The average White Sox fan is probably feeling encouraged about the direction of the organization after the flashes shown by the young core in 2025.

Colson Montgomery, Kyle Teel, Shane Smith, and others appear to have the potential to become future All-Stars — or in Smith’s case, a current one.

Chris Getz has transformed the infrastructure of the organization in just two years since taking over as GM. And while that hasn’t translated to wins at the major-league level just yet, the player development pipeline is in the best shape it’s been in over a decade.

There’s real hope for the future. More prospects are on the way, another wave of draft picks is coming to the farm system, and with a 19-win improvement from 2024 to 2025, many fans are wondering if the Sox could realistically push back into contention by 2027.

But not everyone is drinking the Kool-Aid.

On their recent “Fix It” series, Geoff Pontes and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America discussed how to fix the White Sox and push the rebuild over the top — and they didn’t have much positive to say about the current state of the franchise.

In fact, they don’t believe any of the players on the major-league roster are good enough to be identified as true “core pieces” for future success. Not even Colson Montgomery or Kyle Teel.

“They need the straw that stirs the drink here, because I don’t think it’s going to be Colson Montgomery or Kyle Teel,” Pontes said. “I think they can be your 2-hitter or your 4–5 hitter, and that’s fine. But you need that 3–4 hitter who’s going to push everything and make it all work. We saw that with the Blue Jays with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., or the Red Sox lineup when Roman Anthony was in the mix. I don’t know if they have that guy right now.”

Caleb Bonemer Could Be the Key

But there was one silver lining: both analysts raved about White Sox infield prospect Caleb Bonemer, who they believe has the tools and trajectory to become the next Gunnar Henderson — with legitimate upside to be a Top 10 prospect in baseball by this time next year.

“I think Caleb Bonemer has a lot of upside,” Pontes said. “He draws a lot of comparisons to Gunnar Henderson in terms of skill set, size, and the type of player he is. He’s probably the great hope here in this system — that he can become that. Otherwise they’ll have to go out in the free-agent market and try to find someone like that.”

Pontes and Cooper labeled Bonemer the most important position prospect in the White Sox system.

“If this team a year from now is really on the cusp, it’s because we’re talking about Caleb Bonemer as a Top 10 prospect in the game,” Cooper added. “I’m not crazy to think that’s a possibility. It could happen.”

Pontes agreed, highlighting Bonemer’s underlying skills:

“He showed really good plate skills. He had one really rough month in June, but outside of that, he was strong throughout the season. He showed plus underlying power, good contact angles, good swing decisions. He’s going to stick in the dirt whether it’s shortstop or third base. He can run a little bit too. When you marry the hit tool, power, and approach, you’re usually looking at a major-league average hitter or better.”

A Star Profile Already Taking Shape

While the praise for Bonemer stood out, it came immediately after Pontes and Cooper reiterated their belief that none of the current White Sox big leaguers are foundational pieces. They questioned Teel’s defense, worried about Montgomery’s swing decisions, and projected Braden Montgomery as more of a “third-best hitter on a playoff team” rather than a franchise cornerstone.

So if the White Sox are going to ascend — if this version of the rebuild is going to stick — one of these prospects needs to hit superstardom. And maybe that’s where Bonemer comes in.

Last season, only seven players in all of minor-league baseball finished with 10+ home runs, 30+ doubles, and a wRC+ above 120. 

Out of those seven, only Caleb Bonemer and Reds phenom Alfredo Duno were under 20 years old — both in their age-19 season.

Bonemer was the only one in that group to also steal 20+ bases.

He isn’t at the top of the leaguewide prospect rankings yet, largely because his amateur scouting reports were lukewarm coming out of the draft. Sometimes it takes a minute for the industry to believe what their eyes are telling them when a second-round pick suddenly looks like a first-round gem.

But you truly couldn’t script a better first professional season for Bonemer. If he taps into a little more game power and continues ascending at age 20 through Winston-Salem (A+) and Birmingham (AA), a Top 10 prospect ranking — and legitimate future franchise cornerstone projection — is absolutely in play.

Sometimes the big draft hits come from unexpected places.

So while White Sox fans may not agree with Baseball America’s assessment of the current roster, maybe their projection for Caleb Bonemer is the one thing they got exactly right.