White Sox Draft Retrospective

It seems like they always go for these guys with good, but not overpowering stuff.

White Sox take Matthew Long, college closer for Miami of Ohio.

63. Matt Long, rhp
School: Miami (Ohio). Class: Sr.
Hometown: Granville, Ohio
B-T: R-R. Ht.: 6-6. Wt.: 200. Birthdate: 2/23/84.
Scouting Report: Long was one of Ohio's top high school prospects in 2002, as scouts looked at his long, lean frame and expected his stuff would mature along with his body. After a detour for Tommy John surgery in 2004 and rehabilitating his elbow in 2005, those projections finally have come true this spring. Long's fastball now sits at 92-94 mph and has peaked at 96. His curveball was his best pitch in high school, and he has regained a hard, tight breaking ball. He also has shown the command and durability scouts hoped for. Miami has used him in relief, and he could move quickly if he remains in that role in pro ball. After turning down the Giants as a 34th-round pick last year, Long is now poised to go much higher, perhaps as early as the supplemental first round.
W    L    ERA    G    SV    IP    H    BB    SO
4    2    2.34    22    8    35    27    10    37

108. Justin Edwards, lhp
School: Olympia HS. Class: Sr.
Hometown: Orlando
B-T: L-L. Ht.: 6-0. Wt.: 185. Birthdate: 9/7/87.
Scouting Report: Edwards and Carmine Giardina fronted Chet Lemon's Juice rotation, and Edwards won over scouts last summer when he repeatedly performed well on big stages on the summer showcase and tournament tour. He's undersized and his stuff isn't overpowering, but he was dominant at times against top prep hitters because of deft command and feel for above-average offerings in his curveball and changeup. Edwards, who has committed to Georgia, didn't fare as well this spring. Despite his 81-9 strikeout-walk ratio, his command wasn't as sharp as it had been, especially with his fastball. He maintains good arm speed on his changeup, which has late fade and sink. Edwards' breaking ball is a true curveball that isn't a present plus pitch but has lots of potential. His fastball was up to 90 mph last summer, but sat 84-87 mph most of the spring. He has a clean arm action, smooth, repeatable delivery and athleticism.
W    L    ERA    G    SV    IP    H    BB    SO
6    2    1.60    13    1    62    34    9    81

Tyler Reves, C, Texas Tech.

BA didn't have him in their top 100...players in Texas!  Seems like a pretty crappy and pointless pick since he oviously had tons of exposure playing in the Big XII.

Here is the link to the TTU stats.

http://texastech.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/stats/2005-2006/teamcume.html

from his video, doesn't finish his pitches. He's throwing only with his arm going by the side angle. He should be able to add a few MPH with some tweaking to his delivery. I don't think that 86 mph is his ceiling.

I've seen this guy.  He's brutal.  A swing and miss machine.

158. John Shelby, 2b
School: Kentucky. Class: So.
Hometown: Lexington, Ky.
B-T: R-R. Ht.: 5-11. Wt.: 185. Birthdate: 8/6/85.
Scouting Report: The top prospect in the Bluegrass state is the son of former major leaguer and current Pirates coach John Shelby and has been a key contributor to the Wildcats' first regional berth since 1993. Shelby went undrafted out of high school but hit .344-10-52 as a sophomore to put his name on the prospect radar. He played his best late in the year, and had hit nine of his 13 home runs in Southeastern Conference play. Shelby has good bat speed and an aggressive approach. He has an uppercut in his swing, which lends slightly above-average power. He needs to improve his strike-zone discipline. He spent most of his freshman year playing outfield, and played shortstop and second base as well. Consensus suggests second base is his future position, and he showed better hands and improved his body control on throws from all angles at second this spring. His instincts figure to help him become an average defender. He's a slightly above-average runner.
AVG    AB    R    H    2B    3B    HR    RBI    SB
.297    175    49    52    15    0    16    51    11

Brian Omogrosso, 6'4 230 RHP from Indiana State U.

Stats from Bird Land
http://www.indstate.edu/athletic/baseball/2006/stats/teamcume.htm

Bio, quite the large neck on him
http://www.indstate.edu/athletic/baseball/2006/player%20bios/omogrosso.htm

Not in BA top 200, but was #6 in Indiana.

When righthander Brian Omogrosso threw 92-95 mph with a plus slider as a sophomore in 2004, he set himself up as an early-round pick for 2005. Tommy John surgery intervened, but he has pitched well enough in his comeback this spring that he could go anywhere from the third to the seventh round. Omogrosso has dropped his arm angle from low three-quarters to sidearm, and he hit 96 mph early in the year. He pitched at 92-93 with good life for much of the season before dropping to 88-91 at the end. His slider hasn't bounced back as well as his fastball, and his command is not sharp, but he's still a 6-foot-3, 225-pounder with a lot of arm strength.

Justin Cassel, RHP, 6'1 200 UC Irvine

Bio
http://www.baseball.uci.edu/bios/cassel.html

Stats
http://www.baseball.uci.edu/boxscores/2006/teamcume.htm

#40 in California.  Top 34 were in the overall top 200.  Nothing spectacular.

UC Irvine should have righthander Justin Cassel, whose older brother Matt is a backup quarterback for the NFL's New England Patriots, go in the first 10 rounds. Cassel grades out nearly average across the board with his fastball, curveball, changeup and control.

Kent Gerst, 5'10 170 L/R CF from some high school in O'Fallon, MO, a suburb of St Louis

#6 in MO, top 5 were in the top 200.  Jim Callis nailed this one.  The next Lance Johnson?

One of the fastest players at the Area Code Games last summer, outfielder Kent Gerst could be the first high school player drafted out of Missouri. A Missouri State recruit, he's considered signable in the first 10 rounds, and the White Sox have shown as much interest as any club. Gerst has 65-70 speed on the 20-80 scouting scale, and he's a legitimate center fielder and leadoff man. He makes contact but there are some concerns about his size (5-foot-10, 175 pounds).

Chris Duffy, 6'2-200 L/R 3B from Cypress Creek HS in Orlando.

#37 in FL, top 33 ranked in the top 200.

Here's a write-up that includes another FL HS player.  Sounds like a tough sign, and the Dusty comp is hilarious.

Chris Duffy and Jonathan Piggott are the typical high school prospects who offer intriguing upside and significant deficiencies. Piggott showed potential as a five-tool talent at the East Coast Showcase last summer, but followed up that performance with a pedestrian one at the Area Code Games. He has average raw power, above-average arm strength, athletic ability and speed. His swing is long, however, and he tends to work around the ball as opposed to inside and through it. Duffy's raw power is even better than Piggott's, and he has better bat speed and a shorter stroke. But he's built like a young Dusty Baker and doesn't have the range, hands or footwork to handle third base, depressing his value. He has tremendous makeup and could go in the first five rounds on his makeup and power potential, but his reported bonus parameters could push him down.

Things get a lot tougher after this round, so I'll stop here and go home.  For the sake of reference, the Sox only signed 17 of their picks from rounds 11-50 last year, and none of them appear to be more than filler players.

Lee Cruz, 6-2 190 R/R LF Univ. of Tampa (D-II champs and Cruz was the tournament MVP)

He's not on the 87 person Florida list, but he killed the ball for this 54-6 team.  There's no way to tell if he's actually any good, but the lack of positive scouting reviews from a heavily scouted team (a teammate went 67th overall) doesn't sound too promising.  Tino Martinez is a famous alum of U of Tampa.

Stats:
http://www.ut.edu/athletics/sports/bbcume.htm

He wasn't picked at all in the 1st 20 rounds.  That seems odd.  

Something still out there possibly under the radar?