Sox top 32 prospects from FanGraphs

[ChiTownTrojan]

Good stuff from Eric Longenhagen on the Sox top 32 prospects, under the caveat that he hasn’t seen a bunch of these guys in more than a year. As expected up top, and he has good things to say about Vaughn, Kopech, and Madrigal. I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing that Benyamin Bailey and some SS I’ve never heard of (Jose Rodriguez) make the top 10.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/top-32-prospects-chicago-white-sox/

[blurry]

Their skepticism of Jake Burger is warranted but I'm probably going to watch him more closely than any prospect on this list. Other than the top 3 I think he legitimately has the highest ceiling out of this group.

I remember being excited for Gavin Sheets but he's almost 25 and still hasn't shown real, consistent power. FG's take on him is he's probably hit his ceiling at this point. They might be right.

[Mohoney]

Their skepticism of Jake Burger is warranted but I'm probably going to watch him more closely than any prospect on this list. Other than the top 3 I think he legitimately has the highest ceiling out of this group.

I remember being excited for Gavin Sheets but he's almost 25 and still hasn't shown real, consistent power. FG's take on him is he's probably hit his ceiling at this point. They might be right.

Yeah, I want to see how Burger does as well. It’s not like Burger was a power-only, high-whiff bat when he was drafted; the guy made loads of solid contact, and he actually walked more than he struck out in his last season at Missouri State.

[Krs1]

I honestly don't know what people see in Micker. Huge guy, huger swing.

[ChiTownTrojan]

FanGraphs currently rates the Sox farm system as dead last in MLB.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/pre-draft-farm-system-rankings-2/

https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/...er=&pos=&team=

[Dumpjerry]

FanGraphs currently rates the Sox farm system as dead last in MLB.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/pre-draft-farm-system-rankings-2/

https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/...er=&pos=&team=

So?

All the good ones are with the Mothership.

[HomeFish]

So?

All the good ones are with the Mothership.

Well a lot of the top ranked teams also just graduated a lot of top prospects to the majors. It just goes to show that Rick Hahn and Chris Getz have a long way to go to improve this organization.

[Dumpjerry]

Well a lot of the top ranked teams also just graduated a lot of top prospects to the majors. It just goes to show that Rick Hahn and Chris Getz have a long way to go to improve this organization.

From the article:

For instance, the White Sox were a middle-of-the-pack farm system entering the year, but because Andrew Vaughn, Michael Kopech, Garrett Crochet and Nick Madrigal have all graduated from rookie status, the org now ranks dead last.

This is before Sheets and Burger came up, so we are even "worse" at the AAA level.

Can you tell me (or us) how many AAA call ups the other 29 teams have had this year that are still with The Show? That is a major variable in the model because if the Sox have called up well above the average number league-wide, any Einstein can tell you, mathematically speaking, we would be number 30 or close to it.

Below AAA, the ratings become more and more subjective, so the model is less and less accurate.

Sorry for the stats talk, but, hey, sometimes reality needs to enter the discussion.

If Eloy, Robert, Grandal, and Madrigal were not out, we would have a stronger farm system. But so what? The name of the game is winning at The Show, not having a strong farm system. No trophies for that.

[ChiTownTrojan]

From the article:

For instance, the White Sox were a middle-of-the-pack farm system entering the year, but because Andrew Vaughn, Michael Kopech, Garrett Crochet and Nick Madrigal have all graduated from rookie status, the org now ranks dead last.

This is before Sheets and Burger came up, so we are even "worse" at the AAA level.

Can you tell me (or us) how many AAA call ups the other 29 teams have had this year that are still with The Show? That is a major variable in the model because if the Sox have called up well above the average number league-wide, any Einstein can tell you, mathematically speaking, we would be number 30 or close to it.

Below AAA, the ratings become more and more subjective, so the model is less and less accurate.

Sorry for the stats talk, but, hey, sometimes reality needs to enter the discussion.

If Eloy, Robert, Grandal, and Madrigal were not out, we would have a stronger farm system. But so what? The name of the game is winning at The Show, not having a strong farm system. No trophies for that.

I agree and am not particularly concerned. The Sox have guys across the diamond locked up to long term deals, meaning that we won't have to dip into the farm system as much over the next few years. That will give the team time to rebuild that depth. Of course that task is a bit harder when you're picking at the bottom of the first round which the Sox will likely be doing for the next 5 years.

[Frater Perdurabo]

I agree and am not particularly concerned. The Sox have guys across the diamond locked up to long term deals, meaning that we won't have to dip into the farm system as much over the next few years. That will give the team time to rebuild that depth. Of course that task is a bit harder when you're picking at the bottom of the first round which the Sox will likely be doing for the next 5 years.

Excellent points. I agree that the draft is likely to generate prospects whose ceilings - with good development - would become role players (Mendick, Sheets, etc.) or relievers (Heuer, Foster, etc.). The place to take risks on toolsy talent, then, is the international market, by maintaining our Cuban pipeline and also trying to make more inroads in Venezuela and the DR.

[Dumpjerry]

I agree and am not particularly concerned. The Sox have guys across the diamond locked up to long term deals, meaning that we won't have to dip into the farm system as much over the next few years. That will give the team time to rebuild that depth. Of course that task is a bit harder when you're picking at the bottom of the first round which the Sox will likely be doing for the next 5 years.

1,000% spot-on. I forgot to take the current contracts of the twentysomething studs into account. By the time we need to heavily rely on the farm system, there will be plenty of new fish that restocked the pond.

[Hitmen77]

I agree and am not particularly concerned. The Sox have guys across the diamond locked up to long term deals, meaning that we won't have to dip into the farm system as much over the next few years. That will give the team time to rebuild that depth. Of course that task is a bit harder when you're picking at the bottom of the first round which the Sox will likely be doing for the next 5 years.

Not only have the Sox graduated most of their top prospects, but their current "next wave" (Dalquist, Thompson, Kelley, a few others) are still getting their feet wet, not far removed from high school, and not very productive yet. Cespedes only just started playing minor league ball a few weeks ago. Colas isn't officially signed yet (thought that sounds like basically a done deal). I'm not sure where Norge Vera is at this point or how highly he'd rank.

I'm not saying that they should rest on their laurels and let the farm system rot like what happened post-2005, but I agree there's no reason for alarm yet.

[Dumpjerry]

Not only have the Sox graduated most of their top prospects, but their current "next wave" (Dalquist, Thompson, Kelley, a few others) are still getting their feet wet, not far removed from high school, and not very productive yet. Cespedes only just started playing minor league ball a few weeks ago. Colas isn't officially signed yet (thought that sounds like basically a done deal). I'm not sure where Norge Vera is at this point or how highly he'd rank.

I'm not saying that they should rest on their laurels and let the farm system rot like what happened post-2005, but I agree there's no reason for alarm yet.

Yup. Time to break this old friend:

[voodoochile]

Not only have the Sox graduated most of their top prospects, but their current "next wave" (Dalquist, Thompson, Kelley, a few others) are still getting their feet wet, not far removed from high school, and not very productive yet. Cespedes only just started playing minor league ball a few weeks ago. Colas isn't officially signed yet (thought that sounds like basically a done deal). I'm not sure where Norge Vera is at this point or how highly he'd rank.

I'm not saying that they should rest on their laurels and let the farm system rot like what happened post-2005, but I agree there's no reason for alarm yet.

Yes there is a gap between Kanny and Charlotte. Recent promotions May pan out or not. Have to believe that Sheets and Burger have elevated their ranking this year. Though Luis Gonzalez and Rutherford have likely gone down. Stiever and Lampert are both in first full season at AAA so they have time. Some good young arms at AA but only position players weight be worth something are Adolfo (out of options but still young) Romy Gonzalez - might turn into Mendick/Leury and Tiguan Forbes who is hitting better than he ever has.

At WS there’s pretty much just Cespedes and a few pitchers recently got kicked up a rank to clear room at Kanny.

Kanny has a ton of very young Latin American talent and of course the recent pitching draft picks

There’s potential but nothing will be known for a few years.

[HomeFish]

Again: it's nice that the Sox graduated a lot of great players from the minors recently who have been successful in the majors and are contributing to a first place team. But there are literally teams who also have recently graduated a bunch of studs, or traded MiLB studs away for veteran talent, and STILL rank well above the Sox in terms of farm system. That's because teams like the Rays, the Padres, and others are still much better at player development and drafting than the Sox.

The Sox have come a long way: this is the first time a core of Sox players have emerged from the minors in over 20 years. But it is clear from these rankings that there is still a long way to go to make the Sox a truly top tier organization.