Paul Janish Ponders the Promise of a Rejuvenated White Sox Prospect Pipeline

The team that lost 121 games last season has a strong farm system. Revitalized by a major trade, an especially-promising 2024 fifth-overall draft pick, and the emergence of a 6-foot-9 southpaw, the Chicago White Sox boast one of baseball’s best prospect pipelines. Six of the organization’s young hopefuls are ranked among our new Top 100 list: left-handed pitchers Noah Schultz (18th) and Hagen Smith (22nd), catcher Kyle Teel (49th), shortstop Colson Montgomery (58th), catcher Edgar Quero (90th), and right-handed pitcher Grant Taylor (94th).

As White Sox director of player development, Paul Janish plays a key role in the club’s efforts to produce big league talent. Hired into his current position in November 2023, the 42-year-old Janish spent nine seasons as a major league infielder, from 2008-2017.

Janish discussed some of the organization’s philosophies and several of its top prospects earlier this month.

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David Laurila: How has player development changed since your playing days?

Paul Janis: “I think the best way to synopsize that is resources. There are more hands on deck. There is also more technology involved versus the kind of old-school eye test, if you will. At the end of the day, you’re still trying to help make players better, it’s just that player development systems are more robust now than they’ve ever been. When I was playing — even though, relatively speaking, it wasn’t all that long ago — there weren’t as many resources as our guys have.

“Ancillary to the actual player development system, there is what the guys have access to in terms of private facilities during the offseason. That’s a benefit to them, as well.”

Laurila: What are some of the things you’ve learned since moving into your role?

Janish: “Part of what this job entails is management of people. There is less baseball stuff, which sounds pretty ironic, but there are a lot of logistics involved. You’re trying to put people in the best position to succeed, and that includes the staff. You want to create a system that gives the players every resource and facilitates every need they might need or want. I do a lot of communicating with players to get their perspectives on what they’re experiencing within our system. That’s important. You have to take into account that they’re the players.

“And they’re all different, right? It’s not just run them through the line and hope that everybody comes out good. It’s paying attention to some of those details, some of the intricacies. You’re also dealing with both pitchers and position players. There are a lot of moving parts.”

Laurila: Piggy-backing on that, can you say a little more about philosophies? There is more to it than resources and communication.

Janish: “With the industry in general, pitching is a little farther down the road in terms of technology and being able to focus on what guys are like from a biomechanical standpoint. First of all, we’re trusting our pitching department. Ultimately we’re trying to help guys understand what they’re good at — what they are predisposed to being good at — and focusing on that while still trying to impact what they need to work on. We’re making sure that they’re operating biomechanically how their bodies want. From an arsenal standpoint, it’s utilizing what they naturally do well versus having everybody try to chase one specific thing, whether that’s the ride fastball or whatever the case might be.

“On the position player side, one thing we’re focusing on is defensive versatility. Obviously, that has a little bit to do with the player acquisition process. But we’re trying to help guys understand, ‘Look, this is your path to the big leagues.’ Whether you’re a pure defensive shortstop but maybe a little light offensively, or if you have a real power bat but need to clean up your chase percentage and control the strike zone better, we want to make sure that players understand where they’re at.

“When I was playing, the communication from orgs to players maybe wasn’t as good as it could have been. That’s one thing we really focus on, trying to make sure that the players understand their lane, their path to get to the big leagues. What does that look like? And be honest with them, right? We’re not here to sugarcoat. We obviously want to be tactful and respectful, but at the end of the day, we want to be pretty transparent. That might mean using major league comps. ‘Look, this is kind of where your skill set fits, and how you could feasibly do it.’”

Laurila: Jumping to the org’s top pitching prospects, how do Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith compare outside of one of them being a really big dude?

Janish: “They’re actually both really big; one is just a lot taller. But they are interesting to [compare], including the way their bodies work. Hagen is a little more physically developed than Noah at this juncture. And while he’s not as tall, Hagen is 6-foot-4. Again, he’s still a big dude.

“The way their arm swings work and the release points are a little different. Noah is obviously just so unique. And while they’re the same age, they’re at different points in terms of physical development. I think Hagen is closer to what he’s going to end up being, while Noah still has some weight to put on and strength to build. That being said, their arsenals are both very top end.”

Laurila: Is Schultz’s uniqueness basically his size [6-foot-9, 220 pounds] and lower arm slot?

Janish: “That’s it, man. If you take more of a macro look at guys his size, and where he is relative to his age… he’s just such a good athlete. He throws so many strikes, and with all of his pitches. It’s almost hard to find a good comp, given how close he is to being ready at such a young age. Typically, guys with that kind of length and size take longer to get consistent in regard to control in the zone. He’s pretty close to where you want him to be already.”

Laurila: Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero are your top catching prospects. How similar are they?

Janish: “Man, this is a good question. I think you have to acknowledge that they’re coming from two different places. Teel played at [the University of Virginia] and Quero is of Cuban descent, so they have two very different backgrounds. The obvious commonality is their ability, but they also really love to play and compete. Of course, I know Edgar a little bit better on the field at this juncture, because I haven’t seen Kyle up close and personal as much.”

Laurila: Which of them is closer to big league ready in terms of offense? Same question for defense.

Janish: “Again, I don’t know Teel quite as well, but if I had to pick defensively, Edgar has more rubber on the road catching, especially at the pro level. I guess you might give him the nod there, but I think they are very close. Offensively, despite Kyle only having one full professional season, he’s performed very well all the way up through Triple-A. But I also think that Edgar being a switch-hitter is advantageous in terms of the offensive piece. When he gets to the major leagues, switch-hitting is going to be benefit.”

Laurila: Is Brooks Baldwin a good comp for Chase Meidroth?

Janish: “You know who I compare Brooks to? He’s kind of a Ben Zobrist type of player. He has the ability to defend at multiple positions and is a switch-hitter. Chase is maybe like the Jamey Carroll, the Nick Punto, or maybe even a Jason Bartlett-type of player, Bartlett was more of a pure defender, but those are the kind of comps I would give. Brooks and Chase are both just really good baseball players. They see the field. They have very good awareness and are going to give you competitive at-bats. They’re maybe not sexy in terms of size, strength, speed, or power, but they play the game well.”

Laurila: This is probably a better question for [hitting coordinator] Ryan Fuller, but how does Meidroth, or any hitter with plus bat-to-ball skills, go about improving his exit velocities without compromising what he does well?

Janish: “I think you’re right — referring that to Fuller would be good — but for me, the answer is more that Chase needs to capitalize on what he does well. I think the next transition for him isn’t necessarily reaching for more exit velo, but rather understanding times in which he can try to do a little bit more. That’s one of the reasons why power — even for guys that have a bunch of it — can be the last thing to develop in-game.”

Laurila: Caleb Bonemer didn’t play last year after getting drafted [out of high school in the second round]. Would he have played if short-season ball still existed?

Janish: “For sure. And not playing is kind of a loose way to say it, because he did play in what we call the bridge camp league, which effectively acts as an instructional league. We still played against other teams; he just didn’t play for an affiliate. But to answer the question, he 100% would have gone to short-season.”

Laurila: In a perfect world, would short-season ball still exist?

Janish: “Development-wise, yes. I think it filled a void that we now have. A high school draft pick like Caleb is a good example, as are a lot of the younger Latin guys. Short-season provided an avenue for them to get a little exposure to affiliate baseball. [Not having it] expedites the timeline for those guys. So yes, in a perfect world… development-wise, I think it hurts us more than it helps us.”

Laurila: George Wolkow was also drafted out of high school [in 2023]. Baseball America has called him the epitome of boom or bust. Is that fair?

Janish: “I mean, that’s an evaluation he’s just going to have to get used to. That’s the easiest way for people to say it, but I think the floor may be a little higher than people think. He is super intriguing. When you talk about exit velos, he can hit the ball as hard as anybody. The stature catches you off guard every time you see him, because he’s just a huge kid, but what sticks out to me is the makeup and the want to be really good. He talks about wanting to be good in the major leagues. He just turned 19 a couple weeks ago, and while he knows where he wants to go, he also understands that he’s not there yet. He’s very receptive to coaching.”

Laurila: Jacob Gonzalez profiles very differently. From what I’ve read, he’s more of a you-kind-of-know-what-to-expect guy out of a good college program.

Janish: “I think that’s accurate. He’s a really good baseball player. He was playing shortstop for [Double-A] Birmingham last year when they won the championship. He was on a national championship team [at the University of Mississippi]. My point in bringing up those two things is that he’s a winner. He plays on winning teams. You don’t win championships without a good shortstop.”

Laurila: Is a 22-year-old Paul Janish a good comp for him?

Janish: “Ha. He’s got more offensive potential than that. I think there is more in there than we’ve seen up to this point. He’s got a high aptitude and will have the ability to make some of those adjustments, including, like we were talking about earlier, understanding when to take some shots, when to try to hit for a little bit more power at certain times against certain pitchers. He’s working hard, man. He had a really good offseason physically. You can tell he’s stronger than he was coming into last season.”

Laurila: The last guys I want to ask about are the two Montgomerys. Let’s start with Braden Montgomery.

Janish: “A super-motivated guy and a very cerebral individual. He didn’t get a chance to play last year due to the injury, so relative to his pro career he’s literally just getting going. But he’s got some unique ability. You watch him go about his work, whether it’s defensive work in the outfield or hitting in the cages, it’s very intentional. It’s very thought out. This is another kid who doesn’t want to just get to the big leagues, he wants to get to the big leagues and be an All-Star.”

Laurila: What about Colson? When I talked to him in the Arizona Fall League, he came off as confident, yet very aware that he didn’t have the 2024 season expected of him.

Janish: “I give him a lot of credit for the way he’s handled that, because of the way he’s under a microscope. He’d be the first to tell you that he didn’t swing the bat as well as he can. He’s here in Arizona, and physically… that was kind of the barometer for the offseason. He’s in really good shape. He lost a little weight, probably between 10 and 15 pounds, and is moving around really well.”

Laurila: I assume that optimizing his athleticism so that he can remain at shortstop was the primary reason for his doing that?

Janish: “Yes. I mean, we believe he’s a shortstop. He’s subject to a lot of questions about whether or not he’s going to stay there, and he is really motivated to prove that that’s what he is. We’ve talked to him about optimizing his ability to move, to go side to side, and to his credit he’s worked really hard on that.

“Colson is confident that he’s going to be a good major league player, as are we. And he has that opportunity in front of him. Will Venable has been promoting an environment of competition, and we all want Colson to be good. I know I’m not going to bet against him.”