Take One Name Off List Of White Sox Draft Possibilities

With the MLB Draft right around one month away, draft boards are beginning to take shape.

The White Sox select third, behind the Houston Astros and Miami Marlins, and the consensus among scouts leading up to the draft has been that four pitchers would go in some order among the top four selections.

It's time to scratch one name off that list.

RHP Jeff Hoffman of @ECUBaseball will have Tommy John surgery next week. Had been a probable top 4 pick in the draft before injury.

— keithlaw (@keithlaw) May 7, 2014

Hoffman was in the cluster of four along with North Carolina State's Carlos Rodon and high schoolers Brady Aiken and Tyler Kolek. Hoffman's injury doesn't mean he's now undraftable, as Jeff Passan tweeted earlier that he's still likely a mid-first round pick. But the injury means he's now out of the White Sox's plans with the No. 3 pick.

What that means is that the White Sox likely won't have to make much of a decision come draft day. Unless something surprising happens within the next month, Rodon, Aiken and Kolek will go 1-2-3 in some order, meaning the White Sox will get to take who of the trio the Astros and Marlins pass on.