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.

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.

Lucy, 26, is hitting below the Mendoza line for the Knights and Armstrong, 25, hasn’t been much better. Both have received praise for their abilities behind the plate, but have regressed offensively this season. They still could become Major League backups, but their window of opportunity is shrinking quickly with a group of Sox catching prospects working their way up the system.

The Javier Vazquez trade brought in Tyler Flowers, who is emerging as one of the top prospects in the entire system, the draft brought in Josh Phegley from Indiana with the 38th overall pick and foreign player development brought in Miguel Gonzalez, an 18 year-old backstop who is raking in the Appy League right now.

Flowers, recently named to the Futures Game, is a big power bat that has to work on his defense to stay at catcher. The Sox seem to have put a lot of faith in him defensively, saying they have no plans to move him, but scouts have questioned whether they can get away with that. Flowers needs to improve his footwork when popping up to make throws, but has shown improvement at blocking and handling pitchers. Regardless, his bat will get him to the Majors and he is currently the heir apparent to A.J. Pierzynski.

Phegley is another hitting catcher with defensive questions. Offensively, he killed the ball in the Big Ten the last two seasons. Some scouts have mentioned his power potential may not be all that great, but obviously catchers don’t need to be Joe Mauer to be productive. Similar to Flowers, he has a good, not great arm with problems with his footwork. Phegley has also been questioned in regards to his ability to block balls in the dirt. Phegley’s defense still projects to about average and he seems likely to stay at catcher as a pro. The one thing scouts seem to agree on most is that his makeup is excellent. Phegley should get through the system quickly and push Flowers if Tyler remains behind the plate.

Gonzalez is still mostly unknown. Right now we are calling him a prospect because he is 18 and hotter than a Matt Thornton fastball. Last year he hit .294 in the Dominican Summer League with no home runs. Even at 17, that’s not eye popping. However, he did draw 16 walks to just 18 strikeouts in 143 at-bats and was 8/9 in stolen base attempts. It’s extremely hard to base anything off of DSL stats, but he already has 2 home runs for Bristol in less than 30 AB. Gonzalez, at the very least, is a bat worth watching.