Some Quick Notes and Arizona Fall League Updates

Well, somewhere in watching the Hawks blow a 2-goal lead with 10 minutes left in the 3rd period, my mind wandered back to baseball and I realized I haven't been nearly as productive around here as I hoped when the season ended. Anyways, in the next few weeks I hope to have a few things done around here, such as some player reports and making cases for Carlos Quentin to win the AL MVP and Alexei Ramirez to win the Rookie of the Year (even though I know neither will).

I start off tonight with a real good post over at Sox Machine, that analyzes the current "predicament" the Sox have with some aging players, and why no one should be terribly upset if Williams and the Sox don't make a deliberate attempt to get younger this off-season. Real good read, I'd recommend it to anyone.

Kind of a fluff article in the Tribune today about Aaron Rowand helping cousin James Shields reach his full potential and become one of the stars of the Rays. Shields beat the Sox in Game 1 of the ALDS, so uh, thanks, Aaron.

And a couple of transaction notes, the Red Sox grabbed Dewon Day from the Sox off waivers. Also, MLB.com reported that Josh Fields had arthroscopic knee surgery last week, which does nothing to improve my own personal evaluation of Fields (briefly; he sucks).

Finally, the White Sox have 7 prospects currently playing in the Arizona Fall League with the 1st place Peoria Saguaros (at 8-3, they lead the American Division by 2 games and have the best record in the AFL). The two most intriguing prospects there are Aaron Poreda and Gordon Beckham, the team's best pitching and positional prospect respectively. After starting 27 games with Winston-Salem and Birmingham this year, Poreda has been used exclusively out of Peoria's bullpen; working 4 innings in 4 games. His 6 strikeouts look good, but 5 hits and 2 walks has his WHIP almost approaching 2.

In 5 games, Beckham is hitting .250 with a pair of doubles and 2 walks for a line of .250/.368/.375.

Aside from Poreda and Beckham, 2 other Sox prospects have looked good in their first few weeks of AFL play; Cole Armstrong, a left-handed hitting catcher who hit well in 2 stops in Birmginham and Charlotte this season has continued hitting in Peoria, AZ to a tune of .385/.429/.577 along with a homer and 6 RBI. Stefan Gartrell, a 24-year-old outfielder who played at AA Birmingham this season, is hitting .280/.379/.360. Really the only downer for the Sox at the AFL right now is Carlos Torres, who was lit up in his first 3 appearances of the season, but pitched a perfect inning Friday against Mesa, so hopefully he has turned the corner.

All the Saguaros' stats can be found here.