we've reached approximately the halfway point of the arizona fall league and white sox prospects have largely acquitted themselves quite well. the addition of jordan danks to the sags roster after the injury to gartrell certainly was a welcome bit of news (danks originally was not included because teams are only allowed to add one player below the AA level and beckham obviously trumps - apparently, however, the rules are relaxed for replacements).

i should note that the sample sizes here are ridiculously small so drawing conclusions from these performances is actually pretty silly. however, obviously one would prefer to see players excel in whatever sample size, as opposed to playing poorly. and a player can improve or hurt their stock with an AFL performance, simply because it is considering a prospect finishing school and scouts don't have much else to do right now other than watch this. these scouts also have the advantage of actually seeing the players, as opposed to just looking at their stats, which can probably tell you more in the small sample sizes than performance.

at any rate, reviewed in order of performance.

cole armstrong: he's certainly opened some eyes. he's lived up to his repuation as a good defensive catcher but has added a very nice offensive performace: .321/.377/.571. articles have spoken of him "staying back on the ball" more in the AFL, which helps his power. if true, perhaps this performance is a sign of things to come.

aaron poreda: it's almost cruel to make teams face poreda for one inning. poreda has been merciless - 7 appearances, each one inning, with no runs allowed, 6 hits, 3 walks, and 11 Ks. if you're wondering if these one inning appearances mean anything for how the sox plan to use him, don't read too much into it. harrell is the white sox designated "starter" in the AFL so he gets the innings and the starts.

gordon beckham: he's not the sags' designated SS so he's moved around the field a bit, playing some 2B as well. nice line of .278/.400/.361 against the most advanced competition he's seen. eyewitness reports indicate his fielding has been slick. this performance is what you want to see from beckham.

derek rodriguez: has done nothing but improve his case for a 40 man roster spot and a chance to audition for the bullpen. his overall line isn't pretty - 8 IP, 10 hits, 4 BB, 1 HB, 9K - however, most of that bad stuff is from one horrid outing.

carlos torres: on the other hand, torres has done nothing but hurt his chances. after a good season, it looked like he might have upped his ceiling from AAA level arm to backend bullpen fodder. in contrast to rodriguez, he's had multiple poor outings so his line isn't misleading - 8.2IP, 13 hits, 6 BB, 2 HB, 8K.

maurice/stefan gartrell: before separating his shoulder, he played pretty well: .269/.406/.346. he's nothing exciting long term.

lucas harrell: 5G, 11.2IP, 16 hits, 10 K, 4 BB. 3 good outings, 2 terrible outings.  hasn't taken the step forward that the sox would have liked, considering his addition to the 40 man last year. time is running out for this guy. next year is make or break and his AFL campaign hasn't set the stage very well.

jordan danks: only four games but what a four games: 9-16, .563/.611/.813, SB, outfield assist - can't ask for much better, especially against the most advanced competition he's seen. while we all hate to see players injured, gartrell's shoulder is the MVP of the white sox offseason so far because, otherwise, danks would be playing against low level competition in the instructional league. instead he's getting to face excellent prospects and, frankly, his development is far more important than gartrell's.

EDIT: i should have mentioned for comparison purposes that the AFL is an inflated environment for offense. back of the envelope calculation is that league average OBP is .365ish and slugging is .460ish.

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Four-Star Prospects
1. Ethan Martin, RHP
2. Ivan De Jesus Jr., SS/2B
3. James McDonald, RHP
4. Scott Elbert, LHP
5. Andrew Lambo, LF
Three-Star Prospects
6. Josh Lindblom, RHP
7. Devaris Gordon, SS
8. Josh Bell, 3B
Two-Star Prospects
9. Pedro Baez, 3B
10. Kyle Russell, RF
11. Xavier Paul, CF

Just Missed: Tony Delmonico, 2B; Steve Johnson, RHP; Chris Withrow, RHP

Ranking Challenges: While the Dodgers lack a truly elite prospect, the first five on this list are all worthy of Top 100 consideration, and could be moved around liberally without too much argument. The system drops off considerably from there, though their group of toolsy left-side infielders do provide plenty of ceiling.

...

The Sleeper: Justin Miller is a raw right-hander with control issues who had a pedestrian 3.99 ERA in the Midwest League, but he also has the best sinker in the organization and is a ground-ball machine who had a G/F ratio of nearly 3-to-1 this year.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8340

Four-Star Prospects
1. Jason Castro, C
Three-Star Prospects
2. Brian Bogusevic, CF
3. Jordan Lyles, RHP
4. Bud Norris, RHP
5. Chris Johnson, 3B
6. Ross Seaton, RHP
Two-Star Prospects
7. Samuel Gervacio, RHP
8. Drew Sutton, 2B
9. Felipe Paulino, RHP
10. Chia-Jen Lo, RHP
11. Jay Austin, CF

Just Missed: Collin DeLome, OF; T.J. Steele, OF; Polin Trinidad, LHP

Ranking Challenges: One of the biggest hurdles with a team like the Astros is simply finding the right 11; once you delve into two-star territory, there are any number of candidates, and none of them would be especially worthy in most other systems. Castro and Bogusevic were an easy 1-2, but after that, an argument could be made for several different orders.

...

The Sleeper: A 15th-round pick out of South Carolina, Phil Disher has as much raw power as anyone in the system, but he was also the 452nd overall pick for a reason: he's a well-below-average athlete who is limited to first base, and his power-only game leads to high strikeout totals.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8331

By Phil Rogers, 4:45 p.m.   The White Sox’s collection of talented Cubans is growing.     According to major-league sources, the Sox have reached an agreement with 19-year-old third baseman Dayan Viciedo, who was declared a free agent a week ago.     Viciedo reportedly will receive a major-league contract worth about $11 million. That’s more than twice the size of the deal that brought Alexei Ramirez to the White Sox last season, and Ramirez was second in American League Rookie of the Year voting last season.     The size of the Viciedo contract reflects his potential as a power hitter. He was an All-Star in Cuba’s top league at age 16. At a recent tryout in the Dominican Republic, he also played right field. He has a strong arm.       Some reports say Viciedo has been unmotivated in recent years, allowing his weight to balloon and his production to decrease. But the White Sox would seem to be an ideal situation for him to reach his potential, as he will have Jose Contreras and Ramirez in the same organization, if not immediately the same clubhouse.     Agent Jaime Torres, who also represents Ramirez and Contreras, says Viciedo is ready to step into the big leagues. But others believe he will need some time in the minor leagues to help with the transition.

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2008/11/sox-to-sign-19.html

sorry for the formatting issues - cutting and pasting from their blog is always problematic.

Five-Star Prospects
1. Cameron Maybin, CF
2. Michael Stanton, RF
3. Matt Dominguez, 3B
Four-Star Prospects
4. Logan Morrison, 1B
5. Kyle Skipworth, C
6. Jose Ceda, RHP
Three-Star Prospects
7. Sean West, LHP
8. Ryan Tucker, RHP
9. Chris Coghlan, 2B
10. John Raynor, LF
11. Gaby Sanchez, 1B

Just Missed: Brett Carroll, OF; Scout Cousins, OF; Ike Galloway, OF

Ranking Challenges: I think Maybin and Stanton are a step ahead of Dominguez and Morrison, but you could flip those four in any order and still make an argument for each scenario. For me, two years and a positional difference create a decent gap between the pair I rank up ahead of the other two. Skipworth and Ceda are on their own island right behind that quartet, and then seven through 11 are all very close to each other.

...

The Sleeper: Acquired recently in a trade with Washington, second baseman Jake Smolinski has had trouble staying healthy in the pros, but he's a surprisingly advanced hitter for a teenager from the north (Illinois), with a very quick bat.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8323

Five-Star Prospects
1. Dexter Fowler, CF
2. Jhoulys Chacin, RHP
Four-Star Prospects
3. Wilin Rosario, C
Three-Star Prospects
4. Christian Friedrich, LHP
5. Casey Weathers, RHP
6. Michael McKenry, C
7. Hector Gomez, SS
8. Connor Graham, RHP
9. Eric Young Jr., 2B/OF
10. Charles Blackmon, CF
Two-Star Prospects
11. Seth Smith, OF

Just Missed: Darin Holcomb, 3B; Chris Nelson, SS; Chaz Roe, RHP

...

The Sleeper: A 37th-round draft pick this June who got $250,000 to sign, outfielder Delta Cleary is a switch-hitting five-tool athlete who is raw like sushi but offers plenty to dream about.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8313

Five-Star Prospects
1. Josh Vitters, 3B
Four-Star Prospects
2. Jeff Samardzija, RHP
3. Jose Ceda, RHP
Three-Star Prospects
4. Hak-Ju Lee, SS
5. Andrew Cashner, RHP
6. Tyler Colvin, OF
7. Dae-Eun Rhee, LHP
8. Ryan Flaherty,
Two-Star Prospects
9. Welington Castillo, C
10. Donald Veal, LHP
11. Micah Hoffpauir, 1B

Just Missed: Matt Cedra, INF; Jay Jackson, RHP; Logan Watkins, INF

Ranking Challenges: The Cubs are a very tough team to rank. That said, the top three prospects on my initial snapshot never moved, and you see them exactly where they started. Everything after that is a bit of a mess however, as one could jumble up the players ranked fourth through eleventh in any order and make some kind of reasonable argument for all.

...

The Sleeper: Dominican middle-infielder Junior Lake is a long-bodied, athletic, toolsy player with power, speed, and a whole lot of raw ability. He showed plenty of potential while hitting .286/.335/.417 as an 18-year-old playing in the Arizona Rookie League.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8296

Five-Star Prospects
1. Jason Heyward, OF
2. Tommy Hanson, RHP
Four-Star Prospects
3. Jordan Schafer, CF
4. Gorkys Hernandez, CF
5. Freddie Freeman, 1B
Three-Star Prospects
6. Julio Teheran, RHP
7. Cole Rohrbough, LHP
8. Tyler Flowers, C
9. Randall Delgado, RHP
10. Brandon Hicks, SS
Two-Star Prospects
11. Kris Medlen, RHP

Just Missed: John Gilmore, 3B; Craig Kimbrell, RHP; Jeff Locke, LHP

Ranking Challenges: There was a lot of flip-flopping from top to bottom during the ranking process. I went back and forth on number one between Heyward and Hanson, but ultimately Heyward's advantage as far as his ceiling outweighed Hanson's edge in certainty. Schafer was always number three, but I also went back and forth with the Hernandez and Freeman spots. Teheran jumped all over the place between sixth and 10th before a discussion with a scout provided some clarity, and having two scouts both express strong concerns about Flowers' defense dropped him a bit at the end. As was the case with Arizona, there were many possibilities for the 11th spot, before finally settling on Medlen.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8287