Bell can see gains in White Sox international program

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Venezuelan prospect Carlos Sanchez is a step away from the majors and Buddy Bell believes more international talent is on the way.

Bell, the White Sox assistant general manager, returned from a trip to the teams academy in the Dominican Republic last week and said he can already see progress a little more than a year after Marco Paddy was hired.

Paddy, who joined the team near the end of the 2011 season, has been asked to turn around an international program that has produced few players over the past 15 seasons. Bell is impressed with the programs early gains.

You need scouts to find the talent and Marco has done a very good job since his hire last year, Bell said in an email. Our players at our Dominican academy look a lot different. This is the first time I can say we have some guys that have a chance to be impactful major leaguers. Very athletic looking kids.

Eduardo Escobar, who was traded to the Minnesota Twins in July for Francisco Liriano, and Sanchez, who earlier this month was rated the teams No. 3 prospect by Baseball America, are the programs only recent graduates.

The combination of the clubs poor track record and new rules in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement that effectively level the playing field by limiting the amount teams can spend have led to the White Sox adding resources to their international program.

Not only has the team spent more on international signings, Paddy is also in the process of hiring five new scouts to help the White Sox cover more ground in the international game.

Unfortunately, it's going to take some time but we have to start somewhere, Bell said. Because of what happened a few years back you become a little paranoid about the system. We are all in now.

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