White Sox 1-5: TOP HEAVY
1. Colson Montgomery (SS)
2. Noah Schultz (LHP)
3. Edgar Quero (C)
4. Drew Thorpe (RHP)
5. Bryan Ramos (3B)
Noah Schultz in action from an intra squad game today. Threw one inning, gave up one run, struck out one. pic.twitter.com/FW3TBz9wLS
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) March 16, 2024
It cannot come as a surprise that my top five White Sox prospects are Montgomery, Schultz, Quero, Thorpe and Ramos. In any order, they’ll be all of our top five. The top three guys on the list have me purring with excitement over their potential ceiling, Thorpe’s floor is something I am actually quite bullish on, and Ramos is starting to become one of those guys that does nothing to deter people from rooting for him. I am ready to see Montgomery and Thorpe in the majors this year.
White Sox 6-10: FIVE GUYS
6. Samuel Zavala (OF)
7. Nick Nastrini (RHP)
8. Jairo Iriarte (RHP)
9. Jake Eder (LHP)
10. Peyton Pallette (RHP)
Hey look: five guys .. who weren’t in our top 10 this time last season. That usually means one of two things: either a whole class successfully moved up to the majors, or something went horribly wrong at the big league level and players got sold off in a mass exodus. We all know which one this is, but the fact that these five players are now part of the White Sox top 10, is actually kinda .. fun? Pallette makes his way into the top 10 as a White Sox second round draft pick in 2022, and he’s been steadily climbing the ranks, showing definite potential.
The four guys ahead of him are all new: Zavala and Iriarte (Cease trade), Nastrini (Lynn/Kelly trade), and Eder (Burger trade). I’m probably higher on Eder than I should be, based on how he’s been performing since coming back from all the surgeries, but that slider… man. Zavala, with all the vague stories of make-up issues, is the kind of high ceiling teenager you want in your system. He’s the most intriguing player to follow in the top 10, probably. Nastrini I see in the majors this season. Fun little group here!
White Sox 11-15: MESSY
11. Jose Rodriguez (INF)
12. Grant Taylor (RHP)
13. Tanner McDougal (RHP)
14. Jonathan Cannon (RHP)
15. George Wolkow (OF)
It gets messy at position 11-15 on my list, mostly because there are a lot of risk factors and various potential outcomes here. ‘Popeye’ Rodriguez we’ve all known for a while. He made his debut in the Majors last season, did not have the best year of his career, has strikeouts issues (among other things), but he’s young. McDougal has always intrigued me from a stuff standpoint, and I’m curious to see if his Tommy John surgery rehab puts him fully back on the radar as the guy with the crazy RPM’s. He should probably stop tweeting though…
Everyone’s new favorite power pet, George Wolkow, is another youngster I am very excited to see take another step. He’s in this weird spot of my list where he can climb the ranks come mid-season, or be dropped a couple of spots, depending on his start to his age-18 season. Not legally allowed to drink yet, but legally allowed to mash dingers; seems like a fair trade for him for now. Taylor was a second-rounder in the 2023 draft, and his stuff played legit in college at LSU. Cannon had a pretty good season split between Winston-Salem and Birmingham, though the strikeout numbers aren’t where I’d like to see them. The arm is one to watch, though.
White Sox 16-20: THROWING DARTS
16. Dominic Fletcher (OF)
17. Ky Bush (RHP)
18. Jacob Gonzalez (SS)
19. Jacob Burke (OF)
20. Terrell Tatum (OF)
Three of the five players in the 16-20 slot are new once more, with Dominic Fletcher coming over from the D-backs in the Cristian Mena trade, Ky Bush being the second piece in the Giolito/Lopez trade that also brought the Sox Edgar Quero, and Jacob Gonzalez being the Sox’ number 1 draft pick in 2023. Fletcher seems like a surefire bet to play in the majors more than in the minors this season, as he was quite succesful in big leagues last season with Arizona (who, for some reason, kept sending him down). Bush has a live arm, but struggled tremendously in AA with both the Angels and the Sox organization, so he’s a bit of a project at this point in time.
Also in this group of five: my high-guy player and my low-guy player. I’m the (way) low guy on Gonzalez, and this is all based on the ‘my own eyes’ kind-of thing. Sure, I’ve read the positive reports coming from Spring Training about the altered swing mechanics, how much better he’s looked, but I’m taking a wait and see approach. For such an advanced college player, he had one of the worst first tastes of pro baseball for a first round draft pick I can remember. That, plus the switch to wooden bats after not having the best track record with said material, leave me skeptical. Open to being proven wrong, but skeptical.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, I’m the high-guy on Terrell Tatum, be it not by much — Ian has him one spot lower than I do. I think there is room on a Major League team for a guy like Tatum, whose incredible speed (47 steals in 2023!) makes him a potential off-the-bench speedster or late defensive replacement at the minimum. This will be the year for Tatum to show that, at 24 years old (25 in July), he can contribute on a consistent basis. As far as Jacob Burke goes: yeah, I like him for similar reasons as Tatum. Slightly less speedy, but a slightly better hitter at this point. Hence me putting them back to back on this list.
White Sox 21-25: HIGH UPSIDE
21. Seth Keener (RHP)
22. Ryan Burrowes (SS)
23. Jordan Leasure (RHP)
24. Prelander Berroa (RHP)
25. Wilfred Veras (RF)
Now here’s a grouping of potential super high upside guys, with a risky note. Let’s kick it off with Leasure and Berroa, both new additions to the organization (Leasure cam with Nastrini from LA in the Kelly/Lynn deal, Berroa from the Mariners in the Gregory Santos deal). Those are some live arms, brothers and sisters of the prospect-watching-community. Leasure was named among the hottest arms in Spring Training for the Sox and I would be surprised if we don’t see him in Chicago before the All-Star Break (perhaps even much sooner). Berroa
White Sox 26-30: THROWING DARTS 2, ELECTRIC BOOGALOO
26. Javier Mogollon
27. Zach DeLoach (OF)
28. Sean Burke (RHP)
29. Eduardo Herrera (3B)
30. Tyler Schweitzer (LHP)
Tyler Schweitzer looked comfortable for the first time in a #Dash uni Wednesday night, and he was showing off and showing out. He tosses a QS, going 6 innings allowing 1R on a HR (the only hit he allowed). He walks 2 and strikes out 9 on 64/94 vs. the Rays A+ club. #WhiteSox pic.twitter.com/DC6jnBUCsk
— Ian Eskridge (@dailywhitesox) August 3, 2023
It’s probably good to note that Shane Drohan, Matthias LaCombe and Loidell Chapelli were bumped off the top 30 I handed in a few weeks ago, due to the additions from the Cease trade. Sorry, guys.
Photo credit: Sean Williams/FutureSox