Mound Talk

1. Faustino de los Santos, RHSP, A+. de los Santos threw 97.2 innings in Low-A before earing a five game promotion to High-A. At both levels he struck out more than 31% of batters faced and walked just 9.4% in Low-A and 7.1% in High-A. He misses a lot of bats and induces weakly hit balls, if at all.
2. Gio Gonzalez, LHSP, AA. Gonzalez repeated Double-A this year (his first with the White Sox) and, although he improved, it was a repeat effort. He decreased his BB rate by 2.5%, increased his K% from 24.3% to 30.3%. He induced more groundballs and was generally successful. Look for a rapid ascent next year for Gio Gonzalez.
3. Aaron Poreda, LHSP, Rk. Drafted this year, Poreda had a very good debut throwing 46.1 innings and striking out 48 while walking just 10. Drafted out of college, Poreda is a hard throwing, power pitcher. His fastball is in the low 90s and is his only plus pitch. He has a nice pitching frame but counters that somewhat with a three-quarters arm angle. He is a project.
4. Jack Egbert, RHSP, AA. Egbert threw 161.2 innings in Double-A and earned a spot in the Arizona Fall League. He doesn’t walk many batters (6.7% this year) and strikes out just over a quarter of his opponents. He keeps the ball on the ground and in the park. Over the last two seasons (342.2 innings) he has allowed just five home runs.
5. John Shelby, CF, A. In 538 plate appearances in Low-A, Shelby hit .301/.348/.508 with 16 home runs, nine triples and 35 doubles. Shelby hits the ball consistently hard and has done a great job of reducing his strikeouts.
6. Ryan Sweeney, OF, MLB. Drafted in the second round of the 2003 draft, Sweeney has an average skill set. He doesn’t particularly excel at anything, but is a solid defender and an average hitter. He likely won’t be anything more than a fifth outfielder as he has marginal power, discipline and speed.
7. Jose Martinez, OF, Rk. In 245 at-bats, Martinez hit .282/.348/.437 with 21 extra base hits. Martinez combines decent power at a tender age with good speed stealing 12 of 14 bases in 2007. He’s raw, but could develop into a nice prospect. At 6-foot-5, he has a big frame to fill and currently weighs in at 170 pounds.
8. Lance Broadway, RHSP, MLB. Broadway spent the majority of 2007 in Triple-A where he threw 155 innings and struck out 108 while walking 78. He allowed 155 hits and 17 home runs. Broadway is pretty much a what-he-is-is-what-he-is guy.
9. Brian Omogrosso, RHP, A+. Omogrosso was a 23-year-old in 2007 thrwoing 120.1 innings in High-A. His numbers weren’t terribly impressive, 108 punchouts and 57 walks but allowing just 94 hits is somewhat impressive. He’ll need a big season in 2008 to maintain his status.
10. Kyle McCulloch, RHSP, AA. McCulloch is another pitcher cut in the same mold. He’s not that impressive, doesn’t strikeout many and walks too many.
Flier. Micah Schnurstein, 1B, A+. Schnurstein is probably the oddest of my picks for flier so far (and will likely retain that throughout. It’s not that he’s not good as he hit 25 home runs this year with 36 doubles and five triples. What is concerning is that he is 22, in High-A and also spend a full season in High-A in 2005. Still, it’s hard to ignore a guy with good power (over .500 slugging) and good discipline.

The White Sox system in in bad shape. Much of the talent doesn’t project to be regulars at the big league level and there really isn’t the depth to get by. The White Sox traded away a talented first baseman, Chris Carter, to the Arizona Diamondbacks, further hindering their system. Look for the White Sox to reinvest themselves in the 2008 draft and really try to supplement a depleted farm club.