Retherford had 3 RBI including a 2-run HR in the 8th inning to give the Javelinas the lead for good in the final. However, overall, Retherford’s AFL didn’t go as well though. He got off to a hot start, but slumped the rest of the way to finish with lines of .246/.333/.348/.681 (not including the title game) in 69 AB. On the upside, he had seven walks and just nine strikeouts. Obviously, the AFL isn’t long enough for a healthy sample size, but it is encouraging to see C.J. walk more than normal and still have a good contact rate. He didn’t show a lot of power, but his two HR came against Stephen Strasburg and in the title game. He’s been getting more attention as he nears the Majors, but a projection as a utility man (possibly even an above-average one) still remains reasonable and likely.

The highlight of the AFL from the Sox standpoint has been Brent Morel. Morel captured the league batting title after hitting .435 (27-62). Before everyone gets too excited, he only had four extra base hits and four walks. He’s not likely to be a star hitter, but he plays good defense and makes contact. What more could you want out of a third baseman? The question becomes what his ETA is. Morel is more than likely going to start in AA to start 2010 putting him 1-2 years away still. Mark Teahan’s arrival probably puts the Sox in no rush to move Morel through the upper levels of the system.

Meanwhile, Jordan Danks finished in the top five in hits, walks and OBP and led the league in runs scored (31). Danks plays good center field and the scouts agreed in various reports out of Arizona. He had a great walk rate (20 in 99 AB) and hit .343, but the concern has been contact rate and he did nothing to change that. He struck out in almost 22% of his plate appearances in Arizona, staying in line with his 2009 numbers in Winston-Salem and Birmingham. He doesn’t project to hit for big power so he will need to improve that to be a successful hitter in the Majors. At the same time, a good defensive center fielder that can get on-base will always have a job.

On the pitching side, no one made a big impression. Kyle Bellamy pitched well, but joined the league late and only pitched 5.2 innings. Matt Long continued the success he had with the Barons late this year, but his high 80s fastball makes him only a fringe prospect. Sergio Santos showed his usual (high velocity, lots of strikeouts and no control) and Justin Cassel and Jacob Rasner had tough times in the fall league.

As for the changes, the most notable is Brent Morel replacing the injured Dayan Viciedo. Viciedo had right elbow inflammation, which is really disappointing because the AFL was a great opportunity for Viciedo to show he is the elite prospect the Sox paid for. Morel has been unspectacular so far in the Cuban’s place. Morel is hitting .280 (7-25), but has no extra base hits and only one walk.

The other addition, reliever Kyle Bellamy, is further proof that Bellamy is the favorite to be the first from the 2009 draft class to make it to the Majors. He’s only pitched two innings, but the former Miami Hurricane has yet to allow a run.

As for the original Javelinas, Jordan Danks is leading the way. He was named to the AFL’s all-star type Rising Stars game that takes place Saturday. Hitting .333 (22-66) he is fourth in the league in OBP at .450, second in runs with 20 and tied for fourth in walks with 13. Most importantly for Danks, he’s only struck out 14 times in 79 plate appearances. Strike out rate has been a noteworthy concern regarding Danks, but so far so good in the AFL.

Meanwhile, C.J. Retherford has been slumping. He is 1 for his last 18 and his average for the fall is down to .255. Early on he was creating a lot of buzz as a competitor for the second base job, or least the backup at some point next season, but the Chris Getz and Josh Fields for Mark Teahen trade complicates things. Gordon Beckham is supposedly moving to second base, locking down that position, but Retherford still may get a shot to battle Jayson Nix for reserve infielder.

The rest of the pitchers aren’t the flashy prospects among the White Sox representatives, but Matt Long has been the best of the group (10.1 IP, 3.48 ERA, 7 K, 1 BB). Sergio Santos (9.1 IP, 6.75 ERA, 12 K, 6 BB) has at least shown the strikeout rate you hope for from a pitcher with plus velocity. Justin Cassel (14.2 IP, 5.52 ERA) and Jacob Rasner (2.1 IP, 27 ERA) have struggled and are fading away into non-prospect territory.

Note: stats are through games of November 5.

The Peoria Javelinas, the club where the White Sox prospects are playing, is 5-3 with a league leading .332 batting average. Yes, .332 as a team. The AFL is certainly a hitters’ league and the White Sox hitters have contributed to that. Let’s start by taking a look at how the Sox hitters are doing through the Javelinas’ first 8 games.

C.J. Retherford: 6-15 (.400), 2 3B, 5 RBI, 2 R, BB, K, .438 OBP, .667 SLG, 1.104 OPS

Jordan Danks: 8-22 (.364), 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 7 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 1/1 SBA, .462 OBP, .727 SLG, 1.189 OPS

Dayan Viciedo: 6-18 (.333), 2B, HR, 6 RBI, 6 R, BB, 6 K

The three hitters the Sox sent to the Phoenix area are clearly the team’s best AFL prospects. All three are off to a hot start in the heat of Arizona. It’s nice to see Danks hit for power, even if it’s in Arizona. The same goes for Viciedo, but striking out in almost 1/3 of his plate appearances is a concern. Danks and Viciedo have a strong case to be the two most intriguing White Sox hitting prospects in 2010 because both are coming off disappointing seasons and are well regarded talents. As for Retherford, he continues to hit at every level. He could be a third contender for playing time at second base next year with a good spring and a hot start in AAA.

Meanwhile, the pitchers haven’t been as successful, which isn’t much of a surprise.

Justin Cassel: 5.2 IP, 9.53 ERA, 8 R (6 ER), 6 K, 2 BB, 11 H in 2 starts

Sergio Santos: 5 IP, 5.40 ERA, 3 R, 5 K, BB, 7 H (2 HR) in 3 games

Matt Long: 5.1 IP, 6.75 ERA, 4 R, 5 K, 0 BB, 8 H in 3 games

Jacob Rasner: 1.1 IP, 33.75 ERA, 5 R, 0 K, BB, 6 H in 2 games

The Sox sent a bunch of fringe prospects to Arizona, but Santos is a more interesting case. The converted infielder has big time heat on his fastball, but needs to refine his stuff. If he improves he could become a high upside reliever. As for the others, Cassel and Rasner are running out of chances. An awful 2009 from Cassel bumped his prospect status and Rasner has been mediocre throughout his career. Long, a 2nd rounder in 2006, had a strong campaign for the Barons, pitching out of the bullpen for the first time since 2006. However, his fastball is only in the high 80s and the rest of his stuff hasn’t been as good as expected so it’s hard to see him as a top prospect.

Let’s not put too much stock into barely more than a week in a fall league, but the Arizona Fall League is a true hidden gem of baseball and is worth following if you are going through early offseason anxiety. For daily updates on the AFL follow us on our Twitter and check out the AFL home page.

What does the future hold for the current members of the Barons roster? As we all know, in minor league baseball there’s no telling where everybody will be the following year. I’ll go through the roster and see if I can show some clairvoyance.

Is Donny Lucy done? Myself as well as my astute wife, a self professed “people watcher,” think he has the body language that screams “I’m done.” It would be a shame though, he is tough as nails and is a great game caller. Although, it would be wise of the organization to keep the Stanford educated Lucy around in a coaching capacity. Jared Price could likely return as a Triple-A backup. His knowledge of the pitchers in the system would help with catching continuity, which is vital because you can’t just sign a catcher off the street mid-year. He’s only 27, and although he’s a feast or famine hitter, he is solid behind the plate and in the community visiting sick children in the hospital and doing loads of charity work.

I expect Jordan Danks, Christian Marrero, John Shelby III and Jim Gallagher to spend at least part of 2010 with the Barons. I’d say that only Gallagher will be here the whole year, although he could move up late. Danks, Shelby III and Marrero should hit their way to Charlotte by the middle of the season.

David Cook, Javier Colina, Robbie Hudson and Lee Cruz may likely be in other organizations in 2010. If Cook’s contract with the White Sox is up, then I’d imagine he’s had his fill with this organization. There may be better opportunities for him elsewhere. He will be missed in Birmingham, although I think there is an outside chance he’ll play in Charlotte. Cruz, Hudson and Colina could all play in Charlotte as well, but I think at least two of them will be gone. Colina is a 30 year old minor league journeyman. Hudson, 26, is versatile defensively and clutch with the bat, although a light hitter overall. And Cruz is 26 and hasn’t done all that well since being drafted in 2006, but he’s shown some flashes of big time power.

C.J. Retherford, Dayan Viciedo, John Ely and Clevelan Santeliz all are primed and ready for a full season at Charlotte in 2010. All of them had impressive years and would benefit from the challenge of Triple-A competition.

The rest of the pitching staff is a mixed bag. Justin Cassel peaked in 2008, Kyle McCulloch has not progressed at all after 2 full seasons with Birmingham. In fact, he hasn’t had an extended run of success since the summer of 2007, prior to his promotion to Birmingham. Johnnie Lowe’s initial tour of Double-A reminded me of McCulloch’s first starts with the Barons. Johnny Lujan can’t seem to harness his stuff to be successful and may end up being released. Other “meh” pitchers Matt Long, Matt Zaleski, Ricky Brooks, Henry Mabee and Jacob Marceaux could return, could move on or could be in Charlotte. Mabee’s the only one who could still turn out to be a prospect in my mind. Meanwhile, Charlie Shirek had a good season overall and will likely return for at least half the season to anchor the Barons rotation.

I’m guessing that the Barons 2010 opening day roster will include catchers Logan Johnson, John Curtis and Adam Ricks. Infielders Jim Gallagher, Greg Paiml, Dale Mollenhauer, Brent Morel, Seth Loman, Joe Persichina and C.J. Lang. Outfielders Christian Marrero, Jordan Danks, John Shelby III and Salvador Sanchez. Pitchers Charlie Shirek, Henry Mabee, Ricky Brooks, Miguel Socolovich, Hector Santiago, Jacob Rasner, Nathan Jones, Anthony Carter, Wander Perez, Levi Maxwell, Santo Luis, Kyle Bellamy and Dan Remenowsky. Of course, with trades, releases, Rule V drafts and free agents, things could change dramatically. If the White Sox do not retain Jermaine Dye and Scott Podsednik, I could see former Barons outfielder Stefan Gartrell getting a shot in spring training next year.

With the Barons season ending, I’ll be putting the weekly JPNese on hiatus until next spring. Although, if anyone has a specific request, I would be happy to write one from time to time. Somebody wake me up when spring training begins…it’s been real, guys.

Cheers,
JPN

As you all know, I’ve been raving a lot about Barons 1B/OF Christian Marrero ever since he was promoted to Birmingham in mid-June. I’ve even stated that I think he’s going to be a top 5 prospect. I certainly will place him in the top 5 in my postseason top 25 prospect list. Even though he was placed on the DL last week with from what he told me was a left shoulder issue, he’s had one hell of a season.

He definitely impressed me early when he drove the first AA pitch he saw off the scoreboard in right center at Regions Park. I can’t really think of anybody to compare him to, but I can say with confidence that there are few negatives about him. The only negative I’ve been made aware of is how he’s struggled against lefties. He’s only hitting .268 against lefties, but that’s only in 56 at-bats with Birmingham. He only has 29 BB on the season, but when you have 140 hits in 127 games, you’re not up there expected to draw walks. He became the 3 hitter for the Barons over the last month of the season. He dramatically improved on his power numbers from Kannapolis in 2008, hitting 35 points higher, hitting 8 more home runs, driving in 13 more runs and increasing his slugging percentage and OPS. His walk rate dropped and he didn’t steal close to as many bases though.

The Miami native is listed as 6′1″ and 185, but I’d say he’s about 15 pounds heavier than that. His lower body is where he generates most of his torque as he has big, strong legs. He has time to fill out his upper body as he’s just barely 23. He hits the ball hard to all fields, which is what has lead to his .308 average this year. The ball he hit that fractured the skull of Montgomery pitcher Darin Downs was probably going 120 MPH. His home run power is mostly to right and occasionally to right center. His homers are usually high and majestic ones. He doesn’t hit the ball on the ground a lot, his singles are usually lofted over the infielders. Although he only has 30 doubles on the year, I think he’s more than capable of hitting 40 or more. The positives I can draw from that are that he can add to his power numbers and not hit into double plays much. Outfielders have to shade him especially to right field because he usually yanks the ball down that foul line. He’ll learn to take the ball the other way and take advantage of the open space in left field. His swing is a touch long, but that’s to be expected from a left-handed hitter. Nothing to be concerned about though. Long term, I think his numbers from this year are more indicative of what he’s capable of.

Defensively, he has been very good. With the Barons, he’s split his time between 1B and RF. In his time with Winston-Salem, he played a lot of LF. I’d say that RF is his best position, that way he can maximize his cannon for an arm. He covers enough ground to play both corners, and could possibly play CF in a pinch. He is adequate at 1B, not a liability. I’m not sure where he profiles long term, but I don’t think he has to be pegged at one spot necessarily. His versatility makes him more valuable.

Although I think he will at least spend half of 2010 in Birmingham, he has the talent, the ceiling, the same pedigree that he shares with his younger brother Christopher (a former first round pick of the Nationals), the good character and fan friendliness along with his thick Cuban accent, to be a great ballplayer. Hopefully he’ll be activated from the DL for the playoffs.

Requests for next week can be made at Soxtalk. If the Barons fall short in the first round, the next installment of JPNese will be my “walk off” edition for 2009.

Cheers,
JPN

I’ll use this week’s edition to give you guys a preview of the Barons playoff run. Maybe it’s better this year that we don’t have Miguel Negron claiming that the Barons will “destroy” whomever they play seeing as they were swept out last season. How’s my confidence level about the Barons chances? About 50/50. We all know that momentum going into the playoffs is ever so important to a particular team’s odds. An honest assessment of the Barons heading down the home stretch is that of a team that is scuffling. With 8 games to go, but with a 4 game deficit in the division to Birmingham’s first round opponent Jacksonville, claiming both halves and getting up to 4 home games in the semis in a best of 5 series is unlikely. But with 85 wins, getting to 90 isn’t out of the question. Not only a notch in the team’s belt, but a momentum builder.

What am I concerned about? The pitching staff. There are 11 eligible pitchers for the Barons. In a best of 5, you’ll only need 3 starters. Those 3 will more than likely be Matt Long, Matt Zaleski and John Ely. The other two rotation members, Kyle McCulloch and Johnnie Lowe, will not start and Lowe likely won’t pitch at all. His scheduled start on Thursday may be his last outing of 2009. McCulloch will only log innings in a pinch or if one of the starters gets shelled. The aforementioned Justin Cassel said himself that he has been shut down for the year so that leaves the Barons with 9 pitchers. What about Charlie Shirek? He was removed from the rotation because of the amount of innings he’s logged already. The most in his professional career. Shirek has only pitched 7 1/3 innings in the last two and a half weeks so he will only be called upon in a pinch. Basically that leaves 8 men to carry the load. Clevelan Santeliz is the closer now, but with him charging the home plate umpire Saturday night, it remains to be seen what discipline he receives from the Southern League and how it will affect his playoff status. That leaves Johnny Lujan, Henry Mabee and Ricky Brooks. Lujan has really only pitched in garbage time, whether it be the Barons blowing someone out or getting blown out themselves. As long as Mabee keeps the ball down, he will be effective in 1 or 2 inning situations as a bridge to Santeliz. Brooks has a rubber arm and has been a workhorse since his promotion from Winston-Salem. He could pitch up to 4 innings if needed on a given night. As has been the case most of the season, the Barons do not feature any lefties out of the pen. Are you concerned as I am yet?

Even with losing Gordon Beckham, Stefan Gartrell, Brandon Allen and Tyler Flowers, the offense hasn’t fizzled in the second half. The additions of soon to be top 10 prospect Christian Marrero and the BB/RBI machine Jimmy Gallagher have leveled things out. With David Cook and his 24 homers and 82 RBI, Dayan Viciedo and his 10 homers and 73 RBI and C.J. Retherford and his 9 homers and 72 RBI, there’s plenty of offense left. A role player like veteran Javier Colina has contributed much to the team offensively and as a utility infielder. John Shelby III may act as our Dave Roberts and be a base stealing threat. Throw in the big bat of Lee Cruz, who can go deep at any point if he doesn’t hit a double to the gap. If Jordan Danks can get on base steadily at the top of the order, then the offense should have plenty of scoring opportunities. In a nutshell, the offense doesn’t concern me.

With Jacksonville being a Marlins affiliate, they feature a deep and talented pitching staff and several stud hitters. Plus, they’ve been the hottest team in the Southern League in the second half and the Barons dropped 4 out 5 to them on the road in a back breaking series at the end of July. But of course, in a 5 game series, anything can happen. And, as the song that plays every time the Barons score says, “it’s business time.”

As usual, requests for the next edition of JPNese can be made at Soxtalk.

Cheers,
JPN

White Sox prospects will be playing for the Peoria Javelinas along with prospects from the Tigers, Dodgers, Brewers and Mariners’ organizations. The seven representatives from the White Sox are; Justin Cassel, Johnnie Lowe, Jacob Rasner, Henry Mabee, C.J. Retherford, Dayan Viciedo and Jordan Danks.

One notable omission from the positional prospects is Tyler Flowers, the Sox may have felt that with the way he dominated the league last year there was no need sending him again, I think any opportunity to get him more reps behind the plate would surely have been a good thing. The White Sox usually impose a 160 inning cap for their pitching prospects which is likely why we aren’t seeing names like Dan Hudson, John Ely or Charlie Shirek on the roster, although they did send Poreda last year after he had already racked up 160 innings.

The AFL is always a fun league to track for a prospect junkie like myself due to its high concentration of top end prospects and I’m sure this year will be no different, especially with the inclusion of one certain phenom, Stephen Strasburg.

Other than Jhonny Nunez’s promotion to the White Sox, Fernando Hernandez, Charlis Burdie and Joseph Serafin were the most notable names to receive the resulting promotions.

Hernandez, who turned 25 on the day of the trade deadline, was moved up to Charlotte after posting a 1.71 ERA in 52.2 innings out of the Birmingham bullpen. The former Rule V pick of the A’s has struck out 53 and walked 18 this year. He compiled 20 saves for the Barons. Joining him in Charlotte are Justin Cassel and Matthew Zaleski. Both have been with the Knights already this season. Cassel, 24, was demoted to Birmingham after getting shelled for most of his time in Charlotte (3-8, 5.26 ERA). In 6 starts with the Barons Cassel had a 4.50 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. Zaleski, 27, made a successful spot start for the Knights (6 IP, 1 R) earlier this season.

Infielder turned pitcher Sergio Santos was among the new Barons. Santos is 26 and hasn’t had much success as a reliever at Kannapolis and Winston-Salem, but has struck out 17 in his 15 innings of work this year. Johnnie Lowe, who had a 4.04 ERA in 20 starts with the Dash this season, will take Cassel’s spot in the Barons’ rotation. Lowe, 24, isn’t viewed as much of a prospect despite decent minor league numbers. 23 year-old reliever Miguel Socolovich also got moved up from the Dash, where he had a 3.13 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 37.1 innings.

Moving up to the Carolina League was Burdie and Daniel Albritton. Albritton is a non-prospect, but Burdie has been racking up strikeouts. He had 60 in 56.1 innings for the Intimidators to contribute to his 1.76 ERA. He has had trouble with control (28 BB), but has struck out over a batter an inning at every minor league stop so far. At 23, he will need to move up the system quickly in the next couple years to have any prospect status, but his strikeout rate makes him worth following.

Serafin, the 37th round pick out of Vermont this year, has dominated at Bristol since signing and was promoted to Kannapolis. The lefty is only 5′10″, but he had a 1.64 ERA and a WHIP under 1 during his time with the BriSox. It’s hard to call him a prospect because he’s 23 and performance in rookie ball doesn’t say a lot when you are older than almost all of the players, but he deserved to be moved up. Organizational players Enrique Lechuga and Dylan Axelrod also got promoted to the I’s.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other notable selections:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cheers,
JPN