Sleepers: Chicago White Sox
The Shallow
Josh Fields – Third Base
Is this the year that Fields begins to grow on his 23 HR breakout season of 2007? Entering spring training, it wasn’t certain that he would even be the starting 3B with Cuban-prospect Dayan Viciedo in the mix; however the 26-year old Oklahoma native easily won the battle, and will begin the season somewhere near the bottom of a power-packed White Sox attack. With a 3-4-5-6 heart of the order that all have 35+ bomb potential, Fields will sit nicely in either the eight or nine spot of their day-to-day line-up.
If he wants to be an everyday player and keep Wilson Betemit vying for starts elsewhere, Fields has to lower his monstrous strikeout totals, as he ranks among the league leaders in AB/K, with a major league total of 2.83AB/K (slightly worse than his 3.29AB/K in 1685 minor league plate appearances). In keeping with defensive enigmas on the South Side of Chicago (sorry Minnesota Twin “Shallow” candidate, Joe Crede…), Fields will have to do some work with the glove to contribute in other ways, as his BA isn’t likely to top the .275 mark.
Fields has decent speed, and stole 28 bases in 2006; however, he hasn’t had more than 13 attempts in a season since, which makes me wonder what has happened to alter such a stat. Regardless, the White Sox aren’t a big running team. They typically depend on the long ball to make the scoreboard move, which sits just fine with the right-handed hitting breakout candidate.
In a line-up that depends on mashing, it sometimes skews RBI totals, so don’t expect monster RBI production. However a .270-20-65-8 line isn’t bad for a fantasy roster back-up at a scarce position. Keep an early eye to see how his April/May totals are, and don’t be afraid to jump early should you need a little boost at the hot corner and you notice a thin waiver wire.
The Deep
Aaron Poreda – Starting Pitcher
This big, burly (6’6”, 240-pounder) hard-throwing lefty has a power fastball that many scouts proclaim as “downright nasty”. Poreda isn’t afraid to attack the inside of the plate, jamming hitters and demolishing bats along the way. With the success of his career at the University of San Francisco, along with two seasons of minor league ball, slithering up the ranks to the AA-Birmingham Bulls, Poreda may be expected to take the leap to AAA-Charlotte for at least a season prior to getting a sniff at the big league level.
With a 12-9 record and 2.69 ERA through his first 207 IP of minor league play, he has shown a huge dependency on his fastball to get him ahead in the count, and also when he needs to throw a strike. This dependency will lead to trouble against professional hitters, which means that the White Sox affiliate coaching staff will need to work with him to produce a couple of other major league ready pitches, prior to dedicating a rotation spot to the kid.
A good K/BB ratio of 3.32 shows that he hits the plate more so than not; however, in some starts, he has been criticized for his lack of breaking and off-speed pitches, which leads to predictability. Should he be able to introduce a mix of speeds, his combination of size and control will only increase his K total, and improve his intimidation on the mound.
With these secondary pitches still considered "works in progress", Poreda probably won’t win the rotation spot that his stuff garners until the 2010 season. However, with a solid core of starters (John Danks and Gavin Floyd) already in the mix, the Sox can take their time and not rush the 22-year old. Unfortunately, with the four and five spots of the pale hose rotation being won by “The Chubby Wonder”, Bartolo Colon, and “The Ancient One”, Jose Contreras, they may run into injuries which could force their hand.
Depending on how their early months of the 2009 season go, Poreda, and fellow lefty Clayton Richard, will surely be the first call-up for a spot start. Keep an eye on the health and production of the Sox starters, and the production of their two blue-chip pitching prospects.
