Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus looked at the White Sox from different angles, but they landed in roughly the same place: there’s progress here, just not much certainty about where it all leads.
Baseball America handed Chicago a B for 2026, though it described the season as a “strange year for the White Sox system.” The club got a wave of graduates, and that came in large part because of a draft class headlined by the No. 1 overall pick and a record bonus pool.
Even so, the year wasn’t a clean success story. More prospects took steps back than made meaningful jumps.
Baseball Prospectus had Jarrett Seidler rank all 30 front offices, and he put the White Sox 19th. That placement was driven by what he viewed as a surprising showing in pro acquisition. On drafting and development, Chicago is in a better place than it once was, but it still isn’t producing stars.
That’s the central issue. The White Sox are not especially strong in any one area of player development, though they also aren’t among the league’s worst.
The bigger problem is the lack of core stars in the organization. They haven’t developed one, they haven’t signed one in free agency, and they haven’t traded for one.
The latest group of top prospects - Colson Montgomery, Braden Montgomery, Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz - looks more likely to turn into good players than true superstars. The question now is whether Will Roch Cholowsky or Caleb Bonemer can change that pattern, or whether the White Sox will finally make a real buy move and get it right.
For now, the picture is pretty clear: a moderately-behind-the-times organization that has done some nifty pro scouting work, but still hasn’t found its centerpiece.
Charlotte 5, Norfolk 1
In Other News...
White Sox May Have A Sean Burke Decision Taking Shape
The White Sox have spent much of their extension energy looking elsewhere for now, but the conversation around young pitching is starting to get more interesting. Washingtons reported push to lock up Cade Cavalli, coming on the heels of his strong 2026 season, offers a useful comparison point for Chicago as it weighs how to handle Sean Burke, whose own performance this year has put him in the same general conversation.
Chicago does not appear to be at the decision stage yet, and the clubs current extension focus remains on other players. Still, Burkes emergence gives the White Sox something to consider for the road ahead, especially if they decide the next wave of planning should center on their young arms rather than only the position-player side of the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Former White Sox Infielder Just Hit Another Rough Turn
Lenyn Sosas path has taken another sharp turn, with the Toronto Blue Jays releasing the infielder after his stint with Triple-A Buffalo. Sosa had landed in the Toronto system after being outrighted in mid-August, following the trade that sent him over from the White Sox, and he was trying to carve out a role in the organization down the stretch.
For Chicago fans who watched him come through the system, it has been a difficult season to track. Sosa was slowed by injuries and never found much rhythm offensively in 2025, leaving him in a precarious spot before Toronto moved on. His latest release adds another layer of uncertainty to a career that once looked like it might still have a clear path forward. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Win Turned On One Tense Moment And A Huge Vargas Night
The White Sox found themselves in the kind of tight, late-inning spot where one call can shape the whole night, and Will Venables successful challenge made sure a tying run never crossed for Detroit. It was the sort of moment that can get lost in the box score but tends to loom large in a game like this, especially with Sean Burke giving Chicago six solid innings and allowing just one run to keep the club in control.
Miguel Vargas made sure the bigger story stayed on the Chicago side of the ledger. His home run capped a night that kept stacking milestones, including a team first that speaks to just how complete his season has become. For a White Sox club looking for any sign of momentum, it was the rare game where the pitching held the line and one bat did enough damage to make the rest matter less. [Read more 🡒]