With our top 30 prospect rankings now out, we wanted to take a broader look at the system. After not having a minor league season in 2020, there are plenty of unknowns entering the 2021 season. Here are some of the main questions with predictions from our staff.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the system?
Depth remains the strength of the system despite it being relatively top heavy. With the expected addition of Norge Vera, the White Sox are confident in young starting pitchers such as Matthew Thompson, Andrew Dalquist and Jared Kelley. They all have solid mid-rotation upside. There is also a plethora of young position talent. Bryan Ramos (19 in March), Jose Rodriguez (19), Benyamin Bailey (19), Bryce Bush (21), James Beard (20) and DJ Gladney (19) are all examples of high upside players who, outside of Bush, haven’t participated in a full professional minor league season. There are unknowns in all of the aforementioned, but Nick Hostetler, Mike Shirley and the Sox player development staff have found a method of evaluation and scouting. It has netted them a considerable amount of high upside depth.
Weaknesses include a lack of starting pitching depth, especially in the immediate sense. Outside of Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet, the starters in the system are either early in their development or working toward proving they belong at a respective MiLB affiliate. The catching situation leaves something to be desired, as well. – Mike Rankin
What trend stands out about the system?
After years of trading for prospects, the system is almost entirely homegrown now. Michael Kopech and Blake Rutherford are the only players in our top 30 that weren’t drafted or originally signed by the White Sox. Kopech should graduate by our midseason list so that trend is likely to continue. It looks like the White Sox are going to be buyers for the foreseeable future. It’s not out of question that the top 30 could be entirely homegrown by this time next year. That doesn’t have to be a good or bad thing, but it does mean the system’s overall quality will fall squarely on White Sox scouts and coaches. – Dan Santaromita
The system is starting to trend younger which is a positive development. The White Sox have made more of an effort to add prep players to the system via the draft in recent years and with big league jobs occupied by core contributors, continuing to upgrade the prep pipeline makes sense. High school players and international teenagers are the game’s currency currently and the White Sox are trying to contend for championships on a regular basis. The organization needs to keep adding young players of this variety to enhance what they can feasibly acquire via trade and Mike Shirley and staff are in the process of doing just that. – James Fox
What prospect from outside the top 20 has the best chance to move into the top 10 by midseason?
That would have to be Benyamin Bailey for me. The skill set he displayed in the DSL in 2019 was something that is rather unique to the system. He’s a big guy with solid power potential that displayed a great knowledge of plate discipline, walking more times than he struck out (52 BB to 40 K). Sure, he may profile best as a LF/1B/DH type player as he continues to fill out, but a player with tools like this is easy to dream on. He’s likely ticketed for full season ball in Kannapolis this season. If the 19-year-old is able to start tapping into some of his power while also maintaining his fantastic eye at the plate, I truly feel that he could be a very fast riser in the system. – Sleepy Harold
Benyamin Bailey is the obvious answer here but Jose Rodriguez is a possibility as well. Rodriguez is an aggressive offensive player and that could get him into trouble in Low-A Kannapolis. If he continues to hit and provide the power output that has been common for him to date, he could move up quite a bit as an infielder with that sort of power potential.- James Fox
Who from the just missed list makes it into the top 30 at midseason?
Jefferson Mendoza has been in our Top 30 before and I expect him to make a repeat appearance at midseason. He’s been impressive both behind and at the dish. Although, he still needs work from both perspectives, he has shown enough potential to be projected as a big league starter. His stateside debut in 2021 will be fun to watch. – Ken Sawilchik
Cabera Weaver and Lenyn Sosa are the obvious names from this list. Both players had some positive reviews from fall instructs and they’ll both be in A ball to start 2021. Sosa can hit at a premium position and Weaver plays center field. The White Sox are likely to graduate four players by the midseason list as well so there will be some movement. Elijah Tatis, Cristian Mena, Jefferson Mendoza, Ronaldo Guzman and Isaiah Carranza are possibilities as well.-James Fox
Who will make major league debuts in 2021?
Aside from the obvious one (Andrew Vaughn), I’m going to give two debut candidates. The first one is Gavin Sheets. If he is indeed as improved as advertised, there’s always a spot for a lefty power bat who can DH and/or play a modicum of outfield defense on this team. With him likely starting the season at Charlotte, he will be only one step away. A decent start to his season will put him firmly on the radar for a call-up if and when the need arises.
The second player to potentially make his debut is Tyler Johnson. I don’t necessarily think he’ll make the team out of Spring Training because the ‘pen is pretty much set in stone at this point. I do, however, think he’s one of the first, if not the first, ones up in case of necessity/emergency. There’s not a whole lot left to prove for Johnson in the minors. He has pitched well at the levels he has pitched and he looked very good in Schaumburg last season and in the videos we’ve seen from Spring Training so far. It was confusing enough that the White Sox did not call him up over guys like Drew Anderson or Alex McRae last season. In 2021, it’s time. – Jasper Roos
Who is your favorite among the recently drafted prep arms in the system?
I was disappointed when the White Sox didn’t select Jared Kelley in the first round last year, only to be pleasantly surprised on two fronts. First, nabbing him in the second round. Second, the emergence of Garrett Crochet. With his body type and two advanced pitches at a young age, he has the chance to develop into a frontline starter in a short period of time. – Ken Sawilchik
Jared Kelley is the best of the bunch but Matthew Thompson and Andrew Dalquist possess quite a bit of upside as well. That rotation in Kannapolis will be really fun for the locals and the Cannon Ballers should be very exciting. Kelley has a top of the rotation type projection while Thompson and Dalquist project as mid-rotation types. They’re all different but this type of talent is very exciting. -James Fox
What international prospect are you most excited about?
The international prospect that I’m most excited about would have to be Bryan Ramos. After signing, he was aggressively thrust into stateside ball for the AZL Sox in 2019 and more than held his own for a 17-year-old. He’s gained a lot of helium since fall instructs by putting on a great display for scouts in attendance. He’s ticketed to play this season in Kannapolis as a 19-year-old, which is another aggressive assignment. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t going to be very intrigued by how Benyamin Bailey, Jose Rodriguez and Norge Vera all fair this year as well, but given the positive reviews that Ramos has received since the fall, he’s definitely the 1A focus for me. – Sleepy Harold
I’m very fond of some of the younger talent that has been added to this system but Yoelqui Cespedes is the international man of mystery. He needs to play baseball. Some scouts have been pretty bearish on Cespedes but if the White Sox are correct in their summation, the 23-year-old could be a regular in an outfield corner very soon. He likely goes to Double-A and we’ll find out what sort of skill set he possesses. He can play center field and his strength gains should provide immense batting practice power. He’ll need to improve the hit tool however and it’ll determine what type of big league impact he ultimately has.
Which prospect will make the biggest jump by the midseason list?
This is an incredibly tough question because we have more questions about almost all of the prospects than normal. Our midseason list will likely be the most different from the previous list since we’ve been doing rankings. The top four prospects are likely to graduate so most players will move up. A lot of younger players could really surge forward, but they will all be tested at higher levels.
Benyamin Bailey would be a solid pick, but he likely will head to the Arizona League. That means he won’t have played much by the time our midseason rankings come out in early August. I like Bryan Ramos a lot, but making the jump from the Arizona League to full season ball is a tough adjustment for teenagers. I’ll go with Bryce Bush because he already went through that adjustment in 2019 with Kannapolis. If he shows improvement in 2021, where he could be at High-A, he probably surges ahead of the older outfield group just above him and moves into the top 10. – Dan Santaromita
This is easily Jake Burger for me. If the former 11th overall pick is healthy this season as expected, he should be firmly in the top 10 of this system again in short order. He’ll report to an advanced level affiliate this season and while making his big league debut in 2021 isn’t expected, it shouldn’t be considered impossible either. Jake Burger has come a long way. His path has been anything but traditional but he still has big league value and he could show it soon.- James Fox
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I’m not sure about your conclusion that “a lack of starting pitching depth, especially in the immediate sense” is a system weakness. In addition to the aforementioned Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet, the White Sox have three other MLB ready starting pitching prospects who will be available at AAA Charlotte in RHP’s Jonathan Stiever and Jimmy Lambert along with LHP Bernardo Flores Jr. Each made brief MLB debuts last season and will also be on-call in 2021 as insurance depth (God forbid!). lol
Things are getting pretty crowded in Chicago. As we speculate with excitement about prospects becoming MLB ready, the question naturally becomes “how do we make room for these guys?” Since we’re not the Yankees, some tough decisions have to be made about trading more expensive established players to make room for less expensive new ones. That’s how a spending limited club can win year after year. It’s a nice problem to have.