White Sox lock up 17 of 20 picks, plus six UDFAs

Postgame Sunday, the White Sox announced that the majority of the 2023 draft class — 17 of 20 picks — had passed physicals and signed with the club.

Headlining the picks, of course, is first-rounder Jacob González, who inked for $3.9 million, some half a million short of slot value. The shortstop, as a seasoned Ole Miss collegian, can be expected to report to Arizona for a cup of coffee in the ACL before swiftly matriculating to Low-A Kannapolis.

Savings from the top pick on down were made imperative by the shock selection of second-third round cusp talent George Wolkow in the seventh round. Within minutes of being drafted, Wolkow indicated he would in fact be signing with the White Sox — the club used its channels with area scouts to realize that Wolkow was signable, and very likely entered the draft knowing he could be buried treasure, which is why they pulled the trigger at No. 209 in the first place.

Wolkow is the top unsigned pick (seventh round), joined by 11th Round second baseman Rikuu Nishida and 12th Round pitcher Mathias LaCombe. In LaCombe’s case, signing may be a formality; he was believed to be in France at the time of the draft and is reportedly eager to make history as a French pro. Nishida is a bit more complicated, as he does have returning eligibility in a major college program; from the start he was going to be the trickiest sign for the Sox. However, it’s unlikely the White Sox would have taken a flier on even just an 11th-rounder without having a very good idea of his price/affordability.

Max bonuses for third-day (11th to 20th Round) picks are $125,000; any more than that will count against the total signing pool for a team.

The White Sox also announced their signings of six undrafted free agents, five of them right-handed pitchers, listed above.

Later this week, our analyst Luke Smailes will be writing a follow-up piece that addresses each of the collegiate draftees, talking about the strengths and weaknesses of their NCAA data.