While this is generally true, its not really about Reed. Miguel Olivo was the biggest part of that trade.

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Infante and Rienzo were international signings not draft picks. You can sign international players at a younger age (16 in Latin years) so they are still relatively young. Infante (24) is out of Venezuela and Rienzo (23) is out of Brazil. I almost listed Eric Johnson (2nd round pick in '11) over Rienzo but he only threw 2 innings for the Sox after a full college season. then a long layoff. Like to see a little bigger body of work to rank him in the top 10.

Just listened to this weeks UP AND IN podcast from baseball Prospectus. Kevin Goldstein and Jason Parks are doing a segment each week where they look at 5 teams Top Prospects. Next week will be the White Sox .... they did a quick preview and said that it is the WORST system in baseball and that it may be the shortest segment ever ...then laughed and said no that they will go into why and how it got so bad... They both seem to think there is ONE and only ONE legitimate prospect and he is relief pitcher Addison Reed ..after him nothing.. be sure to listen to the BEST SPORTS PODCAST AWARD nominee next week for a full breakdown. You can find it at the BP website or the iTunes store. I will listen and summarize the list here probably next Thursday or Friday.

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Reinsdorf and Pud Selig have been on a two man crusade to limit spending on amateur and international players. Over the last 5 years the Sox have by far spent the least on both. It doesn't look like there is going to be a cap on the draft but there might be a cap on international signings.

The Sox scouting department has one hand tied behind it's back and I'm not saying it's a good system but it's not as atrocious as those with an axe to grind will have you believe.

Did they have Lowe's AX night at the Cell this year:

This from Baseball America; "The White Sox, who opened the 2011 season with the 27th-ranked farm system in the game and spent less on this summer's amateur draft than any other team."

and in this weeks issue the same publication thay rated the TOP 21 Prospects in each of the 16 minor leagues from AAA to ROOKIE.
336 total players ranked some players appeared on more then one leagues list due to splitting time. Here are the White Sox teams by league and the players that were ranked.

AAA Charlotte: Dyan Viciedo 1B/OF #12
AA Birmingham: NONE
High A:Winston-Salem: Tyler Saldino SS #20
Low A: Kannapolis: Trayce Thompson OF #15
Rookie: Bristol:Kevan Smith C #20
Rookie: Great Falls:Scott Snodgress LHP #14
Kevan Smith C #17

The two players the Sox got from Florida Jhan Martinez and Ozzie Martinez were not ranked.

That makes 6 ranked players out of 336.

"Not that bad"..or is 27th out of 30 and declining not that atrocious ????? ... all we need now is to see what AX Keith Law has to grind.

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He's done good work, but is it better than Dave Righetti, Mike Maddux, Larry Rothschild or Bud Black(before he managed)?

I just think Pitching Coaches in general are way overrated. They have a pitching stafff with one good season and the guy is a "Pitching guru" for the rest of his life.

Duncan and Mazzone had the records to go with their reputations. Their staffs are in the top of the league for the most part. Cooper has not had the White Sox consistenly in the top.

He has had some success though for sure.

Spending money doesn't guarantee success. The experts rank the Sox system towards the bottom of the league every season yet they continue to produce major league players. We'll just have to wait and see how these guys develop.

Wow...what a revelation...a Major League system is supposed to produce BALLPLAYERS!

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