White Sox Make it Official, Welcome Oscar Colás and Erick Hernández to the South Side

Two plum prospects will be introduced to the outfield mix in the system this summer.

The cat’s outta the bag!

While we reported last March on the signing of Oscar Colás and had enough foresight to include Colás (No. 4) and Erick Hernández (No. 14) among our 2022 Top Prospects, it’s still nice that to get official word that the White Sox secured both stars. Colás wanted badly enough to play in Chicago that he waited an extra year to sign, pocketing a $2.7 million bonus, while the very young Hernández takes home $1 million.

Here, have a look at this copyedited White Sox release:

WHITE SOX AGREE TO TERMS WITH INTERNATIONAL OUTFIELDERS OSCAR COLÁS AND ERICK HERNÁNDEZ

CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms with international outfielders Oscar Colás ($2.7 million signing bonus) and Erick Hernández ($1 million bonus).

Colás, 23, played in the Cuban Serie Nacional (Cuban National Series, or CSN), Cuba’s top-level league, from 2016-20. He’s also played in Japan’s Western League from 2017-19 and Japan’s Pacific League in 2019. The 6´1´´, 210-pound Colás is rated by MLB Pipeline as its No. 5 international prospect.

Colás, who bats and throws left-handed, hit .282/.343/.483 with 38 doubles, five triples, 28 home runs, 116 RBIs and 102 runs in 187 career games over his professional career. He played with Santiago de Cuba (2016-17, 2019-20) and Holguín (2018-19) of the CSN and Softbank of the JPWL (2017-19) and JPPL (2019).

“We feel very good with what we were able to accomplish this year,” says Marco Paddy, White Sox special assistant to the general manager-international operations. “Having the ability to sign two high-level prospects with impact type tools like Colás and Hernández, I would categorize that as a solid year. Colás possesses an aggressive style of play that includes an impressive power bat and arm, as well as the ability to play above-average defense at all three outfield positions.”

Colás, a native of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, joins Micker Adolfo (No. 2 international prospect), Yoelqui Céspedes (No. 1) and Norge Vera (No. 15) to become the fourth Top 15 international prospect to sign with the White Sox since 2013.

Hernández, 17, is a 6´, 175-pound outfielder from Moca, Dominican Republic. He bats and throws left-handed. Hernández is rated by MLB Pipeline as its No. 28 international prospect.

“Hernández is a high-energy, aggressive player with a natural feel for hitting,” Paddy says. “He has the potential to develop plus tools across the board, which include a power bat and high-level defense in the outfield.”

The White Sox expect additional international signings in the coming weeks.

Also worth noting, hey, South Side Sox once again was the first to publish these players’ names with the correct Spanish diacritics, as you see reflected in the White Sox release.