3 Current White Sox Players Who Were Put on Notice by the MLB Draft
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While the 2026 MLB Draft came with a potential future cornerstone in Roch Cholowsky for the Chicago White Sox, it also came with some tough future decisions.
The infield is already crowded in the major leagues. If you add in all the high-level prospects in the organization, Chris Getz is going to have a headache trying to make room for Cholowsky.
While it could be as simple as moving Colson Montgomery to third base, Miguel Vargas to first base, and Munetaka Murakami to designated hitter, there's gonna be some odd men out. To make Cholowsky the shortstop of the future, that has to happen.
Here are three players who were put on notice amid the Cholowsky pick that may have to compete for a spot in the starting lineup or roster in the future.
1. Chase Meidroth
Meidroth is the only one of these players with major league experience. However, he might have to give up the starting second base job to one of the following prospects. Either that or Sam Antonacci might take the reins at second base.
I'm not saying the White Sox should trade Meidroth. He's a good fielder with solid contact-hitting skills. However, Antonacci has passed him as a better hitter with a .296 expected batting average (97th percentile) and a .439 expected slugging percentage (68th percentile), per Baseball Savant.
Because Antonacci is not the best fielder (he is playing a new position), Meidroth may still have a place on this team in the future as a utility man. But a couple of top-100 prospects are blocked by Meidroth.
2. Billy Carlson
Billy Carlson was selected in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft out of high school. He was labeled as the best fielding shortstop prospect in the modern era. His arm and fielding tool both are at 70, which is beyond elite for a shortstop. His hit and power tools, on the other hand, are average at best.
The Cholowsky pick has made things complicated for Carlson. Is it worth keeping a light-hitting infielder when your infield is basically set? These are questions that could be answered as soon as this year's trade deadline, where Carlson could be dangled after Cholowsky's selection.
3. Caleb Bonemer
Caleb Bonemer was selected in the second round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of high school and has worked his way up to the No. 1 prospect in the White Sox system. He doesn't have a below-average tool and is one of the best White Sox prospects in this rebuild.
The right-handed bat is the No. 16 prospect in all of baseball, hitting 22 home runs already this year with a .909 OPS and 13 stolen bases. While Bonemer is not the best defensive shortstop, he might be a plus defender at second or third.
Giving Bonemer up would likely bring back a return much more bountiful than Carlson. However, I'm not sure that the White Sox would want to trade such a good prospect without seeing what he can do at the major league level.
It's possible that the White Sox could convert him to left field as they did with Antonacci, while putting the latter to second base, where he is more comfortable defensively.
This is going to be a hard decision for Getz, and it's only going to get harder if Bonemer becomes the player scouts think he will be.
While Cholowsky could be the generational prospect scouts were fawning over for the past year, this team is going to look a whole lot different with him on it, for better or worse.
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Matthew Singer is a contributor for White Sox on SI. Before joining SI in 2026, he worked for Heavy as an MLB contributor and Cubs on SI. Singer has a master's degree in sports journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. He loves sports more than anything in the world.