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 15th ranked prospect, Mathias Lacombe, in our last article. Here, we cover our 14th ranked prospect, David Sandlin.
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The White Sox acquired Sandlin in a trade with the Boston Red Sox last month. Prior to the trade, he was ranked as the 8th best prospect in the Boston Red Sox system, according to the 2025 MLB Pipeline Top-30 Boston Red Sox prospects list.
Sandlin was very effective last season in AA, as he had a 3.62 ERA over 82 innings. He stuck out 86 batters, had a 1.14 WHIP, and a very good .227 batting average against. He struggled when he was promoted to AAA, but he has been effective over his minor league career as a whole.
🔦 Prospect Spotlight: David Sandlin 🧦
Fastball: 60 | Massive life and triple-digit ceiling.
Slider: 60 | High-spin, mid-80s "sweeper" style break.
Splitter: 50 | Improving third offering to keep lefties honest.
Control: 50 | Consistent strike-thrower (3.0 BB/9 in AA)The 2025… pic.twitter.com/HwgIzaIbN0
— oBAWanKenobi (@wOBAWanKenobi) February 1, 2026
He has some disgusting stuff and the White Sox will look to work with that. He could feasibly fit in the White Sox rotation long term, at least that is the hope with his arsenal and his minor league performances.
Sandlin didn’t get to a chance to pitch in Spring Training and he hasn’t been activated by the Charlotte Knights yet, so we are still waiting for his White Sox organizational debut. I would expect once he gets activated that he could be in Chicago soon after, as the White Sox have made it very clear that they want him on the roster.
The trade for Sandlin was one of the more underrated moves of the offseason and it could pay off big for the White Sox. If he has a great year, don’t be surprised.
