By Paul M. Banks
The Chicago White Sox selected outfielder Jared Mitchell of Louisiana State University with their first-round pick (23rd overall) in yesterday’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. (Did anyone watch it? It was actually televised on MLB Network, but I only caught a glimpse of it. JUST GENIUS MARKETING on their part scheduling the broadcast to compete with a NBA Finals game, Stanley Cup Final, a full schedule of games)
Mitchell, a 20-year-old junior, is hitting .325 (66-203) with 12 doubles, four triples, nine home runs, 43 RBI and 35 stolen bases with the Tigers in 2009. He also leads LSU with 52 walks and a .471 on-base percentage.
“One of the things that we were trying to accomplish in this draft was to find a high-ceiling, athletic-type of player,” said Doug Laumann, White Sox director of amateur scouting. “We certainly weren’t going to sacrifice the ability of some guy just to get that, but as it turned out, he was the one guy we felt like was the best player on the board and at the same time fit exactly what it was we were looking for.”
I’m glad this baseball draft didn’t feature the cliché “has a tremendous upside” in any of the soundbites.
The 6-foot, 200-pounder was ranked by Baseball America as the Best Athlete and Fastest Runner among draft-eligible college players. Mitchell also combined for 24 receptions and 274 yards as a wide receiver for the Tigers football team from 2006-08, including their National Championship season in 2007. So you can start making purple and gold White Sox jersey t-shirts with “Geaux Tigers” on the back, if he develops into a star. And mardi gras beads, we’ll need those at the Cell as well.
“I am ridiculously excited to join the Chicago White Sox,” said Mitchell, whose Tigers will face the University of Virginia on Saturday in a first-round match-up at the College World Series. “It is an unbelievable thing to work so hard and to get here and be picked by a great organization.” (Do you watch the College World Series? I know it’s ratings are increasing these past few years…probably because Erin Andrews covers it now. If EA is there again, I’m there)
The Sox have taken a player from the collegiate ranks in the first round in each of the last seven drafts. Mitchell joins infielder (and anointed savior of humanity) Gordon Beckham (2008, eighth overall) and pitchers Aaron Poreda (2007, 25th), Kyle McCulloch (2006, 30th) and Lance “Jazz Hands” Broadway (2005, 15th) as the Sox last five first-round picks.
The Sox have a ton of first round picks taking the field for them each day now. The make-up of the roster is now starting to resemble the early 90s White Sox who had four consecutive 1st round picks (Jack McDowell 1987, Robin Ventura 1988, Alex Fernandez 1989, and Frank Thomas 1990) as their stellar nucleus. Well, not entirely, those guys were actually good and formed a stellar nucleus. The jury is still out on the current group. But the potential’s there.
CHICAGO – The following is a recap of the Chicago White Sox first 32 selections in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft:
Round Name Pos. Age Ht. Wt. School (Hometown)
1 Jared Mitchell OF 20 6-0 205 Louisiana State University (New Iberia, La.)
1A Josh Phegley C 21 5-10 210 Indiana University (Terre Haute, Ind.)
2A Trayce Thompson OF 18 6-3 195 Santa Margarita High School (Ladera Ranch, Calif.)
2 David Holmberg LHP 17 6-4 220 Port Charlotte High School (Port Charlotte, Fla.)
3 Bryan Morgado LHP 20 6-3 206 University of Tennessee (Miami, Fla.)
4 Matthew Heidenreich RHP 18 6-5 190 Temescal Canyon High School (Lake Elsinore, Calif.)
5 Kyle Bellamy RHP 21 6-5 220 University of Miami (Davie, Fla.)
6 Justin Collop RHP 21 6-2 185 University of Toledo (Wayne, Mich.)
7 Justin Jones LHP 18 6-3 170 Oakdale Senior High School (Oakdale, Calif.)
8 Ryan Buch RHP 21 6-3 195 Monmouth University (Yardley, Pa.)
9 Matthew Hopps RHP 23 6-5 235 Cal State Dominguez Hills (Torrance, Calif.)
10 Nicholas Ciolli OF 21 6-2 195 Indiana State University (Terra Haute, Ind.)
11 Jimmy Ballinger RHP 21 6-1 190 University of Southern Mississippi (Moss Point, Miss.)
12 Kyle Colligan OF 22 6-1 205 Texas A&M University (Stafford, Texas)
13 Cameron Bayne RHP 21 6-2 180 Concordia University (Honolulu, Hawaii)
14 Daniel Black 1B 21 6-4 230 Purdue University (Carmel, Calif.)
15 Dane Williams RHP 18 6-6 210 Archbishop McCarthy High School (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
16 Daniel Wagner 2B 20 6-0 185 Belmont University (Kannapolis, N.C.)
17 Brian Goodwin OF 18 6-0 185 Rocky Mount High School (Rocky Mount, N.C.)
18 Phil Negus RHP 21 6-2 205 Wake Forest University (Milford, Mass.)
19 Brady Shoemaker OF 22 6-0 200 Indiana State University (Brazil, Ind.)
20 Nathan Reed LHP 21 6-3 180 University of Pittsburgh (Temple, Pa.)
21 Jared McDonald INF 19 6-1 180 Arizona State University (Tucson, Ariz.)
22 Zachary Kayne SS 22 5-10 185 Davidson College (Roswell, Ga.)
23 Goldy Simmons RHP 20 6-6 220 San Diego State University (Spring Valley, Calif.)
24 Jeffrey Tezek 2B 23 5-10 180 University of Nebraska (Poway, Calif.)
25 Mike Strong LHP 20 6-0 185 Iowa Western Community College (Afton, Minn.)
26 Matthew Harughty 2B 22 6-0 180 University of Oklahoma (Conroe, Texas)
27 Kyle Davis 2B 22 5-11 175 University of Delaware (Ewing, N.J.)
28 Robert Cummings 3B 21 6-2 195 University of California-Santa Barbara (Oak Lawn, Ill.)
29 Trey Delk RHP 23 5-11 190 Clemson University (Elgin, S.C)
30 Robert Vaughn C 21 5-10 190 Kansas State University (Humble, Texas)
A – Compensation for Orlando Cabrera (Oakland)
