The Chicago White Sox have dealt with a lot of prospects over the last handful of years. The rebuild was all about prospects and a lot of them became good players.
Although the team is failing right now and most of their top guys can't stay healthy for a long period of time, there is no doubt that the talent is there.
However, not every prospect made their way to the big leagues by the time they were supposed to make an impact.
There are a couple of them that haven't been what the team or its fans thought they'd be. These are the three players that have fallen from grace:
1. Yoelqui Cespedes
Yoelqui Cespedes has fallen down the prospect rankings a little bit.
Yoelqui Cespedes was supposed to be up with the Chicago White Sox by now. At one point, he was one of the top prospects in the entire organization.
Unfortunately, he hasn't panned out the way we would have thought up to this point. Instead of moving up, he has moved down in terms of the overall prospect rankings.
At 25 years of age, he is sitting in AA and is considered to be the number 12 prospect in the organization. There are plenty of outfielders ahead of him on the depth chart. The fact that he hasn't even hit AAA yet here in 2023 is a bit concerning.
We'll see if the plan of having him platoon the outfield in Major League Baseball ever happens but it doesn't seem like a sure thing anymore. It would be nice to see him rise up again.
2. Jonathan Stiever
Jonathan Stiever hasn't grown his game enough over the years.
Jonathan Stiever was someone that started pitching in Major League Baseball with the White Sox during that strange shortened 2020 season.
He made a couple of appearances in 2020 and then really lost it in 2021. A lot of people had hopes that he'd be a starter for this team in the back of the rotation one day but it just hasn't panned out.
Now, he is about to turn 26 years old and is two years removed from an appearance in the league. 2023 is going to be his third straight year mostly spent with the Charlotte Knights and that is probably where he is going to stay.
There is nothing wrong with being a full-time Minor Leaguer as most of us wish we could even do that. He can be a veteran down there that helps the younger people grow their games as they prepare for bigger and better things. We thought that he'd offer more but this is it.
3. Jared Kelley
Jared Kelley is someone that may or may not be a Major League player.
The Chicago White Sox drafted Jared Kelley in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft. He went in the same draft that the White Sox took Garrett Crochet a round prior.
We thought at the time that Kelley would be equally as impactful as Crochet at the time of the draft but it hasn't panned out that way up to this point. He is only 21 years old but to say that he isn't a prospect that has fallen from grace would be a lie.
At one point, he was a top-five White Sox prospect but now he can be found as the number 13 guy in the organization. We'll see if he is ever able to climb into Major League Baseball. He currently sits in A+ ball. It is fair to be disappointed that he hasn't advanced farther than that by 2023.
All three of these guys may or may not impact the team one day but as of right now, it is pretty obvious that they aren't seen as the guys that will help the franchise succeed long term. Hopefully, we are wrong on at least one of them.