White Sox Invite 19 to Spring Training

[Chisox73]

I didn't know we signed Ben Grieve.:noidea

[Chisox]

I'm really suprised to see Ben Grieve on the list. I've always had kind-of a grudge against him after beating out Magglio for ROY honors. Kind-of ironic. I wonder what the Sox expect him to do; he's been a complete bust since leaving Oakland, the last season of which technically was last millenium!

[FedEx]

No big surprised. It'll be fun to see who takes the McCarthy route and steps up big in ST. I'm looking at Josh Fields to be that man, especially with Crede getting the 1-year deal, its basically Fields steps up or waits a few more years.

Surprising to see no Jerry Owens though, anybody know the deal? Or was the Venezualen League enough prep for him and he just wants a break or something?

[Chisox73]

White Sox invite 19 players to Spring Training

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060119&content_id=1298152&vkey=pr_cws&fext=.jsp&c_id=cws

CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms on minor-league contracts with left-handed pitchers Chad Bentz, Javier Lopez and Stephen Randolph, right-handed pitchers Agustin Montero and Tim Redding, outfielders Darren Blakely and Ben Grieve and infielder Jorge Velandia. All eight players, in addition to 11 players within the White Sox system, have received non-roster invites to the club's spring training camp in Tucson, Ariz.

Bentz, 25, and Lopez, 28, have a combined 221 games of major-league experience, while Redding has appeared in 101 games (79 starts) with Houston (2001-04), San Diego (2005) and the New York Yankees (2005). Grieve, 29, is a career .269 (864-3,215) hitter with 118 home runs and 492 RBI in nine major-league campaigns and was named the American League Rookie of the Year with Oakland in 1998.

Pitchers Lance Broadway and Ray Liotta, outfielder Ryan Sweeney and third baseman Josh Fields, Top 10 prospects in the White Sox organization according to Baseball America, headline the list of players within the organization who have received invites to major-league camp.

Sweeney, 20, hit .298 (128-429) with one home run and 48 RBI last season at Class AA Birmingham. He was the Sox second-round draft choice in 2003 and owns a .294 (307-1,045) average in three minor-league seasons.

Broadway, the White Sox No. 1 selection (15th overall) in the 2005 draft out of Texas Christian University, spent his first professional season at Class A Winston-Salem, going 1-3 with a 4.58 ERA (28 ER/55.0 IP) and 58 strikeouts in 11 starts. He went 15-1 with a 1.62 ERA his senior season at TCU and was named First- Team All-American by Baseball America and Louisville Slugger.

Liotta, 22, was 14-5 with a 2.02 ERA (37 ER/165.0 IP) in 28 starts between Class A Kannapolis and Winston-Salem in 2005. The southpaw was named to the South Atlantic League's midseason All-Star Team, led all Sox farmhands in ERA, ranked second in IP and third in wins and strikeouts (144).

Fields, 23, batted .252 (120-477) with 16 home runs and 79 RBI at Winston-Salem in his second professional season in 2005. The former No. 1 draft choice ranked third in the Southern League in RBI and fifth with 134 games played.

White Sox pitchers and catchers report to spring training on Friday, February 17, with physicals and a workout scheduled for the following day. Position players are to report on Wednesday, February 22, with physicals and the first full-squad workout the next day.