This Month in White Sox Minor League Baseball
by larry on Nov 21, 2009 4:34 PM CST
in Minors
61 comments
Today was the Arizona Fall League Championship game between the Phoenix Desert Dogs and Peoria Javelinas, for whom White Sox prospects play. The Javelinas won 5-4. AFL batting champion Brent Morel had a good game, going 2-4. Jordan Danks continued his struggles with pitches inside, grounding out to the right side on such pitches three times. He did draw a walk, finishing 0-4. But C.J. "Stumpy" Retherford was the hero. He drove in Morel on a fielder's choice for the first Javelinas run and then hit an absolute bomb to left field in the 8th to give them a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
RHP Sergio Santos, the recently converted SS, made an appearance. As expected, the control was spotty - one of his strikeouts also hit the batter - and the results were rather typical (1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K) but he flashed a very nice slider and the fastball velocity looked very good.
In other news:
- Video from the AFL, including Retherford, Morel and Danks.
- The White Sox added five to the 40 man roster, thus protecting these players from next month's Rule 5 Draft. Phil Rogers' favorite OF Stefan Gartrell was added; with the outfield situation uncertain at this point, he was a reasonable use of space, though he strikes me as an AAAA player at best. RHP Brandon Hynick, who came over in the Contreras trade, was also protected. Of all the adds, he was the likeliest to actually be picked considering he is the closest to major league ready. Raw RHP Sergio Santos is another reasonable addition. His potential is tremendous and, as he's new to pitching, you don't know when things may click. RHP Santo Luis will be 26 next season and it will be his first time above A ball. I suppose he does have a nice strikeout rate. SouthSideSox had been hearing that RHP Brian Omogrosso tore his labrum so, if that's the case, I'm not sure why he was protected since another team couldn't stash him on the DL all year. Perhaps he's healthier than that or perhaps the White Sox see this as an irrelevant move since they have plenty of roster room and they can put him on the DL all year and, if so, would be able to get another option year.
- Potentially notable non-additions are 2006 waste of a first round pick Kyle McCulloch and John Shelby. But I wouldn't be too concerned.
- Minor league free agency began. Notable filings: Ehren Wassermann, David Cook and Fernando Hernandez. But I wouldn't be too concerned.
- Lists season is in full swing. BP's Kevin Goldstein published his. No real surprises on it, as one could expect an analyst who favors tools to rank Jared Mitchell and Trayce Thompson higher than most.
- You can keep track of all the White Sox players in winter ball here. Not much has changed since last post: Jon Link still walking too many and Clevelan Santeliz is still striking out many. Jhonny Nunez has begun playing for Licey in the Dominican Winter League so he's another to watch.
This will probably be the last front page update post until March. Check out the right sidebar for the Minor League Update fanpost, which will probably be around in one form or another for most/all of the offseason. And you can follow me on Twitter @SouthSidelarry.
61 comments | 1 recs |
Bobby Jenks Cements His Place as White Sox Regular Most-Likely to be Traded this Off-Season
by The Cheat on Nov 21, 2009 12:47 AM CST
228 comments
Free agency is 24 hours old, and the supposedly inactive White Sox are keeping things interesting. As you've no doubt heard by now, they're supposedly close to a bringing in Omar Vizquel to play a backup role, and now Joe Cowley has won the weekend with some juicy quotes from Bobby Jenks and Ozzie Guillen:
"Did I feel I was being picked on? No," Jenks said in a phone interview. "But I felt I was the easy scapegoat because I had struggled in the end with some nagging injuries. This organization, just like most in this game, tell you, 'Come in, our door is open and tell us what's on your mind.' And when you do, they turn it around on you and make you feel bad. They're playing on your own words. They want you to come in, be honest and then they turn it around."
There's more... I'd post it, but I'd just be ripping off the entire article. Head on over to the Sun-Times and read Cowley's piece, then come back here to make some cracks about Orlando Cabrera's sexual partners.
228 comments | 0 recs |
White Sox close on Vizquel. One year deal to be backup.
Per Rosenthal.
2 days ago
larry
147 comments
0 recs
Don Cooper is ready for spring training: "Lack of conditioning, lack of preparation makes cowards of us all. We're going to make sure that conditioning and preparation is getting done.''
2 days ago
The Cheat
78 comments
0 recs
"We signed our free agent already," Reinsdorf says. "His name is Jake Peavy."
3 days ago
The Cheat
284 comments
0 recs
Pass the Orgullo: A Hirsute Stroll Through the 2009 SSS Archives
by homesickalien on Nov 18, 2009 11:33 AM CST
298 comments
The season is long gone.
The Twins have won the World Series twice since the last time you saw the Sox take the field.
Jerry Owens is still dead.
God didn't come through, like Josh Fields promised He would.
The cold winds are whipping off the lakefront (or in my case, the Sound), foreshadowing the lonely, gray, baseball-less days ahead. Like any respectable armchair GM, you're on your 4th draft of potential 2010 rosters - 3 of which lead off with a guy you may or may not call "Chode" because you like that word and crave the context to use it. The word; not a chode... you don't have much use for those.
Anyway, the Sox didn't exceed our expectations this year, but for most of the season, they put on a good show.
We've already reflected on the games that made us proud to be Good Guys, but for this particular stroll down memory lane, I'm going no further than the SSS Archives.
We all know that humor and friendships emerge from the pain and adversity of watching your beloved team collectively crap themselves, so here is an unrefined, uncensored, unclothed (you need to take your pants off for this) recap of some of the finer moments for SSS in 2009.
Since I am only one woman and know I've overlooked countless mentionable comments and moments, please add to this with your own favorites (links, please! - ones that open in new windows!) in the comments section.
298 comments | 9 recs |
BP's Top 15 White Sox Prospects
Four-Star Prospects
1. Daniel Hudson, RHP
2. Jared Mitchell, OF
3. Tyler Flowers, C
Three-Star Prospects
4. Jordan Danks, CF
5. Dayan Viciedo, 3B
6. Brent Morel, 3B
7. Clevelan Santeliz, RHP
8. Trayce Thompson, OF
Two-Star Prospects
9. Santos Rodriguez, LHP
10. David Holmberg, LHP
11. C.J. Retherford, 2B
Four More:
12. Jhonny Nunez, RHP: Nunez has a 93-95 mph fastball and a very good slider, both of which should fit in a big-league bullpen, though he falls short of being the late-inning type.
13. Josh Phegley, C: The 2009 draftee is the rare college catcher with power and patience, but there are way too many questions about his defensive prowess.
14. John Ely, RHP: Ely has consistently gotten minor league hitters out, but on a pure scouting level, he has merely average stuff and command.
15. Nathan Jones, RHP: Standing 6-foot-5, he's projectable as all get out and dialed up heat clocked up to 97 mph this year; he'll also be 24 in January while having yet to get out of A-ball.
...
The Sleeper: While the White Sox are rarely big players on the international scene, they might have found something in 18-year-old Venezuelan catcher Miguel Gonzalez, who combines a good bat with power potential and impressive catch-and-throw skills.
5 days ago
larry
178 comments
0 recs
Ozzie Guillen Is Becoming Less Extreme
by The Cheat on Nov 16, 2009 9:57 PM CST
85 comments
Last off-season, prompted by a game in which I perceived the outcome to be effected by Ozzie Guillen's quick hook, I examined the evolution of Guillen's hook. I thought about taking it a step further in the dead time around Christmas again, but in flipping through the 2010 Bill James Handbook, I found they've done the work for me, though using a different methodology.
I was given an an advanced copy of the Handbook in exchange for a review and a few links (full disclosure -- Suck on it, FTC!). Unfortunately, a review isn't forthcoming anytime soon. I'm just too damn busy. But I thought I demonstrate its usefulness by simply presenting Ozzie Guillen's capsule from the managers section.
Click to enlarge, and less blurify
Thanks to e-Gus for supplying a more readable image. Still missing the last columns, but that's just W-L percentage. I think you can live.
Ozzie has become a boring manager. He doesn't seem to have any extreme tendencies anymore. Bold (extra blurry) indicates league leader. Gone are the Slow Hooks, the Long Outings, Relievers used on Consecutive Days, and all those Sacrifices Attempted. The only area where Ozzie stands out now, having intentional walks blow up in his face, isn't directly under his control (unless he stops ordering walks altogether, which, hey, I'm not against). With a rotation of Peavy, Buehrle, Danks and Floyd, and a bullpen that features only two members you can reasonably count on heading into the season, I'd love to see Ozzie fall back into his '04-'06 pattern of letting the starters work deep into games.
Key (after the jump)
85 comments | 0 recs |
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AL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Minnesota
|
87 | 76 | .533 | 0 | Lost 3 |
|
Detroit
|
86 | 77 | .527 | 1 | Lost 1 |
|
Chicago
|
79 | 83 | .487 | 7.5 | Lost 1 |
|
Kansas City
|
65 | 97 | .401 | 21.5 | Lost 3 |
|
Cleveland
|
65 | 97 | .401 | 21.5 | Lost 5 |
(updated 11.22.2009 at 5:20 PM CST)
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
