For a small disclaimer, we chose the outfield spots regardless of position so they were voted on as the best three outfielders. As for pitchers, we chose three starters because that was the mostly random number decided upon as well as a closer and a set-up man. Tell us what you think, a lot of the spots were not easy selections. Without further ado, here’s the 2009 All-FutureSox Team in a somewhat fancy Flash presentation (be sure to click on the players).

Note: You will need an updated version of Adobe Flash Player to view the file below. If it’s not working, you may need to download it. You can download the latest Flash Player here.

The previous rank is in reference to our Midseason Top 25. Player profiles are linked in the player’s name if the player has one. Tell us what you love and hate about the rankings in the comments section or join the discussion at Soxtalk!

1. Tyler Flowers, C, White Sox
Previous: 1st

2. Dan Hudson, RH SP, White Sox
Previous: 4th

3. Dayan Viciedo, 3B, AA Birmingham
Previous: 2nd

4. Jordan Danks, CF, AA Birmingham
Previous: 3rd

5. C.J. Retherford, 2B/3B, AA Birmingham
Previous: 11th

6. Jared Mitchell, OF, Low-A Kannapolis
Previous: 5th

7. Brent Morel, 3B, High-A Winston-Salem
Previous: 17th

8. Charlie Shirek, RH SP, AA Birmingham
Previous: 10th

9. Trayce Thompson, OF, Rookie Great Falls
Previous: Not yet signed (He would have been 13th if he had)

10. Josh Phegley, C, Low-A Kannapolis
Previous: 8th

11. Carlos Torres, RH SP, White Sox
Previous: 14th

12. Jhonny Nunez, RH RP, White Sox
Previous: 25th

13. John Ely, RH SP, AA Birmingham
Previous: 19th

14. Christian Marrero, OF/1B, AA Birmingham
Previous: UR

15. John Shelby III, OF, AA Birmingham
Previous: 7th

16. Stefan Gartrell, OF, AAA Charlotte
Previous: 23rd

17. Nathan Jones, RH RP, High-A Winston-Salem
Previous: 12th

18. Charlie Leesman, LH SP, Low-A Kannapolis
Previous: 20th

19. Kyle Bellamy, RH RP, Low-A Kannapolis
Previous: UR

20. Lucas Harrell, RH SP, AAA Charlotte
Previous: 15th

21. Stephen Sauer, RH SP, Low-A Kannapolis
Previous: 23rd

22. Jon Link, RH RP, AAA Charlotte
Previous: 13th

23. Steven Upchurch, RH SP, Rookie Bristol
Previous: 16th

24. Brandon Hynick, RH SP, AAA Charlotte
Previous: Not yet in system

25. Clevelan Santeliz, RH RP, AA Birmingham
Previous: UR

Others receiving votes, in order of points/votes received: David Holmberg, Jon Gilmore, Miguel Gonzalez, Dan Remenowsky, Santos Rodriguez, Nevin Griffith, Eduardo Escobar, Brady Shoemaker, Nick Ciolli, Joe Serafin, Ryan Buch, Matt Heidenreich, Kyle Colligan, Gregory Infante, Jim Gallagher, Fernando Hernandez, Brandon Short, Seth Loman

Prospects previously ranked, still in the system from but received no votes this time: Brian Omogrosso (formerly #9, torn labrum), Justin Greene (#19)

Prospects previously ranked, no longer in the system: Dexter Carter (#7, traded to SD), Jack Egbert (#25, now with NYM)

Hudson is setting himself up to have a shot at the 5th starter slot next season. Jose Contreras’ contract ends after this season and if he doesn’t re-sign it currently looks like an open race between Hudson and Carlos Torres. Torres had a heck of a July in his own right and is currently Major League ready. Hudson might have to wait until the second half of 2010 to get a call up, but he will likely eventually fill out a potentially nasty rotation for years to come.

Hitter of the Month: Brady Shoemaker (Rookie Bristol)
.429 (33-77), 5 HR, 19 RBI, 16 R, 9 BB, 14 K, 1.235 OPS

Shoemaker had a 28 hit streak snapped on the 1st, but has shown that he is too good for the Appalachian League. He has a hit in 31 of the 32 games he has played since joining the BriSox after the draft. Plenty of college players have dominated rookie ball and fizzled once they play against players their own age, but few have raked like this.

Other notables

Carlos Torres (AAA Charlotte):1-0, 1 SV, 3 G (2 GS), 1.00 ERA, 18 IP, 19 K, 8 BB, 7 H (1 HR)
If you throw in Torres’ quality spot start for the White Sox it was a memorable month for him.

Cole Armstrong (AAA Charlotte): .341 (15-44), 5 HR, 7 RBI, 10 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 1.106 OPS
Somehow Armstrong had more extra base hits (8) than RBI (7), but he is finally turning around his awful start to the season.

Brent Lillibridge (AAA Charlotte): .326 (28-86), 2 HR, 12 RBI, 12 R, 12 BB, 18 K, 5/6 SB, .414 OBP
Lillibridge is finally contributing to someone this season. His overall stats in Charlotte still aren’t pretty, but he can steal a base (12/13 SB in AAA on the season) and is showing improvement.

Dayan Viciedo (AA Birmingham): .304 (27-89), 4 HR, 9 RBI, 4 BB, 12 K, .826 OPS
Viciedo continues his month-by-month improvement. These numbers come after a week+ slump to start to the month too.

Logan Johnson (High-A Winston-Salem): .327 (18-55), 5 HR, 13 RBI, 1.066 OPS
The king of the hit by pitch by crowding the plate to an extreme, Johnson has been converted to catcher so his bat might play if he can learn the position well.

Brent Morel (High-A Winston-Salem): .314 (33-105), 4 HR, 22 RBI, 21 R, 11 BB, 17 K, .929 OPS
Morel is a solid fielder at third so getting his bat going could make him a very good prospect.

The Ice Cold

Jon Link (AAA Charlotte): 10.1 IP, 13 R (12 ER), 11 K, 6 BB, 19 H (3 HR), 10.45 ERA
Link got off to a hot start to the season, but has struggled for past two months. He had a 5.06 ERA in June.

John Shelby (AA Birmingham): .197 (13-66), 1 HR, 9 RBI, .609 OPS
Shelby’s future currently looks somewhat dim. He was already putting up mediocre numbers for the AA Barons and his current slump has his batting average in the .230s and his OPS below .700.

Josh Phegley (Low-A Kannapolis): .139 (11-79), 4 HR, 9 RBI, 4 BB, 14 K, .520 OPS
Not the kind of professional debut you want to see from the 38th overall pick, but it’s way too early to write him off. At least the home runs have been coming.

Eduardo Escobar (Low-A Kannapolis): .198 (17-86), 3 BB, 19 K, .515 OPS
A major disappointment this season, Escobar has posted a sub-.600 OPS each month.

Miguel Gonzalez (Rookie Bristol): .200 (13-65), 2 BB, 11 K, .574 OPS
After a hot start, Gonzalez has come back to Earth. Still, his overall numbers (.277, 4 HR, .801 OPS in 26 G) are great to see from a young catcher.

Brady Shoemaker, a 6′ 0″, 200 pound outfielder, drafted out of Indiana State in the 19th round, leads the Appalachian League in batting average (.420) and OBP (.458) and is amongst the league leaders in a multitude of other categories such as SLG (.636, 5th) and doubles (10, T-2nd). What’s perhaps even more impressive though is that he’s hit in every game he’s played thus far, that’s all 22 of them and he already has 9 multi-hit games one of which was a 5-5 two home run massacre of Kingsport Mets pitching.

It’s not just on the field where Shoemaker has been opening eyes though, his dedication and professionalism off the field received special note from Bristol manager Ryan Newman, who said the following about him in the Bristol Herald Courier:
“He’s real quiet in the locker room. He takes care of his business and goes about his work as a professional. It’s great to have a guy like that in the clubhouse and in the middle of your lineup.”

Joe Serafin, a diminutive lefty drafted out of Vermont in the 37th round, leads the Appalachian League in both ERA (0.31), the next closest qualified pitcher to him is Trevor Shull who has a 1.50 ERA, and WHIP (0.69) and he is also tied for first in wins (4). Serafin mainly throws a fastball-curve ball combo, with his fastball clocking in around the high 80’s which he has combined with impeccable control (0.93 BB/9) to limit opposing batters to a meagre .177 average against.

In somewhat similar fashion to one rather more famous White Sox lefty, Mark Buehrle, Joe Serafin likes to work quickly, very quickly. A prime example of this speed on the mound was his July 8th start against the Burlington Royals, a game in which he picked up the victory after throwing 6 shutout innings, the game lasted just 1 hour and 55 minutes. Joe says that working quickly helps him to keep his focus on the game and not on any outside factors and it certainly seems to be working for him so far.

Serafin and Shoemaker may not grade out highly as prospects for the future, and both are likely to fizzle out as they make their way through the system due to a lack of stuff and tools, but until that happens, long may their success continue.

On the cold side, catcher Miguel Gonzalez has cooled off in his last 10 games after a hot start. He is hitting .135 (5-37) with 2 runs scored, 1 HR, 5 RBI and 5 strikeouts. Gonzalez is still hitting .268 for the season in 19 games.

Cheers,
JPN

1 (23) – Jared Mitchell, OF, LSU – SIGNED (Kannapolis)

1A (38) – Josh Phegley, C, Indiana – SIGNED (Kannapolis)

2 (61) – Trayce Thompson, CF, Santa Margarita Catholic HS, CA – SIGNED (Bristol)

2 (71) – David Holmberg, LHP, Port Charlotte HS, FL – SIGNED (Bristol)

3 (102) – Bryan Morgado, LHP, Tennessee

4 (133) – Matthew Heidenreich, RHP, Temescal Canyon HS, CA – SIGNED (Bristol)

5 (163) – Kyle Bellamy, RHP, U Miami – SIGNED (Bristol)

6 (193) – Justin Collop, RHP, Toledo – SIGNED (Great Falls)

7 (223) – Justin Jones, LHP, Oakdale Senior HS, CA

8 (253) – Ryan Buch, RHP, Monmouth – SIGNED (Great Falls)

9 (283) – Matthew Hopps, RHP, Cal St Dominguez Hills – SIGNED (Great Falls)

10 (313) – Nick Ciolli, OF, Indiana St. – SIGNED (Great Falls)

11 (343) – Jimmy Ballinger, RHP, Southern Miss – SIGNED (Bristol)

12 (373) – Kyle Colligan, CF, Texas A&M – SIGNED (Great Falls)

13 (403) – Cameron Bayne, RHP, Concordia U – SIGNED (Great Falls)

14 (433) – Daniel Black, 1B, Purdue – SIGNED (Bristol)

15 (463) – Dane Williams, RHP, Archbishop McCarthy HS, FL

16 (493) – Daniel Wagner, 2B, Belmont – SIGNED (Bristol)

17 (523) – Brian Goodwin, CF, Rocky Mount HS, NC

18 (553) – Philip Negus, RHP, Wake Forest – SIGNED (Bristol)

19 (583) – Brady Shoemaker, LF, Indiana St. – SIGNED (Bristol)

20 (613) – Nathan Reed, LHP, Pittsburgh

21 (643) – Jared McDonald, SS, Arizona St. – SIGNED (Bristol)

22 (673) – Zach Kayne, SS, Davidson – SIGNED (Great Falls)

23 (703) – Goldy Simmons, RHP, San Diego State – SIGNED (Bristol)

24 (733) – Jeffrey Tezak, 2B, Nebraska – SIGNED (Great Falls)

25 (763) – Mike Strong, LHP, Iowa Western CC

26 (793) – Matthew Harughty, 2B, Oklahoma – SIGNED (Great Falls)

27 (823) – Kyle Davis, 2B, Delaware – SIGNED (Bristol)

28 (853) – Robert Cummings, 3B, UC Santa Barbara – SIGNED (Great Falls)

29 (883) – Charles Delk, RHP, Clemson – SIGNED (Bristol)

30 (913) – Robert Vaughn, C, Kansas St. – SIGNED (Bristol)

31 (943) – Michael Hamme, CF, Campbell U. – SIGNED (Great Falls)

32 (973) – Jacob Wilson, RHP, New Mexico St. – SIGNED (Great Falls)

33 (1003) – Chase Cooney, RHP, Volunteer State CC – SIGNED (Bristol)

34 (1033) – Alex Farotto, LHP, South Carolina – SIGNED (Bristol)

35 (1063) – Danny Wiltz, RHP, Tennessee – SIGNED (Bristol)

36 (1093) – Ryan Crowley, LHP, Morton West HS, IL

37 (1123) – Joseph Serafin, LHP, Vermont – SIGNED (Bristol)

38 (1153) – Anthony Casario, OF, Maryland – SIGNED (Bristol)

39 (1183) – Paul Burnside, RHP, Auburn – SIGNED (Great Falls)

40 (1213) – Leighton Pangilinan, 1B, Escalon HS, CA – SIGNED (Bristol)

41 (1243) – Ryan Lee, CF, Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo – SIGNED (Bristol)

42 (1273) – Christopher Zagyi, RHP, Middlesex County College – SIGNED (Bristol)

43 (1303) – Tyler Williams, 3B, Chaparral HS, AZ

44 (1333) – Taylor Thompson, RHP, Auburn – SIGNED (Bristol)

45 (1363) – Harold Baines Jr., LF, McDaniel College – SIGNED (Bristol)

46 (1393) – Grant Monroe, RHP, Northwest Florida State CC

47 (1423) – Jordan Yallen, OF, Golden Valley HS, CA

48 (1453) – Matthew Little, LHP, Bryan HS, TX

49 (1483) – Theron Geith, LHP, Scottsdale CC

50 (1513) – Kevin Chapman, LHP, Florida