The White Sox have signed shortstop Billy Carlson, experiences Jim Callis of MLB.com. The Sox chosen Carlson with their first-round decide, tenth general, in final week’s draft. The signing bonus is $6,235,900, successfully slot worth for the tenth general decide. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported the signing first, noting the bonus could be “about” $6.2MM.
Pre-draft rankings from MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, ESPN, FanGraphs and The Athletic’s Keith Regulation all had Carlson ranked from #7 to #12 within the class. All evaluators heap reward on his glovework, with many contemplating him the perfect defender within the class. BA mentions his “silky clean actions within the subject with clear fingers.” His arm is robust sufficient that he was thought of a possible two-way participant for some time, hitting 97 miles per hour along with his fastball when on the mound.
Offensively, there’s a bit extra hesitation. His hit software will get extra reward than his energy, as he typically has a contact-oriented line-drive swing. Whether or not he’ll grow to be extra energy as he matures appears to be the important thing query right here.
The White Sox don’t have a solution at shortstop for the time being. Chase Meidroth is presently getting a lot of the taking part in time and is performing properly sufficient this 12 months, however he’s anticipated to be a multi-positional man in the long term. Colson Montgomery has had a difficult 12 months and is presently taking part in extra third base.
As a highschool decide, Carlson gained’t be a short-term answer. He doesn’t even flip 19 years previous till subsequent week. He’s years away from serving to on the huge league degree, however based mostly on the experiences, he looks as if a lock to remain at shortstop in the long term. The one query is what he’ll have the ability to present on the plate.
Picture courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Pictures