Sunday, May 10, 2020

Right in Front of You


According to various reports, Mt. Carmel High School shortstop Ed Howard could very well be a first-round draft pick in the upcoming MLB draft.  I’m not holding my breath for either Chicago team to go after him, though.

 

If Howard does in fact get picked, he’ll be second Mt. Carmel player selected in the past three years; the Diamondbacks took Caravan—now, there’s a team name for you—outfielder Alek Thomas in the second round of the 2018 draft.  Both the Cubs and White Sox took a pass on Thomas, which is standard operating procedure in these parts.  If they’re local, they can’t be good.

 

Here’s the thing—the Sox didn’t even have to scout Thomas because they knew all about him.  His father is the team’s strength and conditioning director.  No, we took outfielder Steele Walker instead, and, as Hawk Harrelson would say, he gone, traded in the offseason to the Rangers for Nomar Mazara. 

 

Mazara is considered something of a reclamation project, a power hitter who needs to make more contact.  Thomas, on the other hand, is the #2 prospect for Arizona according to MLB.com, and he’s just starting his third season of pro ball.  But, hey, Walker and Mazara.

 

Which brings us back to Thomas’s former teammate, who also has a White Sox connection, as a member of the team’s ACE (Amateur City Elite) Program for young, Chicago-area minority ballplayers.  Oh, and he’s trained with current Sox shortstop Tim Anderson.  But who does MLB.com project taking Howard?  That’s right, the Diamondbacks.

 

Go, Caravan.  

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