‘I’m going to always feel the pressure to get this thing right,’ scouting director Nick Hostetler said. ‘It’s pretty exciting what we are going to be able to do on Monday night.’
White Sox scouting director Nick Hostetler sees the top five or six players in the Major League Baseball Draft on Monday as better on the whole than the top tiers of most drafts. That’s a good thing for the Sox, who are drafting third.
The depth of the draft, on the other hand, is a different story.
‘‘I don’t see the depth that we’ve seen the last few years,’’ Hostetler said. ‘‘Your top 10 picks all have the ability to be impact superstars at the major-league level, which is a little higher than normal.’’
There’s always room for superstars, and the rebuilding Sox, who earned the third pick by losing 100 games last season, must improve on their less-than-super track record for drafting.
‘‘As far as pressure goes, it doesn’t matter if it’s pick No. 3 or 30,’’ said Hostetler, who has seen the Sox select catcher Zack Collins, third baseman Jake Burger and second baseman Nick Madrigal in the first round in his three years since being promoted from assistant scouting director. ‘‘I’m going to always feel the pressure to get this thing right. It’s pretty exciting what we are going to be able to do on Monday night.’’
Here are the players Hostetler, general manager Rick Hahn, executive vice president Ken Williams and even chairman Jerry Reinsdorf — he has the final say, Hostetler said — are looking at: catcher Adley Rutschman of Oregon State; shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. of Heritage High School in Colleyville, Texas; first baseman Andrew Vaughn of Cal; shortstop CJ Abrams of Blessed Trinity Catholic High School in Roswell, Georgia; and outfielder JJ Bledayof Vanderbilt.
Most forecasts see Rutschman going to the Orioles at No. 1 and Witt Jr. to the Royals at No. 2, with the Sox choosing between Vaughn and Abrams.
Hostetler said that the choice will be the best player, regardless of organizational need, and that the decision will be ‘‘a collective effort.’’
‘‘But final say? Jerry’s got final say in all of it,’’ Hostetler said. ““But at the same time, he lets us do our job.’’
