Lip Man 1 Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 Courtesy MLB.com: 17. Chicago White Sox 2025 preseason rank: 6 2024 midseason rank: 11 2024 preseason rank: 20 2023 midseason rank: 20 Top 100 Prospects: Braden Montgomery, OF (No. 33); Noah Schultz, LHP (No. 38); Colson Montgomery, SS/3B (No. 71); Billy Carlson, SS (No. 79); Caleb Bonemer, SS/3B (No. 88); Hagen Smith, LHP (No. 93) The White Sox tied the Cubs for the biggest drop (11 spots) from our preseason rankings, but that's largely a reflection of graduating Top 100 Prospects Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero and others to the Majors. After struggling for most of two years in Triple-A, Colson Montgomery has gotten his act together in the big leagues, and Braden Montgomery and Bonemer also have developed positively at the plate during their 2025 pro debuts. Schultz and Smith ranked as the best southpaw pitching prospects in baseball to start the year but have regressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitekrazy Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 I question if the coaching in Charlotte is not good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 Dodgers #1 with all their OF prospects, Brewers #4 (overall org of the year), Guardians and Tigers both impressive while holding in Top 8, Padres last... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago White Sox Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 Seems pretty ridiculous to have six top 100 prospects and not be in the top half of farm systems. I’d wager than BA and Fangraphs will have us higher. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2Jimmy0 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 BA has them at 18. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteSox2023 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 (edited) 1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said: Seems pretty ridiculous to have six top 100 prospects and not be in the top half of farm systems. I’d wager than BA and Fangraphs will have us higher. No prospect within the top 30 in the MLB and not too many exciting prospects after their first 12. Seems reasonable. Edited August 14 by WhiteSox2023 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boopa1219 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 With all the players who have graduated from the prospect list (and those who are about to), this is about where I expected them to be ranked. I would say that the farm system looks to be the healthiest it’s been in a while, I think they had a good draft, and with a high pick next year, they could be back in that top 10-12 range this time next year. What is troubling though is the lack of international prospects that the Sox signed on that list. Looking at the MLB pipeline list, I count 3 INTL players that the Sox originally signed. While the farm is the healthiest it’s been in a while, it could still be a lot better. The sad thing is that it’s going to be a couple more years till we see the results of their international dept overhaul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago White Sox Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 It’s still early and I remain somewhat hopeful, but taking Hagen Smith over the cohort of positional players that were available is fucking killing us right now. Konner Griffin is currently #1 at BA, JJ Wetherholt is #5, and Bryce Rainer is #25. Those guys were taken four, two, and six picks behind us respectfully and all got a $1M to $2M less than Smith. And then you have the two 1B sandwiched around our pick in Kurtz and Caglianone. The former is currently putting up 3.2 fWAR as a rookie 1B and the latter has already reach the majors (though struggling) after crushing the minors. Those guys got $1M and $500k less than Smith respectively. And just for transparency, those five guys got the five highest bonuses after Smith and were all considered top 10 prospects in that draft, so this isn’t cherry-picking a bunch of random hits and saying we blew it. And taking Nick McLain over Mike Sirota (BA’s #48 prospect) in the 3rd is also a dagger. BA had Sirota as the 70th overall prospect in the 2024 draft whereas McLain was in the 200’s. Both were available for us at our pick in the 3rd and we took the tweener OF with good bloodlines over the far more physically gifted player coming off a rough season all for about $80k in bonus pool savings. I was mad at the time about this and am even more pissed now that McLain has basically missed the entire season while Sirota has turned into a top 50 prospect. 5 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago White Sox Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 32 minutes ago, Boopa1219 said: With all the players who have graduated from the prospect list (and those who are about to), this is about where I expected them to be ranked. I would say that the farm system looks to be the healthiest it’s been in a while, I think they had a good draft, and with a high pick next year, they could be back in that top 10-12 range this time next year. What is troubling though is the lack of international prospects that the Sox signed on that list. Looking at the MLB pipeline list, I count 3 INTL players that the Sox originally signed. While the farm is the healthiest it’s been in a while, it could still be a lot better. The sad thing is that it’s going to be a couple more years till we see the results of their international dept overhaul. The complete lack of a contributing LatAm program has been killing us for years and it’s most apparent when you look at lists like this. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quin Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 2 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said: The complete lack of a contributing LatAm program has been killing us for years and it’s most apparent when you look at lists like this. Honestly, makes Sosa's ability to struggle then succeed at every level more impressive to me. 2 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said: It’s still early and I remain somewhat hopeful, but taking Hagen Smith over the cohort of positional players that were available is fucking killing us right now. Konner Griffin is currently #1 at BA, JJ Wetherholt is #5, and Bryce Rainer is #25. Those guys were taken four, two, and six picks behind us respectfully and all got a $1M to $2M less than Smith. And then you have the two 1B sandwiched around our pick in Kurtz and Caglianone. The former is currently putting up 3.2 fWAR as a rookie 1B and the latter has already reach the majors (though struggling) after crushing the minors. Those guys got $1M and $500k less than Smith respectively. And just for transparency, those five guys got the five highest bonuses after Smith and were all considered top 10 prospects in that draft, so this isn’t cherry-picking a bunch of random hits and saying we blew it. And taking Nick McLain over Mike Sirota (BA’s #48 prospect) in the 3rd is also a dagger. BA had Sirota as the 70th overall prospect in the 2024 draft whereas McLain was in the 200’s. Both were available for us at our pick in the 3rd and we took the tweener OF with good bloodlines over the far more physically gifted player coming off a rough season all for about $80k in bonus pool savings. I was mad at the time about this and am even more pissed now that McLain has basically missed the entire season while Sirota has turned into a top 50 prospect. I forget who said it's on the board, but I think this team bought into themselves after Sale (over a decade ago), Crochet and an unproven Schultz that they could ball out with power lefties that have funky deliveries. Hubris still runs deep. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quin Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 Can also not understate the disaster that was the Cease trade, unless that trio of prospects magically turns it around. 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteSox2023 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Quin said: Honestly, makes Sosa's ability to struggle then succeed at every level more impressive to me. I forget who said it's on the board, but I think this team bought into themselves after Sale (over a decade ago), Crochet and an unproven Schultz that they could ball out with power lefties that have funky deliveries. Hubris still runs deep. It could also be that the Sox have no confidence in drafting a bat with such a high pick after so many previous failures, while they have actually had some success with selecting the type of pitcher you mentioned. Having to draft a SS because the SS you took two years earlier already looked like a bust almost immediately is pretty damn sad. Edited August 14 by WhiteSox2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 Detroit being a Top Ten system now just makes it all that much harder to catch them. Need to wait for Skubal to move on to greener pastures, for one thing. And we could have drafted Riley Greene as well, for another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestEddy Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 30 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said: It could also be that the Sox have no confidence in drafting a bat with such a high pick after so many previous failures, while they have actually had some success with selecting the type of pitcher you mentioned. Having to draft a SS because the SS you took two years earlier already looked like a bust almost immediately is pretty damn sad. I think I've read that Getz felt he had to nail his first 1st rounder, so made a choice they felt they could develop properly. Bannister was already in place, and Fuller wasn't. As "bad" as Smith looks like, the Sox avoided an injury. He's pitching with reworked mechanics, and is striking out 12.8 per 9IP at a level he's 3.5 years young for. He's walking guys, but I'd imagine that'll work itself out as he grows into his delivery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 10 minutes ago, WestEddy said: I think I've read that Getz felt he had to nail his first 1st rounder, so made a choice they felt they could develop properly. Bannister was already in place, and Fuller wasn't. As "bad" as Smith looks like, the Sox avoided an injury. He's pitching with reworked mechanics, and is striking out 12.8 per 9IP at a level he's 3.5 years young for. He's walking guys, but I'd imagine that'll work itself out as he grows into his delivery. Smith is turning 22 next week…for one thing. It’s not going to be easy to regain that lost prospect luster unless he can successfully undergo a Giolito-like transformation. And Lucas was the #1 RH pitching prospect in baseball when he was younger before his injuries/surgery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestEddy Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 4 minutes ago, caulfield12 said: Smith is turning 22 next week…for one thing. It’s not going to be easy to regain that lost prospect luster unless he can successfully undergo a Giolito-like transformation. And Lucas was the #1 RH pitching prospect in baseball when he was younger before his injuries/surgery. I'm not really concerned about the White Sox nailing rankings on listicles. The handling of Colson shows the White Sox aren't, really, either. Should we care about Hagen Smith's "prospect luster"? I'd rather he develop as a strong pitching prospect. The rankings will take care of themselves. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 https://www.mlb.com/news/biggest-breakouts-on-new-top-100-prospects-list-2025?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage Top Ten breakouts on the new Top 100 list...only one from the AL Central, CJ Kayfus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 26 minutes ago, WestEddy said: I'm not really concerned about the White Sox nailing rankings on listicles. The handling of Colson shows the White Sox aren't, really, either. Should we care about Hagen Smith's "prospect luster"? I'd rather he develop as a strong pitching prospect. The rankings will take care of themselves. SD must be elated to be 30th. In all seriousness, it's always about the ability to refill/recharge these lists. Last time the Sox were 1st, they followed up with Vaughn Madrigal and Burger. There was no so-called second wave. But yes, they key point is how OTHER organizations view or perceive your prospects when it comes to making trades. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 4 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said: It’s still early and I remain somewhat hopeful, but taking Hagen Smith over the cohort of positional players that were available is fucking killing us right now. Konner Griffin is currently #1 at BA, JJ Wetherholt is #5, and Bryce Rainer is #25. Those guys were taken four, two, and six picks behind us respectfully and all got a $1M to $2M less than Smith. And then you have the two 1B sandwiched around our pick in Kurtz and Caglianone. The former is currently putting up 3.2 fWAR as a rookie 1B and the latter has already reach the majors (though struggling) after crushing the minors. Those guys got $1M and $500k less than Smith respectively. And just for transparency, those five guys got the five highest bonuses after Smith and were all considered top 10 prospects in that draft, so this isn’t cherry-picking a bunch of random hits and saying we blew it. And taking Nick McLain over Mike Sirota (BA’s #48 prospect) in the 3rd is also a dagger. BA had Sirota as the 70th overall prospect in the 2024 draft whereas McLain was in the 200’s. Both were available for us at our pick in the 3rd and we took the tweener OF with good bloodlines over the far more physically gifted player coming off a rough season all for about $80k in bonus pool savings. I was mad at the time about this and am even more pissed now that McLain has basically missed the entire season while Sirota has turned into a top 50 prospect. On Smith, I was definitely one of the vocal ones about the Sox doing what they do best, but I do feel it is telling that Getz was seemingly still afraid to go away from pitching, and allegedly overruled his staff to do so. As to Sirota, would he have hit in under the draft caps? That's always the hard part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 (edited) https://nypost.com/2025/08/12/sports/with-rotation-in-shambles-mets-have-no-choice-but-to-turn-to-tomorrow-today/ Desperate Mets to call up McLean or Sproat this weekend. Anti-Stearns contingent horrified. Also, Colson will hit his rookie eligibility numbers in the next week or two...so they'll be down to five Top 100 with Hagen barely hanging in there for now. AFL will have a big impact on Schultz Smith and likely Braden... Edited August 14 by caulfield12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestEddy Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 47 minutes ago, caulfield12 said: SD must be elated to be 30th. In all seriousness, it's always about the ability to refill/recharge these lists. Last time the Sox were 1st, they followed up with Vaughn Madrigal and Burger. There was no so-called second wave. But yes, they key point is how OTHER organizations view or perceive your prospects when it comes to making trades. SD must be elated to have used up their cache of prospects to acquire the bunch of guys they wanted to make their playoff run. The Sox just graduated (7) Teel, Quero, Meidroth, Monty, Burke, Shane Smith and Grant Taylor. They just had (8) sidelined for a year - Drew Thorpe, Mason Adams, Juan Carela, Ky Bush, Nick McLain, Blake Larson, Aldrin Batista and Casey Saucke. (7) all had serious rework seasons - Schultz, Hagen Smith, Tyler Schweitzer, Bryan Ramos, Colson Montgomery, Wolkow and Sam Zavala. That's 21 real hits to their minor league system, and they're still hovering at the back of the middle third. I'll take that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 15 guys having major problems this SHOULD be a red flag, more than any ranking should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Look at Ray Ray Run Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 (edited) 13 minutes ago, WestEddy said: SD must be elated to have used up their cache of prospects to acquire the bunch of guys they wanted to make their playoff run. The Sox just graduated (7) Teel, Quero, Meidroth, Monty, Burke, Shane Smith and Grant Taylor. They just had (8) sidelined for a year - Drew Thorpe, Mason Adams, Juan Carela, Ky Bush, Nick McLain, Blake Larson, Aldrin Batista and Casey Saucke. (7) all had serious rework seasons - Schultz, Hagen Smith, Tyler Schweitzer, Bryan Ramos, Colson Montgomery, Wolkow and Sam Zavala. That's 21 real hits to their minor league system, and they're still hovering at the back of the middle third. I'll take that. Schultz having a rework is the biggest stain and red flag for this current regime. It made no sense. It has been a huge failure, and they've been candid about it being their decision and direction that's led him here. He went from a possible #1 overall prospect to a huge question mark. The lack of pitching development this year has been devastating. Smith also didn't throw strikes in college so assuming command will come with reps is far from a guarantee. Lastly, they're on pace to lose 101 games and they have a farm system in the back half of the league. How is there any positivity there? Edited August 14 by Look at Ray Ray Run 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T R U Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 This farm system lacks anything resembling star power, outside of maybe Braden Montgomery. Its no surprise to see them around the middle. They have some nice looking players, but no one that's going to be a game changer. It also didn't help that Schultz, Montgomery, and Smith all have/had the arrow pointing down so far this season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteSox2023 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 (edited) 40 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said: Schultz having a rework is the biggest stain and red flag for this current regime. It made no sense. It has been a huge failure, and they've been candid about it being their decision and direction that's led him here. He went from a possible #1 overall prospect to a huge question mark. The lack of pitching development this year has been devastating. Smith also didn't throw strikes in college so assuming command will come with reps is far from a guarantee. Lastly, they're on pace to lose 101 games and they have a farm system in the back half of the league. How is there any positivity there? Imagine how high the Sox lack of confidence in their ability to draft position players must be if they would seemingly rather take raw arms that are much more injury-prone pretty much at all times throughout their career than position players? Edited August 14 by WhiteSox2023 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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