Project Birmingham, an idea influenced by the alternate training site used during the 2020 MLB season due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, promotes the top prospects from Single-A Kannapolis and High-A Winston-Salem and combines them together with the existing Birmingham roster for the rest of the season. According to Chris Getz, the White Sox assistant general manager/player development, some of the players in Birmingham include #1 prospect Colson Montgomery, Bryan Ramos, Luis Mieses, Duke Ellis, Wes Kath, DJ Gladney, Wilfred Veras, Kohl Simas, Adam Hackenberg, Tyler Osik, Jared Kelley, Norge Vera, and Andrew Dalquist. The decision to choose Birmingham rather than the Triple-A Charlotte Knights in case there was a need at the Major League level.
“We’ve had some players recently enter the Top 100 Prospects list, and we feel like we’ve got some more that are just outside of it. It’s a chance to show baseball and show the White Sox that we’ve got another wave of players coming.” Getz said in an interview with MLB’s Scott Merkin.
The White Sox sent all their Minor League coordinators, with their top prospects, to Birmingham for the rest of the season, creating what Getz called an advanced instructional league. In exchange, some players from the Arizona Complex League and recent Draft picks will be moving to Kannapolis and Winston-Salem. One observation: the primary goal of Project Birmingham is not about performance and stats. Instead, individual growth with each player through the highest instruction the White Sox have is the priority.
The White Sox started the 2022 MLB season having the consensus worst farm system in the MLB. However, due to an outstanding job with internal development, the White Sox have seen breakout performances by several prospects this year. Project Birmingham is not only an initiative that is new to the MLB. It shows that the White Sox have committed time and resources to develop their rebuilding farm system for their potential stars.
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