As the White Sox prepare for the first pick in the 2026 MLB draft next month, Keith Law looked back at the 2016 draft, as he does with every one that turns 10.
I've known it was a bad draft year because Nick Hostetler's quote about Zack Collins being the White Sox's "No. 1 target since April" didn't age nearly as badly as it could have. Of the nine players picked ahead of Collins in 2016, Cal Quantrill has had the most productive career, and he's nobody's idea of a franchise talent.
Nevertheless, Collins didn't make Law's redraft of the first round, and both he and Zack Burdi were included in the draft's biggest misses. Players fail to pan out for all sorts of reasons -- injuries namely, but also some warning signs that might not have been heeded based on the available information 10 years ago -- but Law found fault with the philosophy behind both White Sox picks.
Regarding Collins:
I didn’t get this pick at the time — Collins had power but a huge hitch in his swing and he could throw but couldn’t really catch. You do have to be able to hit to hit for power, and he did not hit.
Regarding Burdi:
This is back in the era of taking college relievers in the first round, a bad idea that turned out to be a bad strategy. To their credit, the White Sox didn’t mess around, sending Burdi directly to Triple A in 2017, where he was a little wild but struck out a third of batters he faced. His first injury came that July; he later blew out his elbow and never threw 30 innings in any season again.
The only good news is that given the number of busts in this crap shoot, the White Sox might've had to roll the dice multiple times to hit on a winning number even with sounder thinking.
Charlotte 5, Buffalo 1
- Rikuu Nishida went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Kyle Teel caught seven innings and was 1-for-4 with a K.
- Ryan Galanie is up to 10 homers after going 2-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Duncan Davitt after Tyler Schweitzer opened: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 29 of 45 pitches for strikes.
Pensacola 6, Birmingham 4 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Caleb Bonemer's Double-A debut: 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Anthony DePino was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Samuel Zavala went 1-for-4 with a K.
- Jeral Perez, 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Gabe Davis: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 3 HR, 42 of 68 pitches for strikes.
Birmingham 6, Pensacola 3 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Samuel Zavala went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Caleb Bonemer was 1-for-2 with two walks.
- Anthony DePino went 1-for-4.
- Colby Shelton was 1-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
Winston-Salem 5, Greensboro 4
- Kyle Lodise went 1-for-5 with a strikeout at the plate, and 1-for-2 on the basepaths.
- George Wolkow doubled, singled and struck out twice.
- Rylan Galvan walked thrice and struck out once.
- Eddie Park returned to High-A, going 1-for-4.
- Riley Eikhoff's High-A debut: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 HR, 68 of 91 pitches for strikes.
- Pierce George: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 8 of 16 pitches for strikes.
Kannapolis 8, Fayetteville 1
- Jaden Fauske was 0-for-5 with a walk and three strikeouts.
- Matthew Boughton went 3-for-5 with a double and a stolen base.
- Alexander Albertus was 0-for-4 with a walk and three strikeouts.
- Jurdrick Profar, 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
