Aug 25th, 2009
Arizona Fall League Rosters Are In
By Jeff Buchanan
The preliminary 2009 Arizona Fall League rosters were released today. The Arizona Fall League is intended for advanced prospects and is a place where they can refine their skill against tougher opposition and in higher pressure situations (there are many scouts and execs in attendance for every game) than they would encounter during the Minor League season. The league starts in early October and runs through mid November.
White Sox prospects will be playing for the Peoria Javelinas along with prospects from the Tigers, Dodgers, Brewers and Mariners’ organizations. The seven representatives from the White Sox are; Justin Cassel, Johnnie Lowe, Jacob Rasner, Henry Mabee, C.J. Retherford, Dayan Viciedo and Jordan Danks.
One notable omission from the positional prospects is Tyler Flowers, the Sox may have felt that with the way he dominated the league last year there was no need sending him again, I think any opportunity to get him more reps behind the plate would surely have been a good thing. The White Sox usually impose a 160 inning cap for their pitching prospects which is likely why we aren’t seeing names like Dan Hudson, John Ely or Charlie Shirek on the roster, although they did send Poreda last year after he had already racked up 160 innings.
The AFL is always a fun league to track for a prospect junkie like myself due to its high concentration of top end prospects and I’m sure this year will be no different, especially with the inclusion of one certain phenom, Stephen Strasburg.
Charlie Shirek has already been pulled from the Barons rotation due to the amount of innings he’s pitched this year.
I’ve heard a lot of people campaigning for Mitchell to be included but I don’t think he’s ready for this level of competition. He needs time to work on that strikeout rate.
Also the rumour is that there will be a junior AFL next year, at the moment teams are only allowed one “Single-A” player, as they call it so that is definitely something that I would love to see.
How do you guys view Charlie Shirek and John Ely in terms of being prospects?
They’re both marginal guys for me, unfortunately that still makes them amongst our better pitching prospects in the higher minors. The K/BB rates aren’t great and neither have overwhelming ground ball rates. The stuff just isn’t there for Ely and Shirek and I’d be surprised if either goes on to have great success.
I like Shirek because he has performed well in AA, but his peripherals are poor. I’m not sure what to think of Ely honestly. If I had to guess I would think he never makes it in the Majors, but I’m already surprised he has done this well.
As for the AFL, I’m really looking forward to Danks and Viciedo there. It’s interesting to see Retherford there too. He could really prove himself to be a damn good Major League prospect.