Baseball-Intellect reviews its White Sox prospects list

Eisenberg:

7. Trayce Thompson | OF | Age – 19 | Grade – C+

Numbers don’t completely reflect it, but he’s made a lot of progress since last year. Upside remains huge, but as big as his upside is, he’s just as raw.

FutureSox reviews the 2010 Birmingham Barons

Norris:

Jim Gallagher ended up being named the Barons team MVP for 2010.  Deservedly so, as he led the team in most offensive categories.  I’ve already stated before that I see him as a Ross Gload type if he were to make it to the majors.  He certainly is passionate enough to put forth the effort to get there.  I expect him to be in Charlotte for 2011.

Anthony Carter was named Barons pitcher of the year after having a fantastic run as a closer.  Hopefully he can build on that and put himself into consideration as a future big league reliever.  Deunte Heath pitched excellently for the Barons in relief, striking out 84 in 57.2 innings.  The White Sox made a good call giving him a second chance.  Both Carter and Heath should be in Charlotte in 2011.

Stats:

Gallagher (25 years old): .590 PA, 292/.390/.425/.815, 74 BB / 89 K, .339 BABIP, .361 wOBA
Carter (24): 57.1 IP, 22 BB / 58 K, 3.92 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 3.91 FIP, .282 BABIP
Heath (25): 57.2 IP, 32 BB / 84 K, 3.12 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 3.23 FIP, .369 BABIP

Stats for other Sox prospects.

FutureSox’ Midseason Top 25 Prospects

Cassidy:

Rank	Player	Points	Previous	Change
1	Dan Hudson	179	1	unch
2	Dayan Viciedo	172	4	+2
3	Chris Sale	168	n/a	NEW
4	Tyler Flowers	161	2	-2
5	Jared Mitchell	156	5	unch

…

I’d rank them in this order: Hudson, Sale, Flowers, Mitchell, Viciedo.

SoxMachine’s midseason prospect progress report

Jim @ SM:

Jose Martinez

.333/.392/.486 in 72 ABs; 2 2B, 3 HR, 7 BB, 10 K.

It feels like he’s pushing 30, but Martinez will turn only 22 later this month.  He’s been out of baseball for two full years, but the Sox aren’t shying away from testing him.  He played just 39 games at Kannapolis before his knee injury, but he’s succeeding in Winston-Salem.

That could be a factor of the apparently friendly hitting environment at BB&T Ballpark, but if Martinez can finish the year healthy and hitting like this, the Sox have a genuine outfield prospect in the fold.

Martinez’ stats @ FI.

More prospects reports at the link.

Anthony Carter throwing 98 mph!

Norris @ FutureSox:

I witnessed a revelation this past Saturday night. [Anthony] Carter was sent into the game in the top of the 9th with a 7-4 lead. … Carter absolutlely wowed me by blowing away three batters all on strikeouts.  According to the scoreboard, he hit 98 on several of the pitches.  Could Carter land on the prospect radar as a reliever that throws gas?  He had a lot of life on his pitches even as a starter, so when he wasn’t holding back as a reliever, it was impressive.

SoxMachine’s Minor-league review [UPDATE]

Here’s the section on Tyler Flowers:

Flowers is clearly in time-biding mode.  If Andruw Jones is ever pressed into full-time outfield duty, whether it’s due to Juan Pierre’s ineptitude or Carlos Quentin’s poor health, Flowers should be the first option to serve as the majority DH and occasional catcher.

Allow me to reiterate that Flowers seems like he’ll be a slow starter at the major-league level due to his K-rate.  For whatever reason — probably because A.J. Pierzynski is a great clubhouse source — there are a lot of people waiting, perhaps even hoping, for Flowers to fail.  But he’s the only hope the Sox have of getting an above-average hitter for the league minimum, so that kind of pressure seems to be counterproductive.

Much more at the link.

UPDATE: Here’s Part II.

FutureSox Minor-League podcast

Mazzuca:

This month, Anthony Mazzuca talks to Alex Vispoli, Winston-Salem Dash Director of Media Relations and Broadcaster, and Josh Ellis, who holds the same positions with the Kannapolis Intimidators. Dan Santaromita also gives a run down of the recent happenings with the Knights and Barons, as the FutureSox.com Podcast has the White Sox minor league system covered.

Scouting the Birmingham Barons (Brent Morel and a lot more)

FutureSox has the scouting reports and videos.

Here’s a video clip (1:49) of Brent Morel:

Buddy Bell interview

Buddy Bell on Tyler Flowers:

“We are trying to transition him back to the basics to get back to where he was last season….Too many thoughts, you just can’t play [the game that way].”

On his offense

“We think the world of him offensively. Very intelligent kid.”

FutureSox’ Top 25 White Sox prospects

FutureSox:

Rank	Player	Points	Previous	Change
1	Dan Hudson	208	2	1
2	Tyler Flowers	203	1	-1
3	Jordan Danks	194	4	1
4	Dayan Viciedo	186	3	-1
5	Jared Mitchell	184	6	1
6	Brent Morel	178	7	1

…

FutureSox reviews Sox centerfield prospects

Here’s what they have to say on Jordan Danks:

What he needs to improve: Assuming Jordan is healthy, his priority will be cutting down on his strikeouts. Considering the former Longhorn isn’t a big power threat his K rate (23% in ’09) is dreadful. He simply can’t strikeout that much and succeed as a #2 type hitter in the Majors. You can’t blame the strikeouts on the injuries either. His monthly splits were consistent before and after the injuries.

MLB.com’s 2010 Sox prospects and organization preview

Top 10 prospects:

Clevelan Santeliz, RHP: A setup man extraordinaire at Birmingham last summer, the Venezuelan prospect was added to the 40-man roster after posting an 0.96 ERA in 40 games and striking out 52 batters in 56 1/3 innings. He moved to the closer role at the end of the season and collected 10 saves. Throwing a fastball in the mid-90s and a plus slider, he pitches with a lot of energy and is a ton of fun to watch.

organization preview:

LHP David Holmberg (2[nd round]) is a high school star out of Florida who has four solid pitches, with a fastball that touches 90 mph, a 12-6 curve, a changeup and a slider. He also has a good feel for the mound.

RHP Kyle Bellamy (5) out of Miami is a fast-track prospect who combined for a 1.23 ERA in 20 games in relief between Bristol and Kannapolis, walking just two while striking out 32 in 22 innings. He limited hitters to a .169 average and then moved on to the Arizona Fall League, where he had a 1.59 ERA in five games.

RHP Justin Collop (6) out of Toledo had a 2.72 ERA in 15 games for Great Falls, striking out 33 in 39 2/3 innings and limiting Pioneer League hitters to a .257 average.

RHP Ryan Buch (8) out of Monmouth had the best fastball in the Draft class, one that touched the high 90s, as well as a curveball with plus potential. In 16 games in relief, he had a 3.38 ERA and limited hitters to a .183 average at Great Falls.

FutureSox reviews Sox corner outfield prospects

Here’s what they have to say on Trayce Thompson:

What he needs to improve: Right now, a little bit of everything. He needs to fill out to improve his power, he needs to cut down on the strikeouts and improve his batting eye. His defense seems to be the best part of his game right now, but he also has good bat speed. If he can shorten his swing he should be able to do fine in 2010.

Buddy Bell’s conference call

FutureSox notes from Buddy Bell’s conference call:

• On Dayan Viciedo: “He has such great hands. He can sit back and drive the ball the other way.” However, he said Dayan gets opposite field happy and gets anxious. They are trying to get him to stay behind the ball more because he is so quick.
• David Holmberg looks real good. He has great instincts for his age, but they will be slower with him this year because there are older guys they need to see at a higher level. He has big upside. The coaches don’t have to tell him twice what to do.

Buddy Bell mentions correcting Tyler Flowers’ swing like Kenny Williams.

He also touches on Gregory Infante, Dan Remenowsky, C.J. Retherford, Jordan Danks, John Shelby, Kyle Bellamy.

THT ranks Sox farm system 29th out of 30

Hagen:

29. Chicago White Sox

With the question marks surrounding Flowers’ ability to stay at catcher, the lack of top-of-the-rotation arms beyond Hudson, and dearth of overall depth, White Sox fans don’t have much to look forward to.

1. Tyler Flowers C/1B / 2. Dan Hudson SP / 3. Brent Morel 3B / 4. John Ely SP / 5. Jared Mitchell OF / 6. Jordan Danks OF / 7. Dayan Viciedo 3B / 8. David Holmberg SP / 9. Josh Phegley C / 10. John Shelby OF

John Ely was traded to the Dodgers. No. 4 seems a bit high…