The Future

We're only 8 games into the baseball season, that's not even 5% of the season yet. But, it's never too early to start thinking about the future. Call me crazy or call me a pessimist, but I honestly don't see the White Sox doing anything great this year. Can they win the division? Maybe. But that's because the AL Central is full of barely above average teams who are bound to beat the shit out of each other throughout the year. However, I don't see this team going anywhere in the playoffs. It's simply too slow and too one dimensional offensively. It also lacks a super ace that many other playoff teams possess. Danks has the potential to be one of the best pitchers in baseball, but he needs to be more conservative when it comes to his pitch count. He rarely goes longer than 6 innings. Gavin Floyd hasn't proved to me that he can consistently throw his curve as an out pitch. Mark Buehrle is just Mark Buehrle. Recently, he's been really inconsistent, so you really can't call him a super ace. The truth of the matter is, the Sox don't have a Cole Hamels, a Tim Lincecum, or a Johan Santana. They have three very good pitchers to anchor the front 3 spots of the rotation, but none of them make you go, "wow!" Another thing to take notice is that both Thome and Dye are probably going to be let go as free agents by the end of the season. Meaning the Sox will have to fill a hole at DH and a corner outfield position next year. This will probably be the last year of the Dye, Konerko, and Thome combo in the middle of the order. The time for change is coming. So now I've shot your dreams for this season, right? I hope not, but the future for the Sox looks brighter than ever. After Kenny Williams traded half of the farm in order to obtain Nick Swisher last season, it looked as if the Sox minor league system was completely depleted. However, things took a turn for the better at the Free Agent draft last season. We'll take a look at the new toys the Sox have down in the farm by position.

Shortstop/Second Base
The Sox took Gordon Beckham in the first round of last year's free agent draft, a middle infielder out of Georgia who possess a dangerous bat with good power and also plays solid defense. He's currently playing in AA right now and could be with the Major League club as early as this season. Beckham showed off his power last season in A Kannapolis, as he hit 3 home runs in just 58 at bats last season. He also hit an impressive .310 with a .865 OPS. Both very formidable numbers for a middle infielder. He's currently the #1 rated prospect in the White Sox system right now. Look for him to play either second base or shortstop. Both he and Alexei Ramirez look like the anchors up the middle of the infield for the Sox in the future.

Catcher
Another name to look out for is Tyler Flowers. Flowers is a catcher/first baseman with incredible raw power. Obtained through the Javier Vazquez deal, Flowers played in single A last season in the Braves organization. He hit 17 homers and drove in 88 for Myrtle Beach in just 120 games. He also slugged .494 and had an OPS of .921. That is absolutely crazy for a catcher. Pierzynski is aging and his contract will be up in two years. Look for Flowers to be his replacement come 2011.

First Base
Paul Konerko's contract is done by the end of the 2010 season. There are several prospects who could end up being his replacement by then. But the most promising has to be Brandon Allen. To say the least, Allen is an absolute power machine. He hit 14 homers for Birmingham last year in just 41 games and 153 at bats. Add 6 doubles and 2 triples to that total and you have yourself a .614 SLG. Absolutely amazing. The downside? He strikes out a ton. To be exact, he struck out 41 times in 153 ABs last season. He basically struck out 1/3 of the time. Even with his problem of swinging and missing often, Allen managed to hit .275 last seaosn and carried an OBP of .358. He has a lot ot work on, but the guy has some serious power potential.

Third Base
Kenny Williams took a big gamble this off-season by signing Cuban 3B Dayan Viciedo. Viciedo was an absolute beast in Cuba. He was making all-star teams at the age of 16. He's currently just 20 and has incredible potential. If you've ever seen this guy hit, he looks like a right-handed Ryan Howard. He's built so well that Ozzie Guillen called him the "Cuban Tank". One look at his Cuban stats and you can tell that Viciedo has star-power. He hit .337 as a 17 year old in the Cuban National League with 14 home runs. Viciedo is currently in AA and we'll see how he progresses in American professional baseball. He hit only .231 in spring training, but cranked two home runs. Look for Viciedo to be Major League ready by 2010.


Outfielders
The Sox don't have much in terms of outfielders. Luckily, they're easier to come by in the free agent market. What they do have right now isn't so pretty. That's why there's this whole center field problem at the Major League club right now. Jordan Danks, the brother of John Danks, looks like a great athlete. He plays great defense and has a good bat. But his power is questionable. He had trouble hitting home runs with an aluminum bat in Texas. However, he did hit 2 out last year down in Kannapolis in just 40 at bats. At this point, he looks like Brian Anderson with less power. Another prospect is John Shelby, who was named 2008 White Sox minor league player of the year last season. Shelby transitioned from second base in 2008 and showed off his offensive abilities in Winston-Salem, hitting .295 with 15 home runs. He also swiped 33 bags. Grady Sizemore anyone? (right...)

Kenny traded away a lot of pitchers in order to obtain Swisher last year. The biggest name? Gio Gonzalez. But, the Sox showed Gio last season that he still needed a lot of work, as he was absolutely clobbered in a White Sox victory late last season against the A's. As of now, the biggest name for the Sox in terms of pitching prospects is still Aaron Poreda. Poreda is a left handed power pitcher who can reach up to 97 MPH on his fastball. So why's he not with the club yet? It's because he doesn't have an effective secondary pitch. The guy throws mostly fastballs as a starting pitcher. If that's the case, you might as well make him a reliever to save him some face. Major League Baseball players make a living by crushing fastballs. They can be 105 MPH and they could still get hit a long way. In fact, you're just feeding a batter more strength by throwing it that hard. One of the best pitches in baseball today is still a fastball, it just has to be well-located and setup correctly. I don't know if Poreda has the second part down just yet. However, he could end up in the rotation or bullpen as early as next season. Another guy to look out for is Jeff Marquez. Marquez came from the Yankees in the Nick Swisher deal. Kenny fell in love with this guy because of his sinker. I don't blame him. You better be a ground ball pitcher if you want to pitch at U.S. Cellular Field. Marquez was well-traveled last year as he pitched for three teams in the Yankees' minor league system. He posted a combined ERA of 4.47 and a very high WHIP of 1.4. He also struck out only 51 batters in 100+ innings while walking 32. Not impressive numbers. Nevertheless, we should all learn that Kenny Williams is always right by now. He's proved us wrong way too many times.

So What Happens After 2009?
With the possible departure of both Dye and Thome, two spots will need to be filled in 2010. I wouldn't be surprised if Quentin moves into right field and the Sox sign a free agent to patch up left field. If Viciedo is ready by 2010, we could see either him or Fields move to the DH spot in order to fill in Thome's spot in the lineup. Fields might also end up in left field if things work out that way. Alexei Ramirez could very well move into center field as Gordon Beckham could possibly slide into the SS or 2B position. It looks like he's probably going to be a 2B as Chris Getz has yet to show me the promise that I put in him earlier this season. Nevertheless, Getz looks like a player with the tools to become a great #2 hitter. On the pitching side of things, Aaron Poreda could become a member of the bullpen come next season and Jeff Marquez could also be a part of the starting rotation. However, Clayton Richard looks like the most likely candidate for the 5th spot next year. That is, if the Sox don't sign anybody or Colon and Contreras just suck for the rest of the year. Mark Buehrle's contract is also due up at the end of the 2010 season. So the Sox might have 3 spots to fill by the start of 2010. In 2011, we might see the departure of both Konerko and Pierzynski. Sad isn't it? The 2005 team is pretty much gone. Flowers and Allen will most likely take their places. So by 2011, we might be looking at a completely different Sox team. Instead of reading all of this crap I just wrote, you can look at this lineup I'm about to make.

C - Flowers (2011)
1B - Allen (2011)
2B - Getz/Ramirez/Beckham (2010)
3B - Viciedo (2010, 2011)/Fields
SS - Ramirez/Beckham (2010)
OF - Quentin, Shelby (2011 and beyond), Danks (2011 and beyond), Fields, Free Agents?
DH - Fields/Viciedo (2010)/Free Agents?

SP
1. Danks
2. Floyd
3. Richard
4. Marquez (2010)/Free Agents
5. Poreda (2010)/Free Agents

I might be just drinking the White Sox kool-aid, but these guys look like very good prospects to me. The future of this team is very bright and Kenny has done a great job of healing a very diseased farm system. But as the saying goes, prospects are prospects. There is absolutely no guarantee that any of these guys will turn out to what they are advertised as. Nevertheless, it's never too early to dream of what they could do.

- Stan (White Sox writer)