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The White Sox seem to be in another one of those moments where what’s going on in the minor leagues is suddenly of greater interest.
During Rick Hahn’s rebuilding project, folks were zeroed in on what was happening on the farm. When all those highly touted prospects reached the major league level, the focus, of course, became what was happening up there. What happened up there wasn’t much, in terms of winning, and now with long-term planning once again a focus — albeit for a different general manager — it’s again worth paying attention to who could be part of the next contending White Sox team.
Currently, there’s no name that fits that description better than Colson Montgomery, who landed high in prospect rankings by numerous publications recently. Baseball Prospectus pegged him as the No. 11 prospect in baseball, with Baseball America putting him at No. 15. MLB.com releases their updated list this week, though their most recent rankings had Montgomery at No. 17. It’s safe to say that Montgomery is the highest regarded White Sox prospect since Eloy Jiménez and Luis Robert Jr. made their way to the major leagues a half decade ago.
The White Sox’ 2021 first-round pick reached the Double-A level in 2023 and did so in such an impressive fashion that there’s curiosity over whether he could make the jump to the majors with a big showing during the spring.
That still seems pretty unlikely to happen, with first-year general manager Chris Getz saying this offseason that the team isn’t putting that sort of expectation on the 21-year-old Montgomery, who would figure to start the season at Triple-A Charlotte barring an eye-popping performance during camp and Cactus League play.
But White Sox fans should feel free to be excited about Montgomery, who like any player still has questions surrounding his game, specifically regarding whether he’ll stick as a big-bodied shortstop or if his future lies at a different position on the infield. But he’s hit the ball so impressively and so consistently — finishing 2023 with a combined .287/.456/.484 slash line in the minor leagues — that there’s good reason to pencil him in as one of the cornerstones of the next contending White Sox team.
“Colson’s got a bright future, there’s no question about it,” White Sox farm director Paul Janish said last week. “The goal is for him to be a really good major league player, and I think that’s going to happen. … With that kind of player, you really want him to get to the major leagues at a time in which he’s ready to contribute and produce and stay there for good.
“It’s an exciting time for him coming in, and there’s no question he’s someone we think a lot of and is going to play a large role on the major league team for years to come.”
There are some new additions to the White Sox’ minor league coaching ranks.
Former White Sox reliever Sergio Santos is the new manager at Double-A Birmingham, coming back to the organization after spending the last two seasons as a minor league manager in the Yankees’ farm system.
Santos spent the 2010 and 2011 seasons in the White Sox’ bullpen, and he saved 30 games in 2011 before being traded to the Blue Jays the following offseason. He seemed thrilled to return to the organization where he got his major league start.
“I have nothing but the fondest memories of Chicago, the fans,” Santos said. “In the back of my mind, there was always a hope I could get back with the White Sox.”
Santos found success as a Yankees minor league manager, leading Class A Hudson Valley to an appearance in the league championship last season. Some White Sox fans would like to see such fortunes come to their team’s minor league affiliates after the Triple-A, Double-A and two Class A teams combined to go 231-313 in 2023. But Santos correctly pointed out that the wins and losses at the minor league level are not nearly as important as preparing players to win games at the major league level.
“If player development is done right, winning will be a byproduct of that,” Santos said. “If you play the game the right way — taking the extra base, getting ahead, catching and throwing the ball — if you do all those things, you’ll put yourself in position to win.
“I’ve had two years of success, and it’s not because I went out there and winning is everything. … I will tell these guys this summer my dream for them isn’t to be holding a Southern League title at the end of the year but rather an AL Central division title for the White Sox in a year or two. That’s where it is.”
Santos was joined by several other newcomers to the White Sox’ organization. Alan Zinter is the team’s new minor league hitting coordinator after stints as a big league hitting coach with the Astros, Padres and Reds. Former White Sox major league bullpen coach Curt Hasler has a new gig as one of the organization’s assistant pitching coordinators. And Triple-A Charlotte got a pair of new assistant coaches in Pat Listach (bench coach) and R.C. Lichtenstein (pitching coach).
Montgomery wasn’t the only one jumping up the prospect rankings, with 2022 first-round pick Noah Schultz also making an impression on the evaluators.
Schultz ranked as the No. 40 and No. 57 prospect in the game on the Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus lists, respectively, while clocking in as the sport’s No. 4 left-handed pitching prospect on an MLB.com positional ranking.
The 20-year-old fireballer hasn’t seen much minor league action as he dealt with injuries and a light workload last season, his first in professional ball, accumulating just 27 innings across 10 starts for Class A Kannapolis. But he allowed practically nothing, just four earned runs total, all of which were given up in one outing, making for nine scoreless performances on the year.
As impressive as he’s been in limited action, Schultz has a long way to go before he’s being talked about as a potential major league contributor. He has so few innings under his belt and completed four innings in only two of those 10 outings in a season that also featured time away due to injury.
But the White Sox — as well as the folks who put these rankings together — are clearly very excited about his potential.
“First of all, he’s huge,” Janish joked of the 6-foot-9 Chicagoland native. “He seems like a really good kid. I had the opportunity to meet him here recently in Arizona. From a health standpoint, I think he’s in a good place going into the season.
“There’s a strength element that’s going to continue to develop over the course of time that will help him be more consistent. But we’re really excited. He’s got all the talent in the world. At the end of the day it’s just going to come down to being really intentional with his development program and making sure as he progresses that we’re not giving him too much before he’s ready for it.
“Really excited about Noah.”
Edgar Quero, who was acquired in a deadline trade with the Angels, ranks as the No. 9 catching prospect in baseball, per the folks at MLB.com, and he’s advanced for his age, having spent much of last season at the Double-A level.
Now he’ll get to be surrounded by even more advanced players, as he’s reportedly part of the group getting invitations to the White Sox’ big league camp this spring.
Quero should benefit greatly from being around newly acquired veteran backstop Martín Maldonado, who received rave reviews as a mentor type from another young White Sox catcher in Korey Lee, who played with Maldonado with the Astros before coming over in his own deadline deal. But Quero, too, will have the opportunity to be around the team’s new catching coach, Drew Butera, as well as manager Pedro Grifol, who specialized in catching while rising through the coaching ranks.
Quero is currently discussed as the White Sox’ catcher of the future, and short-term acquisitions of Maldonado and fellow veteran Max Stassi point to the team waiting for Quero to blossom into major league readiness in the minors over the next season or so.
“He is a talented kid,” Janish said. “My interactions with him at this point, he’s kind of a quiet guy in terms of the day-to-day communication, but he does go about his work pretty intentionally. I think the work ethic is something he’s got in him, and he’s currently developing a little bit of a routine on a day-to-day basis to maintain throughout the course of a season, which we can all sympathize with.
”That position requires a lot both mentally and physically. I think at the end of the day he really needs to play. He’s in a really good spot for his age, and his ability is going to give him the opportunity to play in the major leagues, there’s no question about that.
”It goes back to saying we just want him to be at a point where he’s ready to be consistent at that level, which at that position in particular, we all know is going to be asking a lot.”
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