danman31 Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 2004 Draft Finishes 2nd Day of Draft Ends By Danny Santaromita The 2nd day of the 2004 Amateur Draft is now over and the draft is complete. There are a lot of picks that are looking to surprise people. From players who were expecting to go in the 1st day to players who weren't even expected to be drafted, players from all over are getting drafted. The 50 rounds of the draft are now over and here is what has stood out so far. 24th round pick Joshua Hansen was an all WCC OFer as a junior and a senior. The Sox drafted him as a catcher and it will be interesting to see how he does behind the plate. In 2003 he was crucial to the University of San Diego's West Coast Conference title and led the team in HR, RBI, 2B, and slugging %. This season he posted a .369 average with 30 walks and 32 strikeouts. 25th rounder Justin Sincock is 6'9" out of Millikan HS in California. He continues the trend of the Sox drafting bigger players. He had a 1.55 ERA this season. The Sox next pick was LHP Logan Williamson, who was a freshman at Pensacola JC this season where they won the 2004 Florida State Junior College Baseball Championship. CF Gregory Young came from another storied 2 year school. His Delaware Tech CC won the National Championship in 2001. RHP Frank Viola was another CC player, the 3rd in a row from the Sox. His father, of the same name, played in the Majors. In the 30th round the Sox picked up a local kid in RHP Matt Zaleski from Glendale Heights, Illinois and Indiana State University. This season he had a 4.33 ERA, the best of any of the Sycamore starters. He had 2 complete games and led the team in innings pitched. He had 64 strikeouts and 19 walks in 97.2 IP. Going back to the CC route the Sox picked up Eric Sheridan in the 32nd round. He was the 4th of 5 straight pitchers picked by the Sox in rounds 29-33. Sheridan has a good fastball and can reach 90-91. He also possesses a hard breaking curveball with late break. He will need to be more consistent with his pitches and improve his control. If his secondary pitches don't improve he has the mold of a closer with two good pitches. Following RHP Brandon Cooney in round 33 the Sox took another player from Florida International. Last season the Sox picked Ricardo Nanita and this year they took Fernando Alvarez in the 16th round and 3B Mario Suarez in the 34th. Suarez had a .246 batting average this season and the rest of his numbers are not impressive either. It's possible the Sox sent a scout in the area to scout Alvarez or some other player and ended up liking what they saw. He appears to be a project. Suarez was the first of five consecutive position players picked by the Sox. In the 35th round Evan Tartaglia a CFer of Elon University fell to the Southsiders. He is a quick player with a line drive swing. He has a small build at 5'11" 165 lbs., but seems to use his speed to change games. He seems like a top of the lineup guy with his speed, a good ability to bunt, and solid batting average this season (.300). In his 112 game career at Elon he had an impressive 62 stolen bases. In the 36th round the Sox picked their GM's son, Ken Williams, out of Plainfield High School. In the 43rd round RHP Ian Murray was drafted by the White Sox. His coach at Jefferson College said this about him, "Ian has all the physical tools to be very successful. His size and potential 90-MPH arm should lead to good things. He needs to work being in command and getting something off-speed to complement the fastball. Raising the level of his game and gaining confidence will help Ian develop into a key contributor." The Sox redrafted Jason Sullivan from Crowder JC. Last year he was drafted in the 39th round, this year they picked him in the 45th round. A 1st team All-State selection his senior season in high school he signed a letter of intent with Kansas St. before deciding on Crowder. The last pick of the Sox draft was RHP Bryan Wagner from Thunderbird High School. Now don't you wish your school was called Thunderbird High School? Rounds 32-50: Brandon Cooney, Broward CC, RHP R/R 6'5" 240 Mario Suarez, Florida International U, 3B R/R 6'1" 205 Evan Tartaglia, Elon U, CF L/L 5'11" 165 Kenneth Williams, Plainfield HS, CF S/R 6'0" 180 Robert Grinestaff, Okaloosa Walton CC, C L/R 6'1" 195 Shaun Spearman, St. Pius X School, SS R/R James Leigh, Bryant HS, LHP L/L 6'4" 185 Justin Roelle, Iowa Western CC, LHP L/L 6'4" 180 Matthew Rozier, Meridian CC, RHP R/R 6'1" 230 Michael Schower, Riverview HS, LHP R/L 6'2" 160 Ian Murray, Jefferson College, RHP R/R 6'5" 210 Steven Muck, Covington Catholic HS, RHP R/R 6'5" 190 Jason Sullivan, Crowder JC, RHP R/R 6'4" 205 Jason Rodriguez, Alta Loma HS, SS L/R 6'0" 170 Richard O'Brien, C R/R 5'11" 199 Peter Vuckovich, Clarion University, C R/R 5'11" 205 Dennis Guest, St. Joseph College, 2B R/R 5'11" 170 Bryan Wagner, Thunderbird HS, RHP R/R 5'10" 170 Sox Draft Position and School Breakdown By Danny Santaromita Below is the positional and school breakdown of the White Sox 55 picks in the 2004 Amateur Draft. The positions are used as how the Sox wanted the players listed as. Catcher: 5 1B: 0 2B: 2 SS: 4 3B: 6 OF: 6 (CF: 4) LHP: 12 RHP: 20 High School: 18 Junior College: 14 4 Year College: 22 No School: 1 (Richard O'Brien) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasox24 Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 Good article! Thanx for the info on some of the 2nd day picks. By the way, Is Kenny's son any good or was he just drafted b/c he's our GM's son, and where is he going to college? ( i doubt he'll actually sign) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 Good article! Thanx for the info on some of the 2nd day picks. By the way, Is Kenny's son any good or was he just drafted b/c he's our GM's son, and where is he going to college? ( i doubt he'll actually sign) A little bit of both, but at this stage in the draft you pretty much draft on little things a scout may see. In terms of Kenny's kid, I doubt he'll sign, but he is very very fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MnSoxFan Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 KWs kid is going to play college ball at Arizona, if that is correct he has to be pretty dog gone good. If KW knew he was not going to sign, not sure why he did not wait until 50th round to take him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 Probably just a respect thing. Heck, I don't really know how much input KW really has, especially in the latter rounds. I'm guessing the people running the draft decided to take him then. Your right though, if he's going to U of A he must be a pretty decent player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Honda Civic Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 Probably just a respect thing. Heck, I don't really know how much input KW really has, especially in the latter rounds. I'm guessing the people running the draft decided to take him then. Your right though, if he's going to U of A he must be a pretty decent player. I wanna say that he was the 10th ranked HS'er in Illinois, but I don't subscribe to BA, so I could just be making that up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danman31 Posted June 9, 2004 Author Share Posted June 9, 2004 I wanna say that he was the 10th ranked HS'er in Illinois, but I don't subscribe to BA, so I could just be making that up. An article in the Trib had him as 26th among Illinois prospects (including college), 10th among High Schoolers. Here is the article, you need to be registered even though it's free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Honda Civic Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 An article in the Trib had him as 26th among Illinois prospects (including college), 10th among High Schoolers. Here is the article, you need to be registered even though it's free. Hey-- I wasn't just makng it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasox24 Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 It sounds like Kenneth Jr. would be better off going to Arizona to try to improve his draft stock. I wouldn't sign if I were him, and I don't think he will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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