Mark Gonzales twittered this morning that Bynum would be looking to pursue opportunities in Japan. With versatility an important aspect of the 2010 White Sox, there’s a chance that Bynum could have seen a shot if Omar Vizquel and Jayson Nix were to get hurt or underperform.

Bynum, 29, is a .259 career hitter in the majors.

Best prospect
Tyler Flowers
2009 in review: Flowers came over in the Javier Vazquez trade and quickly showed why. He tore it up right out of the gate for AA Birmingham. He hit for average (.302), power (.548 slugging) and got on base (.445 OBP). Tyler was promoted to AAA Charlotte and performed well enough there to earn a September call-up to the big league club.

What he needs to improve: His defense. There are concerns that Flowers can’t stick at catcher, but the White Sox don’t seem to believe that. Neither do Southern League managers, who voted him best defensive catcher in the league. Still, most scouting reports say he is adequate at best behind the dish. Flowers should have the bat to stick in the Majors, but obviously his value is much larger if he can play catcher competently.

What to expect in 2010: Flowers will be on the roster bubble in spring training. When Ramon Castro re-signed it became clear that Flowers was not going to backup A.J. Pierzynski. Flowers could still take part in this rotating DH thing the Sox seem bent on trying. Odds are the logjam of veteran bench acquisitions means Flowers starts the year in AAA and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. He can play everyday, get more time at catcher and come up if/when there is an injury or another Wilson Betemit type failure from one of the bench players.

What makes a successful season: Flowers earns his way onto the big league club and digs himself a permanent place on the team. We’ll see him in Chicago, and probably before September this time, but the role is unknown. Flowers may have to force the Sox to make room for him.

Breakout candidates
Miguel Gonzalez
2009 in review: Gonzalez burst onto the scene last year with a strong showing in his American debut. The Venezuelan did well in the Dominican Summer League in 2008 and it translated to the Appalachian League in ‘09. Gonzalez showed defensive ability, a cannon for an arm, good contact skills, a good walk rate and some power.

What he needs to improve: As good as he already is defensively, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. He had 10 errors and eight passed balls in 40 games at catcher last year. Compared to the other two on this list, though, he is easily the best behind the plate.

What to expect in 2010: Gonzalez will start the season in Kannapolis. How he handles that will be very telling. At just 19 years old, if he handles himself out of the gate the Sox have someone special. A failure initially wouldn’t be the end of the world as long as he bounces back in the second half either back down in rookie ball or still in Kannapolis.

What makes a successful season: Gonzalez duplicates his Bristol numbers in Kannapolis. This may be unrealistic, but is certainly not out of the question. A season like that would make him of the best prospects in the system and one of the best catching prospects in the game.

Josh Phegley
2009 in review: Phegley was drafted 38th overall in the ‘09 draft out of Indiana. After signing for $858,600 he reported to low-A Kannapolis in late June. In just over 200 plate appearances he hit only .224, but hit nine home runs and struck out less than 20% of the time. The power came as a bit of a surprise. In only a couple months of action it’s hard to take too much from these numbers.

What he needs to improve: Similar to Flowers, defense is the main concern. Director of Amateur Scouting Doug Laumann is extremely confident that Phegley will stick at the position. If not defense, Phegley will have to bring that average up and draw more walks, both of which he should be able to do.

What to expect in 2010: Phegley will probably start in Winston-Salem. The Sox tend to be aggressive with high college draft picks. His average should bounce back (he had a .234 BABIP last season) and decent power numbers should remain.

What makes a successful season: If all goes well Phegley has a good chance to earn a promotion to Birmingham in the middle of the year. This coupled with good or at least improved defensive reports from people not in the White Sox front office would be ideal.

Other notables
A year ago Cole Armstrong and Donny Lucy looked like they would be viable options for 2010 backup catcher, but both had poor 2009 seasons. Armstrong was removed from the 40-man roster and Lucy got demoted to AA. Logan Johnson seems like the only other catcher that looks remotely like a prospect and that’s pushing it. C.J. Retherford is going to catch in spring training in a move that could greatly add to his flexibility and value. We’ll have more on him in our middle infield preview.

Overall, the White Sox have three good catching prospects making it one of the deeper positions in the system at one of the hardest to find talent. Flowers is ready to contribute soon while Phegley and Gonzalez have the talent to be solid Major Leaguers.

FutureSox Prospect Rankings

• #25 – 2009 Postseason

Accolades

• 2009 Southern League All-Star Game

Scouting report
Santeliz is a solid relief prospect featuring a solid fastball/slider combination. His fastball usually sits in the low 90s and he has a plus slider. However, the fiery right-hander will have to improve his control to stick in the Majors. He has a good strike out rate in his minor league career (8.1 K/9) and that didn’t drop off in Birmingham, which is a good sign going forward. The Sox have given him a couple stints as a starter, but he seems more effective as a reliever long term due to his lack of a consistent changeup. He could be effective against righties in the Majors, but he will have to improve both his consistency and his control in 2010 to make an impact for the Sox in the next year or two.

Major League Outlook: Average middle reliever
ETA: Late 2010 or 2011

Note: catchers not included

1. Jared Mitchell, OF

-5 runs for Jared Mitchell in a small sample size (34 games) doesn’t sound great, but you have to remember that he didn’t play centre field in college and so the adjustment may take some time. The scouting reports are very positive as Mitchell’s speed allows him to cover a lot of ground and get to balls that other centre fielders could only dream of reaching. Kannapolis manager Ernie Young was quoted as saying “He takes control in center field like he’s been playing professionally for a while.”

2. Dayan Viciedo, 3B/1B

Much has been made of Dayan Viciedo’s poor defensive ability, but as you can see, TotalZone likes him and had him pegged as a +4 run fielder over 130 games. It is expected that Viciedo will make the transition to first base this year, likely starting at Charlotte, and he certainly made his fair share of errors last year, but TZ indicates he may have had a future at 3B. The scouts disagree citing his lack of range and concentration as his main flaws.

3. Jordan Danks, OF

Jordan Danks’ defensive performances have been something of a mixed bag going by TotalZone. For the year he was a -2 run defender in centre field and a -1 run defender in left field. Last year he was a +2 run defender in CF, which would make him a fairly neutral defender (+0 runs) career in CF (107 games). The scouting reports are more positive however with Baseball America saying “he the range and instincts to play center field.” He may never be the gold glover that some people seem to expect, but he should prove a very capable defensive outfielder.

4. Brent Morel, 3B

Brent Morel is a case of stats and scouting coming together perfectly to form the same conclusion on a player. Morel’s TotalZone at 3B this year was an impressive +9 runs (128 games). The scouting reports indicate that Morel has good agility and quickness at the position with a plus arm. I’m still not convinced that Morel has the power that you would typically want from your third baseman but his defensive ability should make up for any shortcoming that he may have with the bat.

5. Trayce Thompson, OF

As with Jared Mitchell, there isn’t anywhere near enough data to draw any real conclusions on Trayce Thompson’s defensive ability but to stop people from asking about him, I decided to just include him. Thompson’s TotalZone in 31 games playing centre was +2 (+9.7 per 150). The scouting reports state that Thompson has the range to play centre with the arm to play right. As he fills out I’d expect Trayce to make the gradual shift to RF, but for now he should be a very adequate CF.

6. C.J. Retherford, 2B

Retherford moved from third base to second base last year and he held his own considering it was a new position to him, however, the -2 TZ that Retherford posted at 2B was a lot worse than what he managed at 3B over the previous two years, where he ranked as a +13 run defender. I don’t mind the shift in position though as I see him as a future utility man meaning that defensive flexibility is a must for him, there is even talk that he will see time at catcher during spring training. The scouting reports indicate that Retherford is an average defensive 2B, who doesn’t have the range to play SS, which sounds pretty accurate to me.

7. John Shelby, OF

John Shelby fell out of favour with most message boarders this past year due to his lack of offense, but his defense in the outfield has gotten progressively better since he made the transition in ’07 according to TotalZone. In ’07 Shelby was a -10 run defender, in ’08 a +4 run defender and in ’09 a +15 run defender. The scouting reports aren’t quite as complimentary, however, as they indicate that Shelby is more of a league average defender.

8. Christian Marrero, 1B/OF

Christian, the lesser-hyped Marrero brother, has steadily produced since being drafted in 2005 and is starting to force himself onto the prospect radar. Marrero hasn’t yet found a defensive home as he has split his time between RF, LF and 1B, but if this year is anything to go by, the outfield looks like his better position. In 84 games playing the outfield his TotalZone was an impressive +10 runs as compared to his -7 runs playing 36 games at 1B. There don’t seem to be many scouting reports floating around on Marrero’s defensive ability, but I have heard that he has the arm to play RF and Buddy Bell reportedly likes him a lot.

9. Stefan Gartrell, OF

Prior to this year Gartrell’s TotalZone numbers were pretty good, with him coming in at +17 runs between 06 and 08. This year, however, his TotalZone was a terrible -15 runs in right field (107 games). This poor performance last year is likely due to random fluctuation caused by a small sample size and deferring to his career average should give us a better idea of his defensive ability. The scouting reports paint him as an average defender at best.

10. Eduardo Escobar, SS

Eduardo Escobar has drawn rave reviews for his defensive ability from scouts and it’s just as well because he doesn’t project to be much more than a contact hitter with the bat. Scouts cite Escobar’s good range, excellent hands and a solid arm as his main strengths. TotalZone agrees with the scouts as Escobar scores well by this metric. Last year he was a +7 run defender at short and for his career he is +17 runs above average at SS (194 games). Escobar has drawn comparisons to both Omar Vizquel and Ozzie Guillen. While I wouldn’t expect him to be anywhere near as good defensively as Vizquel, he is that type of player (all glove, no bat).

The Tigers and Twins are clearly ahead of the Sox, Royals and Indians by Baseball America’s reckoning. Some of the more notable White Sox draftees during this period include Gordon Beckham, Dan Hudson, Chris Getz, Clayton Richard and Oakland A’s prospect Chris Carter. The Indians, who failed to sign a draft eligible sophomore by the name of Tim Lincecum in 2005, have had little success to date during this period, with Jensen Lewis being one of their more productive draftees. The Tigers hit big in 2007 with Rick Porcello, who could anchor their staff for years to come, and Casey Crosby, who is amongst the best LHP prospects in baseball. Two of their ‘08 draftees, catcher Alex Avila and reliever Ryan Perry have already logged significant Major League time. The Royals’ most notable pick is ‘05 draftee Alex Gordon, who despite not quite taking off as hoped, has been worth the $4m investment. The Twins’ selection of Matt Garza at 25th overall in 2005 has proven to be one of the better picks in what was a stacked 2005 draft, the Twins also landed Kevin Slowey that year.
Is it fair to judge success merely by the players each team has selected? Possibly, but we know that draft position plays a large part in determining which players a team can get from the top of the draft. The White Sox “earned” their first top 10 pick in 17 years and they respond with an A grade draft in 2008. So the next thing I want to do is list which picks each team had in the first rounds and supplemental first rounds.

Average relates to each team’s first pick only, compensatory picks were not included in the average. The White Sox had the third highest average pick to match their joint third highest GPA but the thing that jumps out is the Royals’ average pick of 2nd overall. When you’re drafting that high every year you have to do better than the Royals have done. Their 2.38 GPA ties for 21st amongst all teams.
It’s tough to say which team has drafted the best from just looking at GPA’s and average draft position. In recent years money has started to play a bigger factor in the draft and the Tigers are one of the teams who have been very willing to spend above and beyond in order to get their guy. So the next thing I want to look at is how much each team has spent in the first round, and how much each team has spent overall. The total amount spent is on the left, then amount in parentheses is how much was spent on first round and supplemental first round picks.

So here we can see that the Sox have spent significantly less than every other team in the division. I guess this means the scouting department should be given extra slack for some of the more disappointing drafts, particularly of ‘05 and ‘06. For a team of this size and in this market, however, I find the budgetary decision to be a very strange one. You can’t simply point at not having high draft picks as a reason for not spending. There are plenty of opportunities to pick high profile, high potential prospects later on in the draft but the Sox have been completely disinterested. Kenny Williams must be aware of the importance of developing from within and given the organization’s resistance to signing top tier free agents, drafting well is essential. Even if you build through trades as Kenny likes to do, you obviously need to have the prospects in the first place in order to trade them.
As for the other teams, it’s no surprise to see the Royals heading the list of money spent. When you pick as high as they do every year you’re having to spend $3.5m+ just to sign your top pick. I was expecting the Tigers to be the big over slot spenders, but actually it was the Indians who spent the most money from rounds 2 and onwards with an average of roughly $3.5m, the Royals were the second highest spenders in this area at $2.8m. Again the White Sox were the most stringent team, spending an average of $1.4m per year in rounds 2 and onwards.
Finally I want to neutralize the draft budgets to see which team got the best bang for their bucks. To find a new, budget neutral, GPA, I’m simply going to divide each teams original GPA by their average spent and then multiply that by a new budget that will be the same for each team. The average spent by all five teams was $5.04m, so this seems like a suitable total to use for the new draft budget.

Well that looks good for the White Sox. They haven’t spent a lot of money, but they have spent well working from the BA rankings. Now these of course are not definitive rankings, there’s still a lot that can change with the draft grades, particularly the ‘07 and ‘08 grades, and even then there’s a lot of subjectivity in them. I thought that all the AL Central teams had good drafts in 2008 and I would not be surprised to see some of those B’s turn into A’s, for example. The continued development of Chris Getz, Clayton Richard and Chris Carter should bump up the Sox grade for 2005 as another example.
The new GPA does make you wonder what the White Sox system might look like right now if they had invested even an average amount of money into the draft. Unfortunately I don’t see the draft budget increasing any time soon, not unless we see a change of management, anyway. Kenny Williams seems to have a great ability of wrangling money out of Jerry Reinsdorf, and if he had really wanted to spend $5m+ on the draft, I’m sure he could have gotten it.
So while the Sox may have had several poor drafts during this four year period, it does not mean that their scouting department is necessarily doing a bad job. Each team has a different draft budget, and therefore it is unfair to judge them all on the same scale. You can’t expect the White Sox to draft as well as teams who are consistently spending $5m, $6m, $7m or more per year on the draft because it just isn’t realistic.

Cabrera is a big stuff, zero control (and I mean zero control) guy. Walking 5.2 batters per nine innings in his Major League career has rendered him an afterthought, but he signed a minor league contract so there’s nothing to lose. Cabrera has a career 5.10 ERA in parts of six seasons. If Sox pitching coach Don Cooper can wave his magic wand and “fix” Cabrera it could be a great move. I’m not going to hold my breath though.

As for the rest of the invites there are four other new additions: RHP Greg Aquino, LHP Erick Threets, infielder Freddie Bynum and outfielder Jason Botts. All four have Major League experience, but are long shots to make the 25-man roster. Outfielder Josh Kroeger and RHP Ryan Braun were re-signed and also received invites.

From the minor league side of things, catchers Donny Lucy, Miguel Gonzalez and Josh Phegley were among the NRIs because of the need for a lot of catchers early in camp. Joining them are lefty Charlie Leesman, infielders Brent Morel and C.J. Retherford (who also will get some time at catcher) and outfielders Jordan Danks and Jared Mitchell. Leesman’s invite could be worth following because he was only in Kannapolis last season, but is a lefty with good velocity. If nothing else it shows that the Sox likely rate Leesman higher than most of the prospect-rating public.

We’ve gathered six White Sox top 10s from Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, Fan Graphs, John Sickels’ Minor League Ball, Diamond Futures and our own postseason rankings. Fan Graphs does things a little differently, they don’t include 2009 rookies in their rankings due to a lack of sample size, so you have to take that into account.

For starters, Baseball America gave us a minor surprise by making Jared Mitchell number 1. Phil Rogers, who has a big hand in the White Sox rankings, said he thinks Dan Hudson will be as good as Jered Weaver. Hudson was only third, the lowest of any of the lists, so that really shows how much they love Mitchell at BA. When Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus talked with us, he gushed about Mitchell so it’s no surprise they also had him up there at two. A few of our voters tend to be conservative with players in the lower levels of the system so Mitchell coming in lowest here isn’t a major shock. A solid start to his 2010 will certainly have him in the top three of our 2010 midseason rankings (not to mention the possible graduations of Hudson and Tyler Flowers).

As for Hudson and Flowers, there’s a near consensus to have them in the top three as there should be. We picked Flowers over Hudson (barely) and my personal rationale for that pick was because of the positional value of a catcher. Half of the rankings had Hudson higher, half had Flowers higher and I don’t think you can go wrong either way.

Brent Morel is interesting to me because he was seventh on our list and I felt that was too high. None of our voters had Morel in the top five, yet four of these publications had Morel fourth. Us and Diamond Futures are the only to have Dayan Viciedo above Morel and Diamond Futures makes the best pro-Viciedo argument you will find:

Viciedo played the entire season as a 20yo in AA, and posted, park-adjusted, League average numbers across the board. That was good enough to finish #13 in the League among hitters in our 2009 Performance rankings—despite it being his U.S. debut. But that only tells part of the story, as Viciedo posted a park-neutral OPS of .853 after mid-July. For a frame of reference, that was the same as Josh Bell’s SOL numbers in what was considered a breakout season, and Josh Bell is two and one-half years older…What we are saying is that we expect him to perform similar in 2010 to the second-half of 2009, and when you give him that half-year adjustment, his numbers put him in the Top 100 prospect range—which is a heckuva a lot better than his detractors would like you to believe.

Simply put, Viciedo has more upside than Morel and the lofty expectations compared to his results and reality may have too many people unfairly down on him.

Santos Rodriguez and David Holmberg appeared on multiple top tens and didn’t even crack our top 25. Granted, Holmberg was #26 and appeared on everyone’s ballot except one, but that is a drastic difference in opinion. Again, our voters tend to stay conservative on rookies, but another factor is that Holmberg throws below 90 giving him two factors going against him. He has a strong curve and changeup, but he is going to have to add some velocity on his fastball to be a top 10 prospect in my mind.

It’s good to have different perspectives, especially when a few of these publications have different ways of evaluating prospects. All together there were 17 different prospects in these top ten lists. If nothing else that should show that beyond the top tier or two it’s all about what type of player you prefer. Tell us which rankings you like best in the comments!

Players put time in the Winter Leagues for various reasons – getting in reps after an injury-shortened season, face time for the home crowd, getting the attention of other major league teams, or trying out some new pitches or tweaks to the swing are just a few possible motives. The Sox have over 20 players in the organization that are on rosters for teams among the four winter baseball venues – Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic – that started play in October, and are finishing up this week. We will focus our update on players who are likely or definite for the major league roster in 2010, and prospects who are getting in significant time down south.

Liga De Beisbol Dominicano

There are a number of Sox minor leaguers playing in the DR this winter. Reliever Jhonny Nunez, who was acquired from the Yankees in the Swisher deal last off-season, is among the crowd likely to vie for the final bullpen slot in Spring Training. He has struck out 11 batters and allowed a .235 average against him in 9.1 innings, to go with a nice 1.29 WHIP but a disappointing 4.82 ERA. The lack of innings makes those numbers fuzzy, but the strikeout total is nice. Another relief pitching prospect, 25-year-old Santo Luis (High-A Winston-Salem last season), has put up solid core numbers (1.15 WHIP, .159 AvgA, 3.46 ERA), but his peripherals (8 BB vs 4 K in 13 IP) leave something to be desired.

The Sox were high enough on the potential of outfielder Stefan Gartrell that they recently added him to the 40-man roster, protecting him from the Rule V draft. But so far, his numbers aren’t looking like those of a top-flight prospect: in limited action, he’s hitting .208 with a .240 OBP and just one walk against nine strikeouts, though two of his five hits are home runs. Another member of the 40-man roster playing on the island is catcher Cole Armstrong, who remains a potential candidate for backup catching duties behind AJ Pierzynski (unless the Sox sign a veteran, or decide to promote uber-prospect Tyler Flowers despite the lack of playing time). Cole is hitting .278 with a .339 OBP in 54 AB, but without any power numbers, as shown by a .319 slugging percentage. Recent signee, outfielder Alejandro De Aza, who the Sox see competing for the final bench spot in spring training, has been less than impressive, posting a .123/.219/.228/.447 line and 15 strikeouts in 57 at bats.

Liga Besibol Venezuela Profesional

Venezuela is another popular destination for Sox players this offseason. Probable fifth starter Freddy Garcia made a show-the-flag appearance, pitching just three innings of 1-run baseball, walking none and striking out three. Clevelan Santeliz (AA Birmingham this past season), a hard-throwing right-hander who the Sox seem to like, has struck out 27 batters in 24.1 innings of work, to go with a 2.92 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and a scant .193 average against him. He’s also managed to keep his walk rate under control, issing 10 free passes in those 24+ innings, which is an improvement for him. Miguel Socolovich (23 years old, finished at AA Birmingham in 2009) has been just as impressive, posting a 2.87 ERA, .193 AvgA, and a skinny 0.96 WHIP, striking out 17 batters in 15.2 IP.

Looking at position players, 20-year-old prospect Eduardo Escobar, considered highly for his glove at shortstop, has posted a respectable .269 average in limited action (26 at bats), and 3 of his 7 hits have been for extra bases. Outfielder Josh Kroeger (minor league free agent, can sign anywhere), who impressed manager Ozzie Guillen in Spring Training last year and spent 2009 in Charlotte, has been piling on the offense: a .289/.386/.478/.864 line including 4 homeruns among his 19 extra-base hits in 159 at bats, and adding in a 9-for-10 rate in stolen base attempts for good measure.

Liga Mexicana del Pacifico

The Sox have just a couple players in the organization who are seeing time in the Mexican League this winter. Jesus Avila, a 21 year old middle infielder who repeated with Great Falls (Rookie league) last year, is playing for his home town Caneros de los Mochis, but not having much success – his .095 average, .130 OBP and .190 OPS in 21 at bats are worst on his team, and he’s made three errors in just 13 games.

The other name is more familiar to Sox fans – Ehren Wassermann. After a solid 2007 rookie campaign, this side-arming right-hander struggled in 2008 while bouncing between AAA and the majors, and spent all of 2009 in Charlotte. Given the crowd of arms the Sox are looking at for the 2010 bullpen, Ehren’s chances of breaking in for 2010 are slim, so he’s probably looking to catch another team’s eye (he is a minor league free agent and can sign anywhere). He’s put up some decent numbers so far – a 3.12 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, with 24 strike outs in 34 innings, and he’s started four games.

Liga de Beisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico also has just a couple Sox representatives seeing playing time. One, left-handed pitching prospect Hector Santiago (a reliever with High A Winston-Salem last year), hasn’t looked too good – in 8 games, pitching 6.1 innings, he’s sporting a 7.11 ERA, 2.37 WHIP, and 8 walks against 4 strikeouts. But Miguel Negron, a minor league free agent outfielder who spent last year at AAA Charlotte, is among the league’s offensive leaders, sporting a .337/.461/.458/.919 line, with more walks (18) than strikeouts (15) in 83 at bats. The 27-year-old Negron is a long shot at best for Chicago’s bench in 2010 (barring injuries ahead of him), so he’s auditioning for the rest of the league as much as he is the Sox.

Pierre will likely replace Scott Podsednik’s role on the 2009 team and leadoff hitter and left fielder. He brings speed and a decent on-base percentage to the team without giving up a top tier prospect or a piece from the Major League club. For more on the Pierre side of the deal check out our sister site, SoxNet, for their take on the trade.

With that said, we cover the minor leagues so let’s talk more about Ely and Link. For starters, both pitchers have a chance to contribute to the Dodgers this year, though Ely will probably have to wait longer. Ely was the 13th rated prospect in our postseason rankings and Link came in at 22.

We project Ely as a 5th starter type, but if you listen to Phil Rogers he is worth more than Pierre by himself. Ely had a great season, playing in the Southern League All-Star Game, earning a place on the league’s post-season all-star team and recently being named to our All-FutureSox team. Sure, performance isn’t everything in the minors and Ely doesn’t have top tier stuff as even Rogers admits. He has a great changeup, good control and his fastball and curve are decent pitches. He was a 3rd round pick in 2007 so clearly the Sox liked him then. This year was a bit of a breakout year for him, but his peripherals were slightly down from 2008 and he played in a pitchers’ park.

Link racked up the strikeouts in AAA this season, but struggled a bit in the second half. Control has been a problem for him at AA and above (4.3 BB/9 each of the last two seasons). If nothing else, he is consistent. The last two seasons he has struck out 66 and walked 27 in ~56 innings. His slider is his best pitch, but he has the stuff to be a decent Major League reliever. His fastball velocity is rumored to have dropped this past year so that’s a concern going forward. The interesting part of his inclusion in this deal is that the Sox appear somewhat thin in the bullpen even after signing J.J. Putz. This further opens the door for someone like Sergio Santos to slip onto the roster. Link had a good chance to make the 2010 White Sox bullpen and he should be at least competing for the same with the Dodgers.

Considering Pierre is a likely starter for the Sox and fills a need at the top of the order, it’s hard to complain about giving up a pitcher like Ely. He could have a long career in the Majors as a back end of the rotation starter, but Pierre might have more value in the short run. Link could be a wild card, but since Pierre wasn’t starting for the Dodgers and has a sizable salary it’s a trade that could pay off for both sides.

In other recent news, the White Sox Rule V Draft came and went without much news. They didn’t select anyone in the Major League phase and had no one taken from them. In the AAA phase Johnny Lujan and Arismendy Mota were taken from the Sox. Lujan, 25, repeated Birmingham in 2009 and walked too many batters leading to a 4.45 ERA as a reliever. Mota was way under our radar and is 22 without having pitched above the DSL.

Also, Jordan Danks was named to the Arizona Fall League All-Prospect team.