Carlos Rodon, Tim Anderson: Who is White Sox top prospect?

Jun 8, 2013; Raleigh, NC, USA; North Carolina State pitcher Carlos Rodon (16) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Rice Owls in the Raleigh super regional of the 2013 NCAA baseball tournament at Doak Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Who would you rank as the No. 1 prospect for the Chicago White Sox as we near closer to spring training, Carlos Rodon or Tim Anderson?

For the White Sox organization, this is a great problem to have because both are excellent players at their position thus far in their professional careers and hopefully will be on the big league roster very soon.

Baseball Prospectus has the shortstop Anderson as the No. 1 prospect for the White Sox, followed by left-handed pitcher Rodon at No. 2. Baseball Prospectus released their list on Jan. 12.

Anderson was the White Sox first-round draft selection in 2013, and Rodon was the same in 2014.

On Nov. 10, Baseball America released their White Sox Top 10 prospects with Rodon in the top spot, followed by Anderson at second on the list.

The most recent MLB.com White Sox prospect list has Rodon as the top White Sox prospect and Anderson in second.

Like mentioned before, this is a great “problem” to have if you are the White Sox.

Now we each have to decide who we believe is the No. 1 prospect, so let’s look at the stats each player had this past season.

Next: White Sox: Pitchers, catchers report Feb. 20

For Rodon, he played at three levels of the minors, finishing with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. He was drafted in June as the No. 3 selection in the first-year player draft.

With the Knights, he made three starts and pitched 12 innings, where he allowed nine hits and kept the opposition to a .209 batting average. Rodon struck out 18 in Charlotte and walked eight but allowed no home runs at any level of the minors in ’14.

The WHIP of Rodon totaled at 1.34, with it being 1.33 while in rookie ball, 1.24 with the Dash in Winston-Salem and 1.42 as a Knight in Charlotte.

Rodon’s GO/AO ratio was 1.25 in nine total MiLB games and 1.13 in Triple-A. He also had a combined 38 strikeouts, averaging 4.2 strikeouts per game.

Now let’s take a look at Anderson, who played at three levels as well in the minors, reaching Double-A Birmingham Barons. Anderson batted a combined .301 with a .327 on-base percentage and .481 slugging percentage.

In the fall, Anderson played with the Glendale Desert Dogs, where he batted .301 with two home runs and six doubles in 23 games.

At the Double-A level, in 10 games, Anderson had a .364 average and .364 on-base percentage. His slugging percentage was .500 with the Barons, and he had an OPS of .864.