After the last White Sox failed rebuild, they took a hit in terms of talent throughout the minor leagues. For a few years in a row, the White Sox ranked in the middle of the pack or towards the bottom in farm system rankings. However, towards the end of Rick Hahn’s tenure and to start Chris Getz’s tenure, the focus has been to build that talent pool back up.
Now, the White Sox farm system sits in the top half of the league and most outlets give them five to six top prospects, with a few more on the fringe of making the list. However, what differentiates this from the last rebuild is the fact that the farm system is significantly deeper, as they have some very intriguing players outside of the top “consensus” prospects.
This comes after many of their main guys on the roster have graduated off top prospect lists. Guys like Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero, Colson Montgomery, etc. are no longer considered prospects, but are already making a contribution at the major league level. Despite this, the White Sox still have many top prospects, making this vastly different from the early 2020s, as once all the main players made their debut, the farm system was depleted.
As we start the season, we will dive into our White Sox top prospect list, getting to know some of the depth in the system. We started with number twenty, making our way to the best prospect in the White Sox system. We just unveiled our 17th ranked prospect, Kyle Lodise, in our last article. Here, we cover our 16th ranked prospect, Mason Adams.
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Adams was a 13th round pick in the 2022 MLB draft out of Jacksonville University, where he played for two seasons. He would report to rookie ball in 2022, and in 2023, he made his affiliated debut. Adams pitched so well in 2023 that he made it to AA in his first full season. In total, he had a 3.14 ERA over three levels. However, 2024 is when Adams started to gain more recognition.
In 103 innings with the Barons, he had a 2.44 ERA with 101 strikeouts and just 19 walks. He had a phenomenal 1.05 WHIP to go along with that. He was an absolute quality start machine and earned himself a promotion to AAA. However, he suffered an injury which only allowed him to pitch 17 innings with the Knights, and likely cost him the chance to make his MLB debut at some point in late 2024.
3.5 minutes of why Mason Adams has been a favorite here at FutureSox. GIDP, PFP, and K's galore. The art of pitching is strong with this man. pic.twitter.com/O18FTeyXpI
— FutureSox (@FutureSox) December 27, 2024
To make matters worse, Adams needed Tommy John surgery around this time last year, which cost him his 2025 season. Many people, including myself, were expecting Adams to make the jump to Chicago and steal one of the starting rotation spots. Now, Adams will work his way back this year and it is likely we see him in Chicago at some point. He should be a solid pitcher for them and will likely outperform his ranking on this list, which is only so low due to his injury, otherwise he is a top-10 prospect in the system.
