Grab some maple syrup (get it Danny Duffy Jersey , last round’s winner is Canadian) and join us for round seventeen!"Jordan Balazovic won round sixteen handily. He has been generating a lot of “sleeper” buzz in prospect reports.2019 Twinkie Town Prospect Voting ResultsRoyce Lewis 52% (Kirilloff 44%, Graterol 4%)Alex Kirilloff 90% (Graterol 4%, Gordon 4%, Larnach 2%)Brusdar Graterol 56% (Gordon 19%, Larnach 12%, Thorpe 8%, Gonsalves 5%)Trevor Larnach 42% (Thorpe 25%, Gordon 21%, Gonsalves 12%)Lewis Thorpe 31% (Gordon 30%, Rooker 14%, Javier 13%, Gonsalves 11%)Nick Gordon 39% (Rooker 20%, Gonsalves 18%, Javier 17%, Alcala 5%)Stephen Gonsalves 35% (Rooker 28%, Javier 28%, Alcala 5%, Baddoo 4%)Brent Rooker 43% (Javier 41%, Baddoo 6%, Enlow 6%, Alcala 4%)Wander Javier 70% (Baddoo 12%, Enlow 7%, Alcala 7%, Duran 4%)Jorge Alcala 32% (Baddoo 28%, Enlow 23%, Duran 14%, Celestino 3%)Jhoan Duran 39% (Enlow 31%, Baddoo 25%, Severino 3%, Celestino 2%)Zack Littell 56% (Enlow 28% Frank White Jersey , Baddoo 11%, Severino 2%, Celestino 2%)Blayne Enlow 50% (Baddoo 33%, Balazovic 10%, Severino 4%, Celestino 3%)Akil Baddoo 54% (Balazovic 13%, Jeffers 12%, Rortvedt 11%, Severino 8%, Celestino 4%)Ryan Jeffers 34% (Balazovic 31%, Severino 12%, Rortvedt 12%, Celestino 10%)Jordan Balazovic 63% (Rortvedt 13%, Severino 11%, Celestino 10%, Urbina 3%)I will add a pitcher to the list who was not a high draft pick but has had great results at every stop in the minor leagues so far. Gilberto Celestino, CF2019 Age: 202018 High Level: Corpus Christi (AA)Gilberto Celestino was signed as an international free agent by the Houston Astros for a $2.5M bonus in 2015. He ranked as the #7 international prospect that signing period. As an outfielder who throws left and bats right, a combination that worked mainly for Rickey Henderson, he is a rarity. He runs fast and throws hard which has helped him build an excellent reputation as an outfielder. He also does well on the basepaths stealing 22 bases while only being caught once in 2018. His minor league experience is rather unusual. After hitting .268/.331/.379 as an 18 year old in the Appalachian League the Astros promoted him to the New York - Penn league in 2018. He hit .323/.387/.480 for the Tri-City Valley Cats. Don’t let his brief stint beginning the season at Double-A Corpus Christi fool you, he only had 8 at-bats before he was moved to a lower level team. Celestino was acquired along with Alcala last summer in return for reliever Ryan Pressly. After he was acquired by the Twins he was sent back to the Appalachian League to play with the Elizabethton Twins instead of assigning him to Cedar Rapids. He finished the season hitting .266/.308/.349 which was a downgrade from his past performance in the same league. He has tremendous tools and should be a plus defender but needs to work on his consistency at the plate. Expect to see him playing for Cedar Rapids this summer.Yunior Severino, 2B2019 Age: 192018 High Level: Elizabethton (Rookie)Yunior Severino was part of the Braves high profile class of international free agent signings headed by Kevin Maitan in 2016. Unfortunately for the Braves those signings became even more high profile when MLB voided the signings and made most of the players free agents again last winter. Severino originally signed a $1.9M contract with the Braves and he gets to keep all of that money. The Twins were able to sign him for $2.5M so the young man has done quite well already. Severino is a switch hitting second baseman from the Dominican Republic. He was promoted after 10 games from the Braves’ Dominican Rookie team to the GCL team and hit .286/.345/.444 in his debut. Scouts believe he has power and he has shown it, albeit inconsistently. He is considered a bat-first infielder who is learning how to play 2B and some scouts think he may need to move to 3B or 1B if he grows significantly. Severino stayed in extended spring training working on fundamentals until Elizabethton started their season last summer. He hit .263/.321/.424 and started off hot but faded as the season went on. His fielding at 2B was solid but he struggled in a few games at SS. As a switch hitter he will be taking lots of extra batting practice to improve on his offense in 2019.Ben Rortvedt, C2019 Age: 212018 High Level: Fort Myers (A+)Ben Rortvedt was drafted out of high school in Wisconsin by the Twins in the second round in 2016. Scouts loved his glove behind the plate and were encouraged by his hitting. He started off with the GCL Twins and was pushed up to Elizabethton after just 20 games. He didn’t hit very well (OPS below 600) but impressed the talent evaluators enough to start 2017 with Cedar Rapids. He was quite young for Cedar Rapids and it showed in his struggles at the plate. He hit just .224/.284/.315 for the Kernels in 2017. He did make significant progress with his offense after starting the season with a brutal April and May that left him hitting just .140 at the beginning of June. The Twins were impressed with his defense and encouraged enough by his ability to adjust at the plate that they still considered the aggressive promotion a success. He began the 2018 season at Cedar Rapids and earned a promotion to Fort Myers after 29 games. His combined batting line at two levels of A-ball was .262/.331/.379 which is a significant improvement over the previous season but still lacking in power. If he is able to learn to drive the ball he may have a future as a big league starter, otherwise his glove suggests he would be a valuable backup. Expect him to begin the 2019 season back at Fort Myers with an eye on a mid-season promotion to Double-A.Misael Urbina, OF2019 Age: 172018 High Level: Did not play professionallyMisael “Misa” Urbina was the top international free agent signed by the Twins last summer costing them a $2.75M bonus with an additional $300k for college. He ranked #5 among international free agents who were available in the 2018 signing period. He comes to the Twins from Venezuela where he has been participating in the Venezuelan Winter League development program for young players. This has allowed him to play against players with professional experience. Scouts like his hit tool and his plus speed. He is considered an advanced defender in the outfield with the range for centerfield but his arm may keep him in left. He is very young so anything can happen but the Twins have done well with international free agents lately. He should make his professional debut this summer in a foreign rookie league but his Twins debut is unlikely before 2023.Tyler Wells, P2019 Age: 242018 High Level: Chattanooga (AA)Tyler Wells was the Twins 15th round selection in the 2016 draft from Cal State San Bernardino. He has steadily climbed the minor league ladder posting a great strikeout rate and decent walk rate while limiting home runs allowed. He has a pretty standard fastball, changeup and slider arsenal but uses his pitches effectively. At 6’8” 265lbs he has the frame of a starting pitcher. He had some biceps tendinitis in July of 2017 but has started healthy last spring at Fort Myers. He was promoted after 16 starts at Fort Myers (8.5 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, 2.91 RA) to Chattanooga where he continued to pitch well (10.7 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 http://www.royalsfanproshop.com/authentic-ryan-goins-jersey , 1.65 RA) in 32-2/3 innings. Wells is not a young prospect but he has performed admirably at every stop along the way. Expect him to start this year back in Double-A Pensacola with a goal of a promotion to Triple-A. He could pitch for the Twins as early as this September as he is a candidate to be added to the 40 man roster next winter. Big thanks to all those who offered support in March!"WhiteFanposts FanpostsFanshotsSections AnalysisGame RecapsGamethreadsMinorsOffbeatFull ArchiveExclusives South Side Sox Hall of FameCard of the MonthDeep DiveDigitsFlashbackFranchise FactsKnow Your EnemyMost Essential White SoxRace to the BottomSix Pack of StatsSouth Side SnapSouth Side StumperSSS Literary SupplementSuper Stats PackThe Game I’ll Never ForgetTwitterpatingUnder the RadarView From the Other SideWhite Sox on SB Nation HomeStoriesScheduleRosterStatsWhite Sox on Yahoo! HomeDepth ChartTransactionsMasthead MastheadMeet the Players!Links White Sox Web LinksSouth Side Sox standardsCommunity GuidelinesOdds Shop StubHub 鉁昐outh Side Sox: April status updateNew,7commentsBig thanks to all those who offered support in March!CDTShareTweetShareShareSouth Side Sox: April status updateHere’s a fun consequence of working into the wee hours most every night: Deleting stuff that would be really helpful to have on hand for future reference.But, anyway, the old “South Side Sox needs your help” is gone forever (some of the original text appears in original form here and is reproduced as a sidebar now), and I’ll be spending an hour or so on this re-inputting all of our generous donors. Apparently, this is my subconscious reminding me to memorize all of your names. South Side Sox needs your helpI’m Brett Ballantini, and I’ve been a sportswriter focused on our Chicago teams (White Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks) for two decades now. Since 2005, in part or full, I’ve made my living writing about the White Sox.As the managing editor of South Side Sox, I have a staff of a dozen writers.聽Our site provides the most comprehensive coverage of the White Sox on the web, from the affiliates to the major league team, with lots of analysis, reader polling and team history mixed in.We also boast the biggest and most vibrant community of White Sox fans you’ll find anywhere. It’s the backbone of our site.Another thing South Side Sox does that no other blog will is so simple, you may forget how rare it is in online media: Pay its staff. Every single regular contributor is valued, and thus paid for their work.With the team at low ebb, support from our ownership has been halved, which leaves me with two choices: reduce coverage, or ask for help. Rather than just accepting the former, I’m going to try the latter.During the period in which we’ll need help (failing to sign Manny Machado triggered this change, so three cheers for opt-outs!), nothing about the site will change, including its ads.With enough support, we’ll continue to expand the site, including a podcast and several other large ideas I’ve teased on the site in the past. First and foremost, we need to surmount our budget crisis, which is where you can help.Funding tiers are thus pretty basic right now, as this wasn’t something I ever thought I’d have to do.But it’s been done before on our pages, and this time you can rest assured that all monies will be plugged right back into the site and its writers to continue to provide you first-stop White Sox coverage.Thanks for your willingness to help. I hope we continue to prove worthy of your support.So http://www.royalsfanproshop.com/authentic-ryan-goins-jersey , anyway, here we are. We made it just past halfway to our desired goal when setting up outside support for our site after our budget was cut in half. Which might be seen as disappointing, but for us to ramp up as far as we did in short time, without an obvious button to push to help, that ain’t bad at all, and it’s a tribute to everyone who took the plunge.We have been given enough initial support to only affect a portion of staff here, the so-called heavy hitters. Year of the Hamster’s Deputy Editor position was eliminated, representing about a third of the cut. Darren Jackson’s lead voice position was eliminated, about a fifth. My own pay was slashed about 40%. Those three cuts pretty much accounted for everything that’s lost, and unfortunately, for the people who turn the lights on every morning, it’s a bummer.But looking ahead, hopefully there’s momentum to get us pretty quickly back to where we were and perhaps beyond, so we can add additional coverage and features. As of now, nothing will change about the site. (And it certainly isn’t in danger of materially going away.) Technically, we’re required to post very minimally due to the cuts — SBN is not demanding the same or more work for half-pay — but as I’d said before, I’m fighting back. We’re still going to provide everything you’re accustomed to here over the past year: gamethreads, recaps, minor league updates (more detailed than you’ll find anywhere), unique photos, previews, and features.We’ve got the groovy new Breaking T partnership going with PINWHEEL POWER, which is a great way for you to support the site, as we get a little tip for you clicking the link and buying, and you get some groovy gear in return. I have a couple of additional ideas to get off the ground as well, store items that ideally will give us an even bigger chunk of the action.Pending interest, we’ll start kicking off a weekly Q&A here, with questions provided by site supporters. And consider this the first of the monthly site updates that will include thank-yous to everyone who has helped out.