Patience Is a Virtue: White Sox Can't Rush Top Prospects Colson Montgomery, Edgar Quero

For much of the last 15 years, we've seen the White Sox organization fail miserably in terms of player development. The Sox' lack of production from their minor-league system has been well documented. For all the hype surrounding the prospects of Rebuild 2.0, the bulk of those highly touted players came from other organizations via trade. Once they were under the White Sox umbrella, many saw their development stall or not reach the levels of production they were projected to once arriving at the corner of 35th/Shields.

There's been a common theme with once-promising prospects such as Gordon Beckham, Carlos Rodon, Carson Fulmer, Garrett Crochet, Andrew Vaughn, and others. They were all rushed to the big leagues because the team failed to build strong, complete rosters to compete in the lackluster AL Central the team fortunately resides in. For too long, the organization's draft strategy involved taking collegiate players who were projected to arrive in Chicago quickly out of need instead of merit.

Chris Getz got a first-hand glimpse of this process in his previous role as director of player development. I'd genuinely like to know if he felt some of the aforementioned names really deserved to be competing at the highest level or if he felt they needed more seasoning down on the farm. We'll never get answers to that question, but Getz now finds himself in a position to be different and not repeat those mistakes.

The hope is that his first-hand knowledge of these previous failures will give him the correct perspective to not repeat them with some of the high-upside prospects from a system that can be described as shallow at best. We know the 2024 season will be a dismal one for the big-league club and next year likely be the same, but some names theoretically should be part of the next relevant White Sox team. If Getz is indeed different, he won't rush these players and instead let their performance and merit determine their ascensions to the Windy City.

Keep Marinating

We heard all kinds of axioms from Rick Hahn during his time as general manager, and one that always stood out to me was the infamous "Development isn't linear." This is something that rings true with prospects. Some players have the proverbial rocket ship strapped to them and dominate the minor leagues, immediately showing their worthiness of playing at the highest level. Others take time at each level, even in some cases having to repeat before advancing.

Colson Montgomery

The White Sox' top-ranked prospect, Colson Montgomery, is the player most fans are intrigued by at the moment. Baseball's No. 9 overall prospect, per the recently released MLB Pipeline rankings, has drawn comps to Corey Seager and has Sox fans salivating that they may finally have a long-term solution to this team's offensive handedness issues.

Montgomery, a soon-to-be 22-year-old, is projected to arrive on the South Side at some point during the 2024 season, but my hope is that this move isn't made prematurely. The Indiana native has only played 51 games in Double-A, slashing .218/.350/.391 over 179 plate appearances. He did see marked improvement during the 2023 season when he joined the Birmingham Barons following his late start after being slowed by back and oblique issues during Spring Training.

His plate discipline improved drastically as he showcased a 15.0% BB rate compared to a 3.8% mark during his brief stint as part of Project Birmingham in 2022. He also slugged a respectable .428 with the Barons in the offensively-suppressing Southern League, which was over a 100-point jump from his first taste of the level the prior year.

Edgar Quero

Edgar Quero, the centerpiece of the deal that sent Lucas Giolito to the Los Angeles Angels in 2023, is another player of importance for the White Sox looking forward. The switch-hitting catcher will turn 21 in April, making him one of the younger players in all of Double-A. The Angels made a classic White Sox move when they had Quero skip High-A entirely at the outset of 2023 and sent him right to the Southern League.

While Quero held his own, it was evident that there was a great deal of development needed on both sides of the ball. The reviews of his defense have improved, but there's still plenty of work to be done. Quero showcased his elite plate discipline and approach highlighted by a 15.8% BB rate combined for the Sox' and Angels' Double-A affiliates. 

The Cuban backstop started to show a little more slugging output when he joined the Barons by increasing his output by 60 points across his 134 plate appearances with Birmingham. The hope is that his elite strike-zone management continues to hold while his power output further develops, making him the high-upside offensive player he was acquired to be.

Both Montgomery and Quero have more work to be done developmentally before they are even in consideration of reaching the corner of 35th/Shields. Ideally, Getz will allow both to start the year in Birmingham and continue to hone their skills before moving up to Charlotte and eventually Chicago. There's no sense in rushing either player as their contributions won't have any impact on the White Sox' overall season in 2024. These two are looked at as potential pillars in the future when the team hopes to contend once again.

Placeholders

With all due respect to Paul DeJong, Nicky Lopez, Martin Maldonado, and Max Stassi, none of them will be significant contributors or even on the roster the next time the White Sox are playing meaningful games. They're here to be short-term fillers before the likes of Colson Montgomery and Edgar Quero are hopefully leading the Sox back to contention. These veterans are here because, well, the team has to have 26 men on the roster for this season.

There is, in my opinion, one silver lining with the acquisitions of these veterans. They will allow the South Siders' two most important positional prospects to continue their development without the organization feeling a need to rush them to Chicago before it's their time. The stats the four aforementioned veterans record are truly meaningless in the grand scheme of things. If DeJong has a 75 wRC+, it won't be the deciding factor in the Sox playing October baseball or not.

Having two veteran catchers on the active roster to help mentor some of the young pitching prospects who should arrive this year is a plus for multiple reasons. It should help the young hurlers learn at the MLB level from guys who have been around the block, but it'll also prevent overloading a young catcher who's still growing on both sides of the ball. 

I'll give Chris Getz credit for insulating his two most significant positional prospects and hopefully avoiding the temptation to force their arrivals before he should. I want Montgomery and Quero to be foundational pieces of the next White Sox playoff team. Not forcing their call-ups should be a step in that direction. The acquisitions of these seemingly low-upside veterans give them both the opportunity to allow their talent to fully develop before they reach the stadiums with the third deck.

Montgomery and Quero need more time before we see them in Chicago. If Getz thinks they're both ready, be patient, and wait a little longer. There won't be playoff tickets printed the next two seasons, but if Montgomery and Quero turn into the players scouts and fans hope they'll be, they should be at the forefront of the next wave of talent for the White Sox. And who knows, maybe they're playing a pivotal role in helping this team win games in the South Loop into the next decade.