The White Sox have signed shortstop Billy Carlson, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com. The Sox selected Carlson with their first-round pick, 10th overall, in last week’s draft. The signing bonus is $6,235,900, effectively slot value for the 10th overall pick. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported the signing first, noting the bonus would be “about” $6.2MM.
Pre-draft rankings from MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, ESPN, FanGraphs and The Athletic’s Keith Law all had Carlson ranked from #7 to #12 in the class. All evaluators heap praise on his glovework, with many considering him the best defender in the class. BA mentions his “silky smooth actions in the field with clean hands.” His arm is strong enough that he was considered a potential two-way player for a while, hitting 97 miles per hour with his fastball when on the mound.
Offensively, there’s a bit more hesitation. His hit tool gets more praise than his power, as he generally has a contact-oriented line-drive swing. Whether he will develop into more power as he matures seems to be the key question here.
The White Sox don’t have an answer at shortstop at the moment. Chase Meidroth is currently getting most of the playing time and is performing well enough this year, but he’s expected to be a multi-positional guy in the long run. Colson Montgomery has had a challenging year and is currently playing more third base.
As a high school pick, Carlson won’t be a short-term solution. He doesn’t even turn 19 years old until next week. He’s years away from helping at the big league level, but based on the reports, he seems like a lock to stay at shortstop in the long run. The only question is what he will be able to provide at the plate.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images
Is there a list of all the prominent picks that have signed?
Google is your friend.
mlb draft tracker….works great!
LMGTFY
One of the better options in the draft. Great value at #10
Keith Law has a different take, noting he has enough power, but might not hit enough to stick in the majors. He says that he bars his arm, which is limiting his ability to get to some balls and deal with changing velocity.
Really negative take on what Law actually said. He also said he’s a 70 fielder with a 70 to 80 arm, with power, who’s ONLY concern was the arm bar you mention, which he also claims is fixable.
Seems a big concern if it can keep him from staying in the majors. A high-level fielder who can’t hit is a utility player unless they’re at an Ozzie Smith level.
He’s the next Luisangel Acuna.
He’s too far away to think about but White Sox really need to develop some hitters and this young high school kid might help in a few years. Probably won’t start really hearing about this guy for another 3 or 4 years. Jerry might not even be the owner by the time he gets called up.
Is he going right to A ball or staying at the complex? Missing some info, guys.
This kid doesn’t look good at the plate, there are kids all across the country who can hit with Carlson. He goes to Corona. Draft a glove first SS in the first round should be fired.
Billy has shown he can hit for small ball but his defense can’t be ignored.
I can’t say that Carlson is a bust but Marek Houston is a far better prospect. His approach at the plate is Jeteresque. He is powerful and has a short swing. He hit for two seasons in the ACC. I don’t know how you pass on Houston in that spot if you were set on a SS.
“I can’t say Carlson is a bust” is a wild opening statement about any kid that’s 18 years old lmao
It isn’t a wild statement, he was drafted 10th overall as a prep player.
You know how many college players there are across the country that went undrafted all together who look at the draft and think to themselves that they are as good or better than Billy Carlson?
Players that have hit the ball in NCAA D1. There are a sizeable number.
It doesn’t say anything about Carlson as a player.
My point stems from my belief that D1 seasoning is close to A ball and players who hit a ton in D1 should be considered well above any prep player available, including Holliday and Willits.
I’d have taken Aiva Arquette or Marek Houston over all of them. What do I know though, its mostly based on the fact that they raked in D1.
BA has a good article on undrafted FA, some of the D1 players put up some impressive numbers.
I guess it lends itself to taking a prep prospect early, knowing how deep the draft is, I can’t say. Im not that into it, prep scouting and scouting but I do have a sense for kinesthetics.
One thing Carlson has going for him is his upright batting stance, he can hit the high fastball and wont be as troubled by the ABS zone. Thats a big plus.
Your posts are longer than the article. Have you considered applying for a job at mlbtr?
I’m a freelancer. I always get fired from jobs.
@bwmiller: he doesn’t look good at the plate? Shame on the White Sox for not consulting you and your expert option. Sheesh.
I watched his tape, he’s a 6’1 prep player with a weak body. Houston is 6’3 and is solid. Has hit in college.
I dont know, Houston looks like a legitimate bat and Carlson has to grow into it.
He could be Starlyn Caba with the glove ut Id take Houston over both Caba and Carlson because he looks like a hitter. He looks like Jeter without the waggle. He has a short swing like Trout.
I mixed up my comparisons, Carlson has the bat waggle like Jeter, Houston has the fast twitch like Trout.
Jeter hit .310/.370/.440 over his career with the bat waggle so what can you say about it?
One of my favorite players on the White Sox is Brooks Baldwin, 6’1, 195, similar size to Carlson. He has a short compact swing from the right hand side and a long slow swing from the left, he’s a better right handed hitter. Baldwin is a great defender, plays all over the diamond.
Carlson is the 10th overall pick, Baldwin was a 12th round pick, its a different sort of bag. Some players do better with high expectations, some are better as the underdog.
Carlson has the high expectations to deal with.
Ed Howard was a high school SS drafted by the Cubs a few years back. 16th overall. He has fallen short. He is an Illinois kid that was in a similar position to Carlson a few years back.
Have to look at your draft status as a goal to reach for and let the expectations fall away. Could be Jeter, could be Howard. It ain’t all bad to be Brooks Baldwin.
k.
What’s with this picture here on the story? Are y’all getting that lazy on rumors here 🤔
Glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks they’re hitting tabs of LSD.
Have you ever been to the White Sox’s ballpark?
Only slept through the 7th inning stretch in the bullpen myself
His player comp is Nick Allen
Wouldn’t trust Sox organization in development dept . Terrible brand of baseball from ownership to low minors ask the Southside.
Montgomery has a .737 OPS. Challenging? He’s a rookie!