I’ve been getting a lot of requests about various players so I’ll try to cover as many as possible. I’ll start off talking about some of the relief prospects in the system. 40-man roster member Clevelan Santeliz is an intriguing talent. He’s your typical Latin American pitcher with a herky-jerky delivery, think K-Rod, who I would classify as being effectively wild. I’m not 100% sure about his pitches, but if I had to guess I’d say he throws a 4-seam fastball, slider and a splitter or sinker. His fastball ranges from 93 to 102, according to the gun at Regions Park. The slider is 80 to 85 and the splitter/sinker is 89 to 92. He definitely has the talent to be a Major Leaguer, justifying the 40-man roster placement. In addition to all that, he has a hot head, class clown personality, being only a few weeks shy of turning 23. He’s generally the lead prankster. He also serves as the gateway guy if you want a broken bat. When I got him to sign his 2009 Barons card, he told me “I hate this f***ing picture.” He much preferred his 2008 Barons card that was an action shot instead of a head shot like the 2009 card.

Lucas Harrell and Brian Omogrosso are also talented pitching prospects. Although Harrell is a starter, I believe his future is in relief. Both pitchers seem to have fragile arms, Harrell already having his shoulder rebuilt and Omogrosso suffering from a torn labrum, tumors in his pitching hand and Tommy John surgery. So, relief work would suit them well to limit the wear on their arms. Omogrosso has a hard fastball and a wicked slider, a good combo for a late innings reliever. His delivery is almost exactly the same as Bronson Arroyo’s. Harrell has the repertoire to be a starter, but he tends to not attack hitters enough and not trust his stuff and his defense. I believe that changing his role to a reliever would force him to focus on getting outs and help his confidence. He could still be valuable as a swing man a la D.J. Carrasco.

I’ve liked what I’ve seen out of Henry Mabee. Although already 24, he throws a hard fastball 95 to 97, a high 70’s curveball and a high 80’s splitter. As long as he keeps the fastball down, hitters are frozen. He has a large frame and I’m eager to see what he can do next season possibly splitting time between Birmingham and Charlotte.

I was probably the one person to have Christian Marrero ranked highly in my midseason top 25 or at all. Marrero was a draft and follow that signed in 2006 who has exceeded expectations. He’s an impressive hitter, able to hit to all fields. There is really nothing negative to say about him. He plays solid defense in RF, LF or 1B. He has good speed, capable of getting a triple on a hit deep into the corners. He hits for a high average and has solid power. His home runs are high, majestic shots to right or right center that carry. I can’t really think of a player to compare him to but I definitely think he’s a player that should be on everybody’s radar.

Although he’s struggled in his short time in AAA, Stefan Gartrell is also a highly talented player. He’s been criticized for striking out a lot, but that alone doesn’t tell the story. He is an extremely patient and selective hitter, always looking at 4-5 pitches at least, if not more. He has tremendous power to all fields. He can bomb it to dead center, find a jet stream and hit one that carries over the right field wall, or square one up perfectly that’s like a cannon shot over the left center wall. He certainly takes what he’s doing seriously as he’s not happy when he strikes out. He’s also another guy who works hard to hone his skills by spending extra time in the batting cage. Defensively, his only issue is routes to fly balls. It’s not that glaring of a problem, just more of an adventure. By the way, pronounce his name correctly, it’s STEF-UN.

I know a lot of people have been concerned with Jordan Danks’ progress lately. He has definitely struggled recently to just make consistent contact. If his wrist is still bothering him, that would explain the problem. We all know how important the wrist is for a hitter. He could also be hitting a wall as this is his first full year as a pro and he’s spent most of the season here in Birmingham. That’s no easy task for a young player to succeed at such a tough, tough level. He may need some more time in AA next year, but that’s no reason to panic. He has always been solid defensively, he has a lot of range and speed to cover plenty of ground. He still is an impressive hitter. He strikes the ball hard and can hit to all fields. He sees a lot of pitches, so patience isn’t a problem for him. So, once he’s back to 100% health next season, he should have a breakout year.

Daniel Hudson is the real deal. Ed Collari of the Winston-Salem Dash and the numbers agree with me. Even though he wasn’t as dominant in the Carolina League as he had been in the Southern League. He’s a stud and an ace in the making. He keeps hitters completely off balance by throwing all of his pitches at any time in the count. They just never know what’s coming. I can imagine years from now people talking about Hudson and wondering why so many teams passed on him in the 2008 draft. He has a large frame, he’s all of the 6′4″ and 220 pounds he’s listed at. That may benefit him to stay healthy. My only concern with him is his throwing motion. I worry about his elbow because he seems to put a lot of stress on it when he throws. Watch the Charlotte game on Wednesday on MiLB.tv to see what I mean. Hopefully I’m just digging too deep, but I’d keep that in mind for the future.

As usual, I’ll be taking requests on Soxtalk for next week’s edition of JPNese.

Cheers,
JPN

I want to talk about character this week. It may not be important as a scouting tool for minor league players, but I think it’s underrated. Over the years I’ve gotten familiar with the character of many ballplayers who’ve come through Birmingham, as Barons or with the opposing teams. I’ve taken a lot of flack for being such a big fan of David Cook. He may not be a prospect to many, but he would bring a lot to any team he plays for. He applies to the old cliché of doing things that don’t show up in the box score. On top of the fact that he’s unflappable, he may as well be nicknamed “Iceman.” He may consider himself an organizational guy and just be happy to be playing affiliate ball, but in my opinion it would be a tragedy if he never got a shot in the Majors, regardless of the team.

Thankfully, there have been more good guys than bad over the last few seasons. I’ll always be a fan of Gio Gonzalez. If you ever had a chance to meet him, you couldn’t help but be a fan. He could run for mayor in whatever city he plays in and win. Not many ballplayers come up to you and shake your hand and ask you how you’re doing. He goes out of his way to earn your fanhood. Speaking of going out of his way, players like Micah Schnurstein and the recently traded Aaron Poreda qualify for that. I’ll always be a fan of Micah Schnurstein, even though it seems that he’s retired, because he personally gave me one of his $250 baseball gloves. In his words, I deserved it because I showed up every night to support the team. Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled a year ago when he turned down a demotion to Winston-Salem and was released. Aaron Poreda did the same thing for a kid who’s always out at Regions Park shortly before he was promoted to Chicago. Fernando Hernandez and Brian Omogrosso have also shown exceptional friendliness towards myself and other fans. I can speak to the quality of the character of players like Chris Getz, a baseball rat in the truest form, the recently traded Adam Russell, who’s nicer than you’d expect, Clevelan Santeliz, the class clown of the Barons, John Shelby III and many others.

Unfortunately, there are some jerks and bums along the way too. Many of you will be happy to know that Chris Young and Jerry Owens were not very nice at all. Nobody will be surprised to know that Robert Valido was known as the “Butcher of Birmingham.” He had more attitude than talent. I’m sure that the fans in Bowie have soured on him. He would be out of baseball if he was older than 24. Watching him play for parts of three seasons took it’s toll on me. Thomas Collaro seemed annoyed by loyal fan support. Of course, he didn’t earn the nickname “Mongo” because he hustled and was a smart player. Good luck in the Atlantic League, Tommy. The one player who boiled my blood to no end was Chris Kelly. The worst third basemen I’d ever seen. If he could strike out on two pitches, he would. He was the last player to get his uniform dirty, he had stone hands, lead feet and a thick head. I bit my tongue for three months in an attempt not to heckle him. I even held it at the end of the last game in 2007. I had to listen to his parents bicker behind me for a week and a half, his dad making excuses for his poor play while his mom got on him about it. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found out he wasn’t returning for the 2008 season. He’s toiling away in the Can-Am League now.

It may seem like I’m rambling on, but I think it is important to pass along to all of you the guys you should root for and hope for their success. If you need any more convincing, I think Gordon Beckham had exceptional character, especially on the field. He went all out 100%, not like a guy holding back until he got to the show. Even if he is a player with the ladies…

Next time on JPNese…well, I’ll take suggestions on Soxtalk this week for that.

Cheers,
JPN

However, the team has a new look to it than it did on Opening Day and throughout most of the first half. It started with Gordon Beckham getting promoted in late May to AAA Charlotte. Then, a couple weeks later, Aaron Poreda made his way to the big leagues. In mid-June, Brandon Allen was moved up to Charlotte and a couple weeks ago Tyler Flowers received the same fate, though Allen has since been traded. That leaves currently only three of the original seven top prospects remaining on the team, but that isn’t to say the Barons aren’t still the most talented team in the Sox farm system.

Despite more notable departures from Brian Omogrosso and Lucas Harrell, the Barons have been able to reload through the high-A Winston-Salem Dash, who also won their first half division title. Along with Danks, Christian Marrero, Dan Hudson (who started in Kannapolis this season) and Charlie Shirek joined the Barons to replace the departed prospects.

Overall, that’s a lot of movement, but nothing extraordinary. So who cares? We often ignore wins and losses at FutureSox. Let’s change that for now. The Barons were 48-21 in the first half and have gone 18-11 in the second half. They have cooled down, clearly missing some of the sparks of the departed Barons, but are still just one game out of first place in their division in the second half.

Looking at where they have lost their production, it’s mostly in the lineup. Hudson, Shirek and Justin Cassel (demoted from Charlotte in a swap with Harrell) have more than matched the production of Poreda, Omogrosso and Harrell. Hudson and Shirek have both been able to put themselves on the long-term radar of the big league club and should get a look next spring. Whether or not they will be competing for a spot on the team is another story. First they need to survive the last week before the trade deadline and the offseason without getting traded, not a lock with Ken Williams as GM.

Getting back to the Barons, they haven’t been able to replace the production of Beckham, Flowers and Allen. Receiving David Cook from Charlotte after a short promotion will help bolster the middle of the lineup, but it’s tough to replace a good hitting shortstop and catcher. The Barons will need Dayan Viciedo to continue to improve (or start improving again?) and John Shelby to get it going if they are going to succeed in the Southern League playoffs. Of course, the team may have another new look by then.

We included the player’s rank from our preseason rankings and his range in our ballots. The ranges show how consistent or inconsistent we were. Some of our voters love one guy for one reason or another and the rest of us may think he is nuts. The parentheses after the highest and lowest votes show how many people had that player ranked in that position.

An exciting thing at FutureSox that we have been working on, and teased during the Brandon Allen trade, is our prospect profiles. They include biographical information, previous FutureSox rankings, scouting reports and other information. The profiles that we have already created are linked below the player’s name on this list. You can also view them by clicking the “Prospect Profiles” link at the top of any FutureSox.com page. We will add more profiles as we go and a few more will be coming soon so check them out!

Leave us some comments and tell us what you think about our rankings or join in the discussion at Soxtalk. If you think we are out of our minds, let us know where we screwed up!

1. Tyler Flowers, C, AAA Charlotte
Age: 23
Range: 1st (5) to 2nd (4)
Previous rank: 5th
Player Profile

2. Dayan Viciedo, 3B, AA Birmingham
Age: 20
Range: 1st (3) to 3rd (3)
Previous: T-2nd
Player Profile

3. Jordan Danks, CF, AA Birmingham
Age: 22
Range: 1st to 4th
Previous: 6th
Player Profile

4. Dan Hudson, RH SP, AA Birmingham
Age: 22
Range: 4th (7) to 5th (2)
Previous: 12th
Player Profile

5. Jared Mitchell, OF, Low-A Kannapolis
Age: 20
Range: 3rd to 8th
Previous: Not yet in system
Player Profile

6. Dexter Carter, RH SP, Low-A Kannapolis
Age: 22
Range: 5th (2) to 14th
Previous: 8th
Player Profile

7. John Shelby III, OF, AA Birmingham
Age: 23
Range: 8th to 18th
Previous: 7th
Player Profile

8. Josh Phegley, C, Low-A Kannapolis
Age: 21
Range: 7th to 16th
Previous: Not yet in system
Player Profile

9. Brian Omogrosso, RH SP/RP, AAA Charlotte
Age: 25
Range: 6th to 21st (2)
Previous: 19th

10. Charlie Shirek, RH SP, AA Birmingham
Age: 23
Range: 6th to unranked
Previous: 24th

11. C.J. Retherford, 3B/2B, AA Birmingham
Age: 24
Range: 5th to unranked
Previous: T-25th
Player Profile

12. Nathan Jones, RH RP, High-A Winston-Salem
Age: 23
Range: 6th to 21st
Previous: 23rd
Player Profile

13. Jon Link, RH RP, AAA Charlotte
Age: 25
Range: 4th to unranked
Previous: 17th

14. Carlos Torres, RH SP, AAA Charlotte
Age: 26
Range: 7th to unranked
Previous: UR

15. Lucas Harrell, RH SP, AAA Charlotte
Age: 24
Range: 8th to unranked
Previous: 14th

16. Steven Upchurch, RH SP, Rookie Bristol
Age: 19
Range: 10th to unranked
Previous: 18th
Player Profile

17. Brent Morel, 3B, High-A Winston-Salem
Age: 22
Range: 9th to unranked
Previous: 11th

18. Justin Greene, OF, Low-A Kannapolis
Age: 23
Range: 17th to unranked (2)
Previous: UR

19. John Ely, RH SP, AA Birmingham
Age: 23
Range: 10th to unranked (3)
Previous: 20th

20. Charlie Leesman, LH SP, Low-A Kannapolis
Age: 22
Range: 9th to unranked (5)
Previous: UR

21. Jon Gilmore, 3B, Low-A Kannapolis
Age: 20
Range: 14th (2) to unranked (2)
Previous: 22nd

22. Stephen Sauer, RH SP, Low-A Kannapolis
Age: 22
Range: 13th to uranked (3)
Previous: UR

23. Stefan Gartrell, OF, AA Birmingham
Age: 25
Range: 9th to unranked (4)
Previous: UR

24. Jack Egbert, RH SP/RP, AAA Charlotte
Age: 26
Range: 11th to unranked (4)
Previous: 9th
Player Profile

25. Jhonny Nunez, RH RP, AAA Charlotte
Age: 23
Range: 12th to unranked (3)
Previous: UR

Trayce Thompson, OF*
Age: 18
Range: 7th to unranked
*We included Trayce Thompson in our ballots because we believe he will sign, but since he hasn’t yet, we won’t include him in the final rankings. If we were to include him, he would have slid in at 13th, ahead of Jon Link.

1 (29) – Kyle McCulloch, RHP, Texas
Stats to date: 25-33, 4,26 ERA, 1.479 WHIP, 279K/157BB, 449.2 IP

Kyle McCulloch, a soft tossing righty out of Texas was a pick very much in the mold of 2005 first rounder Lance Broadway, and to date, neither or these two look like future big leaguers. McCulloch made a nice start to his pro career after signing for just over $1m, he posted a 1.61 ERA at rookie level Great Falls in 22.1 IP with a 27/7 K/BB rate. He was then promoted to high-A Winston-Salem and this is where things quickly started to deteriorate, his strikeout rate plummeted from 10.9 K/9 to just 5.3 K/9 and his walk rate jumped from 2.8 BB/9 to 4.3 BB/9, this resulted in a 4.08 ERA and 1.53 WHIP. McCulloch improved at the start of the 2007 season but the strikeout rate was a still disappointing 6.5 K/9 and this only got worse with a late season promotion to Double-A Birmingham. The last season and a half McCulloch has done nothing more than just “exist”, he’s posted an ERA around 4.5, with a WHIP around 1.5 to go along with sub-5 K/9 rates. This year has been his best in terms of limiting the free passes with his BB/9 rate sitting at 2.1, but even still, it is near impossible to project a 24 year old Double-A “prospect” who is striking out a meager 4.3 batters per 9 innings as anything more than Minor League filler.

2 (73) – Matt Long, RHP, Miami (Ohio)
Stats to date: 19-22, 5.47 ERA, 1.535 WHIP, 237K/99BB, 303 IP

Matt Long tantalized scouts as a top Ohio high school prospect with his long, lean frame and projectable arm but he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2004 and was rehabilitating for most of 2005. He recovered well from the surgery however and with a strong 2006 season pushed his way up to the 2nd round of the draft. Long was assigned to Kannapolis after signing where he pitched out of the bullpen and the results were horrendous with him putting up an ERA in the low 8’s and a 1.90 WHIP. It wasn’t until last year that Long started to show some promise, but even then he was a 24 year old pitching in High Class-A, making his 8.1 K/9 rate a lot less impressive than it might have otherwise been. At this point Long does not look like much of a prospect and I’d be surprised if he ever sees more than a token stint in the Majors.

3 (105) – Justin Edwards, LHP, Olympia HS, Orlando
Stats to date: 15-19, 5.09 ERA, 1.472 WHIP, 186K/86BB, 252 IP

Edwards was drafted out of a Florida high school boasting an impressive three pitch arsenal, but it didn’t serve him well at the start of his pro career. After signing, Edwards was assigned to Bristol where he posted a 5.30 ERA and 1.70 WHIP. Walks were his main problem with his BB/9 rate sitting at 3.6. Edwards’ 2007 season wasn’t much better, but at 19 and pitching in A ball, he was pretty young for his level. Justin missed all of the 2008 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery but he recovered quickly and was able to take the mound again to start the 2009 season. Justin has been much better at limiting the walks this year posting a BB/9 rate of 1.4 as opposed to his career average of 3.1, he also has an impressive K/BB rate of 4.00. Because of the TJ surgery it is difficult to grade this pick as we haven’t seen enough from Edwards to get a true feel for his potential.

4 (135) – Tyler Reves, C, Texas Tech
Stats to date: .243 AVG, .297 OBP, .365 SLG, 33.1 XB%

Tyler Reves played just two years in the White Sox system before being released. He was drafted, believe it or not, as an offense-first catcher with scouts stating that his bat would have to carry him to the bigs as his defense behind the plate was severely lacking. Obviously we now know that the bat wasn’t much to rave about either.

5 (165) – John Shelby, 2B/OF, Kentucky
Stats to date: .283 AVG, .335 OBP, .475 SLG, 40.9 XB%

Shelby went undrafted out of high school but flashed some promising tools at Kentucky leading him to be drafted in the 5th round. After signing he was assigned to Great Falls and he showed us more or less exactly what was expected of him, a good speed/power combination with a lot of strikeouts and not a lot of walks. Shelby’s next two years went roughly the same as his first except with one big change; he was moved from 2B to the outfield. Shelby is one of this organization’s top 10-15 prospects and there is a lot of potential in him, but there is also a lot not to like about his game. I think of Shelby as a lesser Chris Young, he doesn’t have Young’s defensive ability and his power potential is a tick lower but the rest of their game is similar, they can both steal a lot of bases, they both strike out too much and neither of them walk enough, resulting in low batting averages and low on-base percentages. Shelby could become a starting ML outfielder but I consider him more as a potential 4th outfielder and pinch runner, but nonetheless, this pick should be considered a good one. Getting a possible starter in the 5th round without going over slot on the signing bonus is a job well done on the scout’s side.

6 (195) – Brian Omogrosso, RHP, Indiana State
Stats to date: 18-15, 3.98 ERA, 1.337 WHIP, 226K/137BB, 273.2 IP

Omogrosso’s first stop as a pro was Kannapolis, where he pitched out of the bullpen with good results, he posted a 3.18 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, but his peripherals were less impressive with his strikeout rate sitting at just 5.6 K/9. Since them Omogrosso’s K rate has improved and his Minor League average currently sits at 7.4 K/9, but his walk rate over the same time span is an unacceptable 4.5 BB/9, this must improve if he wants to make it out of the minors. I like him more as a reliever going forward because I’m not convinced he has the overall repertoire to be an effective starter and his fastball/slider combo should play much better out of the ‘pen. It will be interesting to see how he handles the more advanced AAA hitters (so far not that well), will Omogrosso be able to improve that walk rate or will he be exposed as a non-prospect?

7 (225) – Justin Cassel, RHP, UC Irvine
Stats to date: 21-17, 3.55 ERA, 1.391 WHIP, 225K/113BB, 329.1 IP

Cassel had a strong career at UC Irvine but was not drafted until the 7th round because there is, and was, nothing special about his game. He throws three average pitches with average control. Cassel was polished as a pitcher coming out of college, which is what allowed him to breeze through the lower minors, but his lack of a strikeout pitch or overwhelming ground ball rate means it is unlikely that he becomes a Major Leaguer. Expect Cassel to bounce around between AA and AAA for most, if not the rest of, his career.

8 (255) – Kent Gerst, CF, Fort Zumwalt West HS, MO
Stats to date: .257 AVG, .333 OBP, .345 SLG, 20.1 XB%

Gerst’s game is all about the speed, he’s very quick (a 70 on the 20-80 scale) and he’s also a strong defensive player but there is little else to his game at this point in time. He has a similar skill set to Jacoby Ellsbury, leading to comparisons between the two a few years ago, but Gerst hasn’t developed much since that point and has stagnated as a prospect. Gerst is still young so there is time for him to improve but if he is the next Ellsbury, I would have expected to see more from him in three years of pro ball.

9 (285) – Chris Duffy, 3B, Cypress Creek HS, Orlando DID NOT SIGN

10 (315) – Lee Cruz, OF, Tampa
Stats to date: .261 AVG, .300 OBP, .424 SLG, 40.5 XB%

Despite always being very old for his age Lee Cruz has posted underwhelming numbers. His extra base hit % is decent which has led to a reasonable .163 IsoP, but his plate discipline is very weak. For his minor league career he has over 3 strikeouts for every walk and that’s just not going to work. However, this is the 10th round and when you’re committed to not going over slot to sign players you end up with a lot of Lee Cruz’s.

Other notable selections:

22 (675) – Kanekoa Texeira, RHP, Saddleback CC
Stats to date: 18-11, 2.52 ERA, 1.197 WHIP, 187K/73BB, 199.2 IP

Dealt to the Yankee’s in the Swisher trade (you could argue we gave up the two best players in that deal), Kanekoa shows a lot of promise for a relief pitching prospect. Texeira has flashed very strong K rates thanks largely to a wicked slider which could result in a career as a back of the ‘pen reliever. This was a very good pick at this point of the draft.

31 (945) – Stefan Gartrell, OF, San Francisco
Stats to date: .283 AVG, .371 OBP, .464 SLG, 36.1 XB%

Gartrell has really emerged onto the prospect map for me this season with his much improved power. Before this year I considered him more of an organizational filler, but now I think he has legitimate big league potential. Gartrell still leaves a lot to be desired in the plate discipline department, and it is this lack of control that probably limits his ceiling to an all or nothing power option off the bench (think a poor man’s Nelson Cruz). If he continues to improve like he has been this year he could become a solid 4th outfielder.

If there’s anyone else you think I should have included just post the name in the comment box and I’ll edit them in.

Overview:
If I’m grading the draft I’d give it a D-, there were some solid picks, particularly Shelby, Omogrosso and Gartrell but there were an awful lot of very bad picks. Of the 50 players selected by the Sox 27 signed, so far none of them have reached the Majors. Only three of them are on my top 30 prospects list with just one of them in the top 10 (Shelby, at 9). That’s not good enough. Fortunately, the changes have been swift and we now have Doug Laumann back in charge. Doug was the scouting director between 2000 and 2003 before being demoted to pro scout. Let the good times roll in.

Cheers,
JPN

That still leaves eight players: unanimous picks, catcher Tyler Flowers and second baseman C.J. Retherford as well as third baseman Dayan Viciedo, outfielders Stefan Gartrell and David Cook and pitchers John Ely, Fernando Hernandez and Jhonny Nunez.

Flowers and Viciedo are scheduled to play in the Futures Game in St. Louis the day before, but according to Barons GM Jonathan Nelson, Flowers said he wanted to be in Birmingham for the game even if he can’t play. Flowers told the MLB travel agent that he wanted to get back ASAP so that he can at least be a part of the experience. No word on Viciedo’s plans.

The game will take place at Regions Park in Birmingham on July 13th with Barons manager Ever Magallanes heading up the South squad. A home run derby will take place the day before at historic Rickwood Field. It’s safe to say that Flowers will not participate in the derby much to my chagrin. I guess that leaves it up to David Cook to launch some surface to air bombs.

Cheers,
JPN

There are a number reasons that may be causing this. One could be the absence of key players like Jordan Danks and Brandon Allen from the lineup. Danks had settled in setting the table for the rest of the order. John Shelby III has done well picking up for Danks in his absence though. Allen was entrenched in the middle of the lineup. But, they took five of six games from Huntsville in dominant fashion without both of them. Although Allen did play in the first game. Lucas Harrell has fell back into his old ways of nibbling and not attacking hitters. Brian Omogrosso is gone too, but he wasn’t as successful in his recent outings before his promotion to Charlotte. Added on to all this is the fact that Birmingham is completely devoid of left handed pitchers, starters and relievers. On the other hand, newcomers Christian Marrero, Daniel Hudson and Lee Cruz have already contributed to the Barons attack. Marrero can hit the ball to all fields and has shown me why he is a .300 hitter, Hudson is a potential ace in the making and Cruz could get hot and not cool off the rest of the year just like in 2008. Or is it just that the Barons have set the bar so high for winning this season that a three game slide can cause mild alarm?

Cheers,
JPN

The 25-year-old was 7-2 with a 4.19 in his second season with the Barons. The Birmingham News reported that he would start in the Knights’ bullpen.

Omogrosso was a reliever at Indiana State when the Sox drafted him in the 6th round in 2006. He went straight to the Kannapolis bullpen and pitched well enough to start 2007 with the Warthogs in high A. There, the 6′4″ 230 pounder made 26 relief appearances and 14 starts. Last year Brian split time between starting and relief with the Barons, but only pitched 39 innings due to multiple injuries. He had a 3.69 ERA with an awful strikeout to walk ratio (26 to 25).

This season Omogrosso got off to a hot start, but has struggled lately. After his 7th start of the season on May 13, Omogrosso had a 1.98 ERA in 41 innings. Since then he has a 7.03 ERA in 32 innings over his last 6 starts. He has given up 5 or more runs in four of those starts, though he did not allow an earned run in the other two starts during that span. Brian was still striking out batters during his recent slump (27 in those 32 innings), but walked 24. This is a contrast after walking just 16 in his first 41 innings.

It is possible the Sox think Omogrosso’s arm is fatiguing considering his history with injuries (including a Tommy John Surgery in 2004 after his sophomore season at Indiana State). He was never a starter for the Sycamores and the Sox had never made him a full time starter until the start of this season. It has always been believed that his future would be in the bullpen because he possesses a plus fastball that sits in the mid 90s and his secondary stuff is not as sharp.

Omogrosso is the third player promoted from the Barons’ squad that has dominated the Southern League so far. Gordon Beckham and Aaron Poreda have joined the big league club. All three have been major contributors to why the Barons are 44-20 and have already clinched the first half division title.

Here is a quick look at how each of our top 25 is doing so far this season as well as what direction they would be moving on the list as a result of what we’ve seen in April and May. FutureSox will be posting updated rankings at the midway point of the season.

1. Gordon Beckham (White Sox) Pos: IF Bat-Throw: R-R Stock up
Beckham did well enough in AA Birmingham to earn a promotion to Charlotte in late May and got off to a hot start with the Knights. His Major League debut came after just 7 AAA games. You could argue his stock is up since the start of the season, even though he was already the Sox top prospect by a wide margin, since he got to the big league club a lot sooner than originally expected. He switched to 3B with the Knights and will play a bit there with the Sox, for now. The move doesn’t seem like a natural fit for Beckham, whose arm has been in question, but it got him to the Majors sooner.
T-2. Dayan Viciedo (AA Birmingham) Pos: 3B B-T: R-R Stock unchanged
At 20 years old, holding your own in AA is impressive and that’s what Dayan has done so far. He hit just .234 in April, but showed significant improvement in May, posting a .297 batting average. Patience and power have not come yet (just six walks and 11 extra-base hits in over 200 AB), but as long as steady improvement remains evident it appears Viciedo is on track to do what the Sox thought he would.
T-2. Brandon Allen (AA Birmingham) Pos: 1B B-T: L-R Stock unchanged
The 6′2″ 235 pound slugger has done more of the same that we’ve seen from him the last two seasons. Allen has a batting average hovering around .300, a decent eye at the plate and notable power so far in his transition to AA.
4. Aaron Poreda (AA Birmingham) Pos: LHP Stock unchanged
The flame throwing lefty has done well in Birmingham dating to his mid-season promotion to the Barons last year. The White Sox are taking it slowly with him, but he likely will make his Major League debut this season in some fashion. The strikeouts are still there (better than one per inning), but his walks are up which is a concern. It still remains uncertain whether or not he will be a starter or a reliever in the Majors, but the Sox will give him every chance to be a starter.
5. Tyler Flowers (AA Birmingham) Pos: C B-T: R-R Stock unchanged
Despite a less than spectacular batting average, Flowers has a .439 OBP. It’s hard not to love that from a catcher, especially with a lot of power to go with it (15 XBH in 148 AB).
6. Jordan Danks (AA Birmingham) Pos: CF B-T: L-R Stock up
The younger Danks overcame a high strikeout rate when he started the season at Winston-Salem to earn a promotion to join the prospect-laden Barons. He’s hit for a high average and drawn a lot of walks for both clubs. Also, Jordan is hitting for the power scouts worried might never show up for him. The extremely athletic, slick fielding outfielder is now looking at an ETA of early or mid 2010 instead of 2011.
7. John Shelby (AA Birmingham) Pos: OF B-T: R-R Stock down
Shelby is still hitting for power and is drawing more walks, but is hitting just .246 in AA. The lack of contact is worrisome, but he has been hitting better in the last several games.
8. Dexter Carter (low-A Kannapolis) Pos: RHP Stock unchanged
The 6′6″ righty put up staggering numbers for Great Falls (89 K in 68.2 IP with a 2.23 ERA) after being drafted in the 13th round of last year’s draft. So far this year it’s more of the same for the Intimidators. The strikeouts are still coming in bunches and his walks are even down a bit from last season.
9. Jack Egbert (AAA Charlotte) Pos: RHP Stock down
Egbert got called up to the Sox in late April and got roughed up in two outings from the bullpen. Quickly he was sent back down and his numbers in AAA have not been encouraging. Recently he was put back into the Knights’ rotation for the first time since being a full time starter last year. The results have been better so far.
10. Jeff Marquez (AAA Charlotte) Pos: RHP Stock down
Four awful starts preceded an injury that has kept him out of action since April 28. It doesn’t look like Marquez has much of a future, which is a quick change from the Spring Training rumblings. If he can get healthy there might be hope, but it’s hard to like Marquez’s prospects right now.
11. Brent Morel (high-A Winston-Salem) Pos: 3B Stock unchanged
The Sox 3rd rounder last year has struggled with contact, but has brought some power and good defense. He’s not a top tier prospect, but adds some depth in the system at the hot corner.
12. Dan Hudson (high-A Winston-Salem) Pos: RHP Stock up
Along with his former Old Dominion teammate, Carter, Hudson put up sparkling numbers at Great Falls after being drafted in the 5th round last year. He started this year for the I’s and had a jaw dropping 30-2 strikeout to walk ratio in 22 innings. That was good enough to get him moved up to the Dash, where he has been less impressive. So far he has walked 10 in 24 innings, which is odd considering the great control he showed between two levels as a pro.
13. Eduardo Escobar (low-A Kannapolis) Pos: SS B-T: S-R Stock down
Escobar has to be one of the biggest disappointments of the young season in the White Sox system. A hot start at Great Falls earned him a promotion to Kannapolis last year with below average results. At only 20 years old, he got some attention on the prospect radar, but this season he has regressed. Escobar got rave reviews for his defense, but will have to hit better for his glove to carry him if it is as good as advertised.
14. Lucas Harrell (AA Birmingham) Pos: RHP Stock down
More of the same for Harrell, good production with mediocre peripherals. He has bounced back decently from his shoulder injuries that cost him all of 2007 and two months in 2008. Still though, it’s hard to see Harrell as much of a prospect, but if he continues to pitch like this he has a slim chance at getting a look as the last guy in the bullpen down the road a la Egbert or Wes Whisler.
15. Jose Martinez (low-A Kannapolis) Pos: OF B-T: R-R Stock unchanged
Martinez has been hurt all year.
16. Justin Cassel (AAA Charlotte) Pos: RHP Stock down
Justin is 1-6 so far for the Knights. It’s too soon to completely write him off, but several guys have passed him on the White Sox depth chart.
17. Jon Link (AAA Charlotte) Pos: RHP Stock up
After leading the minors in saves last year with 35, Link is doing ever better this year for the Knights. With a sub 2 ERA and a K-BB ratio over 3 to 1, he should at least be on the radar of the White Sox.
18. Steven Upchurch (extended Spring Training) Pos: RHP Stock unchanged
Upchurch will likely pitch for Great Falls after pitching for Bristol last year.
19. Brian Omogrosso (AA Birmingham) Pos: RHP Stock up
Omogrosso has been converted into a full-time starter this season. His ERA is below 4, but he is walking far too many to be considered a good prospect as a starter. It’s not unthinkable that he has a moderate future as a reliever though. His mid 90s fastball keeps him on the Major League radar.
20. John Ely (AA Birmingham) Pos: RHP Stock up
Ely has transitioned well to AA this year. He’s not blowing away the competition, but he is outperforming a few other Barons’ starters.
21. Lance Broadway (Mets organization) Pos: RHP
Broadway was traded to the Mets for catcher Ramon Castro after splitting time between the Knights and the Sox. It seems like a good return for Broadway, who has a limited future in the Majors.
22. Jon Gilmore (low-A Kannapolis) Pos: 3B B-T: R-R Stock unchanged
This far down the list, expectations aren’t that high, but Gilmore has big upside. He’s been streaky this season and has shown improvement as the season has gone on, but his overall numbers still remain poor.
23. Nathan Jones (high-A Winston-Salem) Pos: RHP Stock up
Another high upside guy towards the bottom of our rankings, Jones has Major League stuff with no control. The control has been improving this season and he earned an early promotion from Kannapolis. He has given up just two hits and no walks in his first 7.1 IP for the Dash. Hopefully Jones has begun to figure it out.
24. Charlie Shirek (high-A Winston-Salem) Pos: RHP Stock unchanged
Shirek is replicating his Kannapolis stats from a year ago. If he continues this at AA next season, he will shoot up the prospect rankings.
T-25. David Cook (AA Birmingham) Pos: OF B-T: R-R Stock unchanged
Cook isn’t hitting for a high average, but his OBP and power remain high. He is barely a prospect as is because of his age (27), but he keeps performing well.
T-25. C.J. Retherford (AA Birmingham) Pos: IF B-T: R-R Stock up
Retherford has hit well at every level, especially so far this season with the Barons. It might be time to think about him as a possible utility player in the Majors.