The Chicago White Sox boast one of the strongest farm systems in Major League Baseball. While the product on the field right now isn’t what fans want to see, there are players to look forward to in the future as the White Sox try to climb out of the bottom of the standings.
This year's amateur draft gives Chicago another opportunity to bring a promising prospect into the fold. The White Sox will select tenth overall, which might seem shocking considering their 2024 season.
Per the rules of the MLB Draft Lottery, the White Sox were ineligible to receive a top-nine pick because they picked inside the top-six in the 2024 MLB Draft.
Despite this, there will still be plenty of talent available for the White Sox to take with the 10th pick. This year's draft class isn’t as top-heavy as other recent classes, but the depth is there for teams in the middle and later portions of the first round to pick a potential franchise cornerstone. With so many positions of need, it will be interesting to see where Chicago goes with its first selection.
Versatile outfielder is a name to watch
The White Sox haven’t used their first-round pick on an outfielder since 2012. University of Arizona junior Brendan Summerhill could change that in July.
Summerhill led the Wildcats in batting average and extra-base hits in 2024 and was crushing it this spring before a hand injury halted his season in late March. The left-handed hitting outfielder has a .409 average with 13 extra-base hits and more walks than strikeouts in 23 games.
He earned an All-Star nod in the Cape Cod League last summer among some of the best college players in the country, finishing the season with a .286 average and 12 stolen bases in 24 games.
Summerhill rarely misses pitches and can spray the ball all over the field. Where a team thinks he fits defensively in the outfield will determine his draft slot. He's played in right field for Arizona this season but was in center in the Cape last summer. If he's there at 10, the White Sox should consider taking him, especially if they think he can stick in center.
High school shortstop has Gold Glove written all over him
The top of this year's draft class is loaded with shortstops, and maybe none are as talented a fielder as Corona High School's Billy Carlson. The Southern California kid is a two-way star who has as slick a glove as anyone at the high school level.
While his glove/arm is ahead of his bat, there's potential for him to grow into a solid hitter with plus power. He hits for contact extremely well and doesn’t chase often, which should translate to the professional ranks.
His bat will need some developing in the minors before he's ready for the majors, but Carlson's elite defense is already in a class of his own. Some teams might like his two-way ability with a fastball that sits in the mid-90s, but he'll probably strictly stay in the field as a pro.
Carlson is committed to the defending College World Series champion University of Tennessee. There's virtually no chance he ends up in Knoxville though with a guaranteed top-half pick in the first round.
Texas A&M slugger might be hard to pass on
Let's begin this section by saying there might be no chance Jace LaViolette makes it to the 10th pick. Ranked as high as second in the 2025 MLB Draft prospect rankings by MLB Pipeline, the Texas A&M outfielder is as intriguing a prospect as there is in this year's class.
Few, if any, possess the type of raw power Laviolette has. He launched 50 home runs across his freshman and sophomore seasons before breaking Texas A&M's all-time record with his seventh homer of the year this March.
Jace LaViolette, Texas A&M home run king 👑
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 29, 2025
MLB's No. 2 Draft prospect goes deep for his 57th career homer for the Aggies, displaying as much power as anyone in the class: https://t.co/FFuXlA2xm9
(🎥: @AggieBaseball)pic.twitter.com/ZaqqaZv3FF
He sits at 11 home runs this season with a career average hovering around .300. The concerns come with the strikeout numbers as he's been sat down via the K on 24 percent of his collegiate plate appearances. LaViolette does draw a ton of walks at a career 19 percent rate, but the swings and misses have to be cut down in the pros.
He's a slightly above-average runner with a good arm in the outfield. A corner spot is where he'll end up in the majors. The White Sox should take a chance on him if he falls, but a team ahead of Chicago might love his power too much to let him slip.