White Sox: Evaluating the AL Central’s MLB Pipeline rankings

The Chicago White Sox plays in the American League Central Division which is considered by many to be the worst division in Major League Baseball. The White Sox are one of the league’s most disappointing teams this season as they should have run away with this division title.

Instead, they find themselves in a three-horse race with the Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins but the former is starting to pull away a little bit. That doesn’t mean that the Wild Card is out of the question but it is going to be tough.

How does this division stack up for the future? Well, it might be mediocre for a while as all of the teams except one are trying to build their farm system back to high-end status. MLB Pipeline released their midseason farm rankings earlier this week and the results were bland for the division.

The White Sox were the lowest ranked team in the division as they came in at number 26 out of 30. Although that isn’t great, it is a nice improvement over dead last. A few good prospects jumping up the ranking earned the White Sox this rating.

The Chicago White Sox play in a division that isn’t as feared as it once was.

Oddly enough, the next three teams in the division are stacked on top of each other. The Minnesota Twins are at number 23, the Detroit Tigers are at number 22, and the Kansas City Royals are at number 21.

There are some reasons for this. The Minnesota Twins have emptied out their farm a little bit trying to win. It hasn’t translated much yet but they are more concerned about the MLB level.

The Tigers and Royals are where they are because a lot of their top prospects have graduated to be considered full-time MLB players. That hasn’t turned them into winning franchises yet but there is more development to be had at the MLB level.

As for the first place Cleveland Guardians, they have the number three prospect farm in Major League Baseball. They only trail the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers. This comes, as mentioned before, with a first-place MLB roster that is one of the youngest in the league.

The Guardians do it right. They are cheap with stars sometimes but you mostly always know you are going to get a winning motivation at the MLB and MiLB levels. It is fun to watch from a pure baseball point of view. It isn’t as fun to watch from a White Sox point of view.

Hopefully, the White Sox are able to win more at the MLB level with the great talent that they have while rebuilding their roster. Some changes are needed for this team as the rest of the division is ahead of them right now in a lot of ways.