Chicago White Sox draft 1B Keon Barnum with 48th pick in 2012 MLB Draft

Thanks to the Miami Marlins signing free agent Mark Buehrle this winter, the White Sox landed a pick in the supplemental compensation round. Hooray! If you haven't drank, drugged, or concussed your memory into oblivion you may remember that the White Sox first pick in the entire draft last year came at pick number 47 and they took OF Keenyn Walker.


And just when everyone said that the White Sox would draft a college pitcher, they went and drafted another high schooler, this time Keon Barnum, a left-handed first baseman.

Barnum projects to be a power hitter and it's easy to see why. The kid is already 6'5" and 225 lbs despite being 18. High school athletes terrify me with how big and athletic they are. He's got an amazing arm and can throw 90 mph, but that won't really matter as much at first base.

Barnum is going to take quite a bit of refining to make it, but the raw power is very tantalizing and we may have finally found an eventual replacement for Paul Konerko.