We have reached the point of the offseason where prospect lists abound. We continue our top 10 prospects for every team with the Chicago White Sox!
Our team top 10 prospect lists at Call to the Pen are spearheaded by Benjamin Chase. Today, he gives us the top ten prospects for the Chicago White Sox.
This season, we will be going through teams by division, in order of 2017 record. The AL East will be first, followed by the AL Central and AL West. Then the focus will shift to the National League in the same order.
The format will be as it was last season for the same lists, with a system review, which will include last season’s list. The top 10 will follow in reverse order, two players per page in order to give adequate space to each player. Major trades or international signings will lead to an updated top 10!
Finally, don’t go away after #1 is revealed as each list will also contain a player either signed in the 2017 international free agent class or drafted in 2017 that isn’t part of the top 10 and should be tracked. Last season’s mentions in that area made over half of the top 10s this season, so this is a great way to get to know a player who could be making a big splash in the organization.
System overview
The Chicago White Sox were the news of the 2016-2017 offseason in the way tat the Miami Marlins are the news of this year’s offseason, though many will say that the White Sox were able to get peak value for each of their trades. It took their farm system from a bottom 10 system to a top 5 system.
Before mid-season the team was in a good debate for the #1 overall farm system, but as players graduated to the major leagues in Yoan Moncada, Lucas Giolito, and Reynaldo Lopez, the system’s depth (or lack thereof) was notable in their deals that they made over the summer, not quite getting the same level of talent back that graduated, leaving the Sox as a very, very talented organization, but also as a system that is very top-heavy.
That said, the guys below the top 4 in the system are a mix of high-risk, high-ceiling types or low-risk, high-floor types, and there could certainly be major league value still to pull out of that group as well. It’s a fun system for sure.
Let’s take a look at that system….
Next: #9 and #10