White Sox: Catching up with each year’s top prospect this century

Baseball America updated its lists earlier this week of the top 30 prospects in each MLB organization, with a new No. 1 emerging at the top of the Chicago White Sox system. Andrew Vaughn, a slugging first baseman taken first by the White Sox in the 2019 draft after clubbing 50 home runs in three seasons at the University of California, is now in the No. 1 spot.

Vaughn was the third overall pick in 2019 and rose to High-A ball in just half a season in the minors that year, hitting .278 across three levels (Rookie, Class-A and High-A) with an .832 OPS in 55 games and 245 plate appearances. He belted 17 doubles to go with six home runs, driving in 36 runs and scoring 33.

Beyond that, his strikeout percentage was a reasonable 15.5% with a walk rate of 12.2%.

Vaughn will turn 23 on April 3 and, as a first baseman, appears to be stuck behind reigning American League MVP Jose Abreu for the foreseeable future. He played all of last season at the White Sox alternate training site in Schaumburg, Ill., after spending some time with the big club in spring training before it was shut down last March due to COVID-19.

He played in 16 games and had 33 plate appearances in Cactus League play last spring, hitting .259 with an .838 OPS. Vaughn cracked two doubles and a homer with five RBI and six runs scored and posted a strikeout rate of 21.2% to go with a 15.2% walk rate.

Vaughn is a prospect with plus hitting and power potential, above-average fielding and arm skills and has below-average speed. He is an all-fields hitter and projects to combine a high average with that plus power. He got some time in the outfield in 2019 and played third base a bit at the alternate training site, but projects as a first baseman due to his lack of range.

He moved up one spot in the rankings from midseason 2020 after entering 2020 at No. 2 in the preseason ratings as well. As far as the Top 100 list goes, Vaughn moved up from No. 30 last preseason to No. 21 this year.

Other top-100 prospects for the White Sox include right-hander Michael Kopech (No. 24), second baseman Nick Madrigal (No. 40) and left-hander Garrett Crochet (No. 74)

But that got us thinking about other No. 1 prospects the White Sox have had over the years and how they have turned out for the club. With that, we’ll dive into the last five years’ worth.

White Sox top prospects: Carlos Rodon, LHP, 2015

The Chicago White Sox made North Carolina State left-hander Carlos Rodon the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft and he made a grand total of 11 minor-league appearances before debuting with the Sox in April 2015. He also made a quick run to the top spot in the organization’s rankings in 2015 and was No. 15 on the Top 100.

As a rookie, Rodon made 23 starts in 26 appearances, with a 3.75 ERA and 1.443 WHIP in 139.1 innings, averaging 9.0 strikeouts and 4.6 walks per nine innings. His ERA, however, has climbed each season since, including an 8.22 mark in 7.2 innings last season.

Rodon has accumulated 6.4 WAR in parts of six seasons and re-signed with the White Sox on Monday after he was non-tendered in December.

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2015: SS Tim Anderson (No. 92), RHP Spencer Adams (No. 100)

White Sox top prospects: Jose Abreu, 1B, 2014

Jose Abreu played for 10 seasons in the Cuban National Series, beginning at age 16, before defecting in August 2013, first to Haiti and later to the U.S. He rocketed to the top of the White Sox’ organizational rankings after signing with them in October 2013, ranking No. 29 in the top 100.

Abreu was as good as advertised, winning Rookie of the Year honors in 2014 while also earning an All-Star bid, a Silver Slugger and placing fourth in the MVP race. Since then, he has two more All-Star appearances, two more Silver Sluggers and was named AL MVP in 2020.

He has produced 24.0 WAR in seven seasons and has led the AL in RBI each of the last two seasons. He led the American League in slugging in 2014 and 2020, in total bases in 2017 and 2020 and in hits last season.

Abreu re-signed with Chicago as a free agent in November 2019 and has two years and $37.3 million remaining on his deal.

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2014: RHP Erik Johnson (No. 63), 3B Matt Davidson (No. 72), IF Marcus Semien (No. 91)

White Sox top prospects: Courtney Hawkins, OF, 2013

Courtney Hawkins was taken 13th overall by the White Sox from Mary Carroll High School in Corpus Christi, Texas, in the 2012 draft and rose to the top of the Chicago prospect rankings in 2013, checking in at No. 55 on the top 100 list.

But injuries derailed Hawkins, with a season-ending injury in 2015 and an oblique tear in 2016. He was diagnosed with hyperthyroid disease in March 2017, according to the Houston Chronicle.

In April 2018, Hawkins was released by the White Sox organization while he was at Double-A Birmingham, having never made it to the big leagues.

He later was with the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants organizations. He has played the last two seasons with the Sugar Land Skeeters, an independent minor league club, while also playing with Monterrey in Mexico’s Pacific Winter League this winter.

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2013: None

White Sox top prospects: Addison Reed, RHP, 2012

Right-handed reliever Addison Reed was chosen in the third round of the 2010 draft by the White Sox after he had been the closer at San Diego State on a staff that included Stephen Strasburg. Reed shot up through the organization, debuting with Chicago in September 2011 and closing for the club for two seasons, 2012-13.

He was No. 66 on the top 100 in 2012.

Reed picked up 69 saves in 81 opportunities, including going 40-for-48 in 2013. He posted 1.1 WAR in parts of three seasons with the White Sox, with a 4.17 ERA and 1.234 WHIP in 133.2 innings, striking out 9.3 batters and walking 2.8 per nine innings.

He was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Matt Davison in December 2013 and later played with the New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins before he was released by them in May 2019.

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2012: None

White Sox top prospects: Chris Sale, LHP, 2011

Chris Sale was selected 13th overall by the White Sox from Florida Gulf Coast University in the 2010 draft and made his debut just two months later after just 11 appearances in the minors. He was ranked the top prospect in the Chicago organization in 2011, No. 20 overall on the top 100.

He made 21 relief appearances the rest of that season and took a regular setup role in 2011, making 58 appearances and saving eight games.

Sale joined the rotation in 2012 and a star was born. Sale made five consecutive All-Star appearances between 2012-16, finished in the top six of the Cy Young voting each year and led the American League in strikeouts in 2015 and 2017, while topping the circuit in strikeouts per nine innings three times (2014-15, 2017).

Sale amassed 30.1 WAR in seven seasons with the White Sox, with a 3.00 ERA and 1.065 WHIP over 1,629.2 innings. He fanned 10.1 batters per nine innings while walking just 2.1. Entering his final season of arbitration eligibility, Sale was traded to the Boston Red Sox in December 2016 for four prospects, most notably Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech.

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2011: 3B/SS Brent Morel (No. 85).

White Sox top prospects: Jared Mitchell, OF, 2010

Jared Mitchell was a story of what could have been. Mitchell was part of national champion baseball and football teams at LSU before he was selected by the White Sox 23rd overall in the 2009 draft. Entering 2010, he was the highest-ranked prospect in the Chicago organization and was No. 55 on the top 100.

But in spring training that year, Mitchell tore a tendon in his left ankle while making a catch in the outfield. He eventually had surgery and missed the entire season. While he came back in 2011, his bat took a lot longer to return.

He hit .222 at High-A Winston-Salem in 2011, .237 across Double-A and Triple-A in 2012 and .167 in 2013 as he went from Triple-A back to Double-A.

Released in May 2015 by the White Sox, Mitchell spent time with the Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees organizations, released by the Yankees in May 2016. He has played independent ball since then including spending last season with the Eastern Reyes del Tigre in the Constellation Energy League (yes, that is a thing).

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2010: C Tyler Flowers (No. 60), RHP Dan Hudson (No. 66)

White Sox top prospects: Gordon Beckham, SS, 2009

Things started so well for Gordon Beckham, taken eighth overall by the White Sox out of the University of Georgia in the 2008 draft. He hit .394 in the Arizona Fall League that year, hit .299 in 38 games with Double-A Birmingham in 2009 before getting a promotion. After going 13-for-28 in seven games, Beckham was Chicago-bound in early June.

Opening 2009 as the White Sox top prospect, and No. 20 on the top 100, he hit .270 with an .808 OPS in 103 games and 430 plate appearances, with 28 doubles, 14 homers and 63 RBI while finishing fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting in spite of the late start.

As it turned out, that was the high point. Beckham’s hitting slipped throughout most of his tenure with the White Sox. In August 2014, Beckham cleared waivers and was traded to the Los Angeles Angels, with Chicago getting minor-league Yency Almonte in return the following February.

Beckham had already re-signed with the White Sox by then, returning on a one-year free-agent deal, but after hitting .209 in 237 plate appearances, Chicago didn’t pursue him. In parts of seven seasons, with the Sox, Beckham had 6.9 WAR, hitting .242 with a .674 OPS in 839 games, hitting 69 home runs.

He has since played with the Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers and spent last season at the New York Mets’ alternate training site.

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2009: 3B/OF Dayan Viciedo (No. 61), LHP Aaron Poreda (No. 63), C Tyler Flowers (No. 99)

White Sox top prospects: Aaron Poreda, LHP, 2008

The White Sox took Aaron Poreda 25th overall in the 2007 draft out of the University of San Francisco and he made his debut about two years later in June 2009.

He put together 0.4 WAR in 10 appearances with Chicago, with a 2.45 ERA and 1.545 WHIP in 11 innings before he was dealt to the San Diego Padres with Clayton Richard, Adam Russell and Dexter Carter in exchange for Jake Peavy.

Poreda made four appearances with the Padres and pitched out of the Texas Rangers bullpen 26 times in 2014. Released by Texas in November of that year, Poreda pitched two seasons in Japan before he was let go by the Yomiuri Giants in 2016.

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2008: None

White Sox top prospects: Ryan Sweeney, OF, 2007

Ryan Sweeney had bounced around the White Sox organizational rankings but emerged as the No. 1 prospect in 2007 after making his big-league debut the previous September. Ranked No. 55 on the top 100 in 2007, Sweeney had been selected in the second round by the White Sox in 2003 out of Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

He only played 33 games with the White Sox across the 2006-07 seasons, hitting .213 in 84 plate appearances with a .538 OPS. Sweeney hit one homer before he was traded with Fautino De Los Santos and Gio Gonzalez to the Oakland Athletics in the January 2008 swap that brought Nick Swisher to Chicago.

Sweeney spent four years in Oakland — two as a regular — before playing a season with the Boston Red Sox and two with the Chicago Cubs. His last major-league appearance was in 2014.

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2007: 3B Josh Fields (No. 45, but ranked behind Sweeney on the organizational list), LHP John Danks (No. 56), LHP Gio Gonzalez (No. 72)

White Sox top prospects: Bobby Jenks, RHP, 2006

Bobby Jenks had been a top-100 prospect before falling off the list in 2005, just after he had been claimed off waivers by the White Sox from the Anaheim Angels. Jenks, a massive right-hander at 6-foot-4 and 275 pounds, had been taken by the Angels in the fifth round out of high school in 2000 and struggled as a starter for five seasons in the minors.

The White Sox turned him into a closer in 2005 and he saved 19 games in 35 appearances at Double-A Birmingham before earning a call-up in early July. Jenks made 19 appearances with six saves the rest of the way and was an All-Star in both 2006 and 2007, saving 41 and 40 games, respectively.

In six seasons with Chicago, Jenks notched 8.3 WAR, saving 173 games and putting up a 3.40 ERA and 1.206 WHIP in 341.2 innings over 329 appearances. His career went south from there. Non-tendered by the White Sox in December 2010, he signed with the Boston Red Sox. putting up a 6.32 ERA and 2.234 WHIP (not a typo) in 15.2 innings in 2011.

He suffered a career-ending back injury, winning a $5.1 million settlement after suing a surgeon who performed spinal decompression surgery in December 2011.

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2006: OF Brian Anderson (No. 51), OF Ryan Sweeney (No. 92)

White Sox top prospects: Brian Anderson, OF, 2005

Selected 15th overall by the White Sox from the University of Arizona in 2003, outfielder Brian Anderson moved up the organization’s ranks quickly, becoming the top prospect in the system in 2005 while ranked No. 37 in the top 100.

Anderson debuted with the Sox in August 2005 and was the regular center fielder in 2006. In 2007, he was beaten out by Darin Erstad for the starting job and later missed much of the season with a groin injury.

In July 2009, Anderson was dealt to the Boston Red Sox for Mark Kotsay before being non-tendered in December of that year and signing with the Kansas City Royals, who converted him to a pitcher.

In parts of five seasons with the White Sox, he had a minus-0.2 WAR in 334 games, hitting .225 with a .652 OPS in 862 plate appearances while he hit 20 home runs.

He later got shots with the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies before returning to the White Sox on a minor-league deal in January 2015. He was cut in April.

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2005: OF Ryan Sweeney (No. 42), RHP Brandon McCarthy (No. 49), 3B Josh Fields (No. 95), 2B Tadahito Iguchi (No. 96)

White Sox top prospects: Jeremy Reed, OF, 2004

The White Sox selected outfielder Jeremy Reed out of Long Beach State in the second round in 2002 and he tore through the minor league system, hitting .373 in High-A and Double-A in 2003 before being named the top prospect in the organization and No. 25 on the top 100 before the 2004 season.

Reed was hitting .275 in 73 games at Triple-A when he was traded with Mike Morse and Miguel Olivo to the Seattle Mariners for Freddy Garcia and Ben Davis.

He would play with the Mariners as well as the New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers between 2004-11, hitting .252 in 483 big league games with an OPS of .663. Reed hit 12 career home runs, six coming in 229 plate appearances in 2006.

Reed refused an outright assignment in July 2010 from the Blue Jays and signed with the White Sox a couple of weeks later, but did not appear in the majors before he was again a free agent that fall.

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2004: RHP Kris Honel (No. 55)

White Sox top prospects: Joe Borchard, OF, 2002 and 2003

The White Sox gave Joe Borchard a $5.3 million bonus — a record for the organization at the time — after taking him 12th overall in the 2000 draft. That was necessary to entice the two-sport star to commit to baseball and give up his last two seasons of eligibility as a quarterback at Stanford University.

Borchard is the only player besides Eloy Jimenez in 2018 and 2019 to be the top prospect for the White Sox in two seasons. That distinction came with being No. 12 on the top 100 in 2002 and No. 28 in 2003.

He made his big-league debut when rosters expanded in September 2002, but over four seasons posted a minus-0.6 WAR in 102 games for the White Sox. In 328 plate appearances, Borchard hit just .191 with an OPS of .596, popping 12 home runs. In March 2006, he was dealt to the Seattle Mariners for Matt Thornton.

He played in the majors with the Mariners and Florida Marlins, with his last appearance coming in 2007. While he spent time in the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants organizations, he never reached the majors again and faded away after becoming a free agent in November 2010.

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2003: RHP Kris Honel (No. 73), RHP Jon Rauch (No. 92)

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2002: RHP Jon Rauch (No. 23), LHP Corwin Malone (No. 32), 3B Joe Crede (No. 94)

White Sox top prospects: Jon Rauch, RHP, 2001

Jon Rauch set a major-league record on April 2, 2002, when he made his debut with the White Sox, who had selected him in the third round of the 1999 draft from Morehead State University. Rauch rose to the top of the organization’s prospect pool in 2001, ranking No. 4 overall in the top 100.

He had been overpowering at High-A and Double-A in 2000, striking out 187 in 166 innings with a 2.66 ERA and 1.127 WHIP in 26 starts. But he never quite recaptured that. He did break camp with Chicago in 2002 as their fifth starter before he was sent back to Triple-A in early May.

Just by appearing in a game, however, Rauch made history — at 6-foot-11 he is the tallest player ever to play in the majors.

He spent all of 2003 in Triple-A and made two starts for the White Sox in 2004 before he was traded with Gary Majewski to the Montreal Expos for Carl Everett. Rauch appeared in 10 games for Chicago, starting eight, and had a 6.51 ERA and 1.661 WHIP in 37.1 innings. That added up to a minus-0.6 WAR.

Rauch was converted to a reliever by the Expos/Washington Nationals and wound up spending 11 years in the majors, also pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets and Miami Marlins.

Released by Miami in May 2013, Rauch signed with the Baltimore Orioles the following month, but was released in July. The Kansas City Royals brought him to spring training in 2014, but he was released in March. He led the majors with 88 appearances for Washington in 2007.

Other White Sox in top 100 in 2001: OF Joe Borchard (No. 23), 3B Joe Crede (No. 36), RHP Matt Ginter (No. 44), RHP Dan Wright (No. 61)