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)
Leave a Reply