The story of the season for the Chicago White Sox has been their minor league teams, not their major league team. That is a sad thing to say, but that is the unfortunate reality. Luckily for the White Sox, that means help is on the way. But, how long must the fans wait to see some of the top talent make it to Chicago?
The White Sox have a lot of players ready to make the jump, like Drew Thorpe, and most of the Birmingham Barons rotation. Colson Montgomery is also very close to making the jump, as his debut will be one of the most anticipated in recent history.
As of right now, I would personally rather have all of these players on the White Sox over most of the veterans getting significant playing time. However, that doesn't seem to be the plan for Chris Getz, as he wants to squeeze every ounce of value out of these veterans at the deadline in a trade, and they need to play do to that.
So, that makes the easy answer for a lot of promotions to be after the trade deadline. A lot of spots on the roster will open up, as I'm sure the White Sox will be one of the busiest, if not the busiest, team at the deadline.
But, will the top prospects get the first call up? That remains to be seen. AAA is filled with veterans that could step up and fill a spot of a player who has been traded. That would be the worst idea, as those veterans wouldn't bring much value back to the team, as they couldn't be traded. I doubt that Chris Getz will make a decision that stupid, but you never know.
I would imagine Jonathan Cannon gets the first call back up once a starter is traded, as he showed off his talent in his short stint earlier in the season. But, how many starters will be traded? Will there be enough spots for some of the higher rated prospects to come up and play consistently? As of right now, the White Sox starting rotation consists of Garrett Crochet, Erick Fedde, Chris Flexen, Jake Woodford, and Nick Nastrini.
Nastrini is going to stay, as he is a young player with a lot of potential. Fedde, Flexen, and Woodford/Clevinger are all good as gone. That will leave 3 spots to fill. My guess is Cannon, Ky Bush, and Drew Thorpe take those spots. That gives an early August ETA for some of the top arms in the system. If the White Sox trade Crochet, I could see Jairo Iriarte or Jake Eder make a case for that spot in the rotation.
Now, moving to the main hiter in the system. Obviously the prized prospect is Colson Montgomery. If someone takes Paul DeJong in a trade, Montgomery is likely the solution at short, as he can play everyday. But a DeJong trade is not guaranteed. That could push a Montgomery debut to September, which wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.
I don't see an avenue for any other significant hitters to get a promotion around the deadline. We could see someone like Brooks Baldwin come up towards the end of the season, but that remains to be seen. I think 2025 is a big year for hitting promotions like Edgar Quero and others in the system.
The White Sox have a lot of interesting routes they could go with at the deadline. This is a lost season and the White Sox aren't playing for anything. Let the prospects who are ready come up and get some major league experience. It is only going to help them, not hurt them. Some players take a little time to get acclimated to their new level, especially the MLB. Let's have that acclimation period be during one of the most meaningless seasons in the White Sox history rather than one that might mean something more.
