FanGraphs Top 37 White Sox Prospects posted

[WestEddy]

Chicago White Sox Top 37 Prospects | FanGraphs Baseball

Rk	Name	Age	Highest Level	Position	ETA	FV
1	Caleb Bonemer	20.2	A+	3B	2029	50
2	Noah Schultz	22.4	AAA	SP	2026	50
3	Hagen Smith	22.3	AA	SP	2027	50
4	Christian Oppor	21.4	A+	SP	2027	50
5	Braden Montgomery	22.7	AA	RF	2027	50
6	Tanner McDougal	22.7	AA	SP	2026	50
7	Billy Carlson	19.4	R	SS	2030	45+
8	Jedixson Paez	21.9	A+	SP	2026	45
9	Jaden Fauske	19.1	R	LF	2030	40+
10	Sam Antonacci	22.9	AA	2B	2026	40+

[nrockway]

Totally agree about Bonemer and Oppor’s placement. 

Intrigued by Bush’s placement.

Surprised they have Sammy above Wolkow.

[southsider2k5]

36 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

Chicago White Sox Top 37 Prospects | FanGraphs Baseball

Rk	Name	Age	Highest Level	Position	ETA	FV
1	Caleb Bonemer	20.2	A+	3B	2029	50
2	Noah Schultz	22.4	AAA	SP	2026	50
3	Hagen Smith	22.3	AA	SP	2027	50
4	Christian Oppor	21.4	A+	SP	2027	50
5	Braden Montgomery	22.7	AA	RF	2027	50
6	Tanner McDougal	22.7	AA	SP	2026	50
7	Billy Carlson	19.4	R	SS	2030	45+
8	Jedixson Paez	21.9	A+	SP	2026	45
9	Jaden Fauske	19.1	R	LF	2030	40+
10	Sam Antonacci	22.9	AA	2B	2026	40+

Mildly surprised to see no one rated higher than a 50 FV.  That kind of reinforces the idea that no one sees a superstar in the system.

[SoxBlanco]

Love the Bonemer ranking. Credit to @Autumn Dreamin for this link:

 

[Timmy U]

4 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Mildly surprised to see no one rated higher than a 50 FV.  That kind of reinforces the idea that no one sees a superstar in the system.

Well, it reinforces that Longenhagen doesn’t see a superstar in the system. I suspect Bonemer might end up being very good. Lotta ceiling for Oppor as well.

[wegner]

15 minutes ago, nrockway said:

Totally agree about Bonemer and Oppor’s placement. 

Intrigued by Bush’s placement.

Surprised they have Sammy above Wolkow.

I was bummed to see Wolkow so low

[southsider2k5]

16 minutes ago, Timmy U said:

Well, it reinforces that Longenhagen doesn’t see a superstar in the system. I suspect Bonemer might end up being very good. Lotta ceiling for Oppor as well.

I mean if we get a starting 3B out of the dude, that's a win there.  I was thinking more of Smith and Schultz in that.

[steveno89]

21 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Mildly surprised to see no one rated higher than a 50 FV.  That kind of reinforces the idea that no one sees a superstar in the system.

I appreciate Fegen's honest approach in these rankings 

Braden Montgomery's K% rate is on the border of concerning, reaching 28.7% across 34 AA games. The ability and tools are there to profile as a corner regular, but he will have to make more contact than he currently does. 

While still promising, Schultz and Smith both have concerns to address in 2026. Schultz has dealt with injuries and it is fair to question how well he would hold up under a starter's workload? Also his 2025 was objectively not good for a top 50 prospect entering the season. 

Smith has the stuff, but walks plagued him in 2025. Finding a reliable third pitch that he can locate will be vital. As he advances to AAA and eventually the majors, command and control will be imperative, as a 6.66 BB/9 walk rate will not cut it. 

[Chicago White Sox]

1 hour ago, WestEddy said:

Chicago White Sox Top 37 Prospects | FanGraphs Baseball

Rk	Name	Age	Highest Level	Position	ETA	FV
1	Caleb Bonemer	20.2	A+	3B	2029	50
2	Noah Schultz	22.4	AAA	SP	2026	50
3	Hagen Smith	22.3	AA	SP	2027	50
4	Christian Oppor	21.4	A+	SP	2027	50
5	Braden Montgomery	22.7	AA	RF	2027	50
6	Tanner McDougal	22.7	AA	SP	2026	50
7	Billy Carlson	19.4	R	SS	2030	45+
8	Jedixson Paez	21.9	A+	SP	2026	45
9	Jaden Fauske	19.1	R	LF	2030	40+
10	Sam Antonacci	22.9	AA	2B	2026	40+

Schultz as a 50 FV prospect is something.  Fully disagree on that.

And Paez as our #8 prospect over numerous guys is also something.

[GGajewski18]

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

Mildly surprised to see no one rated higher than a 50 FV.  That kind of reinforces the idea that no one sees a superstar in the system.

I don't need superstars.  I think we all knew they weren't gonna be superstars.  

I just want good consistent baseball players.  Depth is key.  Sox could have depth.  If just ONE of these guys becomes a superstar, it's a massive win with the depth they have accumulated over the last few years. 

AND this isn't with Roch here.  He can be the superstar.

[WestEddy]

5 minutes ago, GGajewski18 said:

I don't need superstars.  I think we all knew they weren't gonna be superstars.  

I just want good consistent baseball players.  Depth is key.  Sox could have depth.  If just ONE of these guys becomes a superstar, it's a massive win with the depth they have accumulated over the last few years. 

AND this isn't with Roch here.  He can be the superstar.

Or with International pumping 2-3 guys into the system, annually. 

[kwill]

I think sometimes the writers get mixed up in the results for pitchers rather than stuff. 
 

[chitownsportsfan]

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

Mildly surprised to see no one rated higher than a 50 FV.  That kind of reinforces the idea that no one sees a superstar in the system.

Having 6 guys they rate as 50 FV tho is quite encouraging. I'd rather have this then the Hahn era of two or three 55 guys then nothing after that.  FWIW I saw most scouts were giving Cholosky a 60 at this point. He'd immediately be a top 10 prospect in MLB and vault our system into the top 10, maybe even top 5. 

Edited 9 hours ago by chitownsportsfan

[maxjusttyped]

Fangraphs is quite conservative with their FV grades. Last seasons final update to The Board started the 50 FV tier at #24. I think we'd all be encouraged to see anyone currently in the system slot into that area on a top 100 list.

[chw42]

19 minutes ago, maxjusttyped said:

Fangraphs is quite conservative with their FV grades. Last seasons final update to The Board started the 50 FV tier at #24. I think we'd all be encouraged to see anyone currently in the system slot into that area on a top 100 list.

Yeah, FG is usually 5-10 pts behind in grades compared to MLB pipeline. 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

3 hours ago, steveno89 said:

I appreciate Fegen's honest approach in these rankings 

Braden Montgomery's K% rate is on the border of concerning, reaching 28.7% across 34 AA games. The ability and tools are there to profile as a corner regular, but he will have to make more contact than he currently does. 

While still promising, Schultz and Smith both have concerns to address in 2026. Schultz has dealt with injuries and it is fair to question how well he would hold up under a starter's workload? Also his 2025 was objectively not good for a top 50 prospect entering the season. 

Smith has the stuff, but walks plagued him in 2025. Finding a reliable third pitch that he can locate will be vital. As he advances to AAA and eventually the majors, command and control will be imperative, as a 6.66 BB/9 walk rate will not cut it. 

FV's for guys like Schultz are funny though. His distribution more likely looks like this:

If he gets healthy and stops over tinkering his likely outcome is as a 1 or high 2 (far right of the distribution), but if the knee/body doesn't hold up allowing him to maintain his mechanics then he's a zero. I just don't see much middle with Schultz. Maybe when you average those out you get a 50, but he's an example as to why using the FV grade to dictate star power doesn't always work.

Edited 7 hours ago by Look at Ray Ray Run

[southsider2k5]

6 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

FV's for guys like Schultz are funny though. His distribution more likely looks like this:

If he gets healthy and stops over tinkering his likely outcome is as a 1 or high 2 (far right of the distribution), but if the knee/body doesn't hold up allowing him to maintain his mechanics then he's a zero. I just don't see much middle with Schultz. Maybe when you average those out you get a 50, but he's an example as to why using the FV grade to dictate star power doesn't always work.

He's a dude that is a peak 60 to 65.  But yeah, he has to stay healthy, and he has to condition himself to go 180 innings.  Neither of those are a for sure thing.  But him and Smith you really, really need to get a #1 starter out of, especially now that Grant Taylor is out of the picture in the rotation.

[Y2Jimmy0]

If those top guys are all 50 FV's, the White Sox are in a world of trouble. That would basically mean that Schultz and Smith are #4 starters. 

[caulfield12]

Surprised by the relatively low rating for Braden.

Too much focus on a limited number of AA at bats.

Going up two full levels in one season after not appearing the summer before due to injury should be viewed as a complete positive.

 

Schultz was the top ranked LHP prospect in baseball a year ago.

Hope he does better than the likes of Rauch and Kopech with those high accolades.

[GreenSox]

Re depth, the Sox have 11 45+ or better ranked prospects, the fewest of the teams reviewed:  Brewers 20; Dodgers 18; D’Backs 18; Reds 15.  This has been persistent.

A lot of reaching and a lot of punting.

[Y2Jimmy0]

36 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

Re depth, the Sox have 11 45+ or better ranked prospects, the fewest of the teams reviewed:  Brewers 20; Dodgers 18; D’Backs 18; Reds 15.  This has been persistent.

A lot of reaching and a lot of punting.

It’s mostly just due to no success on international market. I don’t really agree on the reaching part and the “punting” is necessary to spend on premium talent without extra picks. 

[SoxBlanco]

2 hours ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

If those top guys are all 50 FV's, the White Sox are in a world of trouble. That would basically mean that Schultz and Smith are #4 starters. 

How are you feeling about Smith? He had a solid showing in the AFL, I believe. Not sure how much that matters, but it seemed like he was getting better near the end of minor league season, as well. 

[caulfield12]

52 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

Re depth, the Sox have 11 45+ or better ranked prospects, the fewest of the teams reviewed:  Brewers 20; Dodgers 18; D’Backs 18; Reds 15.  This has been persistent.

A lot of reaching and a lot of punting.

This thread started before 2025…fwiw.

[chitownsportsfan]

15 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

It’s mostly just due to no success on international market. I don’t really agree on the reaching part and the “punting” is necessary to spend on premium talent without extra picks. 

Well we got a "Pacific Rim" scout now! Getz is 

For real tho, it's about time we starting finding asian players again. The silly thing is the Sox got useful seasons out of Shingo and Iguchi so it's not like JR didn't know the value of Japanese players. Or maybe he just forgot honestly. 

[caulfield12]

9 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Well we got a "Pacific Rim" scout now! Getz is 

For real tho, it's about time we starting finding asian players again. The silly thing is the Sox got useful seasons out of Shingo and Iguchi so it's not like JR didn't know the value of Japanese players. Or maybe he just forgot honestly. 

Sox scout Takahashi signs...Takahasi?

Well, we've only been stressing this for about give years now.

Better late than never, I guess.

Edited 58 minutes ago by caulfield12