White Sox: Catching up with each year’s top prospect this century
By Phil Watson
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.
Next. White Sox top free agent signings. dark
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)