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!

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)

But in the last two years or so, the White Sox have made big strides in getting their system restocked with legitimate talent. Three improved drafts combined with some shrewd dealings from “The Gambler” Kenny Williams, have put the Sox system back into the middle of the pack, or even better than that, if you look at the talent that has already ascended to the major league team in that period. The system is producing prospects with real chances at major league success at a much higher rate nowadays.

In order to best illustrate this ascension, some might point to the meteoric rise of Gordon Beckham, the team’s first round pick in 2009 and current Rookie of the Year candidate. Or Dan Hudson’s march from Low-A all the way to the big club in one season. Surely no one would deny these shining examples, but they are single players in a huge organization, and one might be tempted to call them flukes, or simply very good luck combined with 2008’s high draft position. Show me something more, you say? Show me the depth of talent required for a minor league system to truly stand out?

I give you, the pitching staff of the 2009 Kannapolis Intimidators.

Kannapolis, the Sox Low-A affiliate, put up a chubby 5.12 ERA in 2007. In 2008, it dropped more than a full point to 4.08. And here in 2009, it dropped 80 more points to 3.24, 2nd best in the South Atlantic League by just .01. They were also 2nd in strikeouts, 2nd in WHIP, and led the league with 15 shutouts. Not surprisingly they finished the season at 82-57, best record in the 16-team league, despite being below the median in most offensive categories. And the pitching staff that achieved this was filled mostly with players drafted or signed since the 2008 June draft, not much more than a year ago.

Kanny’s starting rotation featured a number of very talented arms, led by Hudson, drafted in the 5th round in 2008. Hudson appeared in just 4 games, but dominated, posting a scant 1.23 ERA to go along with 30 strikeouts against just 2 walks in 22 innings. No wonder he was quickly promoted to Winston-Salem, then Birmingham, then Charlotte, and ended his improbable season with the big club. Lefty Charlie Leesman (11th round in ‘08) opened some eyes by finishing at 13-5 with a solid 3.05 ERA, while increasing his velocity. Stephen Sauer started in the bullpen, but was quickly moved into the starting rotation, where he displayed plus control (just 19 walks in 142 IP), posted a nice 3.38 ERA and struck out nearly a batter an inning to give him a stellar 6.47 K/BB ratio. Dexter Carter (13th round, ‘08) staked a 3.13 ERA and struck out 143 batters in 118 innings, which helped out the big club as he was traded to San Diego as part of the Jake Peavy package. Gregory Infante (free agent foreign signee, 2006) posted a 3.26 ERA and a skill for inducing ground balls, before being promoted to Winston-Salem.

Replacing some of the departed starters were Nevin Griffith (2nd round, 2007) and bolt-from-the-blue 2009 37th round pick Joe Serafin. Griffin had a 3.86 ERA while coming back from major injury. Serafin, a lefty out of Vermont, was promoted after dominating in rookie ball and contributed a 3-1 record, 2.98 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 42 innings for the Intimidators. A soft-tossing, control-focused lefty picked in the late rounds inexplicably succeeding in A ball in his draft year? I could swear I’ve heard this story before.

But the talent didn’t end with the rotation; the Kanny bullpen was rock steady, and propelled some new names onto the prospect radar. The pen was anchored by closer Dan Remenowsky, who posted numbers that were nothing short of eye-popping: In 63.1 innings he posted a 1.99 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, just 16 walks (2.27 BB/9) and a staggering 109 strikeouts (15.49 K/9). All this plus 25 saves and 7 wins from a guy who went undrafted, and was signed in 2008 as a free agent out of an independent league.

Setting up Remenowsky in the pen were a number of prospects worth keeping an eye on. The best prospect of the bunch is hard-throwing right-hander Nathan Jones (5th round 2007), who posted a 2.41 ERA, a miniscule .129 average against and 25 strikeouts in just 18.1 innings, before being promoted to Winston-Salem. Eventually replacing Jones in the setup role was 2009 5th round pick Kyle Bellamy. The right-hander pitched a brief 3 games in Bristol (Rookie) before being promoted to Kanny, where he was nothing short of dominant: 1.42 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, and 30 strikeouts against just 2 walks in 19 innings. 2008 4th round pick Drew O’Neill contributed a solid 2.54 ERA to the bullpen as well, and while his K and BB numbers weren’t great, he displayed an ability to induce ground balls, posting a 3.41 GO/AO. Other solid contributors who were all promoted in-season to Winston-Salem included Charlis Burdie (1.76 ERA, .122 BAA, 60 K in 56.1 IP), Tyson Corley (0.95 ERA, 5.55 GO/AO, 38 K in 38 IP), Daniel Albritton (1.76 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 18 K in 15.1 IP) and Kevin Asselin (2.74 ERA, 49 K in 49.1 IP). Keep an eye on 21 year-old Santos Rodriguez, acquired from Atlanta in the Vazquez/Flowers trade. He only pitched 4 innings at the end of the season, but made an impression by striking out 8 in 4 innings of work against just 1 walk, allowing no runs. Rodriguez can really dial it up with the fastball and is worth following.

What does all this mean for the organization? The Kanny pitching staff represents a wave of pitching talent moving through a Sox system that hasn’t seen a deep group like this in some time. As they start 2010 in Winston-Salem (High-A), or in some cases Birmingham (AA), they will reach a make-or-break point, and we’ll get a better idea of who among them has the right stuff. Odds are against any given prospect, but that’s why it is far better to have a depth of talented prospects to begin with, then to have only a few and hope for the best. So keep an eye on the Barons and Dash’s box scores next year, and you just might see some future major leaguers separating from the pack.

The most notable Baron would have to be Gordon Beckham. Beckham was only in Birmingham for a couple months, but he impressed enough to make it to the Majors by June and is currently a Rookie of the Year candidate, if not favorite. Beckham has the ability to hit .280-.300 with 20 HR at a premium position (either 3B , SS or 2B) with a good walk rate and big RBI potential. He is the type of player the White Sox can build around. The Sox definitely needed a solid young positional player to come through because the best hitters of the lineup were aging free agents to be like Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye. Beckham has put up an OPS over .800 on an 80-90 RBI pace for a whole season. What more could a Sox fan ask for?

Replacing Beckham as the top positional prospect in the system has undoubtedly been Tyler Flowers. Flowers was the main returning piece in the Javier Vazquez trade with Atlanta. Initially, there were questions about his defense and how his bat would make the transition to AA. Flowers answered both positively. His defense made major improvements, Southern League managers even voted him the best defensive catcher in the league, and he absolutely mashed the ball (.302 average, .445 OBP, .993 OPS). His AAA numbers weren’t spectacular, but he didn’t have much of a chance to adjust. Jim Thome’s trade before the August waiver deadline opened the door for some September playing time for Flowers, though he has still only seen limited action.

In the Majors, Flowers has looked like Josh Fields with a much better batting eye. Now before everyone freaks out with a Josh Fields comparison, I did say Flowers was going to strike out a lot this September. His swing is still long and the stats have translated as expected. What’s interesting is that while his contact rate is awful, his walk rate and batting eye has been very impressive. Flowers has 8 strikeouts and 3 walks in 16 at-bats. He should be able to adjust and this is a tiny sample size anyway, but I’m more encouraged about his ability to draw walks and go deep into counts despite a horrid contact rate. It’s not like pitchers are giving him any respect. The power hasn’t shown up yet, just one double, but I’m not worried about that right now. All things considered, 2009 has been a great year for Flowers. General Manager Kenny Williams and Manager Ozzie Guillen have a lot of tough decisions this offseason and Flowers’ situation for 2010 is going to be one of the tougher ones. Can they trust his bat to play DH? Can they risk having him backup A.J. Pierzynski and only play a few times a week? It will be one of the bigger storylines of the offseason.

Probably the biggest storyline of the White Sox minor leagues this year has been the emergence of Dan Hudson. Hudson, an ‘08 draftee like Beckham, has recorded wins at five levels of pro baseball this season. A mind blowing feat for two reasons: that he successfully moved through the system so quickly and that he did so without skipping a level. He entered this season as a sleeper prospect, but quickly asserted himself as the top pitching prospect in the system. In 16.2 innings with the Sox so far, Hudson has been mostly impressive. His velocity is as advertised in the 93-95 m.p.h. range and he has a 3.24 ERA. His strikeout rate has remained solid, but he has walked 9 batters in his 2 starts. For the first start you might be able to argue nerves, especially after he didn’t walk any in his 3 relief appearances. He seemed to be nibbling, afraid to attack hitters. Hopefully the issue is a mental problem that can be easily fixed, as opposed to an actual lack of control. Like with Flowers, I’ll be optimistic because it’s really hard to evaluate a September call-up. Hudson was probably getting a lot of his strikeouts in the minors by getting hitters to chase with 2 strikes. That won’t work in the Majors, but Hudson has the ability to be a solid Major League starter down the road. If he doesn’t get traded, he will probably enter 2010 as the favorite for the 5th starter spot.

The other candidate for the 5th starter spot in 2010, Carlos Torres, has had control problems in the Majors that look more like a long-term concern. He was barely on the prospect radar to start 2009, but had a spectacular season for Charlotte. I think he will be a future long reliever type, but watching him walk 4 in 6 innings today against the Indians doesn’t make you think he can start in the bigs. You simply can’t walk 17 in 27.1 innings and expect to succeed in the Majors. Sure, he could get better, but it’s really hard to see a major improvement. Still, Torres had a great 2009 to put himself in this discussion and you can never have enough pitching options.

The four mentioned so far all are with the big league club currently. Others lower in the minors have had successful years as well. Brent Morel had a strong second half while playing at high-A in his first full professional season. C.J. Retherford continues to prove people wrong and will have another chance in the Arizona Fall League. The system still isn’t top tier, especially after two in-season trades, but the depth is improving after being one of the worst systems in baseball in 2007.

The Birmingham Barons were one of Minor League Baseball’s best teams this year and their 92-47 record was the best in the team’s history. Their roster at the start of the season was stacked with many of the organizations top prospects including Gordon Beckham, Tyler Flowers, Brandon Allen, Dayan Viciedo, Aaron Poreda and John Shelby, and as you would have expected, they made light work of opposing Southern League teams. Promotions, trades and call-ups removed many of their best players from the first couple of months of the season but they were replaced, and replaced well, by players such as Christian Marrero, Jordan Danks and Charlie Shirek, added to that, mainstays such as John Ely and C.J. Retherford ensured that the Barons didn’t skip a beat in the second half. Now ready to make a run for the Southern League crown, the Barons will start their best of 5 series with Jacksonville Suns on Thursday.

The Winston-Salem Dash make their way into the playoff largely thanks to playing in a very weak Carolina League South. You may think that’s a little unfair, saying they’re only in the playoff due to playing in a weak division, but when you have a 4.30 ERA (2nd worst in the CAR) and are just midpack in runs scored, it’s unlikely that you were a good team. The Dash actually allowed more runs (642) than they scored (626). Winston-Salem’s offense has been led by a personal favourite of mine, Seth Loman, and postseason All-Star at 3B, Brent Morel, they also have Carolina League manager of the year Joe McEwing in their corner as well as a rotation led by Justin Edwards and Dylan Axelrod. The Dash will play their first postseason game tomorrow night against the Salem Red Sox, who are expected to start Daisuke Matsuzaka, and while anything can and often does happen in the playoffs, don’t expect the Carolina League crown to be coming the Dash’s way.

The Kannapolis Intimidators’ season has been all about their fantastic second half, in which they have a 45-24 record and a .652 winning percentage. Pitching was this team’s M.O. as they led the whole of the South Atlantic League with 530 runs allowed thanks to a rotation fronted by two of this organizations more intriguing starters, Charlie Leesman and Stephen Sauer (having Dexter Carter and Dan Hudson for a time didn’t hurt either). Even with losing one of it’s better arms, Charlis Burdie to the Dash, the Intimidators have one of the most formidable bullpen’s in the Minors, backed by Dan Remonowsky, ’09 draftee Kyle Bellamy and late season promotion Santos Rodriguez. Other ’09 draftees have played large parts in this team’s second half run, most notably two early round picks Jared Mitchell and Josh Phegley but also one later round pick, Joe Serafin. The Intimidators will play their first postseason game tomorrow against the Lakewood BlueClaws, with Charlie Leesman getting the start.

The final Sox affiliate to make the playoffs are the defending Pioneer League champions Great Falls, who swept their way past the Orem Owlz in the 2008 championship series behind the arms of Dan Hudson and Dexter Carter. This years Voyagers have been led by a steady dose of pitching and offense where the rank 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Pioneer League. The Voyagers have an old team for a rookie ball affiliate and as it stands Trayce Thompson is the only teen on their roster, he’s also roughly 2 ½ years younger than anyone else on the team, and it is partly for this reason that they don’t appear to be brimmed with future Major Leaguers. The Great Falls Voyagers will call upon it’s offensive stars Jose Vargas, Nick Ciolli, Johny Celis and Kyle Colligan to lead the team to victory when they start their playoff run against the Missoula Osprey’s this Saturday the 12th.

Hudson, a fifth round pick in the 2008 draft out of Old Dominion has compiled a 14-5 record in 26 starts this year with a 2.32 ERA and 0.943 WHIP. He has achieved this level of success with a great strikeout rate (10.14 K/9) and walk rate (2.08 BB/9), pitching off of his low to mid 90’s fastball, biting slider, change-up and occasional curve, all of which he throws from a modified 3/4 arm slot. Hudson’s declining ground ball rate could be viewed as a possible cause for concern, but he should be able to supplant the fly balls somewhat with his strikeout rate.

Hudson came into the season ranked as our 12th best prospect in the White Sox system, he was duly bumped up to 4th in our midseason update, and he would currently rank as a close 2nd behind Tyler Flowers in my personal list if I was making one today. It is currently unknown as to what role Hudson will occupy with the Sox, but due to his innings total it is likely that we will see him out of the bullpen.

With the White Sox season seemingly over, the promotions of Hudson and Flowers will give us some reason to watch the Sox over this last month of the season and hopefully we don’t see either of them in the minor leagues again.

Before comparing, let’s look at what Hudson has done in his first full professional season. Between the four levels he has a 14-5 record with a 2.26 ERA. He has struck out 154 in 139.1 innings and walked just 30. That’s good for a 9.95 K/9 and 1.94 BB/9. The impressive and encouraging part about Hudson’s numbers this year is that his numbers didn’t drop off from High-A to AA. In fact, Hudson finished his AA stint with 28 scoreless innings in a row. In just three starts with the Knights the numbers haven’t been as flashy, but he still has an ERA under 3 and it’s too early to make a significant judgment. Regardless, he has dominated this season like few have.

The first comparison to come to mind is Brandon McCarthy, who pitched well in three levels in 2004. McCarthy is the only other prospect in recent memory to do so. The others chosen to reference Hudson’s 2009 season are Jon Rauch from 2000, Gio Gonzalez from 2005 and Fautino De Los Santos from 2007. For a basic comparison, let’s look at K/9, BB/9 and ERA.

Hudson (Low-A, High-A, AA, AAA): 2.26 ERA, 9.9 K/9, 1.9 BB/9
Rauch (High-A, AA): 2.66 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 2.7 BB/9
McCarthy (Low-A, High-A, AA): 2.67 ERA, 10.6 K/9, 1.6 BB/9
Gonzalez (Low-A, High-A): 2.82 ERA, 11.2 K/9, 3.2 BB/9
De Los Santos (Low-A, High-A): 2.65 ERA, 11.3 K/9, 3.2 BB/9

Clearly, all five dominated. Each had an ERA under 3, each struck out more than a batter per inning and each had at least passable control. Hudson has the lowest ERA of the bunch, but also the lowest K rate. McCarthy’s superior strikeout to walk ratio probably makes him look like the best prospect of the bunch and his Major League success would support that relative to the others, but more on him later.

Taking a little bit deeper look at Hudson, moving up the levels so quickly has dented his stat line a bit. As you would expect, he has needed a few starts to adjust to a new level after promotion. After his first 5 starts with the Dash, the former Old Dominion righty had a 4.50 ERA and had walked 10 in 24 innings. His next 3 starts (which wound up being his last 3) he had a 2.14 ERA and walked just 3 in 21 innings. In Birmingham, two of Hudson’s first three starts were mediocre at best, but he only allowed 2 earned runs in his next 6 starts (38 IP). It appears he is dealing with the same thing in Charlotte. His first start was sub par, but his last two outings have been better. Needing time to adjust to a new level isn’t rare, but it’s worth mentioning since Hudson has had to go through this three times this season, which is extremely rare.

Getting back to McCarthy, Hudson’s stats before pitching for Charlotte are eerily similar to McCarthy’s from ‘04. At the same three levels, Hudson’s stats almost mirror McCarthy’s in strikeouts and walks. Hudson’s combined stats from Kannapolis, Winston-Salem and Birmingham: 2.19 ERA, 10.4 K/9, 1.8 BB/9. McCarthy’s again for reference: 2.67 ERA, 10.6 K/9, 1.6 BB/9. Impressively similar. It’s a good thing that of the four pitchers used in this comparison McCarthy is the closest statistically because to date he has had the most success as a Major League starter of the bunch. De Los Santos is trying to overcome injuries and has barely pitched since ‘07. Gonzalez is currently a “AAAA” pitcher that has seen his control issues really kill him in the Majors. Rauch has turned into a nice reliever after failing to make it as a starter, but after being named Minor League Player of the Year in 2000 by Baseball America and the Sporting News, expectations were higher for the tallest pitcher in MLB history. It’s worth noting that none of these four are currently with the Sox and all but Rauch were gone within a year.

So what does this mean for Hudson’s career outlook? Does this mean he’s destined to be the next Brandon McCarthy? No. All it really means is that Hudson is having the best season a White Sox minor league pitcher has had since McCarthy. The statistics make a strong argument for Major League success for Hudson, but even McCarthy has only been an average MLB starter when healthy. Of course, average starting pitchers have long careers and make lots of money so there’s nothing wrong with that.

In 9 starts with the Barons, Hudson was 7-0 with a 1.60 ERA. He struck out 63 and walked just 10 in 56.1 innings. He currently has a 28 inning scoreless streak. It’s astonishing what he has done this season. Between Kannapolis (who he only made 4 starts for), Winston-Salem (only 8 starts there) and Birmingham he has a 12-5 record with a 2.19 ERA with 142 strikeouts and 25 walks in 123.1 innings. It’s hard not to love a strikeout to walk ratio of almost 6:1.

This promotion might be a sign that Hudson is getting strong consideration for spot starts with the White Sox until Jake Peavy gets healthy. With Bartolo Colon on the disabled list, it seems Carlos Torres and Hudson are the favorites to start for the Sox when a 5th starter is needed.

In other news, outfielder Stefan Gartrell was promoted to Charlotte as well. Gartrell had 19 HR and 70 RBI for the Barons. He is a big power bat that likely has a future as a Major League bench player. He is 25 and repeated Birmingham this season, but has impressed with the bat this year, especially at spacious Regions Park.

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.