Friday link dump

- No Sox players made mlb.com's list of the 50 best prospects in baseball, but pitcher Aaron Poreda did make honorable mention, coming in at No. 56. I think I'd rank Poreda as the Sox' fourth best prospect right now, which is saying something because he was far and away their best in the summer. It's nothing Poreda has done, he put up really solid numbers last year, and he's still a 22-year old 6'6 power pitching lefty, but it says a lot about the steps Kenny Williams has taken to transition the club from the Konerko-Dye-Buehrle-Crede Era. Though I'm far from on expect on these things, I'd rank the Sox' prospects like this:

Tier One (when they'll be in Chicago)

1. SS/2B Gordon Beckham (2010)
2. C Tyler Flowers (2010-11)
3. 1B Dayan Viciedo (2009-2011)
4. P Aaron Poreda (2009-2010)

Tier Two

5. 2B Chris Getz (2009)
6. P Clayton Richard (2009)

Tier Three

7. 1B Brandon Allen (2010)
8. CF Jordan Danks (2011)
9. SP John Ely (2010-2011)
10. OF/IF John Shelby (2010)

The top three guys should all be able to mash in the bigs, but defensive deficiencies keep any of them from being considered among baseball's best. Beckham will be an infielder for sure, but no one is sure if he can stick at shortstop. Same goes for Flowers at catcher. If he could just be average behind the plate, which would honestly be a huge upgrade over AJ, that would be awesome. And no one knows what the hell to expect from Viciedo. He could be the opening day third baseman this year, or it could take him a few years. Still, the first tier of Sox' prospects listed above is really strong. Consider two high draft picks should be on the way in return for Orlando Cabrera, and the Sox future looks fairly bright.

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- There's been lots of great stuff on Derrick Rose lately. ESPN, SI, and Chicago Magazine all ran lengthy features on him recently. The ESPN article is the best, in my opinion, partly because they give a shout out to my boss, but mostly because it captures how truly horrible Englewood is. For example:

(Rose is) not even sure what the contours of his new life should look like. In the spring, after he declared for the draft, he headed back to Englewood, just to look around. He was driving his Land Rover. And he was alone. He drove around his old haunts, looking for friends, until he heard the distant sound of gunfire. "My mom flipped when I told her what I did," he recalls. "She didn't want me ever going over there again like that."

The last time he was back was in early October to see his old school. But in the ensuing week, five residents lost their lives in a bloody three days. "Two were boys shot in the face," he says. And right then and there, Rose realized that things had to change. "My mom is right," he says, looking down at his sneakers. "I can't be driving by there anymore alone." So he's hired two security guards. Now, he calls them whenever he goes out.

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- In Bears news...

Simmons and Peter King both like the Bears this week, as do all 13 of ESPN's experts. I know the Jags suck - if anyone saw the Monday night game against the Texans, Jacksonville couldn't look more disinterested - but it seems a little weird that a team as perfectly mediocre as the Bears would garner a unanimous decision. On the flip side, Jacksonville came out on top in the Madden simulation. So who's smarter: Chris Carter, Merrill Hodge, and Mike Golic or a video game? I'm starting to like the Bears' chances less by the minute.

- David Haugh on what the Bears could do this offseason at receiver:

Any chance Plaxico Burress or Chad Ocho Cinco is in a Bears jersey next season?

Burress may be wearing orange next season but not a Bears jersey.

Johnson would be an intriguing option for a team such as the Bears in need of playmakers, but adding him to the roster would be like throwing a grenade in the locker room.

If the Bears were going to pursue a Bengals wide receiver, they would be wiser to go after free-agent-to-be T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who's as tough on cornerbacks as he is on copy editors.

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It may be a little early for this, but SouthSideSox got me thinking about it, so here goes. Top five albums of the year:

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows
download: 15 Steps, Jiggsaw Falling Into Place

2. Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos - Not Animal
download: Broadripple is Burning, German Motor Car

3. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
download: Yeah Sapphire, One For the Cutters

4. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
download: A-Punk, Oxford Comma

5. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
download: Lost Coastlines, Singer-Songwriter

Honorable mention: Death Cab - Narrow Stairs, CSS - Donkey, MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

If someone wants to list their top five movies of the year (though I know lots of good movies traditionally come out in December so we could wait a few weeks on this one, too), do it below because I'm not a huge film guy. I've got nothing after The Dark Knight.

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Bears 24, Jags 10