MLB Draft: White Sox select Nazareth Academy INF Landon Thome, son of Jim Thome
Who wins the White Sox Alumni HR Derby? | Toyota Talks
Sam Panayotovich is joined by the REKAP's Ryan McGuffey and BeefLoaf and Chorizy-E from The 108 podcast for a chat about Saturday's White Sox alumni home run derby. The guys give their predictions for the six-player event and discuss their all-time dream candidates.
The Chicago White Sox are bringing a familiar name back to the team's pipeline.
With the No. 34 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, the White Sox selected Nazareth Academy infielder Landon Thome.
Local perspective:
Thome has plenty of local ties.
He was Gatorade's Illinois prep baseball player of the year this past season, playing for Nazareth Academy. The White Sox also have a friend of Thome's in their pipeline already, having drafted Nazareth's Jaden Fauske as the top pick in the second round.
At Nazareth, Thome had some gaudy stats.
As a senior, Thome had a .532 batting average, a .623 on-base percentage and a 1.054 slugging percentage. He hit eight homers, drove in 35 RBIs, scored 63 runs and recorded 54 steals.
Thome is the son of Jim Thome, who played with the White Sox for four seasons. Jim Thome finished his White Sox tenure with 134 home runs and 369 RBI, and made an All-Star Game with the White Sox in 2006.
Jim Thome was inducted into the baseball hall of fame in 2018.
Landon will play in college next, having de-committed from Tennessee and committing to play for Florida State.
The backstory:
The No. 34 overall pick originally belonged to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The White Sox acquired that selection on Friday night.
In a late-evening trade, the White Sox acquired the No. 34 overall pick and left-handed pitcher Jaden Woods from the Pirates. They sent left-handed pitcher Brandon Eisert and infielder Jacob Gonzalez to Pittsburgh.
It was a tough trade, as Gonzalez helped pace the White Sox after the team lost Munetaka Murakami to a hamstring injury that kept him out for over a month.
Now, Gonzalez helped the White Sox land a player they've wanted for quite some time.