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There were many people wondering if the Chicago White Sox would go into this offseason as buyers or sellers. They have not been great in the past two years and the AL Central has only been getting stronger while the White Sox have stood pat. If anyone was curious about where the team was headed going into the offseason, the acquisition of Todd Frazier should’ve answered all of your questions. They dealt three of their top prospects to the Dodgers and have committed to 2016.
Unfortunately for the White Sox, they lack the prospect depth to have a dynasty built for the years to follow 2016. They gave up a lot in order to acquire Frazier and that was coming from an already depleted farm system. The White Sox have a few players who could potentially be big for them in the future, but they lack the kind of depth and All-Star talent that can be found in other farm systems.
If you are interested in more MLB prospects columns, head on over to our 2016 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard. You can find the rest of my team prospect breakdowns, fantasy baseball prospect rankings, tiered positional rankings, keeper values articles, and more - all in one easy place.
Chicago White Sox Top 10 Dynasty Prospects
These are the top ten prospects for the Chicago White Sox in terms of fantasy production for fantasy owners in the next few seasons.
1. Tim Anderson (SS, AA)
Stats: 550 PA, .312/.350/.429, 5 HR, 49 SB, 4.4% BB rate, 20.7% K rate
ETA: 2016
He may not win the job right out of Spring Training, but Tim Anderson is undoubtedly the heir to the position of shortstop following the departure of Alexei Ramirez. For fantasy owners, Anderson isn’t as dynamic of a player as Francisco Lindor or Carlos Correa, but he does present a lot of future upside. His biggest tool is his speed which saw him steal 49 bases last season at Double-A. Though he may not have great power, most scouts see him as being capable of accumulating double-digit home run totals if he were given a full season of work.
Anderson will remain at shortstop for now, but some scouts see him as possibly making a transition to center field which shouldn’t do too much to hurt his value given the lack of outfield depth in today’s game. Dynasty owners should consider adding Anderson if they have not already as he is very close to reaching the majors and could be quite the promising speedster for fantasy baseball.
2. Carson Fulmer (SP, A+)
Stats: 22.0 IP, 2.05 ERA, 3.66 FIP, 10.23 K/9, 3.68 BB/9, 0.82 HR/9
ETA: 2017
Sure, Carson Fulmer was only drafted last year, but that doesn’t mean he will take a long time to develop. The White Sox love taking the best college pitchers in the draft because it allows them to send them up to the majors without much time in the minors. The White Sox did it with Chris Sale and Carlos Rodon and it appears that Fulmer is the next pitcher to fly through the minors. He has an elite arsenal with a great fastball, wipeout power curve, and a changeup that is only above-average now, but is quickly becoming a great third option. The biggest plus with Fulmer is his plus control. Fulmer should be owned in all dynasty leagues and owners should expect him to be up either in late 2016 or at beginning of 2017.
3. Spencer Adams (SP, A+)
Stats: (from A) 100.0 IP, 3.24 ERA, 3.29 FIP, 6.57 K/9, 0.99 BB/9, 0.63 HR/9
ETA: 2018
Unlike Carson Fulmer, Spencer Adams is not too close to the majors. And though Adams doesn’t have nearly as high of a ceiling as Fulmer, he still seems to be on track to be a top of the rotation starter. Adams has a complete repertoire with a fastball that makes up with movement what it lacks in blazing velocity (though he can occasionally reach 95 mph), a wipeout slider, a curveball with a lot of potential, and an average changeup. Like Fulmer, Adams also possesses great control of his pitches which should help him to move up relatively quickly through the minors. Dynasty owners may not worry about stashing Adams just yet, but he should definitely be up for consideration in a couple of years.
4. Trey Michalczewski (3B, A+)
Stats: 532 PA, .259/.335/.395, 7 HR, 4 SB, 9.4% BB rate, 21.4% K rate
ETA: 2018
Trey Michalczewski ought to be considered the eventual heir for Frazier at third base, but he will need to make some serious improvements offensively to be ownable for dynasty owners. Michalczewski is a solid contact hitter and scouts praise his ability to spray the ball to all fields, but he lacks the kind of power that owners would look for in a third baseman. Unsurprisingly, he also lacks speed which doesn’t give him much fantasy upside. Until Michalczewski finds a way to tap into his raw power, he should be considered unownable.
5. Tyler Danish (SP, AA)
Stats: 142.0 IP, 4.50 ERA, 4.60 FIP, 5.70 K/9, 3.80 BB/9, 0.82 HR/9
ETA: 2017
At the moment, there are far too many concerns with Tyler Danish for dynasty owners to consider owning him. Many scouts see him eventually transitioning to the bullpen and he doesn’t strikeout enough batters to make him a great relief option. Danish should be considered irrelevant for fantasy purposes.
6. Courtney Hawkins (OF, AA)
Stats: 330 PA, .243/.300/.410, 9 HR, 1 SB, 6.1% BB rate, 30.3% K rate
ETA: 2017
Courtney Hawkins showed a lot of promise when he hit 19 home runs in 2013 and repeated the feat in 2014. The only problem was that his batting averages in those seasons was .178 and .249 respectively with corresponding 37.6% and 27.8% strikeout rates. There are way too many concerns for dynasty owners to consider adding Hawkins at any point.
7. Jordan Guerrero (SP, A+)
Stats: 93.2 IP, 3.56 ERA, 3.04 FIP, 8.46 K/9, 2.02 BB/9, 0.58 HR/9
ETA: 2018
Jordan Guerrero has shown enough strikeout stuff in the minors to give dynasty owners false hope, but there are many other risks involved with the future success of Guerrero. Scouts don’t see him as having any great pitches and he is more likely to make the majors as a reliever than as a starter. At this point, Guerrero is not worth owning for dynasty owners.
8. Jacob May (OF, AA)
Stats: 432 PA, .275/.329/.334, 2 HR, 37 SB, 6.7% BB rate, 16.9% K rate
ETA: 2017
Stolen bases aside, there is not a lot that Jacob May brings to the table. May has little to no power and struggles to even hit extra bases in spite of his remarkable speed. The other issue is that at times May tries to hit for too much power with little success which sounds oddly similar to Billy Hamilton. Unless May suddenly becomes as fast as Hamilton (highly unlikely), he will remain fantasy irrelevant.
9. Chris Beck (SP, MLB)
Stats: (from AAA) 54.1 IP, 3.15 ERA, 3.29 FIP, 6.63 K/9, 2.32 BB/9, 0.50 HR/9
ETA: 2016
Chris Beck is very likely to be a back of the rotation starting pitcher for the White Sox, but he doesn’t generate nearly enough strikeouts to be fantasy relevant. He is very ground ball heavy and lacks the quality of pitches to make him an option for dynasty owners. He is not worth owning in any leagues.
10. Micker Adolfo (OF, R)
Stats: 93 PA, .253/.323/.313, 0 HR, 3 SB, 6.5% BB rate, 26.9% K rate
ETA: 2020
Not only is Micker Adolfo very far away from the majors, but he has a lot of risk to not hit for a high enough average to be fantasy relevant. Adolfo has a lot of power and could eventually be a minimum 20 home run per season kind of player, but he also struggles immensely to make contact which has lead many scouts to believe he will always have a high strikeout rate. Though he has potential, Adolfo is too far away from the majors to be stashed.
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