The Chicago White Sox have been prospect hunting all off season thus far and with that being their prerogative the White Sox should go out and trade for the San Francisco Giants top prospect Bryce Eldridge.
The gameplan for the Chicago White Sox this off season has been a two folded one with the first way of improving the roster coming by the White Sox trading away any valuable assets they have and bringing back in the necessary prospects to refill the farm system. This occurred when the White Sox traded Garrett Crochet to the Boston Red Sox for a package of positional player prospects back. As well as signing veteran players such as Austin Slater and Mike Tauchman to one-year deals in the hopes they have a resurgence in their careers to flip them at next year’s trade deadline.
No Primary First Base Positional Prospects in the Pipeline
Currently in the White Sox organization there are ZERO position players whose primary position is first base. FanGraphs list recently signed minor leaguer Andre Lipcius as being the top choice if Vaughn got injured, but he’s a natural third basemen. On the entirety of the roster from top to bottom Andrew Vaughn is currently the only primary first basemen the Chicago White Sox have.
With one of the Chicago White Sox modus-operandi being selling off their assets in order to acquire prospects in the hopes that they hit on one becoming a star being the route they’re taking going out and acquiring a first base prospect should be a must. Insert trading for the San Francisco Giants top prospect first baseman Bryce Eldridge.
Bryce Eldridge
The 20-year-old Eldridge is ranked as the San Francisco Giants top prospect in their organization and ranked as the 35th overall prospect in all of Major League Baseball. Eldridge is a physical specimen standing at a towering six-foot-seven-inches tall and weighing in at 223lbs, Eldridge is the perfect embodiment of what a prototypical first baseman should look like. According to MLB.com they list Eldridge’s best tool as being his ability to hit for power grading him at a 60/80 with his hit tool not lagging far behind with grading out at a 50/80.
These two impressive tools are what really made Bryce Eldridge standout in 2024 and really turn some heads. This 20-year-old concurred a feat that few prospects even at his age can do, he jumped four levels in the minor league system in one baseball season. I’ll repeat that one more time Bryce Eldridge showed the ability to hit the baseball at four different levels of the minor league system. That is what you call impressive. In 116 games between each of those four levels Eldridge really stood out collecting 130 hits, 27 doubles, 2 triples, 23 HRs, 92 RBI, for a slash line of .292/.374/.516 for an OPS of .890.
What do the San Francisco Giants need?
Given how talented Bryce Eldridge is, if the White Sox want to acquire talent than they will have to give up some talent in return. When browsing the San Francisco Giants depth chart, the Giants from my estimations currently have a need at catcher. Currently the San Fransico Giants starting catcher is 25-year-old Patrick Bailey with long time veteran backstop Tom Murphy being his backup. So far in his two seasons with the San Francisco Giants Bailey in 218 career games has 170 hits, 34 doubles, 2 triples, 15 HRs, 94 RBI, with a slash line of .234/.292/.348 with an OPS and OPS+ of .637 and 84.
In 2024 Patrick Bailey played in 121 games (starting 101 games at catcher) where performed right around his career averages. However, Patrick Bailey was bestowed the 2024 Gold Glove Award for catchers where he had a .997 fielding percentage and had 26 defensive runs saved according to his Baseball Reference. As well as looking at his baseball savant it’s not hard to see why Bailey is ranked as one of the better defenders behind the plate and why he won the Gold Glove. Bailey ranks in the 100th percentile for both Framing and Fielding Run Value, as well as the 97th and 98th percentiles for caught stealing and pop time.
What will it take to acquire Bryce Eldridge?
The San Francisco Giants receive: catcher Edgar Quero (White Sox #6 prospect, MLB #59 prospect)
The Chicago White Sox receive: first basemen Bryce Eldridge (Giants #1, MLB 35th)
Even though Patrick Bailey is an outstanding defensive catcher which is invaluable, he hasn’t showed so far that he can take that outstanding defensive play and bring it to the plate. Also, when looking at the pipeline of catching prospect in the Giants organization they’ll only have one in Yohendry Sanchez who MLB.com projects to debut in 2029. I think given the lack of catching depth and the White Sox having an abundance of it I think sending the Giants number six overall prospect in the org and 59th overall for the MLB Edgar Quero should get the job done.
Quero who the Chicago White Sox acquired in their trade they made with the Los Angeles Angels in which they sent over pitchers Lucas Giolito as well as Reynaldo López to the Los Angeles Angels for Edgar Quero (minors) and Ky Bush. In 2024 Quero spent time between Double and Triple-A where he found success. Playing in a total of 98 games where Quero had 98 hits, 16 doubles, 16 HRs, 70 RBI, for a slash line of .280/.366/.463 and an OPS of .829.
Blocked on the Roster
The White Sox currently at catcher will have three guys competing for the starting job as well as the backup position. Currently on the Chicago White Sox 40-man roster they have two catchers Korey Lee and Matt Thaiss who was recently acquired for cash considerations from cross town rival Chicago Cubs. Lee who currently holds the starting job has so far not impressed in his short time with the White Sox. Last year in 125 games Lee only managed to hit .210/.244/.347 and an OPS of .591.
As well as now having number two overall prospect in the organization Kyle Teel, who the White Sox acquired as part of the Garrett Crochet deal, being in the mix to win the starting catching job out of Spring Training Quero does not have a clear path to an everyday starting job as the current Chicago White Sox roster is constructed.
So, trading Quero away to the San Francisco Giants where he could see more consistent everyday playing time makes sense for the White Sox to do in order to fill another positional need which is finding someone to be the future first basemen of the future Chicago White Sox team if they choose to not have that be Andrew Vaughn.
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