Kevin Goldstein recently listed his top ten White Sox prospects in his latest Future Shock. While none of them fell into the excellent category, the White Sox did get three in the “very good” section.
Coming in at the top is John Danks, who the White Sox trade Brandon McCarthy for. Danks had solid seasons at Double A and Triple A despite playing over his head at the age of 21. He’s a solid left hander who finished last year on a solid note. He’ll probably compete for that fifth spot in the rotation but I see the youngster starting the season at Triple A.
Ryan Sweeney came in second, and we should be seeing more of Sweeney in 2007. The only thing that might keep him out of the big leagues is a good start by Brian Anderson although Goldstein speculates that the centerfield job is Sweeney’s to lose.
Josh Fields is number three and like Sweeney, he has a roadblock to any sort of extended playing time. He’s a third baseman and while Goldstein looks like he has a good bat, it doesn’t look like he’s nearly as good of a fielder as Crede.
Number four is a familiar face in Gio Gonzalez. It should be interesting to see where Gonzalez falls this year. His strikeout rate was where you want it to be and Goldstein thinks a repeat in Double A would do him some good. We might see Gonzalez by the end of 2007.
The overall prognosis of the farm system isn’t good though. The White Sox have some good players, but they have little depth. Not good and something that hopefully will be fixed in the next couple of years.
