Chicago White Sox: Updated Baseball America prospect rankings

The Chicago White Sox have had quite the farm system since declaring rebuild in 2016, and the updated Baseball America ranking sure show it.

The Chicago White Sox are on the rise and everybody knows it. At 32-34 they sit with a much-improved record from a year ago. It isn’t a world-beating record by any means, but it is showing that the team is improving and fast. They aren’t very deep in their starting lineup and their pitching is suspect outside of a few guys, but the ones they need to be there in the future have put the team on their back.

They declared rebuild in 2016 when they traded a Hall of Fame pitcher in his prime named Chris Sale. They have seen so many great young prospects come into the organization and the future appears very bright. Their two best prospects since the rebuild, Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jimenez, have already graduated to the Major Leagues and been two of their best players. They have also had a case of a guy really struggle, and then find his game and reach his potential and his name is Lucas Giolito.

Even with these three guys being taken out of the prospect pool, the White Sox still boast a group that is amongst the best in the league and that is something that is to be recognized. When you take out guys of Moncada, Giolito, and Jimenez’s stature, usually the prospect pool falls way off the grid of the elites but not the White Sox.

According to the updated Baseball America rankings, the White Sox still have four players in the top 60. The updated rankings go as followed:

• 20. Michael Kopech (Was 23)
• 29. Dylan Cease (Was 32)
• 35. Luis Robert (Was 49)
• 54. Nick Madrigal (Was 36)

As you can see, they all have moved up with the exception of Madrigal who fell 18 spots. This could be because he was just drafted in 2018 and he sort of struggled to begin the year. Now, he is in AA ball and has been awesome since his promotion. It is hard to judge guys right out of college and Madrigal’s initial ranking could have been a case of that. Still, the White Sox have high hopes he could be a contributor to this team one day.

Michael Kopech made his Major League debut in 2018 and was awesome until Tommy John surgery forced his season to end and cancel his 2019 season as well. If Kopech comes back and is the player we know he can be, he will be at the top of the rotation and an elite pitcher in the game. The flamethrower is expected to be back in time to start the 2020 season, a season in which the White Sox are expecting to compete for the division crown.

Dylan Cease is more than likely going to make his MLB debut in 2019, so he might not be on this list for very long. The Sox have similar hopes for this guy that they have for Kopech and Giolito. He is hopefully going to be a top of the rotation arm and give the White Sox a third guy who can be considered an ace. His arrival on the south side is a highly anticipated event for the Sox in 2019. As soon as it is announced and the date is confirmed, you should expect a packed house at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Luis Robert will likely be in a White Sox uniform in 2020 at some point, and his ceiling as a hitter is as high as any of the previously mentioned guys. His swing is mesmerizing and he might even be way higher on this list by this time next year if he isn’t already in an MLB uniform.

All in all, this is a very exciting time to be a White Sox fan. Hopefully, all of these guys come together and bring another championship back to Chicago. The organization getting praise by this many guys being in the top 60 of Baseball America’s rankings, shows that good times are ahead.