White Sox add to already deep farm system
Ever since the White Sox started to clean house last offseason with the trade of Chris Sale and then Adam Eaton, questions about the when/if status of dealing lefty Jose Quintana circulated. It turns out the when was Thursday morning.Once again, the White Sox did extremely well in terms of
Ever since the White Sox started to clean house last offseason with the trade of Chris Sale and then
Once again, the White Sox did extremely well in terms of adding to what is already a very deep farm system by acquiring outfielder Eloy Jimenez and right-hander Dylan Cease. Jimenez, No. 8 on the current Top 100 prospects list, is a two-time Futures Gamer with the power profile that will fit perfectly in right field and draws some comparisons to
Cease is at No. 63 currently, but could make a healthy jump when all lists are re-ranked later this month. He's put Tommy John surgery in his rearview mirror and was easily reaching the upper-90s mph in the Midwest League during his full-season debut. Command still needs to come, but he has frontline starter potential.
Jimenez will slot in as the White Sox's No. 2 prospect currently, with Cease at No. 8, again subject to change with the re-ranks. Combining them with prospects brought in via those Sale and Eaton deals means the organization has added six Top 100 prospects in three trades. Add in the big international signing this summer of Luis Robert (also in the Top 100), nine of the organization's top 13 prospects all joined the system in the past seven months or so.
It's been a remarkable transformation as the White Sox have continued to be able to pluck the top prospects from rich farm systems.
Back in January, when MLBPipeline.com first unveiled all of its 2017 rankings, the White Sox system was ranked No. 3 in all of baseball, behind only the Braves and the Yankees. There will be a new top 10 organizations ranking to go along with all of the new lists, and things like Draft classes and July 2 international signings will have be taken into account, but it's hard to imagine the White Sox not ascending to the top spot of that list.
Externally, the Yankees system has taken a hit in terms of graduations (
But this is really more about what the White Sox have done internally to potentially vault to that top spot. Some of the arms haven't been consistent performers, like Giolito and Lopez from the trade front and
The White Sox's Draft haul does not add much to the top of the list, but with a top of a list like this, that doesn't hurt their standing at all. College performers like Jake Burger, Gavin Sheets and Evan Skoug will fill in the lower two-thirds of the list, adding more depth, which was the one thing the Braves could have over Chicago.
And who knows who else is coming? There are veterans who have trade value still in Chicago, like
Jonathan Mayo is a reporter for MLBPipeline.com. Follow him on Twitter @JonathanMayo and Facebook, and listen to him on the weekly Pipeline Podcast.