With Spring Training just around the corner, prospect season is officially heating up-and for White Sox fans, there’s a lot to get excited about. Multiple major outlets have dropped their updated top-100 prospect lists, and the South Side farm system is getting plenty of love. Across the board, there’s a growing consensus that the White Sox pipeline is not only healthy but surging, with five-and in some cases, six-players earning top-100 recognition.
Here’s the group drawing national attention: Braden Montgomery, Caleb Bonemer, Hagen Smith, Noah Schultz, and Billy Carlson are all finding themselves on these lists. Baseball America went a step further and included right-hander Tanner McDougal, giving the White Sox six names in the top 100-an impressive haul for a system that graduated several top prospects just last season.
Baseball America’s rankings paint a particularly promising picture:
- Noah Schultz: No. 26
- Caleb Bonemer: No. 27
- Braden Montgomery: No. 73
- Hagen Smith: No. 91
- Billy Carlson: No. 92
- Tanner McDougal: No. 100
That’s a strong showing, especially when you consider that Schultz and Bonemer are both sitting inside the top 30. And it’s not just about quantity-the quality is there too. These aren’t fringe top-100 guys; they’re impact-level talents who could shape the next phase of the White Sox rebuild.
And the pipeline isn't drying up anytime soon. Come July, the organization is expected to add another high-end talent in Roch Cholowsky, a consensus top-10 prospect in the upcoming draft. That would give the Sox yet another blue-chip name to add to an already impressive stable.
But not everyone is buying in.
One notable outlier is ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, whose top-100 list paints a much more cautious picture of Chicago’s farm. According to McDaniel, only three White Sox prospects crack the top 100: Bonemer (No.
34), Schultz (No. 96), and Carlson (No. 100).
That’s a sharp contrast from other major outlets, and it raises some eyebrows-especially when you consider how far some of the other names fall outside his top tier.
Take Schultz, for example. Baseball America has him at 26.
MLB Pipeline? No.
- McDaniel’s No. 96 ranking is a clear outlier and suggests a much more conservative read on his upside.
As for Carlson, he’s more in line with other outlets-Baseball America puts him at 92, MLB Pipeline at 73-but still comes in at the lowest spot of the three.
The biggest shock, though, is Braden Montgomery. McDaniel doesn’t have him in the top 100 at all.
In fact, he slots him way down at No. 189 on his extended list of prospects ranked 101-200. That’s a staggering drop when you consider that Baseball America has him at 73, and MLB Pipeline sees him as high as 36.
A 153-spot swing is hard to ignore, especially for a former first-round pick who had a strong debut season in pro ball.
Montgomery isn’t alone in the snub. Hagen Smith, who Baseball America ranks at 91, is listed at No. 127 by McDaniel.
Tanner McDougal, who cracked Baseball America’s top 100, falls all the way to No. 164.
These are not minor discrepancies-they’re major philosophical differences in how these players are being evaluated.
Of course, rankings are just that-rankings. They’re projections, not guarantees.
And for players like Montgomery and Smith, the 2026 season offers a golden opportunity to shift the narrative. Both are expected to make their way to Chicago by midseason, possibly even before the trade deadline, depending on how things shake out.
What’s clear is this: the White Sox have done a solid job retooling their farm system. After a wave of top prospects graduated last year, they’ve managed to reload quickly.
The development pipeline is flowing again, and with another strong draft class on the horizon, the organization is building momentum. Whether or not every outlet agrees on the rankings, the talent is undeniable-and the next wave is coming fast.