Y2Jimmy0

Jared Kelley is one of the best prep pitchers in the 2020 draft class. The White Sox have done extensive work on Kelley during the pre-draft process. They haven't selected a prep pitcher since taking Kris Honel in 2001. I profiled the right hander here: https://www.futuresox.com/2020/06/01/2020-draft-preview-jared-kelley-rhp/

Mike Rankin wrote the profile on Auburn right hander Tanner Burns. Burns is probably a reach at #11 but the White Sox tracked him this spring and in the past. He's falling out of the 1st round in recent analyst mock drafts. https://www.futuresox.com/2020/06/02/2020-draft-preview-tanner-burns-rhp/

I think what happened yesterday proves that there will be a season. It'll be ultimatum time at some point. If the two sides can't agree, the commissioner can unilaterally decide on a 50 game season at full prorated salaries. At that point, I suppose the players could refuse to play but I think that leverage pushes the two sides to an agreement.

This will end up being 82 games.

I posted some signings on twitter for people to see. I wrote about these for patrons back in February but I corresponded with Ben Badler recently and the players will be in his International Previews on Baseball America. Norge Vera RHP Cuba $1.5 million bonus Victor Quezada 3B DR $525K Manuel Guarimon C Venezuela $475K Dario Barrero OF Venezuela $350K Adrian Gil RHP Venezuela $250K Gabriel Rodriguez IF Venezuela $100K Antonio Jimenez OF $90K Quezada is a big, strength/raw power guy. I tweeted a video. Sox had decent luck with pitchers similar to Gil the past few years with (Cristian Mena and Manuel Veloz). Badler said he expects another "big Cuban signing" due to their history and available pool space.

There's no way the owners go for 114 games but the players opened the door to deferrals. The owners will agree on expanded playoffs and the opt-out for players. They should meet in the middle by the end of the week. Owners defer a portion of full prorated salaries and players agree to a shorter season.

The biggest issue with the diabetes is other clubs. Even if the Sox are comfortable with it, many teams aren't and it potentially limits trade options down the road.

I understand that. If one player tests positive, he's out for two weeks and in quarantine. Then they'll test the rest of the team and everyone that player came in contact with. Whoever tests positive will obviously be out. If they have enough testing though, you theoretically don't have to shut everything down.

10%? No chance it's that high.

This isn't feasible though. Hospitals are in good shape. We have to figure out how to live with this thing until there's a cure/treatment. Cook County has the most positive cases in the country and due to increased testing, our infection rate statewide is like 6%. We can't shut everything down because 6 out of every 100 people tested have this thing.

Theoretically, yes but I'm not sure punting 2/5 picks makes much sense. You should get the 5 best players you can sign in my opinion.

Exactly. Last year, the Sox gave Andrew Vaughn the full slot. Then they gave Thompson $2.1 million in round 2 ($600K over slot). Andrew Dalquist got $2 million (that was like $1.3 million over slot). They paid their selection in rounds 5-10 $10K each to save the money to pay for it. That's not possible this year. In the 2020 draft, these are the bonus amounts. 1st round 11th overall: $4,547,500 2nd Round 47th overall: $1,580,200 3rd Round 83rd overall: $733,100 4th Round 112th overall: $517,400 5th Round 142nd overall: $386,600 Their best would likely be getting their first rounder for $4 million. They can save close to $1 million overall by doing this. This would allow them to spend $2 million in round 2 and over $1 million in round 3 by going 5% over their pool. Full slot will make it tough to accomplish though.

The issue with Mitchell is the Type 1 diabetes. Even if you think it's a not a huge deal, it limits his value once he's in your organization but many teams wouldn't be interested in trading for him either.

You aren't wrong. It's not all about money though. The White Sox literally don't have room for any of these guys to play. Especially with Great Falls being removed next year.

They won't be able to sign prep guys in rounds 2-5 unless they save money in round 1.

Why would players declaring for the draft care about that though?

If I'm a professional prospect playing in a non BCS level bowl game during my junior year, there's no shot I'm risking my future playing in an exhibition game. I'll never blame guys for that decision.

College football players are amateurs and none of them should willingly play in exhibition games. That's a completely different argument.

Those guys aren't going to sit out the year. Have you ever played a team sport? If their teammates choose to play, these guys will b**** and then they'll strap up and play. Someone might sit for legit health concerns, but they won't sit out the year because their salaries got reduced if the rank and file voted to play.

This is the real question to me: will the owners lose more money by not playing or will they lose more money by playing and paying prorated salaries? If they won't lose as much by not playing, I think they offer their tiered payment system to whoever wants it and if not they'll cancel the season. That point about the players has been lost in all of this though. People don't quite grasp that they won't see another penny after Sunday without a new agreement.

This is a pretty solid summary of what the MLBPA is trying to accomplish with offering the extra games: https://www.barstoolsports.com/blog/2498291/the-mlbpa-and-owners-are-in-a-brawl-right-now-and-heres-a-full-breakdown-of-it The owners have no interest in playing 100 games. They need to get the playoffs in. I also seriously doubt that the owners will pay prorated salaries. If the latest proposal from owners went to a vote, I think the players would vote yes with 65% of the league making under $1 million. It's going to be interesting to see who gives in here and where taht occurs.

Baseball America updated their mock draft today. They have Patrick Bailey but they linked the White Sox to Tyler Soderstrom which is the first it's been mentioned publicly.

Actually, some seem to think they can file for it. Once the players and owners agree to a deal though, the Uniform Player Contract likely gets reinstated by the commissioner and their payments will continue though. This thing really hasn't been reported correctly which shouldn't surprise anyone.

It's in the agreement. They aren't allowed to file for unemployment. To my knowledge anyway.

They aren't allowed to collect unemployment because they're employed by the Oakland Athletics.