Race To The Bottom: Diamondbacks Stand In The Way

With the White Sox out of contention, every Monday until the end of the regular season, we'll take a quick peek at where the White Sox stand in their 2016 MLB Draft position. The draft position is important for two reasons:

The first, very obvious reason is that the higher you pick, the better the talent pool you have to choose from. The second, slightly less obvious reason is that if the White Sox pick in the Top 10, they can sign free agents who are issued qualifying offers without forfeiting a first round draft pick.

We saw this work in the team's favor last season as they signed premium free agents Melky Cabrera and David Robertson and only had to sacrifice picks in the second and third rounds because their draft position was No. 8 overall.

The Bottom of the League

The Race for 10th

8. Detroit Tigers (+3)
L10: 4-6
Last week: 2-3
Next week: Three games at Minnesota, three games vs. Kansas City

The Tigers lost a game to postponement against the Indians, as only one of their two rain outs were able to be made up. It's still the be seen when that game will be made up. The Tigers have had a pretty firm grasp on a Top 10 pick for a while now and it would take a pretty good run for them to lose out on this spot.

9. San Diego Padres (+2)
L10: 2-8
Last week: 2-5
Next week: Three games at Arizona, three games at Colorado

San Diego has been free falling lately and have jumped two games ahead in the race. It's possible they get back on the winning track with six games combined this week against the terrible Diamondbacks and Rockies.

T10. Chicago White Sox (+.5)
L10: 6-4
Last week: 2-4
Next week: Four games vs. Oakland, three games at Cleveland

The White Sox's Last 10 record is still solid because the tail end of their four-game winning streak still counts against this. But rest assured, this team is putting itself in prime position for the Top 10 pick they currently hold by a percentage point over the next team on the list. The White Sox have played well against Oakland this season, but a Sale-less series (and also one that includes John Danks vs. Sonny Gray) could put them in position to secure their standing.

T10 Arizona Diamondbacks (+.5)
L10: 3-7
Last week: 3-3
Next week: Three games vs. San Diego, three games at San Francisco

As of right now it appears the Diamondbacks and White Sox are the two prime contenders for the No. 10 spot in the draft, with the Diamondbacks a percentage point behind because they've played two more games (with one more win and one more loss). The next week will be crucial.

T12. Boston Red Sox (-.5)
L10: 7-3
Last week: 4-2
Next week: Three games at Baltimore, three games at Toronto

The Red Sox have been on fire lately, and it's helped out the other contenders for a Top 10 pick. After taking two of three from both Tampa Bay and Toronto, they will hopefully keep things rolling this week against the reeling Orioles before another matchup with the AL East leading Blue Jays.

T12. Seattle Mariners (-.5)
L10: 6-4
Last week: 3-4
Next week: Three games vs. LA Angels, three games at Texas

Seattle continues to be up-and-down, and is as good of a contender as any outside the current Top 10 to drop down. The Mariners don't play another team with a below-.500 record until the final weekend of the series against the Athletics.

T14. Tampa Bay Rays (-1.5)
L10: 3-7
Last week: 2-4
Next week: Three games vs. NY Yankees, four games vs. Baltimore

The Rays have fallen apart and keep climbing from Wild Card contenders to now Top 10 contenders. After two terrible series against the Red Sox and Tigers, they play all AL East foes the rest of the way save one random interleague series against the Marlins.

T14. Baltimore Orioles (-1.5)
L10: 6-4
Last week: 4-2
Next week: Three games vs. Boston, four games at Tampa Bay

The Orioles are coming off a surprisingly successful week with series victories over both the Yankees and Royals. Their upcoming four-game trip to Tampa will likely be an "elimination" series for one of those two teams.

16. Cleveland Indians (-3)
L10: 6-4
Last week: 4-2
Next week: Four games vs. Kansas City, three games vs. White Sox

The Indians have fallen almost completely out of Top 10 contention with a solid run of late, and are actually just 4.5 games out of the last Wild Card spot. If they can play well against the Royals and continue sending the White Sox down the standings, they will likely be off this list completely by this time next week.