This is the time of year when prospect rankings are starting to take over as teams prepare for Spring Training. The past few years, unlike years past, the White Sox haven’t had too many players appearing on these lists. However, the system is trending upwards, and multiple outlets are starting to take notice.
This morning, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN put out his top 100 prospect list prior to Spring Training, and his list featured two White Sox prospects. One name – Colson Montgomery – won’t be too surprising to you. However, McDaniel’s second name isn’t who you might expect.
Colson Montgomery (#15)
Let’s start with Montgomery, who comes in surprisingly high on McDaniel’s list – highest among all publications so far at #15. This ranking comes just a few days after Keith Law ranked Montgomery as his #25 prospect in baseball. He receives a comparison to Corey Seager from McDaniel, who gives him the following grades:
- Hit: 40/55 | Game Power: 40/60 | Raw Power: 55/60 | Speed: 50/45 | Fielding: 40/50 | Throwing: 55/55
McDaniel has a lot to say about Montgomery, and the full write-up is available above. However, here is an exceprt:
“Montgomery is a shortstop for now and will probably be fine for a while, but any team with an above-average defender at short will slide Montgomery over to third whether he’s a 45 or 50 defensively at shortstop. The real reason for excitement here, like during that initial pitch by an agent, is that after a strong first full pro season, Montgomery may now have plus bat control, pitch selection, bat speed, and raw power — so it’s just a matter of how he wants to use those abilities at the plate, to be more contact- or power-oriented.”
Should Montgomery have a great season again – likely starting in AA – it shouldn’t be considered outside the realm of possibility that he could make a push for the big leagues at some point in 2024. Considering McDaniel has him in the same tier as players such as Anthony Volpe, Marcelo Mayer, Elly De La Cruz, and Jackson Holliday, the arrow is clearly pointing upwards for the White Sox’ potential shortstop of the future.
Bryan Ramos (#48)
Impressively, Bryan Ramos not only finds himself on this list but finds himself ranked among the top 50 prospects in baseball. Ramos first appeared on prospect radars when he was listed among FanGraphs’ Top 100 prospects last season, ranking all the way up to #20. This is now the second publication that has been higher on Ramos than some others in the industry who are still looking for him to develop a bit more in the power department.
Ramos is ranked and compared closely with Orioles’ 3B prospect Colby Mayo, who posted a combined .782 OPS across A+ and AA last season, and while Ramos is mainly projected as a third baseman, McDaniel also suggests Ramos can also play a “decent” second base – something that may help both Ramos and the White Sox down the line.
While the White Sox certainly aren’t as impressive as some of the teams when it comes to their prospect rankings, with Colson Montgomery, Oscar Colas, and now Bryan Ramos appearing on top prospect lists throughout this offseason, it’s clear that the organization under Chris Getz is in a bit better of a position than in recent seasons.
McDaniel closes out his evaluation of Ramos with this line: “…though the White Sox are trending up with Colson Montgomery, Ramos, Oscar Colas and Lenyn Sosa having strong 2022 seasons.” That’s about as positive as it gets from a team that could use some positive news from the farm system.
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