The White Sox have agreed to sign first round draft pick Courtney Hawkins, MLB.com's Scott Merkin reports. The White Sox selected Hawkins 13th overall last week and the high school outfielder promptly did a back flip on live television.
Merkin suggests Hawkins will obtain a bonus of $2.475MM — precisely the amount MLB recommends for the 13th overall selection. Hawkins has impressive bat speed and power and will likely end up playing right field as a professional, according to Baseball America. His fastball reached the low 90s as a pitcher, though he's not expected to continue pitching once he signs.
The backflip was awesome. Saw it live.
wonder why all of a sudden whitesox went after the high upside high schooler
From everything I read about this year’s draft, collectively, it seemed like the best potential was coming out of HS, not college.
i wouldn’t say that for the arms, zimmer/appel/gaussman all have high upside, when it comes to bats though HS with Buxton/Correa/Almora/ Dahl/Hawkins/Cecchini i agree
Hard to get excited for someone you might never see in a MLB uniform considering the Sox’s history of drafting high school talent in the first round, Kris Honel, Bobby Seay, Mark Johnson, etc.
Its the dreaded athletic urban outfielder. I dont mean that in any way racist at all. I just mean Kenny Williams has a hankering to draft football players that can swing a bat and chase down a ball. They missed on Mike Trout for Jared Mitchell. I wonder who he whiffed on this year?
You do realize that there were 24 players picked before Trout… and mlb.com said he looked more like a safety than a baseball player. So you question Kenny for drafting “football players that can swing a bat and chase down a ball,” but then you want him to draft someone that is exactly like what you described. Mitchell was the best athlete in the draft and had/has raw power. If he wasn’t injured right away, you would be hearing a lot more about him right now.
You do realize that there were 24 players picked before Trout right? And the fact that Trout was a “toolsy” outfielder with speed. They were pretty much the same type of prospect, but Mitchell is more athletic and has/had more raw power… If he wasn’t hurt right away, you’d probably be hearing a hell of a lot more about him right now.