Mark Payton’s performance for the Knights cannot be overlooked, and he was certainly one of the more underrated players across the system in 2024.

Soon after the story broke of Jerry Reinsdorf possibly selling the White Sox, thereby sending waves of glee throughout Chicagoland, duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, try to figure out if Reinsdorf had the information leaked in order to try put pressure on politicians to plunge public billions into a monument to himself, or if he just had it leaked (to somebody on The Athletic who has no Chicago ties) because he hates the news media and wants to see them make fools of themselves believing it.

If there’s any heartbreaking story in the 2024 Charlotte Knights bullpen it was Aaron McGarity not getting the call to make his long-awaited major league debut over the summer.

Riley Gowens Starting Pitcher 2024 South Side Sox Top Prospect Ranking 44 Birmingham Barons Riley Gowens grew up in Libertyville, and went on to play at the University of Illinois prior to being drafted in the ninth round by the Atlanta Braves in 2023. The righthander was assigned to the FCL Braves to begin his… read more

Shawn Goosenberg is a player to watch has he progresses as a player and within the White Sox organization, and his bat has plenty of power when he is seeing the ball well. His ability to shift around the field on defense is a major strength that could help fill holes in the lineup where needed.

Collins started the season with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, and expectations were modest. However, Collins exceeded those expectations by a wide margin in 2024.

Colson Montgomery is heating things up in the desert, leading Chicago’s AFL hitters with a .417/.632/.750 slash line.

Young backstop Ronny Hernandez earned a spot on this season’s Sox Populi All-Star team with an all-around solid season behind and at the plate.

Add it all up, and you’ve got the best pitcher in the system who has so far dodged any notoriety whatsoever. And while such arms can often just disappear (where have you gone, Tommy Sommer) or get chewed up by the meaner bats at the upper levels, respect is due for Lucas Gordon putting together as good a full season in the system as any arm out there.

There were ups and downs for Galanie in his first full professional season, but a red-hot first half, earns him a spot on our Sox Pop AST.