How historic '26 Draft reshaped White Sox prospect pipeline

By Scott Merkin | 8:58 AM EDT

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This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

DETROIT – The White Sox midseason Top 30 prospects list, according to MLB Pipeline and released Thursday, understandably looks a bit different than the preseason arrangement.

But it could have looked a great deal different.

Caleb Bonemer (No. 2), the shortstop/third baseman who recently became the first White Sox prospect to hit 30 home runs in a single season since Luis Robert Jr. launched 32 in 2019, was a popular ask by other teams around the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline. The same goes for Billy Carlson (No. 3), who along with Bonemer are two of the team’s three prospects in the Top 100.

But White Sox general manager Chris Getz was steadfast in his belief of improving his American League Central-leading squad, while also not tearing apart the exceptional clubhouse culture built or moving key future players for rentals.

“We have a lot of players who were asked for from our prospect group. It’s not that we were dismissive and unwilling,” Getz said. “It just didn’t make sense with some of the asks.

“It’s very clear that a Caleb Bonemer, a Billy Carlson, very attractive pieces, but then with us wanting to maintain the group that we have been able to grow on the Minor League side, that’s only going to help us in the future. We felt like we were able to accomplish adding wins to our Major League club but also maintaining prospect depth.”

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Eight players from the White Sox ’26 Draft class joined the team’s Top 30, representing the largest Draft pool in baseball history, led by Roch Cholowsky, the top pick overall and No. 11 ranked prospect. Cholowsky debuted with High-A Winston-Salem and was 6-for-33 with one home run, three doubles, 10 RBIs, three runs scored, six walks and three stolen bases over eight games entering Saturday.

Cholowsky agreed to a record $10.35 million signing bonus, and made his presence felt before he even stepped on the field for the Dash. The dynamic shortstop took 25 players from this White Sox class out for dinner at Steak 48 in Charlotte in the midst of a camp taking place just days after the selections were made.

His goal was to make lasting memories for these players, a plan that seemed to immediately pay dividends. Let’s not forget Cholowsky has talent that could possibly push him to the Majors at some point during the ’27 campaign.

“He's a player that, just like most highly talented players, they'll let us know,” said Getz, who was hesitant to put a big league arrival timeline on Cholowsky. “We just want him to go out there and be himself and be the best version of Roch Cholowsky that exists.

“We're going to support him in doing that and we're very confident that he's going to take to professional baseball and being in a White Sox uniform, and he's eventually going to help us when the time arises. … He’s just very comfortable in his own skin. Very determined to be a productive Major League player. He’s a great teammate.”

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Here’s a look at the White Sox top prospects:
1. Roch Chlowsky, SS (No. 11 overall)
2. Caleb Bonemer, 3B/SS (No. 30 overall)
3. Billy Carlson, SS (No. 62 overall)
4. Hagen Smith, LHP
5. Cole Prosek, 3B/C

Complete Top 30 list » 

Biggest jump/fall
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the preseason list:

Jump: Pierce George, RHP, (Preseason: NR | Midseason: 20)
The 13th-round pick in the 2024 Draft moved to the forefront of young arms across the system in ’26. Across stops at Single-A Kannapolis, Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham, George has produced a 4.20 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings, a 1.09 WHIP and .184 opponents’ batting average. He has struggled with the Barons, featuring a 7.23 ERA over 16 games and 18 2/3 innings, with 18 strikeouts against 11 walks.

Fall: Jeral Perez, 2B/3B (Preseason: 15 | Midseason: NR)
It was just one year ago when the infielder launched 22 homers with 24 doubles for Winston-Salem. The switch-hitter began this season with Birmingham but struggled mightily with a .180 average and .563 OPS. He has performed better in a return to Winston-Salem but has just six home runs overall in 350 at-bats.

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New to the list
Here are the players added to the Top 30 from outside the organization:

1. Cholowsky (Top pick in the Draft)
5. Prosek (Draft, 2nd round)
6. Landon Thome, 2B/3B (Draft, CB-A)
9. Joey Volchko, RHP (Draft, 3rd round)
15. Alex Weingartner, OF (Draft, 6th round)
16. Kyle Casteel, RHP (Draft, 11th round)
26. Cal Scolari, RHP (Draft, 5th round)
28. Eric Segura, RHP (Draft, 4th round)

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