The
White Sox announced the list of 10 non-roster invitees to spring training. None of them appear to have any shot of making the team like Boone Logan or Pablo Ozuna did, but it should give us some idea of what the high-minors rosters will look like as Opening Day nears.
Going over the list, in order of noteworthiness:
1. Jason Bourgeois.Had Bourgeois been on the 40-man roster last year, he would've received a September call-up. He posted a .306/.365/.440 line between Double-A and Triple-A last year, with better numbers across the board in Charlotte. He also stole 38 bases in 47 attempts.
But Pablo Ozuna's return gums things up a little. It would be hard to justify carrying Bourgeois and Ozuna on the 25-man roster, because both are similar types of players -- right-handed, non-homer-hitting utility players who can't handle shortstop. Ozuna would make more sense if he were the primary backup to Josh Fields, but if Juan Uribe is still around, Bourgeois, the better outfielder, would likely be more useful.
Unfortunately, Ozuna is guaranteed $1.25 million in 2008, so I can't imagine there will be an open competition between the two.
2. Chris Getz.Getz walks more than he strikes out, which sets him apart from most of his peers in the Sox's minor-league system, especially as a middle infielder. He also doesn't hit for power, so his future is entirely reliant on his ability to hit for a high average. He saw an increase from .256 to .298 after repeating Double-A, but a shin injury limited him to only 72 games.
(Although it's funny that Getz hit more homers in each of his two years at Birmingham than Ryan Sweeney did during his stay.)
3. D.J. Carrasco.Carrasco is the only pitcher on the list, but even for a team desperate for bullpen help, it's hard to imagine Carrasco having a chance. He walked more batters than he struck out in 2005, went to Japan for a year, then was lit up pitching for the Diamondbacks' Triple-A affiliate in Tucson. I'm wondering if the Diamondbacks assigned him there to boost Tucson Electric Park attendance, since he grew up in nearby Safford, Ariz., and went to Pima Community College.
4. Brad Eldred.Not only did the Sox trade Chris Carter, but they also lost Casey Rogowski and Ernie Young, leaving the organization razor-thin at first base. Eldred will likely go to Triple-A, and when paired with Thomas Collaro, they could provide enough wind energy to power half of Charlotte.
5. Jeff Liefer.Yes,
the guy who locked himself in a bathroom returns (his Baseball-Reference.com page's sponsor is great). He never did much after his 2001, when he looked like he could at least be the left-handed portion of a first-base platoon a la Ben Broussard. He never came close to matching it. He could form a platoon with Eldred in Charlotte, though.
Fun Liefer fact: In
the history of the American League, no player has hit at least 18 homers with fewer RBI than Liefer's total of 39 in 2001. A few players beat him with lower rates of RBI per homer, including Carlton Fisk in 1984. That's easier to explain -- the Sox were third in homers that year, but dead last in on-base percentage. There was a shortage of RBI opportunities that year, and Fisk drew the short straw.
Twelve of Liefer's 18 homers were solo shots; Fisk hit 18 of 21 with the bases empty.
6. Paul Phillips.Phillips made an appearance on my list of
21 catchers better than Sandy Alomar Jr., and that's still true. But he's drawn exactly one walk in 157 big-league plate appearances, so the difference between the two is negligible. He might stick as a veteran aide to Donny Lucy in Charlotte if Wiki Gonzalez isn't around.
7. Ryan Smith.Smith, also a catcher, owned a .342 OPS in Charlotte last year as a 28-year-old. The only other thing to know is that he caught Charlie Haeger for his last five starts. During those 38 innings, Haeger posted a 2.37 ERA, allowed only 27 hits and seven walks while striking out 28. He's probably invited because he's a warm body who keeps pitches from rattling around the backstop, but maybe he knows something the other catchers don't.
8. Michael Rouse.Rouse willl likely serve Tomas Perez's
purpose last year -- shortstop depth at Triple-A. The Houston Astros
offered Perez a non-roster invitation, Cleveland picked up Andy
Gonzalez, Robert Valido needs not repeat High-A ball for a third
straight year, and Victor Mercedes is a 28-year-old make-believe shortstop, so Rouse
will automatically be the best of what's left. He's had a couple cups
of coffee, making a solid debut for Oakland a couple years ago before he was utterly exposed in Cleveland last year.
9. Royce Huffman.He strikes me as a right-handed, older version of Rogowski, and with a WASPier name (he's actually Royce Thomas Huffman III), in that he has below-average power and above-average speed at first. He's played third and second and committed plenty of errors at each position, so add him to the list of potential filler first basemen..
10. Miguel Negron.I know nothing about him. He seems to run OK and can take a pitch, but hits for neither average nor power. There's room for him in an outfield, though, either in Birmingham or Charlotte thanks to the dearth of prospects.