Shuffled Top 100 Prospect List Elevates 5 White Sox Hopefuls, Wipes off Another

Which White Sox prospect took the biggest leap in the MLB Pipeline rankings?
Chicago White Sox catcher Edgar Quero (7) slides into third base after a single from right fielder Brooks Baldwin (not pictured) against the Minnesota Twins in the second inning at Target Field in Minneapolis on April 22, 2025.
Chicago White Sox catcher Edgar Quero (7) slides into third base after a single from right fielder Brooks Baldwin (not pictured) against the Minnesota Twins in the second inning at Target Field in Minneapolis on April 22, 2025. / Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
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MLB Pipeline reshuffled its list of the Top 100 prospects in baseball, removing those who have “graduated” to the major leagues, moving others up and down, and in some cases, taking out players off to dreadful 2025 starts.

So just how did the Chicago White Sox fare in the tinkering?

Five players up. One player out.

The MLB Pipeline staff removed Colson Montgomery – once viewed as a can’t miss shortstop prospect for the White Sox – from the Top 100 as he continues to battle ineffectiveness.

Selected with the No. 22 overall pick of the 2021 MLB Draft out of high school in Huntingburg, Ind., Montgomery was ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 9 overall prospect ahead of the 2024 season, falling to No. 39 in the 2025 preseason.

His drop in production began last season at Triple-A Charlotte and continued into 2025, even after a solid 11-game stint at the Arizona Fall League.

In 23 games this season at Charlotte, Montgomery was batting .149 with nine hits – three of them home runs – and six RBIs. He struck out 43 times in 94 at-bats.

At the end of April, the White Sox decided to take him out of game situations and instead have him work one-on-one with coaches at their Camelback Ranch complex in Arizona in an effort to get the 23-year-old on track.

The news was better for the five other prospects in the revised MLB Pipeline Top 100, with each moving up at least a few places on the list. Or in the case of outfielder Braden Montgomery, recently promoted to High-A Winston-Salem, 17 spots.

Montgomery was elevated from No. 55 on the preseason list to No. 38.

The top-ranked prospect in the White Sox farm system, 6-foot-10 pitcher Noal Schultz, moved from No. 16 to 13. His fellow 21-year-old left-hander and teammate at Double-A Birmingham, Hagen Smith, rose from No. 34 to 30.

Catcher Kyle Teel moved from No. 32 to 28. Acquired in the trade that sent left-hander Garrett Crochet to the Boston Red Sox, Teel is playing for the Triple-A Charlotte Knights.

Catcher Edgar Quero, currently with the White Sox on the big league roster, now stands at No. 58, up from 66.

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Jami Leabow
JAMI LEABOW

Jami Leabow is the managing editor of Minor League Baseball on SI. Her love for the game began when her parents bought season tickets to the then-California Angels.