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)

After having an OPS below .600 all year long, Escobar swung a big stick in August. He also stole 9 bases in August, almost doubling the 11 he had entering the month. Escobar showed no signs of life until suddenly something seems to have clicked. On the season the 20 year-old Venezuelan is still only hitting .262, but he is a great defensive shortstop so his glove will probably be what carries him through the system. He’s still very young and an extended hot streak like this is obviously very encouraging for future success. The extremely unusual part is that Escobar’s August walk rate was nearly three times what it had been. It’s like he was a completely different player. We’ll have to wait and see which player shows up next season.

Co-Pitchers of the Month: John Ely and Matt Long (AA Birmingham)
Ely: 5-0, 2.12 ERA, 34 IP, 25 K, 9 BB, 27 H
Long: 4-0, 1.76 ERA, 30.2 IP, 19 K, 8 BB, 23 H

Since the two were so close statistically and in our voting, we have given the award to both Ely and Long. The duo will have to anchor the Barons’ playoff run, though Long did just receive what we assume was a spot start with the Knights. Ely has been a rock for the Barons’ all season long, see his 13-2 record for proof, and is throwing his name into the hat for a future MLB look. He’s mostly been overlooked as a prospect, but this season will change that. Long was a 2nd round pick in 2006, but hasn’t been regarded well as a prospect because he has been mediocre or worse at every stop of his pro career. That is until he joined the Barons this season. In 48.2 innings in AA he has a 2.59 ERA between 6 starts and 13 relief appearances. His career ERA in the minors still sits above 5, so like Escobar, it’s hard to tell which player is the real Matt Long.

The best of the rest
Christian Marrero (AA Birmingham): .323 (31-96), 7 HR, 20 RBI, 15 R, 12 BB, 22 K, 1.040 OPS
Marrero has really set himself up to shoot up the prospect rankings. Marrero can be one of the last draft-and-follows to make the Majors.

David Cook (AA Birmingham): .292 (28/96), 6 HR, 18 RBI, 25 R, 15 BB, 20 K, .956 OPS
Cook keeps producing for the Barons, but it’s hard to call him a prospect anymore.

Jon Gilmore (Low-A Kannapolis): .355 (39/110), 2 HR, 24 RBI, 19 R, 9 BB, 15 K, .901 OPS
Finally Gilmore showed some of the talent that made the Braves draft him in the supplemental round in 2007.

Dan Remenowsky (Low-A Kannapolis): 2-0, 5 SV, 2.20 ERA, 16 IP, 29 K, 2 BB, 11 H
It’s hard not to love what Remenowsky has done this season. 107 strikeouts in 62.1 innings is indescribably good.

Miguel Gonzalez (Rookie Bristol): .410 (25/61), 1 HR, 8 RBI, 15 R, 13 BB, 14 K, 1.176 OPS
Gonzalez is a great looking prospect at catcher. He’s only 18 and hit .311 at Bristol, you have to like that.

Santos Rodriguez (Rookie Bristol): 1-0, 2 SV, 0.82 ERA, 11 IP, 18 K, 3 BB, 8 H
One of the pieces of the Javier Vazquez trade, Rodriguez is one of few relief prospects to be tracked from a young age.

The not as hot
Jack Egbert (AAA Charlotte): 0-3, 6.66 ERA, 25 IP, 20 K, 10 BB, 35 H
Egbert got his shot in the Majors this year, but it didn’t go well or last long. Needless to say, he won’t get another pitching like this.

Wes Whisler (AAA Charlotte): 3-3, 6.16 ERA, 30 IP, 14 K, 14 BB, 40 H
Everything I said about Egbert applies to Whisler.

Johnnie Lowe (AA Birmingham): 0-4, 10.07 ERA, 22 IP, 10 K, 5 BB, 41 H
Maybe Lowe shouldn’t have been moved up because his 5 starts with the Barons have produced nothing.

Jordan Danks (AA Birmingham): .178 (13-73), 4 RBI, 12 R, 10 BB, 17 K, .491 OPS
He’s been better since coming off the DL, hitting .257 and getting a hit in 7 of the 9 games he has been back. Still major concerns have come up that didn’t exist in early June.

Tyler Kuhn (High-A Winston-Salem): .229 (22-96), 6 RBI, 8 R, 5 BB, 14 K, .543 OPS
Kuhn has been very good this year, but his recent slump along with a severe lack of power this year makes Kuhn seem ordinary as a prospect.

Steven Upchurch (Rookie Bristol): 0-6, 9.11 ERA, 27 IP, 12 K, 12 BB, 45 H
Upchurch is a talented pitcher, but he hasn’t shown any of that talent this year. He’s probably surpassed Escobar as the most disappointing White Sox prospect of the year.

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.

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.