The Arizona Fall League is a minor league baseball circuit that serves as a proving ground for MLB’s top prospects. Six teams compete annually in the league, and all 30 Major League Baseball clubs send their most promising young talent to the Grand Canyon State. The contests are played mainly in the same ballparks used for Spring Training over a six-week time frame, and Opening Night is tonight!

The AFL was established over three decades ago to provide an offseason Stateside league. Under the direct supervision of league and club personnel, team’s managers, coaches, scouts, and league officials can closely observe prospect development in state-of-the-art facilities. The AFL is also a place for players, coaches, umpires, and aspiring baseball employees to extend and continue their development, and it has served as a place for MLB to try out some of its new rules and other improvements. This year, use of the automated ball-strike (ABS) will be expanded to two-thirds of the contests. After June 25 of this year, all of the Triple-A games featured the system, so it seems likely some version of the ABS will make its debut in the bigs sooner rather than later.

The league’s impact on Major League Baseball is pretty impressive. Over the years, it has produced more than 3,000 major leaguers. Approximately 50% of all players selected for the 2022 MLB All-Star Game were AFL alumni, and 12 of the 20 starting players in that game had previously competed in the league. There’s no denying that it’s an incredible showcase for future MLB talent.

The White Sox will send nine players to the AFL, three of whom are among the system’s top 30 prospects. They will compete on the Glendale Desert Dogs squad along with players from the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati Reds. The Dogs play their first game on Tuesday, October 8, at 3:30 p.m., and it’s available to stream here for free.

Here’s a quick look at all nine White Sox in the AFL:

Colson Montgomery: In the latest MLB Top 100 list, LHP Hagen Smith (No. 30) tops Montgomery (No. 37) as the second-best White Sox prospect, both behind Noah Schultz (No. 16). Once ranked as high as No. 9, Colson likely dropped due to his subpar performance in Triple-A this year. Despite a hot stretch in September (.264/.357/.458 and a .815 OPS with 13 RBIs), it wasn’t enough to overcome a pretty awful season overall where he hit .214/.329/.381 with a .710 OPS. Defensively, things could have been better, too. He had 19 errors over 1,082 innings, resulting in a .963 fielding percentage. However, starting him in Charlotte for 2024 was honestly a pretty aggressive assignment, and at only 22 years old, Colson still has time to develop into the All-Star caliber player many have projected him to be. He did have some success last year in the AFL, being named to the Fall Stars team and selected as the Fall Stars Game MVP, so hopefully, some additional time with exposure to top-of-the-line pitching can help him evolve.

Grant Taylor: If you’ve followed Chicago’s minor league affiliates this year, you probably haven’t seen Taylor mentioned much at all. That’s because the White Sox’s No. 6 prospect spent most of the season on the injured list. The 2023 Round 2 (No. 51) draft pick underwent Tommy John surgery in February 2023 and then suffered a lat strain in early 2024. So, after sitting most of this season, the righthander hopes to demonstrate why the Pale Hose selected him so high in last year’s draft. He has a four-pitch arsenal, including a fastball, curve, slider, and cutter that he commands well and lands for strikes. The 22-year-old has the potential as a mid-rotation starter or could possibly end up as a high-leverage reliever if he can muster through the injury bug.

Peyton Pallette: The Sox drafted the righthander with their second pick (No. 62) in the 2022 MLB Draft. Chicago assigned him to Winston-Salem to start 2024, where he faltered as a starter. A move to the pen got Pallette going again, and overall, he appeared in 12 games as a starter and 12 out of the pen for the Dash. After accumulating a record of 3-7 and a 4.95 ERA, the 23-year-old got the call-up to the Birmingham Barons on August 20, where he flourished strictly out of the bullpen (1.80 ERA in eight games, with 16 Ks over 15 innings). Currently ranked as the South Siders’ No. 27 prospected, the former Arkansas Razorback tosses a fairly average fastball and changeup, but he’s got a pretty nasty curveball with solid depth and a 3,000-rpm spin rate.

Eric Adler: A short-inning pitcher with real stuff, this calm, cool, and collected righthander could be a future closer in the bigs. Projected by some as a third-rounder but selected by the Sox in the sixth round (No. 191) of the 2022 draft, Adler is just another example of the system’s pitching depth. He sports a nasty cutter as well as a decent fastball and curveball that work well together in putting away hitters and contributing to an incredible 11.70 K/9. He’s pitched well and rose to the occasion at every level he’s been in for Chicago, and the 23-year-old was put to the challenge this year by being promoted to the Barons after only one month with the Dash. In 32 appearances for Birmingham, Adler went 2-2 with a 4.06 ERA and eight saves in 10 opportunities over 31 innings. While he has electric strikeout stuff, he needs work on controlling the zone, as his 5.40 BB/9 is well below average and definitely won’t play at the big league level.

Andrew Dalquist: There’s always plenty of risk with an early-round prep arm draft pick, and this one was no different as the Sox selected this righty in Round 3 (No. 81) in 2019. Undoubtedly, one of the many minor leaguers whose development was affected by the pandemic, he did pitch at the Schaumburg site in 2020 at only 19 years old. Formerly ranked as one of the system’s top prospects (No. 9), it’s been a rollercoaster for the 23-year-old, although 2024 was his best year yet. The righthander spent all season in Birmingham, where he served as an effective set-up guy for the Barons. With six holds and a 2-3 record with a 3.06 ERA over 47 innings pitched, his fastball, curve, slider, and changeup had batters struggling to make contact with a .217 opponent BA. However, like many minor league arms, control remains an issue, and if Dalquist hopes to regain the promise he once had, lowering his 5.17 BB/9 has to happen.

Tim Elko: The first baseman led the 2022 Ole Miss Rebels to the Men’s College World Series championship with on and off-the-field leadership, and by all accounts, he’s continuing that role within the White Sox system. In his brief two years since being drafted (Round 10, No. 311), he’s performed well at every level, and 2024 was a pretty good one for him. He began the season with Birmingham, where he hit .289/.338/.420 with a .758 OPS, nine bombs, and 40 RBIs. That earned the 25-year-old a promotion to the Knights at the end of July, and his offense continued to impress with a .289/.361/.472 slash line and .833 OPS. His defense is average, but after five years of Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets, there doesn’t seem to be much of a disadvantage in seeing what Elko can bring, especially if he’s got some clubhouse leadership skills and abilities. I say, “Bring it on!”

D.J. Gladney: The Sox chose hometown kid Gladney in Round 16 (No. 470) of the 2019 draft out of Illiana Christian High School. The prep pick has slowly worked his way through the system, and his 2024 season was a tale of two halves. After a rough start in April with Winston-Salem, the outfielder surged in May with a scorching .308/.372/.641 slash line. This hot streak carried over into June, earning him a promotion to Birmingham in August. His performance only improved at the higher level, culminating in the game-winning RBI that clinched the Southern League Championship. The 23-year-old ended his season hitting a career-high .278/.314/.505 with a .820 OPS for the Barons. The Oak Park native was equally as effective in the field, making only one error over 139 chances. His remarkable turnaround transformed his season from a potential disappointment into a resounding success.

Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa: In an early 2024 season move you probably don’t even remember, the Sox traded veteran outfielder Robbie Grossman (yes, he was on the team) to the Texas Rangers for Hoopii-Tuionetoa. The Lone Stars selected the Hawaiian native in Round 30 (No. 895) of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Pierce, a community college in Washington state. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the righty got a late start on his professional career and made his first full-season debut out of the pen in 2022 for the Low-A Down East Ducks. Hoopii-Tuionetoa was named a MiLB All-Star that year after going 4-3 with a 3.09 ERA for 36 relief appearances. In 2023, he played Rookie, Low-A, and High-A and went 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA and 1.07 WHIP between all three squads. He started 2024 in Double-A for Texas, and Chicago assigned him to Birmingham after the swap. The 24-year-old was solid with the Barons, going 0-2 with a 3.24 ERA and a .216 opponent batting average. The compelling young arm has a 94-99 mph fastball and hard slider, which undoubtedly contributed to his season 9.20 K/9. The Sox promoted Hoopii-Tuionetoa to Charlotte on August 20, and he was in a bit over his head in nine appearances, going 0-1 in 8 2/3 innings with a 13.50 ERA. While he did strike out eight batters, they also smacked him for a .306 batting average. The AFL will be a good chance for the righthander to regroup while facing some of the best prospects in the league.

Michael Turner: The first baseman/catcher is an interesting choice for the AFL. After playing four years of Division I ball at Kent State, he transferred to the University of Arkansas for his fifth (COVID) college season. The Sox drafted him in Round 9 (No. 291) of the 2022 MLB Draft. He slashed .323/.403/.489 during his five years of collegiate ball, so you can see why Chicago was interested. In 2023, he played the entire season at Winston-Salem and performed well, hitting .309/.430/.441 with a .871 OPS. That’s definitely a slash line you might expect for a player with a 1.7-year age advantage. For 2024, the Pale Hose assigned the 26-year-old to Birmingham, where he really struggled. The lefty earned a meager .218 batting average over 385 plate appearances and had difficulty finding the success he demonstrated in college and the year prior with the Dash. His performance in the AFL could be a do-or-die situation for the former Razorback as the age clock continues to tick.

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Tim Elko Photo/Tim Elko Instagram