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)

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.

I think a much debated topic this season has been the performance of John Shelby III. Many have been disappointed, which is understandable. I have been a fan of his since he was at Kentucky, so I was looking forward to seeing him play this year. His numbers this year have taken an obvious dip, but the two most significant factors that have caused that are the vastness of Regions Park and his batting average. Although he did hit a 408 foot home run to dead center the other day to lead off the game. My only concern is his average.

The good news is he’s been very productive with the hits he has gotten. He has been on a role in August and with a good finish should manage to get to 110 hits for the year. He’s still on pace to match his stolen base numbers from last year. He’s always has a chance to swipe two bags when he gets on base. Shelby has also lowered his strikeouts significantly, he struck out 98 times last year, but only 74 times this year.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I think that the White Sox have altered his approach offensively. In the past, he was a middle of the order, aggressive RBI guy. C.J. Retherford and Shelby carried the 2008 Winston-Salem club for most of the year. Especially after Brandon Allen’s promotion, they played their way into the Carolina League playoffs. For most of this year though, Shelby has spent significant time as the Barons leadoff hitter. The arrival of Jordan Danks from Winston-Salem put that on hold. So, a change of approach, plus inconsistent playing time and the fact that he’s hit just about everywhere in the lineup has slowed his progress.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Treybone return to Birmingham next year with a more focused approach offensively. He is only recently turned 24. He can be more of a leader, and the team won’t be as crowded as it has been this year. Stefan Gartrell certainly wasn’t hurt by repeating AA. In fact I expect him, Jim Gallagher, Christian Marrero, Brent Morel, Tyler Kuhn and possibly others to bring Birmingham another first half title in 2010.

I know I haven’t mentioned his defense, but there’s nothing to say. It’s flawless. He has been solid in either LF or CF in 2009. His arm strength is decidedly underrated. His adjustment to the outfield isn’t an issue whatsoever.

He definitely has a future as a major leaguer, but if I had to be honest, I’d say it’s as a National League player. His skill set to me just screams senior circuit. But, with the state of the game changing, he could be a valuable asset to a team in either league. He could be a younger Dewayne Wise as well as bring more offensive production to the table.

As usual, I will take requests for next week’s edition of JPNese at Soxtalk.

Cheers,
JPN

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the first name I searched was Dayan Viciedo. Dayan’s been branded a butcher by many and for good reason as he’s racked up a substantial number of errors, but our man on the scene JPN wrote in his inaugural blog post that he thought the branding of “butcher” was harsh, and that Viciedo is more than capable of making the plays at 3B, so who do the numbers agree with, JPN, or the general consensus?
So far this season Dayan Viciedo comes in at +3 runs above the average Double-A fielder at 3B, which pro-rates out to +6 runs above average per 150 games. This was pleasantly surprising to me and even if we use an MLE translation he still comes out as a respectable -3 runs below average if he were playing in the Majors today, not bad for somebody branded by the scouts as too big and too slow to stick at third.

Next up is Jordan Danks. Jordan is considered by many to be a very good defensive centre fielder, thanks in a large part to his speed and athleticism but also to his sound baseball instincts. Jordan has split his time between two levels this year and with Winston-Salem he was actually a -7 runs below average fielder in CF (in very limited playing time), with Birmingham the number is better, with him coming in at +1 run above the average Double-A CF, and last year at Kannapolis he was a +2 runs above average. Still, I must say I am a little disappointed by these numbers and perhaps our hopes of perennial gold glove defense from Jordan should be tempered. I’d be willing to bet that the -7 defense at W-S ends up being an anomaly but as of right now it’s too early to tell.

John Shelby III is next on the list. From what I’ve heard John is supposed to be a passable centre fielder but more of a corner outfielder and left fielder in particular due to his less than stellar arm strength, but here’s what the numbers say.
Splitting his time between CF and LF, Shelby is a combined +12 runs above average and his +10 runs in CF project out to a ridiculous +28 runs above average per 150 games (+15 is considered outstanding). Last season Shelby was +4 runs above average again splitting his time between CF and LF and in 2007 he went a combined -20 runs below average (-10 at 2B, -9 in CF, -1 in RF). This either tells us that he’s made rapid improvements in the outfield, which is certainly plausible, or that the numbers are off somewhere down the line. If his numbers this year are accurate it only enhances his chances of becoming a 4th outfielder or better.

The next guy I haven’t been able to find much of a report on and that’s C.J. Retherford. C.J. recently made the transition to 2nd base so it will be interesting to see how he’s doing. This season at 2B C.J.’s been worth +3 runs, which is solid for someone new to the position. The previous two seasons he was a combined +13 runs at 3B, so he has been a good defender and I could see him becoming a pretty good defensive 2B with some more experience at the position.

The final guy who I’m going to do an in depth look at is Buddy Bell’s pet project Brent Morel, Buddy has been raving about Morels defensive ability, and if anyone’s going to know how to pick it at the hot corner it’s going to be him, so lets see if the numbers agree with Buddy. Last season between two levels Morel was a combined -2, but this season he has been a lot better at +5 runs which projects out to +9 runs above average per 150 games. The transition from college to the Minors could be one of the reasons for the sub par numbers in 2008 (the same can also apply for the other players), and while the stats this year don’t indicate a future gold glover they are pretty solid. I still question whether he’ll hit enough for third base though.

So what exactly should we take from these numbers? Probably not a lot in the case of Danks or Viciedo, players who have not been in the system long, as you really need at least two years of cohesive data in order to make any kind of accurate assessment, but since we only have one years worth of data for those guys that’s all we can go by. For players who have been in the system longer i.e. Retherford, and have put up consistently above average numbers, I think it would be reasonable to expect them to become average or better Major League defenders. A lot of people are vehemently against these advanced defensive statistics, and I imagine this is party due to the fact that they often disagree with the general consensus, but when the logic behind them is sound (as it is with TZ, UZR and +/-), I see no reason not to embrace them.

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.

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.

Anthony Mazzuca: Name 1 sleeper in the Sox’s system that isn’t a top 5/10 prospect.
Kevin Goldstein: Just talked to a scout today who saw Dexter Carter over the weekend and really liked what he saw — big, very athletic, low 90s with a very good breaking ball, and I still like John Shelby.
AM: Seems like Shelby has sort of taken a step back after a nice 2008…
KG: Yeah, Double-A has proven to be a bit much, but he can still play all three outfields, has a good approach, a bit of speed and pop. I wish he was LH, he’d have a surefire future as a 4th OF.
AM: Did you expect more out of Jon Gilmore (.600 OPS at Kanny) this season?
KG: I did, but I really don’t anymore. That Kannapolis lineup is really ugly, not much to talk about there.

AM: Let’s jump to the draft, then come back to some individuals. How did you rank the Sox’s draft? Best pick and the worst pick?
KG: I didn’t do a ranking of the drafts specifically, but in general, I was a big fan of their selections, especially Mitchell and Thompson. I thought they took Phegley too high, but if they believe he really can catch, it’s understandable. I think what you saw was the continuing shift to tools and upside, a philosophy that Sox officials confirmed to me before the draft.
AM: How far away is Jared Mitchell? For a polished college player, there seems to be talk of a rather large learning curve.
KG: He’s a raw, toolsy college player with a ton of upside, but it will require patience. He’s certainly not going to move like Beckham, for example.
AM: Incredibly early, but what is the most realistic ETA you could put on it, if everything went right?
KG: Late ‘11? Something around there. He’s a tools guy, and those guys sometimes just click, and when the explode, they move very, very quickly, or it just never happens.There are certainly aspects of his game that need to improve.
AM: Anything in particular?
KG: Well, there’s a lot of swing and miss in him. You’re never going to turn him into Ichiro, but they do need to be curbed, and that’s going to come with a better plan, and better pitch recognition.
AM: Staying with the overall system, What effect has Buddy Bell had?
KG: It’s really hard to give credit (or blame) to any one guy. Success and failure in scouting and player development is really an organizational thing, and you are literally talking about hundreds of people. That said, Bell is very well respected.
AM: It just seems like the organization, after the 2006 draft, which was a disaster, have really taken a new approach to things, as you touched on earlier.
KG: Yeah, and that’s system wide. There’s been changes in personnel and philosophy, and both have been good things.
AM: Staying with the system as a whole, If you were doing a mid-season rank of where the minor league systems are, where would the Sox rank? Just for an idea of where they are, give me a number with and w/o Beckham and Poreda, two guys up with the team right now.
KG: Well, I had them 24th entering the year. Clearly, they’re up from there. If you include Beckham, Poreda, they’re definitely in the upper half, a top 15 system, but without them, and now with Allen gone, they more somewhere in the middle, but that’s for all of the right reasons.

AM: What is your view on the Brandon Allen trade? Too much for Pena, or have Sox fans maybe overrated what Allen really is?
KG: It’s funny, when the trade happened, I went through my notes and found three different scouts who had seen him this year. One thought he was an above-average every day big league first baseman. One thought he was more of a second division player. One thought he was a platoon player at best. So the reviews were really varied.
AM: Could it be a move to open up a spot for Viciedo at 1B?
KG: It was a move to get a dependable power righty in the pen, I don’t think they thought much about how it effected other prospects, and Viciedo at first would be pretty troubling, as he’s not even hitting enough for a third baseman right now.
AM: Any views on Pena himself?
KG: I do wonder if he’s really the answer. On a pure scouting level, he’s always shined, but the results have always been inconsistent. I saw it as only a minor upgrade, but you take what you can get.
AM: I just brought him up, so will stick with him. What kind of future in baseball do you project for Dayan Viciedo?
KG: Honestly, reviews have been very disappointing. Still a bit out of shape, swing at anything approach, not much power. Because of his age and where he’s coming from, you have to give him more time than others to make adjustments. If anything, I think it’s possible that they just started him at too high a level.
AM: Has there been any talk of the culture change playing a role, or just totally overmatched at the plate?
KG: Specifically on Viciedo, I haven’t heard that, but with the Cubans, it really is a different kind of culture shock than you get with most international players, and it really does need to be taken into account. It’s a massive, massive change in everything about Viciedo’s world. But as far as pure baseball goes, the approach is the biggest thing — he’s chasing everything.

AM: Overall, should White Sox fans be generally excited for what is in store for the future, or should we temper our excitement? With the way the farm system has produced in the last 5 years, this looks to be the best crop of prospects the Sox have had in quite some time…
KG: Sure, but it was kind of nowhere to go but up, no?
AM: Very true. I feel like there are a good amount of Sox fans maybe overrating the system because they aren’t used to having some high end prospects in the system.
KG: Look, I think they should be excited for Beckham alone — how often to teams develop true stars? It’s really pretty rare, but yes, I’d be much happier than I was. It’s not an elite system, but there’s some good stuff here.
AM: Tyler Flowers. Should he be close to untouchable? Is he going to stay behind the plate?
KG: You know, I’ve never been a fan of the term untouchable. Is anyone REALLY untouchable? If the Jays wanted him in Halladay deal, wouldn’t you want the Sox to do that?
AM: That’s why I wont say totally untouchable. If Pujols was offered for Beckham, he isn’t untouchable anymore.
KG: I think the catching future is still debatable, he’s just so huge a sluggish back there. That said, there has been some progress — they’ve shortened his release a bit, and the results are encouraging.
AM: Would his bat alone still project him to be a plus major league hitter?(if he had to move out of catcher)
KG: Yes, the bat is going to play.

AM: Whats your take overall on the Halladay news over the last 48 hours?
KG: Well, it makes sense for the Jays certainly, with this year AND 2010 under contract, his value is about as high as it can be, and he’s going to leave Toronto, so I do think there’s a good chance he’ll get moved.
AM: Will the Sox be in it, even with Williams comments yesterday about lacking attendance?
KG: I would saw they’re in the race, but not a favorite.
AM: What type of package would it have to be?
KG: It would be a ton. I think they’d ask for Beckham for sure, but if that was off the table, they would probably need at least two, maybe three of Poreda/Flowers/Danks.
AM: If you are the Sox, do you pull the trigger on a deal with those 3?
KG: Would I? Probably.
AM: Take on Jordan Danks?
KG: What’s not to like? Big, athletic, good approach, gap power, good runner, plays a nice CF. I don’t think he’ll ever be a true power guy, but I think he’ll be a solid every day center fielder, which is pretty good for an organization that has been absolutely desperate for one for a long time now.
AM: Top of the order guy?
KG: Yeah, could be an ideal No. 2 hitter type.

AM: Changing the topic a bit, How do professional organizations view your publication? What feedback have you received?
KG: They all read us, and like anything else, some like us, some don’t. We’re certainly a highly respected name in the industry, I think our work speaks for itself, and teams take my calls, so there’s that. I talk to tons of scouts on an anonymous level (pretty much every day) about what they’re seeing and what they think.
AM: What is your relationship with the Sox in general?
KG: Solid. I talk to White Sox scouts and front office people on a regular basis.
AM: That actually should just about do it from my end. Can’t thank you enough for taking out the time.
KG: More than happy to help.

We again would like to thank Kevin Goldstein for providing us with some great information on the entire White Sox organization.

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.

Birmingham second baseman C.J. Retherford, in his last 10 games through June 29th, is hitting .167 with 7 hits, 2 doubles and 4 RBI. Even with Retherford slumping, it has benefited John Shelby III hitting in front of him as the 1-2 punch of the Barons lineup.

Cheers,
JPN