{"id":498608,"date":"2026-02-23T09:58:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T09:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/498608\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T09:58:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T09:58:23","slug":"white-sox-reportedly-targeting-jim-thomes-son-in-2026-mlb-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/498608\/","title":{"rendered":"White Sox Reportedly Targeting Jim Thome\u2019s Son in 2026 MLB Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago White Sox<\/a> have made a habit in recent years of drafting prep talent from Illinois high schools in the Chicagoland area.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the White Sox made left-handed pitcher Noah Schultz<\/a> the 26th overall pick in the draft. Schultz was born in Naperville and graduated from Oswego East High School in Oswego, Illinois. He was the only high school player the White Sox selected in the 2022 MLB Draft.<\/p>\n

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In 2023, the White Sox floated some money down the draft board to take a chance on six-foot-seven, powerful outfielder George Wolkow<\/a> from Downers Grove North High School in Downers Grove, Illinois. Chicago gave Wolkow $1 million to sign \u2014 significantly above the slot value for a typical seventh-rounder \u2014 and enough to get him to pass on his commitment to South Carolina and join the organization.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the White Sox used the 43rd overall pick on high school shortstop Caleb Bonemer<\/a> from Okemos High School in Michigan. While he may not have been a Chicagoland kid, Bonemer did play for the White Sox Area Code team before the draft, so it was no surprise when they signed him for just under $3 million.<\/p>\n

Then in 2025, the White Sox followed up their selection of prep shortstop Billy Carlson<\/a> by drafting outfielder Jaden Fauske<\/a> with the 44th overall pick. Fauske played his high school ball at Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park, Illinois. Not only was he a local product, but Fauske was also coached by White Sox legend and Hall of Famer Jim Thome<\/a> at Nazareth. Thome\u2019s son, Landon, is a close personal friend of Fauske and one year behind him on the same team.<\/p>\n

Familiarity matters to this regime. Whether you’re a local product or an Area Code alum, the White Sox value drafting high school players they know well and have scouted for years. They\u2019re partial to their region.<\/p>\n

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Time will tell if this strategy pays off. Noah Schultz looks extremely promising and is set to make his MLB debut at some point in 2026<\/a>, assuming things stay on schedule. At one point, Schultz was the top left-handed pitching prospect in all of baseball.<\/p>\n

Wolkow\u2019s minor league career has been up and down. There\u2019s still a lot he needs to refine, but the tools are there \u2014 and he just turned 20 years old. He currently ranks as the No. 10 prospect in the White Sox organization.<\/p>\n

Bonemer is a rising star. After an excellent first professional season that produced a .874 OPS, he\u2019s now widely regarded as a Top 100 prospect, with some outlets like Baseball America believing he could be a top-10 overall prospect a year from now.<\/p>\n

Fauske is the No. 6 prospect in the organization and has yet to play a professional game. 2026 will be a big year in determining whether the White Sox got that pick right.<\/p>\n

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And 2026 may also be the year they add to this Illinois-heavy trend.<\/p>\n

According to Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline, the book is out on Chicago\u2019s draft strategy. The baseball world knows the White Sox value Chicagoland kids, and this time around they\u2019re focused on Landon Thome<\/a> \u2014 the former teammate of Fauske and the son of Hall of Famer Jim Thome.<\/p>\n

\u201cLandon is one of the best all-around hitters in the 2026 prep class. His left-handed stroke is geared to do damage, and he makes a lot of hard contact thanks to his pitch recognition and bat-to-ball skills. There’s some question about whether he winds up at second base, third base, or in left field, but there’s no doubt about his offensive upside and high baseball IQ,\u201d writes Callis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEveryone in baseball knows that Chicago covets Thome, who’s ranked No. 42<\/a> on our Draft Top 100 but might not last until their second-round choice at No. 41.\u201d<\/p>\n

The good news for the White Sox is that they hold the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. That not only gives them the opportunity to take the best available player \u2014 likely UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky<\/a> \u2014 it also gives them the largest bonus pool.<\/p>\n

Chicago will have more money to spend on draft picks than anyone else. That financial leverage could allow them to push players down to their second-round selection. If they\u2019re willing to offer Thome more than anyone else, it creates a real advantage in acquiring their target. It probably doesn\u2019t hurt that Jim Thome remains a special assistant with the organization.<\/p>\n

Based on early re-scouting reports, Landon Thome sounds like a perfect fit.<\/p>\n

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One of the benefits of drafting up the middle \u2014 and going shortstop-heavy \u2014 is that most young shortstops are athletic enough to transition elsewhere defensively. If the concern is whether Thome sticks at shortstop, that\u2019s not something Chicago should lose sleep over.<\/p>\n

They already have Colson Montgomery, Caleb Bonemer, Sam Antonacci<\/a>, Chase Meidroth, Billy Carlson, and potentially Roch Cholowsky<\/a> joining the organization.<\/p>\n

Shortstops on shortstops on shortstops.<\/p>\n

Most of those players will eventually have to shift positions if they\u2019re going to be part of the White Sox core. That\u2019s just the reality of stockpiling athletic middle infielders.<\/p>\n

If you can hit, there will be a place for you. And for a high school prospect, Thome can really hit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago White Sox have made a habit in recent years of drafting prep talent from Illinois high…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,250895,250900,240118,91952,250896,250898,250892,250894,591,250899,250893,250897,85,23871],"class_list":{"0":"post-498608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-billy-carlson","11":"tag-caleb-bonemer","12":"tag-chase-meidroth","13":"tag-colson-montgomery","14":"tag-downers-grove-north-high-school","15":"tag-jaden-fauske","16":"tag-jim-thome","17":"tag-landon-thome","18":"tag-mlb","19":"tag-nazareth-academy","20":"tag-noah-schultz","21":"tag-oswego-east-high-school","22":"tag-sports","23":"tag-white-sox"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}