Montgomery at one and Vera at two were layups for me. Montgomery brings a unique skillset to the system that the Sox haven’t had in quite some time. I’m also highly intrigued by Vera and his stuff ticking up last year (albeit in the DSL). I can’t wait to see what he’ll be able to do stateside. I think Vera has greater potential to be a more impactful player in the majors, which is why he edged Cespedes. I have Cespedes at three because he had a solid year once he got going, but struggled in the AFL against superior competition.
Oscar Colas and Jose Rodriguez round out my top five, as the lefty power potential of Colas and big arm in a corner OF spot is something the White Sox have sorely sought after. I believe I may be the highest on Jose, but he’s given me no reason to doubt his ability to hit at any level thus far. He’s said to have the ability to stick at short, which adds to his prospect value, and could make him an intriguing internal option for a second base vacancy at the major league level in the near future.
- Wes Kath 3B
- Jake Burger 3B
- Jared Kelley RHP
- Matthew Thompson RHP
- Andrew Dalquist RHP
Wes Kath leads the next grouping here, narrowly edging out Jake Burger. What Burger was able to accomplish after missing multiple years due to injury was incredible and a case could be made that he deserves to be higher. The left-handed power potential and age of Kath gives him over the edge over Burger here.
My initial draft of my top 10 differs from our Twitter Spaces discussion (which I’ll explain in the next paragraph), but for the sake of continuity to my original ranking, I have the trio of high school right handed pitchers rounding out my initial top 10. All three struggled mightily in 2021, and I didn’t really want to revisit their stat lines for too long, so I based their rankings on how I view their most optimal ceilings. Jared Kelley’s pedigree gives him an edge (in my eyes) at this time over Matthew Thompson and Andrew Dalquist.
- Sean Burke RHP
- Bryan Ramos 3B
- Micker Adolfo OF
- Jimmy Lambert RHP
- Romy Gonzalez SS
DISCLAIMER: In what is now revisionist history, at the time of this ranking I had defensive concerns about Bryan Ramos, which resulted in him just missing my top 10. However, after listening to Mike and James talk with Bill MItchell and Ben Badler of Baseball America, that quelled those concerns. Ramos moved into my top 10 during our Twitter Spaces discussion rather easily. In turn, that pushes both Dalquist and Burke down one spot, respectively. Now that that’s cleared up, onto the this group.
Sean Burke leads the next group, as he’s an imposing figure on the bump with a solid fastball and breaking stuff in the arsenal. Bryan Ramos more than held his own offensively in Kannapolis in 2021, but initial defensive concerns made me unsure about his future outlook. If he’s another bat first DH type, that knocks the prospect value down some. Micker Adolfo, who’s seemingly been a prospect for a decade, has frankly run out of time with the White Sox but we all know it’s big power, big arm, and strikeouts with Micker.
Jimmy Lambert and Romy Gonzalez complete the top 15. Outside of Jose Rodriguez, no one did more to improve their prospect status quite like Romy Gonzalez did in 2021. I see Gonzalez eventually being able to slide into the Leury Garcia type role, albeit with more pop.
We’ve now reached the point in the rankings where things begin to get wild. Yolbert led this next grouping of players, as he had a solid season, especially after being promoted to Birmingham. Jonathan Stiever and recent draftee Tanner McDougal occupy the next slots. Stiever has been battling injuries (and ineffectiveness) since his breakout 2019, and McDougal is an intriguing arm that recently had TJ, so unfortunately we won’t see him until 2023.
Erick Hernandez broke the trend of the Sox not spending significant dollars on teenage INTL talent, and his write-ups/scouting report is tantalizing for a system needing lefty bats (and quite frankly, talent overall). Wilfred Veras’ strong debut in the ACL caught my attention as I was writing up my weekly Tending to the Farm pieces. Veras always seemed to be in the running for Hot Player of the Week, and as an 18 year old facing older competition, the numbers jumped off the page to me.
- Cristian Mena RHP
- Caleb Freeman RHP
- Jason Bilous RHP
- Bennett Sousa LHP
- Misael Gonzalez OF
Cristian Mena leads the next group in part because I believe he has the best chance to stick as a starting pitcher as he progresses through the system. He was young for the ACL and had a solid K/9, so this is definitely more of a projection pick. Caleb Freeman, Jason Bilous, and Bennett Sousa could all be potential relief options for the Sox very soon.
I’m not necessarily sold on Bilous being an effective starter at the major league level, but I’d love to be proven wrong here. Misael Gonzalez is a young outfielder that had a good showing in the ACL but endured some struggles upon his promotion to Kannapolis. He should be able to stick in center and has pop with the bat, so I’m not down on his struggles during his first shot at Low-A.
The final group is led by Victor Quezada, who showed some nice power numbers in the DSL this past year. I don’t necessarily put too much stock in DSL numbers, but factoring in age to production left me feeling fine with including Quezada here. Kade McClure has been a solid starter throughout his time in the minors and could very well be in line for some spot start opportunities in 2022.
2021 draftee Adam Hackenberg leads a grim group of catching prospects, as he had a very solid debut season with Kannapolis. Defensive minded Wilber Sanchez and reliever Luke Shilling close out my top 30. Sanchez has all the tools to stick at short, but it’s what he’ll be able to do with the bat will drive his future outlook. Luke Shilling has battled injuries during his tenure with the White Sox, but the stuff is undeniable and he showed as much in 2021 before another injury cut his season short.
Photo credit: Michael Guariglia/FutureSox
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