On this date in 1989 ...

Frank Thomas

 ... the White Sox selected Frank Thomas with the No. 7 overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft.

Thomas, of course, went on to become perhaps the greatest player in franchise history, and he was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2014.

It's fun to go back and look at the top 10 players chosen in that draft:

1. Ben McDonald, Baltimore Orioles

2. Tyler Houston, Atlanta Braves

3. Roger Salkeld, Seattle Mariners

4. Jeff Jackson, Philadelphia Phillies

5. Donald Harris, Texas Rangers

6. Paul Coleman, St. Louis Cardinals

7. Thomas, White Sox

8. Earl Cunningham, Chicago Cubs

9. Kyle Abbott, California Angels

10. Charles Johnson, Montreal Expos

Yikes. The Sox got the gem of that group, didn't they? 

McDonald didn't have a bad career. He went 78-70 with a 3.91 ERA over nine seasons, seven of them with the Orioles.

Johnson was a good catcher. He played 12 seasons, won two Gold Gloves and played in two All-Star Games. In fact, he won the All-Star Game MVP in 1997. Thing is, he didn't sign with the Expos, who drafted him out of high school in 1989. Johnson played college ball at the University of Miami, and then was drafted in the first round again in 1992, this time by the Florida Marlins. He played for six teams, including the Sox, from 1994 to 2005 and accumulated a career WAR of 22.6. Respectable.

Thomas has a career WAR of 73.8, even though he wasn't a good defensive player and had below-average speed. That's what a .301/.419/.555 slash line with 521 home runs, 495 doubles and 1,704 career RBIs will do for you.

Looking back at these old drafts, it's also a reminder of what a crapshoot it is trying to find the next great player. No doubt, all 10 of these guys were highly regarded when their names were called on draft day.

But beyond Thomas, you basically had two other decent-to-good players in the top 10 of this draft.

Top five deadline deals for the White Sox since 2000

Baseball's trade deadline looms Thursday. It's the last shopping day for teams to make moves without putting players on waivers first. Since that process is sometimes an impediment to adding reinforcements, the days before the July 31 deadline are always among the busiest on the baseball calendar.

Besides being the time to bolster rosters for the stretch run -- something neither Chicago team will be doing this year -- teams can also make more forward-thinking moves such as moving a veteran player for prospects, or picking up a veteran player under contract for multiple seasons yet. These kind of trades can be big moves that shape the future of a franchise, or small ones that add finishing pieces or future role players.

Here are the five best deals the White Sox have made near the deadline since 2000:

5. July 30, 2013. Traded Jake Peavy to the Boston Red Sox. Received Avisail Garcia from the Detroit Tigers and Francellis Montas, Cleuluis Rondon and Jeffrey Wendelken from the Red Sox. The Red Sox sent Jose Iglesias to the Tigers.

Garcia hasn't played much this season because of a shoulder injury. The Sox are hoping the fast-healing outfielder will see some time later this year because if he can develop into a solid everyday player, this trade will be exactly the kind of veteran-for-prospect deal the youth-starved Sox needed to make.

For all the flaws the Sox rotation has shown this year, Peavy isn't really missed considering his tepid performance this season and the big money he's making on the last year of his contract.

4. July 29, 2000. Traded Miguel Felix, Juan Figueroa, Jason Lakman and Brook Fordyce to the Baltimore Orioles. Received Harold Baines and Charles Johnson.

Johnson was a huge upgrade at catcher for the Sox over Fordyce (.272/.313/.464) and Mark Johnson (.225/.315/.316), batting an incredible .326/.411/.607 in 158 PAs over the last two months of the season. Consider how ridiculously talented the Sox offense was that year when Johnson, batting ninth in the playoffs, had 30 home runs on the season.

While Johnson left after the season, the Sox didn't win a playoff series and Baines wasn't a very effective bench bat during his third tour of duty with the team, this trade worked out just fine as none of the pieces the Sox gave up would haunt them down the road.

3. July 31, 2008. Traded Nick Masset and Danny Richar to the Cincinnati Reds. Received Ken Griffey, Jr. and cash.

It's easy to crack jokes about how Griffey was a shell of himself by the time he got to the Sox because it's true. He was no longer a great hitter and his play in center field could make you want to close your eyes. But consider that Brian Anderson, Dewayne Wise and down-season Nick Swisher were tasked with patrolling that spot after Alexei Ramirez was moved to second base full-time.

Griffey batted a decent .260/.347/.405 for the Sox, plus made a good defensive play to throw out the Twins' Michael Cuddyer at home plate in the 1-0 win over Minnesota in the AL Central tiebreaker. So even though Masset had a few decent seasons as a reliever, this is a trade the Sox should be happy they made.

2. July 31, 2004. Traded Esteban Loaiza to the New York Yankees. Received Jose Contreras and cash.

Despite having traded for Freddy Garcia just a month earlier, the Sox were headed in the wrong direction after losing Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez for the season. Loaiza, who appeared to have turned his career around the previous season, was also struggling, so the Sox opted to swap him for another right-hander who was getting roughed up, but had some potential and wasn't a free agent at the end of the year.

Contreras kept scuffling that year, pitching to a 5.30 ERA, only a slight improvement over his work with the Yankees. But the next season things clicked for the Cuban as he finished with a 3.61 ERA, including a dominant second half where he posted a 2.96 ERA and was the Game 1 starter in three playoff series as the Sox went 11-1 on their way to their first World Series title in 88 years.

1. July 31, 2005. Traded Ryan Meaux to the San Diego Padres. Received Geoff Blum.

Blum wasn't anywhere near as important as Contreras to the 2005 title march. In fact, a lot of observers were puzzled when he was the only piece added at the deadline by then-Sox GM Kenny Williams, who was notorious for his all-in style of roster building.

But it's hard to beat it when a trade deadline acquisition does this...