This Written-Off Prospect Might Flip The Script On A “Lost” Trade
The White Sox had one of their most productive homestands in a while, as they split with the Detroit Tigers and they took two out of three from the Kansas City Royals. This is encouraging to see, as the White Sox have recently struggled to beat the AL Central teams.
If that wasn’t encouraging enough, the White Sox are now calling up one of their top pitching prospects, Grant Taylor, to help solidify a bullpen that has been better this year, but could still use more talent.
Both of those have led to some positive buzz around the White Sox organization, the likes of which we haven’t seen in a long time. Now, a forgotten prospect is adding to that buzz, as he looks like he has turned a corner and figured something out.
That prospect is Samuel Zavala, one of the three pieces in the Dylan Cease trade. Zavala got off to a very disappointing start to his White Sox career, as in his first season in the White Sox organization, Zavala hit .187 over 111 games. On top of that, he added only eight homeruns, 39 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases. Zavala did have a .340 OBP, which is very impressive considering he was hitting below .200.
This was disappointing for many reasons, but mainly because he showed a ton of promise as an 18 year old in low and high-A in the Padres organization. He hit .243 with a .391 OBP, adding 14 homeruns, 77 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases. This was a fantastic season for an 18 year old, and many people thought he was the best player acquired in the Cease trade.
After a rough start to the 2025 season, people continued to write Zavala off, but it now looks like he has turned a corner and figured something out.
Looks like Samuel Zavala is starting to figure things out at the plate. Since May 1, he’s hitting over .300 with a 150 wRC+. The power is starting to show up in games a bit more too.
Remember, he’s still just 20 years old playing against more advanced competition at the High-A…
— Michael Suareo (@MSuareo) June 9, 2025
Zavala has been on fire over the last few weeks and has a very respectable stat line to this point in the season. In 50 games, Zavala is hitting .251 with a .337 OBP and a .732 OPS.
Sammy Zavala with a 15' X 200' high single. #Dash pic.twitter.com/gYnSqT5jFU
— FutureSox (@FutureSox) May 31, 2025
Zavala has added four homeruns and 21 RBIs, already creeping up on last year’s season totals. As Michael Suareo points out above, Zavala is still just 20 years old and playing against older talent, which gives him plenty of time to continue to improve.
Zavala has an elite eye at the plate, as he takes a ton of walks. He also plays fantastic defense in the outfield and can steal 20+ bases in a season. The biggest question mark for Zavala is the bat, and if he can figure it out, he could be creeping up on to some top-100 prospect lists, just as he was prior to being traded to the White Sox.
If Zavala can turn into a productive major leaguer, the Dylan Cease trade would be a huge win for the White Sox, as Cease currently has a 4.72 ERA for the Padres, which would be one of the worst ERAs on the White Sox roster.