularly instructive given the age gap.

Baseball America rated him the No. 34 prospect in the class. He’s got multiple skills, but his value rides on the kind of defender he can be at shortstop. Estimations vary.

Elijah Tatis: The Sox hope Tatis Lightning strikes twice. The younger brother of Fernando Tatis Jr. signed for $500,000 and hit .187/.300/.213 in his pro debut, showing decent control of the strike zone (13 walks, 16 strikeouts over 90 plate appearances), some speed and a decent performance at shortstop as early selling points.

Benyamin Bailey: The revelation of the White Sox’s DSL affiliate in 2019, the 6-foot-5-inch Panamanian outfielder hit .324/.477/.454 over 55 games, all as a 17-year-old (he turned 18 on Sept. 18). He signed for $35,000 toward the end of the previous signing period. He overshadowed other strong performances from age-appropriate players like Ruben Benavides and Anthony Espinoza.

Ronaldo Guzman: One of two 16-year-olds on the DSL roster, the left-handed Guzman racked up a whopping 76 strikeouts to just 29 walks over 51⅔ innings, and his ERA spent most of the season hovering around 3.00 until a disastrous August outing blew it up. Ben Badler described Guzman’s arsenal as fastball-changeup, with easy arm action on the former and advanced feel for the latter.

Manuel Veloz: The Venezuelan righty had a successful pro debut, posting a 0.91 ERA (with seven unearned runs) and 42 strikeouts to seven walks over 39⅔ innings. Badler described him as not overpowering — yet — but in possession of a three-pix mix for the level.

Next up: The old young guys.

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knoxfire30

I fully expect Vaughn to be a three level prospect this year akin to Robert and Madrigal.

Be fun to see if he has a hot start and can threaten the meteoric rise that Robert had. Probably a safer bet to assume he has a more stable rise like that of Madrigal though.

Sox have plenty of time to evaluate with Abreu now locked up thru 2022, and EE’s 2021 option year in the balance.

Papa Giorgio

Jim, in your estimation, what’s the best case MLB call-up timing on Vaughn? What’s the realistic call-up timing on Vaughn?

As Cirensica

I think he will replace EE next year

Right Size Wrong Shape

Would it be worthwhile to see if he can play RF at all this year? He’s got a good arm, and the ability to play the OF would add some flexibility to the roster.

HallofFrank

That would aid in the goal to have half of the White Sox positions manned by designated hitters!

Josh Nelson

Vaughn does not have the foot speed or range to play any outfield position.

MrTopaz

“He’s new in town.”

“Really? What are three other things you can tell me about him?”

vegaschisox

He’s probably not homeless, who knows if he’s gay or has AIDS.

As Cirensica

What is this shit? Am I missing something here?

As Cirensica

Ahhh OK. Thanks. I had no idea who this John Mulaney was until now. So yeah, without that knowledge it looked like a pretty odd comment to say the least.

MrTopaz

Yeah… looking back in the old rear view mirror, kinda regret accidentally setting us up for an ugly misunderstanding.

asinwreck

It really is impossible for me to read this post without hearing it in Mulaney’s voice.

vegaschisox

Yeah, should’ve kept this to myself. His comment was funny enough without the kicker.

peanutsNcrackerjack

Happy to see the renewed focus on home grown starting pitching talent. Maybe lay off the high draft pick relief pitchers. Use international money on quality rather than position players. 

…rather than quantity position players.  

lil jimmy

Someone like

RHP Norge Vera
” 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds during his appearances in the Can-Am League and might be slightly taller, with some saying he’s as tall at 6-foot-4. He’s lean and long-limbed, with broad shoulders and a lanky lower half. ”
“Vera might be due to receive a signing bonus somewhere between $1.5 million and $2.5 million”

As Cirensica

Man…James Paxton can’t stay healthy.

John SF

Wow.  No kidding.  
(For those not in the know:  out 3-4 months with back surgery.  
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28641913/back-surgery-sidelines-starter-james-paxton-3-4-months-yankees-spring-training-nears. )

Obvious Mookie is our top 2021 most important acquisition. And if not him, Springer.    And if not him, Pederson.  Gotta solve RF long term.  

But after that, I was thinking Paxton was our best bet for a big signing.  Our lefty SP depth would be just Rodón, Keuchal, and the option on Gonzales.   And since Rodon is never guaranteed to be healthy and Keuchal is an iffy pick yo pitch playoff games — that really leaves us no lefties for the playoffs…

Quintana is also available next year, I would love to see a Q reunion.  

Stroman, Bauer, & Tanaka are all also available and would be great additions — albeit righties.  

SonOfCron

You misspelled “re-Q-nion.”

Michael Kenny

Eh, handedness in the rotation isn’t really that important. It’s important in the bullpen for late-game matchups, but as a starter you’re expected to get guys on both sides out, so it’s really just about how well you do that.

HallofFrank

I don’t want to go to bat for it being *that* important, but I think it matters some. In 2019, the White Sox had a 107 wRC+ as a team against LHP good for 8th in all of baseball (!) while they had an 88 wRC+ against RHP good for 26th. I suspect most teams don’t have such a wide gap, but it would be nice to have the option to play some matchups when the need arises.

Having that said, I wouldn’t want the Sox signing a worse pitcher because he was left-handed. 

burning-phoneix

Wait, Benyamin Bailey is an OF? Why did I think he was a catcher? Did I get him mixed up with Jefferson Mendoza?