Brent Morel down, Orlando Hudson up

whitesox.com:

The White Sox completed the signing of recently released veteran infielder Orlando Hudson to a one-year deal on Tuesday. The parties initially agreed to the contract on Sunday.

Chicago placed third baseman Brent Morel, who has a lumbar back strain, on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Friday.

Hudson, who will wear jersey No. 5, is expected to be in the mix to play third base, manager Robin Ventura said Sunday. Hudson has never played third base at the Major League level and hasn’t played there since 2001, when he was with Triple-A Syracuse in the Toronto organization. He could also fill in at second base, where he made 33 starts with San Diego this season, Ventura said.

I like how the ‘he hasn’t played 3B since 2001 at AAA’ thing is kinda glossed over! Shows the lack of any good options in the minors.

Robin Ventura puts Gordon Beckham, Brent Morel on notice

Scott Merkin:

Support for struggling White Sox infielders Gordon Beckham and Brent Morel continued to come in Tuesday from manager Robin Ventura.

But as the calendar turns from April to May and with Morel (.182) and Beckham (.190) sitting a few games of consistent hitting below the Mendoza line, even following Beckham’s three-hit effort in Tuesday’s 7-2 victory over the Indians, that unconditional support from Ventura soon might be slightly altered.”Eventually you probably have to do something,” said Ventura before the series opener with the Indians. “Right now I’m believing what I see and talking to them.

“I want to know what they’re thinking, too. I’m still confident they’re going to perform. Eventually it gets to the point where you would have to make a move if it would stay like that, but right now I’m not going to do that.” …

I don’t think Ventura has good replacements available though.

Other White Sox links:

• Chris posts a very detailed followup to his AAA-Charlotte public subsidies pursuit story.
• J.J. wonders if the struggling Hector Santiago still has Ventura’s trust to close.
• James looks at the new and improved Adam Dunn.
• Fangraphs’ Chris Cwik looks at the new and improved Jake Peavy.
• FutureSox looks at April’s hot Sox prospects.

No more Mr. Screwball?

Daryl Van Schouwen:

Video coordinator Bryan Johnson dug into the archives for rookie closer Hector Santiago to find video of former left-handed screwball pitchers Fernando Valenzuela, Tug McGraw and Willie Hernandez.

Santiago, who got his fourth save in five chances, threw only one screwball as he looks to rediscover the pitch he said was better for him last season. He attributes that, in part, to higher seams on minor-league baseballs, allowing for a better grip and more spin, but he wants to do everything in his power to make it an important part of his arsenal. Santiago watched the tapes to see how the ball came out of the aforementioned trio’s hands.

“I’m kind of a fastball guy now,’’ Santiago said. “Usually I’m a changeup guy trying to sneak a fastball in, but right now I’m just going after guys.’’

BTW, here’s a link to the Pitch F/X numbers for Santiago’s outing.

Other White Sox links:

• Chris writes a fantastic article on the quest of public subsidies by the Charlotte Knights.
• James looks at Jake Peavy. A.J. Pierzynski too.
• J.J. looks at Brent Morel.
• The White Sox take a stand against bullying.

Seems Jared Mitchell is going to AA-Birmingham

Scott Merkin:

A White Sox fan in search of the team’s future starters need look no deeper than Double-A Birmingham. That rotation features Nestor Molina, Simon Castro, Jose Quintana and Pedro Hernandez, who all took part in big league camp, as well as right-hander Cameron Bayne. If a starting spot opens up during the course of the season, there’s a chance the White Sox would look at the Barons as quickly as they would check the rotation for Triple-A Charlotte.

Molina (Sergio Santos, from Toronto), Castro and Hernandez (both Carlos Quentin, from San Diego) all came over during offseason trades. Birmingham’s roster also will feature relievers such as Nevin Griffith, Dan Remenowsky and Ryan Kussmaul, as well as position players such as Mitchell, Andy Wilkins and Jose Martinez.

Other White Sox links:

• James previews the 2012 bullpen.
• J.J. looks to see if Brent Morel is falling back into bad habits, says Chris Sale is going to be fine, and with Tony Andracki publish the 1960-2012 All-Chicago team.
• Chris Lamberti looks on the legend that was Rube Foster.
• Fangraphs’ Chris Cwik examines the entire White Sox organization.
• SeedlingToStars’ Wally Fish compares various Topp-100 prospect lists.

Robin Ventura’s batting order thoughts

Ventura wants:

• Alejandro De Aza will bat leadoff.
• A.J. Pierzynski to bat #2 but not against lefties (possibly Brent Morel will bat #2 against lefties)
• Alex Rios likely to bat #3
• Paul Konerko to bat #4
• Adam Dunn to bat #5

Chris Sale had a good start in today’s intrasquad game:

Sale said he was mindful during warmups and at the start of the game to not go hard from the onset.“

Just taking it nice and easy and really loosening it up because you have time,” he said. “You’re in no rush. That was nice to go out there and flip some in and start stretching it out and pick it up as it goes.”

Shingo Takatsu, aka Mr. Zero, made an appearance!

And a photo from today’s game. Chris Sale pitches to Alex Rios:

More pictures here.

Other White Sox links:

• Chris has an excellent post on Scott Boras.
• J.J. agrees with Sergio Santos’ statement that the Sox didn’t really rebuild in this off-season.
• Ozzie Guillen didn’t thought much of the Sox sports pcychologist, Dr. Jeff Fishbein.
• SeedlingsToStars’ Wally Fish looks how AL Central teams fared in various ‘Top 100 prospects’ lists.

Predicting the next next Jose Bautista

Lewis Pollis @ BTB:

… Now that we’ve established that this system is foolproof, let’s take a look at the 2011 HR/FB leaderboard, where we’ll undoubtedly find our 2012 breakout star:

1.	Mike Napoli
2.	Prince Fielder
3.	Logan Morrison
4.	Mark Reynolds
5.	Pablo Sandoval
6.	Adrian Beltre
7.	Brent Morel
8.	Michael Morse
9.	Ian Kinsler
10.	Ryan Braun

Where do we start? Napoli, Fielder, Reynolds, and Braun have already established themselves as among the best power hitters in the game. Kinsler, Sandoval, Beltre, and now Morse have all shown good-to-great pop in the past too. Morrison doesn’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of opposing pitchers, but he’s a 24-year-old with a history of slugging in the minor leagues and a solid track record in the majors so far.

That leaves only one option: Brent Morel. He’s not a perfect fit with Zobrist, Bautista and Morse—this will be his age-25 season so a significant improvement wouldn’t be seen as coming out of nowhere, and having appeared on Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects list he’s of a higher pedigree than his breakout predecessors. …

30 pounds down

Looks like a slimmer Adam Dunn will be at Sox Fest next week. Heard he's lost 30 pounds.—
Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) January 21, 2012

Other White Sox links:

• James looks on regular 3B Brent Morel, and recently retired SS Orlando Cabrera. He also detailed why the White Sox probably won’t be particularly competitive in 2012 on southside showdown.
• J.J. details the recent Sox improvement moves.
• SeedlingsToStars’ Nathaniel Stoltz says there is little hope for Jared Mitchell.

John Sickels talks about Chris Sale, Zach Stewart, and Brent Morel

John Sickels reviews his pre-season prospect lists (the bold part of the quote is from the pre-season list):

6) Chris Sale, LHP, Chicago White Sox, Grade A: 2.79 ERA with 79/27 K/BB in 71 major league innings, just 52 hits, eight saves. Another successful debut, and I think he will do well as a starter.

2011 Stats:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB	Awards
2011	22	CHW	AL	2	2	.500	2.79	58	0	17	0	0	8	71.0	52	22	22	6	27	3	79	2	0	2	288	152	1.113	6.6	0.8	3.4	10.0	2.93

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/5/2011.

and

33) Zach Stewart, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays, Grade B+:  4.20 ERA with 79/27 K/BB in 101 innings in Double-A/Triple-A. Traded to White Sox, went 2-6, 5.88 with 45/18 K/BB in 67 major league innings, 90 hits. Capable of better, but not going to be an ace or rotation anchor.

2011 Stats:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB	Awards
2011	24	TOT	AL	2	6	.250	5.88	13	11	1	1	1	0	67.1	90	44	44	11	18	2	45	2	1	2	297	72	1.604	12.0	1.5	2.4	6.0	2.50
2011	24	TOR	AL	0	1	.000	4.86	3	3	0	0	0	0	16.2	26	9	9	2	5	1	10	1	1	1	75	89	1.860	14.0	1.1	2.7	5.4	2.00
2011	24	CHW	AL	2	5	.286	6.22	10	8	1	1	1	0	50.2	64	35	35	9	13	1	35	1	0	1	222	68	1.520	11.4	1.6	2.3	6.2	2.69

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/5/2011.

and from the review of the hitting prospects (the bold part of the quote is from the pre-season list):

33) Brent Morel, 3B, Chicago White Sox, Grade B: Hit .245/.287/.366 with 10 homers, 22 walks, 57 strikeouts in 413 major league at-bats. Capable of better, could sneak up on us in a year or two.

2011 Stats:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	Pos	Awards
2011	24	CHW	AL	126	444	413	44	101	18	1	10	41	5	4	22	57	.245	.287	.366	.653	76	151	8	3	5	1	0	*5

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/5/2011.

Surprise candidate!

Gordon Wittenmyer:

Depending on the day, the source or the direction the wind blows, Martinez or Cleveland Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. is the favorite to land Guillen’s old job. Terry Francona’s sudden availability adds a high-profile wrinkle to the mix, and there’s some talk of a surprise off-the-radar candidate.

Jim Thome is coming back!

Other White Sox links:

• James posted his playoff primer. And it took him 2 posts.
• The Sox minor league teams went 351-354 in 2011.
• John Sickels on Brent Morel: “Capable of better, could sneak up on us in a year or two.” More .271/.400/.671 please!
• Coop is pushing Terry Francona for manager and says the ‘Chris Sale to the rotation move’ hasn’t been decided yet.

Another home run for Brent Morel (video)

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=19594889&c_id=cws

First 5 months: 2 HRs
September: 8 HRs

The guy is on a tear…

UPDATE: Sahadev Sharma:

A closer look at numbers shows that the Chicago White Sox third baseman’s increased power coincided with his developing more patience at the plate.

“Early in the year [pitchers would] kind of just make their pitches and I’d swing at them,” Morel said. “It was tough to do anything. The more patient, the more selective you are, the more they have to come in the zone.”

On Aug. 20, Morel had walked just four times in 309 plate appearances. In his 116 plate appearances since then, he’s drawn 17 walks. …

Brent Morel does it again! (video)

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=19491493&c_id=cws

Will Jerry Reinsdorf force Ozzie Guillen to stay?

Jon Heyman:

Baseball insiders suggest White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf may “dig in his heels” and force Ozzie Guillen to stay after Guillen’s continuing public blathering about how it might be best for him to be fired and other such musings. But really, it might be best for all concerned to simply trade Guillen to the Marlins, as was briefly discussed a year ago. Those talks ended when the White Sox requested Logan Morrison. But as fortune would have it, Morrison is not exactly beloved these days by the Marlins. Morrison, who was already seen by Marlins management as a bit too opinionated, now has filed a grievance against the team for demoting him at a time he says he didn’t deserve it based on his play.

Again, is this just the Sox trying to gain more leverage?

Other White Sox links:

• J.J. looks at the results of Alexei Ramirez’ more patient approach.
• James looks at the disrespect shown to Omar Vizquel and at Ozzie Guillen’s latest whining. I’m so sick and tired of Ozzie’s whining. I so wish Kenny or Jerry answer like this: ‘Ozzie’s job status? He’s under contract with the Sox for 2012.’
• Fangraphs’ Carson Cistulli is puzzled by Brent Morel’s mini-breakout and Fangraphs’ Brandon Wane says Adam Dunn is a candidate for a comeback performance next year.

Quitting. Man, where do kids learn such things?

Steve Rosenbloom:

Ozzie Guillen accused White Sox players of quitting, and he meant even before Wednesday’s regularly scheduled choke against Detroit.

Quitting is a serious charge, maybe the worst thing you can say about a player, other than “He’d be a perfect Cub.’’

Quitting. Man, where do kids learn such things?

Perhaps Sox players learned it from their manager who spouted off two weeks ago that he’ll likely quit on next year’s contract unless he gets an extension.

You want players to follow their manager’s lead, but do the Sox want that type of leader — the kind who is with you win or extension? …

That was a funny read!

Other White Sox links:

• James looks at Brent Morel’s hot streak and the Sox management situation.
• Mike looks at the trading Carlos Quentin talk.
• Fangraphs’ Josh Weinstock looks at Sergio Santos’ slider while Fangraphs’ Jeff Zimmerman looks at Mark Buehrle’s durability.

Kenny Williams is angry

Merkin @ CWS:

“Go get the inspirational speeches from someone else. I’m [angry],” Williams told MLB.com, responding to a question concerning the White Sox chances to claim an American League Central over the final 40 games. “This team should be 10 games over .500 right now.

“That’s the bad news. The good news is we still have time to right the ship. But if you are looking for inspiration, or anyone is, or pats on the back from this recent surge, you are looking at the wrong person. I’ll give you a pat on the back if you end up in first place.”

Williams said that anything short of winning the division would be an obvious disappointment, adding that winning the division really isn’t even good enough in the White Sox championship-oriented minds. He acknowledged, as an example, being impressed by Alejandro De Aza’s play since called up to the big league club, as the outfielder is batting .310 and infusing life into the White Sox lineup.

But he added that he’ll be more impressed if De Aza keeps it up.

“Nothing is going to impress me the rest of the year unless we are in first place at the end,” Williams said. “Other than that, it’s just find a way to win today.”

Other White Sox links:

• James takes a look at Gordon Beckham’s struggles, and Zach Stewart’s, brief, move to the bullpen.
• J.J. says the Sox may not see much, if any, dropoff with Tyler Flowers taking over the catcher’s job and that Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn should be at the top of the list Cubs GM candidates. Fangraphs agrees.
• colin takes a look at Zach Stewart and Mike takes a look at Brent Morel.
• Satchel Price at BTB says the Sox should be spending more at the draft. Baseball America crunched the numbers and the Sox spent the least in the draft in 2011 but the 2007-2011 period as well.
• Chuck Garfien tells us about Jim Thome’s late mother Joyce and Brett Ballantini update his Sox player values calculations.

John Sickels reviews his Chicago White Sox 2011 Top 20 PRE-SEASON Prospect List

Sickels @ MLBall:

1) Chris Sale, LHP, Grade A:  2.78 ERA for the White Sox, 58/20 K/BB in 57 major league innings, 43 hits, four saves, 1.66 GO/AO. What’s not to like?

2) Brent Morel, 3B, Grade B: Hitting .256/.272/.321 with four walks, 33 strikeouts in 293 at-bats for the White Sox. I think he is capable of better, but the bat has been disappointing.

3) Dayan Viciedo, OF, Grade B- .293/.363/.477 with 17 homers, 43 walks, 79 strikeouts in 426 at-bats for Triple-A Charlotte. Has made good progress with the strike zone, stock up for me.

4) Addison Reed, RHP, Grade B-:  Amazing season at four levels, currently in Triple-A. Composite numbers: 1.40 ERA, 103/13 K/BB in 71 innings, 39 hits. He has a 20/2 K/BB in 14 Triple-A innings and has pushed his fastball into the upper 90s. Ready to help in the bullpen now. …