The White Sox added four of their valued prospects to the 40-man roster Tuesday, protecting them from selection in next month's Rule 5 Draft.
Dylan Cease, Seby Zavala, Kodi Medeiros and Jordan Stephens were the four additions to the 40-man, which the team announced sat at 38 after those moves.
Cease, MLB Pipeline's minor league pitcher of the year, was a no-brainer addition following his sensational 2018 campaign. He posted a 2.40 ERA and struck out 160 opposing batters in 124 innings over 23 starts between Class A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham. He's currently ranked as the No. 3 prospect in the organization.
Zavala got off to a hot start in 2018 before cooling down following a promotion from Double-A Birmingham to Triple-A Charlotte. With the Barons, he slashed .271/.358/.472 with 11 home runs in 56 games. But in his 48 games with the Knights, he slashed just .243/.267/.359 with two home runs. Zavala is currently ranked as the No. 22 prospect in the organization.
Medeiros came over from the Milwaukee Brewers in the midsummer trade that sent Joakim Soria out of Chicago. The 2014 first-round pick made seven starts at Double-A Birmingham after the trade and posted a 4.98 ERA with 34 strikeouts and 22 walks in 34.1 innings of work. Medeiros is currently ranked as the No. 19 prospect in the organization.
Stephens split time between Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte in 2018. All together, he finished the year with a 4.23 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 28 starts. Stephens is currently ranked as the No. 20 prospect in the organization.
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