High school shortstops expected to go early in Sunday’s MLB draft
This is old news now, but the reason the White Sox posted the worst record in MLB history and are picking 10th in Sunday's MLB draft is because of anti-tanking rules installed a couple years ago.
The No. 1 pick in 2026 remains in play, so Sox fans should keep their fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, the Sox will have to wait for No. 10 to roll around, while the Cubs have the No. 17 pick in the first round. The first three rounds will be held Sunday in Atlanta, beginning at 5 p.m., with rounds 4-20 on Monday.
There was some agreement with scouting directors on both sides of town. The Cubs' Dan Kantrovitz felt high school position players will be popular among the top 20 picks. The White Sox' Mike Shirley admitted having a high number of high school shortstops on his draft board.
Shirley's theory is the best athletes usually play shortstop, and the rise of high-level training and travel ball has produced some very advanced players, who are then able to move to most any position.
“You should probably get ready for the trend of how youth baseball is being defined today with these high school players, they’re built to be special,” Shirley told reporters this week. “That's the way it’s modeling out.”
MLB.com's mock draft has the Sox taking shortstop JoJo Parker from Purvis (Miss.) High School at No. 10. Billy Carlson from California, Eli Willits from Oklahoma and Daniel Pierce from Georgia are some other high school shortstops who could fall in that range.
Last year, the White Sox took Arkansas pitcher Hagen Smith with the No. 4 pick instead of Florida outfielder Jac Caglianone, who went with the next pick to the Royals and is already in the big leagues. So taking a hitter makes sense for the Sox.
They'll have the first pick of the second round, No. 44 overall after all the compensation and competitive balance picks. Shirley talked about filling a pair of needs with those first two selections.
“If you can get two-for-one, that’s always the goal,” Shirley said. “Every organization would want to have that. We’re trying to target that the best we can.”
The Cubs are feeling good about their draft record, since their last three first-rounders — Cade Horton, Matt Shaw and Cam Smith — are all playing in the majors. Smith is with Houston, of course, after being included in the Kyle Tucker trade.
“That's a source of pride for all of our scouts,” Kantrovitz said. “That gives all of them a lot of purpose and inspiration when they come to Chicago (for the draft).”
The Cubs haven't taken a high school player in the first round since shortstop Ed Howard in 2020. If they follow that trend, they might look at a player like Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy, a Hawaii native who hit .350 with 21 home runs this spring; or Arizona outfielder Brendan Summerhill, a Chicago native who hit .343 with 4 home runs. Aloy had the third-best slugging percentage in the Cape Cod League in 2024, something the Cubs traditionally value.
But since the Cubs haven't taken a first-round pitcher since Horton in '22, maybe it's time to pivot.
“I think it's a pretty interesting sweet spot in the draft, where you can have access to some of the better talent,” Kantrovitz said. “So I think from that standpoint, it's exciting, because you can expect someone to drop to you. It's going to be a long night waiting for 16 players to go off the board in front of us.”
The first Chicago-area high school player picked could be Lincoln-Way East left-hander Jack Bauer, who is billed as the hardest-throwing high school prospect ever, clocked at 103 miles per hour this spring. MLB Pipeline has Bauer rated the No. 44 prospect, which lines up with the White Sox second-round pick.
Some others to watch are Nazareth outfielder Jaden Fauske, Oak Park infielder Ethan Moore, and McHenry right-hander Brandon Shannon.