The Chicago White Sox farm system is loaded with young pitching. Apart from the young arms already having an impact on the big league roster, the Sox have Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith, baseball’s two highest-rated left-handed pitching prospects.
High upside position players are not the organization's strength, however. With Colson Montgomery struggling in the minor leagues and recently being pulled from game action, that’s even more true now than it was before the season.
Trading Garrett Crochet to the Boston Red Sox certainly helped. The White Sox got three highly-touted position players in that deal with infielder Chase Meidroth, outfielder Braden Montgomery, and catcher Kyle Teel coming back in the return.
Meidroth is already looking promising in the major leagues while Montgomery and Teal continue to impress in the minors.
The White Sox also have a homegrown talent that they drafted and is one of the most underrated prospects in the organization. But 19-year-old shortstop Caleb Bonomer is finally getting the credit and attention he deserves.
In the latest list of Top 100 prospects as rated by Baseball America, Colson Montgomery dropped off the list while Caleb Bonomer checked in at No. 93.
Caleb Bonemer's rise to prominence
Bonemer was Chicago’s second-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. He was the 43rd selection overall out of Okemos High School in Michigan. He was also Gatorade's Michigan High School Player of the Year in both 2023 and 2024.
According to his prospect report ahead of the MLB draft, “Bonemer features some of the best bat speed in this high school class, and it combines with his strength to give him well above-average raw power. How much it will translate into game production is a matter of debate."
It seems to be translating just fine in the minor leagues this year. In Bonemer’s first taste of professional baseball, the 19-year-old shortstop is hitting .275/.404/.462 with an .866 OPS, 11 extra-base hits, and eight (8) stolen bases with the Kanapolis Cannon Ballers (A). The walk-strikeout ratio is also very encouraging.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, Bonemer is finally getting his flowers. He was rated as the No. 11 prospect in the White Sox organization before the 2025 season, but he could flirt with the Top 5 on a midseason update.
Edgar Quero and Chase Meidroth are going to graduate and I think Bonemer has a case to jump George Wolkow (No. 10), Jairo Iriarte (No. 9), and maybe even Colson Montgomery (No. 4).
MLB.com may even follow Baseball America and rank him in the Top 100 if he keeps his production up.
“Over the first few weeks of the season, Bonemer has shown power, solid plate skills and the ability to stick up the middle. It’s been a long time since the White Sox have had a prep hitter with Bonemer’s upside,” writes Baseball America.
No lies were told. The White Sox have been historically bad at drafting position players and developing them in the organization. Success in the international pool helped mask that for a while, but it has really caught up to the Sox in recent years.
Hopefully Bonemer’s rise will only continue and he will mark the organization turning over a new leaf in player development.