The White Sox have reached agreement with first-round draft pick Royce Ring, and are expected to announce his signing this weekend.
Ring will receive a $1.6 million bonus, according to sources, and will arrive in Chicago on Sunday to meet with management and the media. The 21-year-old left-handed closer from San Diego State said on draft day he wanted to get a deal done quickly. “I’m not a guy trying to make a record-breaking deal,” Ring said.
Ring, picked 18th overall, was one of 13 pitchers the Sox selected with their first 17 picks, continuing a philosophy general manager Ron Schueler instituted years ago. The Sox believe that by stockpiling the system with arms, they’ll have enough depth to make trades if they need to fill holes elsewhere.
“Normally the way we’ve looked at it is that the quality of position players in the last few years has diminished some,” scouting director Doug Laumann said. “Some clubs’ philosophy is to go ahead and take a position player because there are fewer of them and they have the urgency to go get them, feeling like, `Maybe we can grab a pitcher later.’ We feel like the draft is in a pitching-strength position, so we should go ahead and deal from that position.”
Since becoming general manager in October 2000, Ken Williams has traded pitchers Mike Sirotka, James Baldwin, Kip Wells, Josh Fogg, Sean Lowe, Scott Eyre and Aaron Myette, among others. Williams also tried to trade Jon Garland to Anaheim last December, but the deal for Darin Erstad fell apart at the last minute.
Cracks in the mirror: Sandy Alomar Jr. killed a scoring chance in the fourth inning Thursday when he tried to stretch a leadoff double into a triple only to be thrown out at third.
Todd Ritchie handed the Royals a run in the fifth when he made no attempt to hold Mike Sweeney at second, letting him steal third before a sacrifice fly scored him.
“That base-running play was a big turnaround,” manager Jerry Manuel said. “Not keeping Sweeney close [at second] was a big turnaround.”
Alomar conceded he erred on the base-running gaffe but said Ritchie’s failure to hold the runner is a “team problem.”
“That’s something we have to address,” Alomar said.
Meanwhile, the Sox continue to have problems coming up with clutch, late-inning hits. They’re now 2-7 in one-run games.
“Our approach with men in scoring position is tough to take right now,” Manuel said. “We’re not taking the ball the other way or making quality at-bats. . . . You’re not always going to get hits, but you can be a tougher out.”
Paul Konerko suggested the execution was fine; the results just weren’t there.
“I see a lot of guys having good at-bats, getting deep in counts and just missing the ball,” he said. “It’ll come, I know. But so will Christmas.”
All in the family: The drafting of Manuel’s son, Anthony, with the 48th pick continues a club tradition. Two decades ago, the Sox drafted bench coach Joe Nossek’s son, Scott, a pitcher who never made it to the big leagues. A few years ago they drafted Carey Schueler, the daughter of former GM Ron Schueler. Last December the Sox acquired minor-league infielder Josh Shaffer, son of Duane Shaffer, the senior director of player personnel.
Ring, the first-round pick, is a distant cousin of reliever Bill Simas, while the Sox also drafted catcher Jeremy Paul, younger brother of Josh Paul.
Lofton’s day: Sox center fielder Kenny Lofton will be honored by his hometown of East Chicago on Saturday during dedication ceremonies for Kenny Lofton Field at 144th Street and Elm Street. Lofton will attend the ceremonies, which begin at 10 a.m.
