With the draft tomorrow I figured it was time for an updated Top 20 list to help visualize the state of the farm system. For this exercise, I will be excluding anyone currently on the major league roster, so Schultz & Braden won’t be listed here despite eligibility.

1. Caleb Bonemer, IF

2. Jacob Gonzalez, IF

3. Billy Carlson, SS

4. Jaden Fauske, OF

5. Hagen Smith, LHP

6. Tanner McDougal, RHP

7. David Sandlin, RHP

8. Gabe Davis, RHP

9. Christian Oppor, LHP

10. George Wolkow, OF

11. Mason Adams, RHP

12. William Bergolla, IF

13. Blake Larson, LHP

14. Ky Bush, LHP

15. Boston Smith, CA

16. Colby Shelton, IF

17. Mathias Lacombe, RHP

18. Pierce George, RHP

19. Javier Mogollon, 2B

20. Matthew Baughton, IF

Please post your own lists!

Also, I will add doing this list was incredibly challenging. I feel very confident in my ranking of the first seven guys, but after that it was a complete crapshoot. I kept feeling like I was missing someone important, but just kept coming up with a bunch of guys all in the same general tier. There is another half dozen dudes that could probably be ranked anywhere in the 15th to 25th range IMO.

And I thought very hard about slotting in some DSL guys at the end of this list, but ultimately chose against it. Someone like Romero is doing well, but I can’t put a prospect who got a $1.5M bonus in the top 20 solely on DSL numbers. He would certainly be in the next five guys though. Candidly speaking, this hasn’t been a great year for the system outside of a handful of success stories.

Man. I haven't the slightest on how I would rank Oppor at this juncture. It just makes me sad thinking about it.

26 minutes ago, DirtySox said:

Man. I haven't the slightest on how I would rank Oppor at this juncture. It just makes me sad thinking about it.

I feel you. Definitely don’t look at his ACL numbers if you want to feel good ranking him in the top 10. Ultimately, I placed a greater emphasis on his 2025 performance and didn’t feel awful about his ranking given the guys behind him.

17 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I feel you. Definitely don’t look at his ACL numbers if you want to feel good ranking him in the top 10. Ultimately, I placed a greater emphasis on his 2025 performance and didn’t feel awful about his ranking given the guys behind him.

Honestly 9 sounds about right to me. Nice list.

29 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I feel you. Definitely don’t look at his ACL numbers if you want to feel good ranking him in the top 10. Ultimately, I placed a greater emphasis on his 2025 performance and didn’t feel awful about his ranking given the guys behind him.

Hope he doesn’t go the Alec Hansen route.

Nice list, by the way. I hate making lists like this myself because I second guess every spot, but I enjoy looking at other people’s lists. Appreciate the time you put in.

To be clear, I'm not a scout — just a diehard who watches the draft, follows box scores, and reads other people's write-ups. Occasionally I'll flip on a minor league game to catch some of the bigger names pitch. I only did 10.

1. Caleb Bonemer — No argument here from anybody, I think.

2. Hagen Smith — Left-handed pitching is going to be more important than ever with the new rules in place. Teams are stacking lefties now. Even a bullpen arm that can go 2–3 innings is super valuable.

3. David Sandlin — I just like the stuff. Control will obviously be the factor here.

4. Jacob Gonzalez — The numbers don't necessarily say it, but he took big league at-bats and didn't look overmatched. We haven't seen him tap into the power he showed in Triple-A yet, but that doesn't mean it's not there.

5. Billy Carlson — The pre-draft write-up last year was glove-first, questionable bat, and the numbers so far back that up. But he's young.

6. Tanner McDougal — His floor is a power arm out of the pen.

7. Jaden Fauske — Not a bad start to his minor league career.

8. Mason Adams — There's a back-end starter here.

9. Christian Oppor — Who knows. A true coin flip of a prospect.

10. George Wolkow — He's hit better lately and is still so young.

17 minutes ago, kwill said:

To be clear, I'm not a scout — just a diehard who watches the draft, follows box scores, and reads other people's write-ups. Occasionally I'll flip on a minor league game to catch some of the bigger names pitch. I only did 10.

1. Caleb Bonemer — No argument here from anybody, I think.

2. Hagen Smith — Left-handed pitching is going to be more important than ever with the new rules in place. Teams are stacking lefties now. Even a bullpen arm that can go 2–3 innings is super valuable.

3. David Sandlin — I just like the stuff. Control will obviously be the factor here.

4. Jacob Gonzalez — The numbers don't necessarily say it, but he took big league at-bats and didn't look overmatched. We haven't seen him tap into the power he showed in Triple-A yet, but that doesn't mean it's not there.

5. Billy Carlson — The pre-draft write-up last year was glove-first, questionable bat, and the numbers so far back that up. But he's young.

6. Tanner McDougal — His floor is a power arm out of the pen.

7. Jaden Fauske — Not a bad start to his minor league career.

8. Mason Adams — There's a back-end starter here.

9. Christian Oppor — Who knows. A true coin flip of a prospect.

10. George Wolkow — He's hit better lately and is still so young.

Thanks for sharing! Like you have guys that all make sense in the top 10, but didn’t just go chalk. I have been pleasantly surprised with Sandlin and can see the argument for rating him higher than I had.

21 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Thanks for sharing! Like you have guys that all make sense in the top 10, but didn’t just go chalk. I have been pleasantly surprised with Sandlin and can see the argument for rating him higher than I had.

Thanks Man. Just want to say- I see the post almost everyday you put on the minor league threads. Appreciate It!

Happy Draft Day! ( Little Early)

Might need to amend this list tonight if Jacob was in fact traded

Boston Smith has my attention. Watched his HR tonite. It was a rocket. For what we gave for him, he's been outstanding.