White Sox News: Colson Montgomery breaks MLB’s Top 10 most impactful rookies

Colson Montgomery didn’t just surprise White Sox fans with his strong rookie season: he caught the attention of several MLB analysts.

Each year, MLB ranks the Top 10 rookies based on their long-term value to their organizations, and this year Montgomery was No. 7 on the list. Ironically, this year marks the first time a Sox player has received such honors since 2021, when none other than Andrew Vaughn was ranked No. 8. Luis Robert Jr. what No. 1 in 2020, and Eloy Jiménez reached number 4 in 2019.

Montgomery’s strong summer certainly deserves national attention. He batted .529, drove in 55 runs and hit 21 home runs in just 71 games. His 3.3 WAR in less than half the season is significant on its own, but contrasting that with his early-season struggles in Triple-A only makes his rookie success even sweeter.

While mentioning Montgomery, Vaughn, Robert and Jiménez in the same breath may raise some concern, there are two ways to digest this information. The first would be to assume that Sox rookies within the organization are doomed to failure. This doom and gloom mentality may be based on facts, but it would be a mistake to place the blame solely on the players. The second approach would be to decouple Chicago’s ability to identify talent from its ability to develop players – specifically position players.

Among hundreds of drafted players and international free agents each year, the Sox have correctly identified at least four players who have had a major impact on an MLB organization at least once in their careers. While their long-term success is still quite questionable, especially with Jiménez’s injury problems and Robert’s performance issues over the past two years, much of the responsibility lies with the player development team. The Sox still have to prove they can unlock a prospect’s talent for more than half of their first six years in the league, but Montgomery could be their chance to do that.

Hats off to Montgomery for a strong rookie season. But now the Sox have to continually help him grow and improve, rather than throw up their hands and trade him to a team that can.