Bullard

Hey there everybody I, along with some of my teammates, have some questions and concerns about the recent list of prospects in our organization that was posted to sox net. Some of the guys, such as West, Cotts and myself wonder how and on what basis you ranked us. I assume that since you never see us play that you are going strictly by numbers. Those assumptions that you make about West are far from true. I mean, when was the last time you saw him pitch anyway? You cant base everything solely on numbers because for those who actually know anything about the minor leagues and development know that more than just numbers are used to judge a player. For you to write those things about Westy is just plain ignorant. He actually has pitched better than the numbers suggest. Strikeouts for one are over rated and judge absolutely nothing, and his ERA has been plagued by some weak ass runs caused by plays that could have been errors. Lastly you must remember that the season is 5 months long and we havent even played half of it yet. So dont judge us based on 2 months of numbers, actually dont judge us period. If you think that you have all the answers then I urge you to travel to all of our affiliates and inflict all your knowledge of the game upon us to make us as good as you think we should be. I mean with all your baseball experience you guys should be coaches in our orgainzation and help us to the perfect pitchers that you feel is necesarry to pitch at the Big LEague level. Think before you speak. Westy is on the freakin 40 man so obvioulsly he is doing something right. We're out. West, Bull, Cotts

Cotts DL appearance is more for precaution. He only is gonna miss 1 start most likely. McWhirter is spot starting Sunday for Cotts and I'm gonna spot start Monday. We got Purvis from Extended Spring and I think O'neal from Winston. Our pitchers have taken a little beating thus far this year but those who have been healthy have picked up the slack. We have 12 games in the next 11 days so our pitching staff is gonna be pushed to the limit. Time for the bus to the field. Adios

Hello again its your friendly reliever of the Barons. Well we have been pretty hot since the last time I posted. We are 10-2 in our last 12 games and our hitting has been what has been winning most of those games. Granted our pitching has still been solid but we dont have to win 2-1 now in order to get a win. I picked up my first win of the year out of the pen by coming in the 7th inning with a man on 3rd and 2 down with a 2-2 tie in the game. I threw 4 pitches and induced a pop up to center to end the threat. And then in the top of the 8th Ingram proceeded to hit a 3 run bomb to get me the win. As for the rest of the bunch Cotts, Pacheco, and Yofu are still pitching well, while the bullpen is holding our own and Bikowski, Durham, Aceves and Alvarez have been lights out at the plate during our current winning streak.

Hey chill out people. Yesterday was just one of those days. We dont suck we just have hit a little skid. We are only like 5 games out of first the last time I checked. Batts pitched because Wally didnt want to waste anymore pitchers in the pen since we still have 3 games left in this series. Another thing to remember about the Sox org. is that it is based upon pitching. For what we lack in offense we make up for on the mound. It is still only 26 games into the year so dont jump to conclusions too soon.

Hello everyone. Sorry its been awhile but I have no phone line in my apartment and only a handful of the hotels on the road have free online connections. Right now we are in Jacksonville and we won an 11am game 3-0. Pacheco continued his dominance with 6 scoreless inn. and his fastball was 90-96 the whole time. Ringer picked up another save in relief. We finish this 4 game series tomorow night at 705e. I am making a spot start because of the doubleheader we played the other day screwed up the rotation. My move to the bullpen (which I initiated) has been pretty smooth except for my walk totals. My velocity has increased, mainly because I can lay it all out on the line for 1-2 inn. instead of pacing myself for 6-7. Its fun to be able to have the opportunity to pitch every night out of the pen. That is one of the reasons I made the move, I can pitch everyday (my body is pretty resilient), and I add another lefty to our pen with Ring. They say I still have to get 80-100 inn. this year so I will probably make most of the spot starts throughout the year as well. As for the team, we have had a lot of ups and downs already and its still April. But our pitching has been pretty solid and our hitting has been off and on but when we need a run we seem to get it 90 percent of the time. I think we are starting to come together and we have a chance to finish above .500 for April. I read some of the posts and see Rex Hudler seems to go to a lot of our games. Hey Rex, dont be afraid to come down to the pen during the games and say hi. I would like to meet you if you dont mind giving up your anonymity. Finally keep an eye on our staff this season because Cotts and PAcheco have been unbelievable and Malone, West, Ulacia are settling down. Not to mention our bullpen is pretty damn good as well. Adios

Im what you would call a strike thrower. I can locate and throw any of my 4 pitches for strikes at any time in the count. I pitched today and went 5 innings giving up two runs on 3 hits and 0 BB and 5 K. The best part of it though was I only threw 56 pitches. I havent walked a guy all spring and I have been getting a lot of early contact outs. I think if I continue to throw strikes I will have a good year and continue to move up the organizational chart.

Phillips had some arm soreness at the beginning of camp but I think he is starting to feel a liitle better. I dont know if he is gonna break in Winston or stay in Tucson a couple of weeks. Stumm just started throwing off the mound again and he is pain free. He'll be in extended a bit before probably heading to Winston. Sager is in the same boat as Stumm but will probably go to Kan. when he is ready to go.

Smith- Righty 90-93 FB In Winston and Bham last year, my roommate since I signed. Piniella OF split time with Winston and Bham hit 320 in Bham Eason Righty split time with CHarlotte and Bham had a 2.00 Era in Bham Battersby 1b Charlotte Bham last year good Defense showed power in 2001 All these guys will likely be in Charlotte except Smitty who'll be in Bham

Charlotte has potential to be pretty good this year, depending on who trickles down from big league camp. A lot of the kids from Bham last season will be there, including Diaz, Majewski, Munoz, Stewart, Sanders, Olivo, Miles(assuming the dont make the big club), Battersby, Piniella, and others like Morgan, A.Sanders, Dellaero, Brumbaugh, Adkins, Kohlmeier, Eason, Meyer, Yofu, maybe Borchard or HArris, Hummel, etc. But this is just what I've seen so far so dont believe it until the rosters are set next week. Bham' s roster is alomst set as well. The starters, assuming no injuries in the next ten day, will be Malone, West, Ulacia, Cotts, and myself. Ring, Smith and Pacheco are solidified in the pen with 3-4 spots still up for grabs. Position wise I have no clue, we have a different group everyday it seems. Finally, I think that the Winston staff will feature Honel, Wing, Allen, Francisco, and An/Phillips(Philly is still not cleared to throw off the mound yet)

Yes people Tetsu Yofu is real and he is 29. But he is with Charlotte not Great Falls. The only reason he appears on the GF roster is because the Charlotte, Bham, WS and KAnnapolis rosters are full (in terms of protection purposes for Rule V etc.) Since he is 29 and in his first American org. he can be put on any roster and be protected. Look for him to break camp with Charlotte. He has pretty good stuff and he looks like he's 20. He's also a really cool guy who has in the last 3 weeks learned a little English and a little Spanish and he has combined them, along with Japanese to make his own language to communicate with us. He was actually my throwing partner when I was with the AAA work group so I did my part and taught him every slang english word I could think of just to confuse him a little more. He reminds me of Hasegawa on Seattle. And believe it or not him and Ichiro are real good buddies. They grew up playing together.

Sorry guys I know it has been awhile but the internet connection at the hotel is brutally slow and I can't stand it. Anyway, games in minor league camp are underway and believe it or not the bham squad only has 10 days of camp yet. I pitched yesterday and went 4 inn against the DBacks AA team. I gave up 1 run on 3 hits and 0 BB and 2 K. I think I got the Rockies Friday but I'm not really positive. As far as others in camp who are doing well: Jeremy Reed has been swinging a hot bat. Royce has pitched well in relief, along with Matt Smith. Ulacia has pitched well, West has pitched well, tommy Nicholson has played well both ofensively and defensively, and some others are winning spots as well but I cant remember, nor do I see everybody play. To Fainter: I have no clue how Webster is doing as well as all the younger guys because they play on the road when we play at home and vice versa, so I havent had a chance to see him, but I'm sure he's doing well and he'll be patrolling the outfield in Kannapolis. Colon came down to our side today and threw 6 innings in the windy, rainy, and cold weather. He pitched well until the wind started blowing straight out to left. He gave up a couple of bombs but he looked strong and he was throwing fuel. Glover pitched as well a did pretty well. Well the countdown has officially begun for me until camp breaks for Bham on the 28th. Hopefully I can get on here one more time before we break. Adios

My gof game isnt as bad as I displayed today. My handicap is an 11 but today it looked like it was a 20. The vibe here is still very positive and everyone seems relaxed and confident and I think the big guys realize that they can do something special this year. Garland, from what I ve seen is a really good guy. But why wouldnt he be he's from So Cal. When I played in the game at Cooperstown last year he was really cool to me and didnt big league me at all. He's not a bad guy to have as a fav player

Freezing as in it hasnt cracked 70 yet and has been between 45 and 60 since I showed up. It also has been rainy off and on and windy. So freezy by Ca standards but summer by CHicago standards

Hello everybody! Sorry its been awhile but I havent been online for a couple of days because I've been out golfing and playing XBOX with Ring. The rest of camp reports tomorrow and we begin full workouts on the 6th. Right now we are just doing some fundamentals and throwing off the mound every other day. Actually today we just conditioned and we were done by 1000am. So 8 of us went up to Star Pass Golf Course and lost 3 dozen balls. That is by far the hardest course I have ever played. Never again will I play it! Bo Jackson, Buerhle and Garland were playing behind us and I hope they didnt see some of the shots I took today. Anyway, Tucson is freezing so if you are planning to come out here bring the warm clothes. I read a post on Holt and some of you were ripping him for no reason. He is actually pretty freakin good and I bet he has a really good year this yr. Dont be as ignorant to judge a guy solely on his numbers or his age or what you think his upside is. If you are gonna knock a guy be a man and tell it to his face, not on a post. Lastly, to make a top 30 list is an accomplishment. There are roughly 150-200 guys in camp. SO if you are in the top 30 you are basically in the top 5th or better of your organization. Thats pretty damn good. I mean hell, I know I probably am not in the top 30 but what you learn really quick is that Baseball America is not always right and they love some and hate others and I am not saying this because I am upset I didnt crack the 30 but because I am trying to paint the bigger pic for you. Ok Im done rambling. Talk to you all soon.

Well Spring has finally arrived and mini camp has begun for 40 or so of us minor leaguers. We got things started yesterday and will continue the mini camp until Mar. 3 or 4, then everyone else will arrive. I'm rooming with Ring this spring training. So far there hasnt been too much excitement to speak of other than we had our physicals and the dreaded blood tests and tetanus shots. I am not a big fan of the needle, and therefore the physical was a little more traumatic for me. There is a very positive vibe in camp this year and I think the Good Guys are gonna do something really special this year. Other than that, that is all I got for now, but dont worry I'll try to update all you Sox fans as things occur. PS this site is more popular than you might believe. I talked to Honel for awhile on Sat. and one thing he mentioned is that he reads the posts on this site frequently. So maybe somebody can talk him into actually responding to some of them. I tried to but he didnt seem interested. I told him everyone in here is really cool and they would love to hear from him but I dont know if he'll ever make himself known to this forum.

Fainter, Rowand lokks good and healthy as far as I can tell. He seems to be working hard a ready rock and roll this season. In fact the whole big league camp is pretty pumped and there seems to be a very positive vibe in camp and all the guys are working their asses off.

Rex, I dont know what is in store for JD this yr. He very well might end up becoming a full time pitcher because as you probably know he has a freakin cannon. Sorry for stealing your thunder also. Chris B, .240 aint that bad for a guy that hits 20+ bombs a yr. Also, the Carolina League is no walk in the park either for hitters and it is known around the circuit as a pitcher's league. And age really doesnt matter because as can be seen by Miles last yr., some guys just take a little onger to figure it all out. Hitting is the hardest thing in the world and if you dont play the game, you shouldnt criticize.

Not a bad report Jason. A few things I think though, are that Wing will be in Winston to start the year, Malone will be in Charlotte, and Ring will be in Winston because they are gonna try him out as a starter, but if he stays in the pen, then he will be in Bham for sure. You forgot to mention Eric Welsh, and his 23 HR last yr in Winston. He will provide some power for the Barons. Rogo may play the first half in Winston as well, depending on his Spring. But hell I could be totally wrong about all this so dont feel offended by my disagreement. But all in all, you were pretty good at rating the guys, except let me just say that 23 of the hits that I gave up last yr. were infield hits and 12 of those were bunts. So my hit/inn. ratio looks brutal because guys like to push bunt on me since I fall to third alittle bit.

Kenny Vining isnt with the Sox anymore.

In case anyone cares, mini camp for minor leaguers begins a week from this Sunday. I was invited and will be attending so once I get settled I'll do my best to give you guys updates as to what is going on in ST. And if anyone is planning on coming out to Tucson, look me up. I'll be there the last week of Feb. and all of Mar.

Rex, I am really impressed with your knowledge of the game and of the nuances and politics associated with minor league baseball. Actually, everyone in this post has a lot of insight and understanding of the game. That excites me because most people who are baseball fans dont really understand anything beyond the big league level. But everyone here understands the minors, the front office and everything else that makes this great game so great.

chicago, thanks for the kind words but I dont worry at all why I dont get the so called recognition of some of the other guys in the org. I have no control over what other people think, all I can do is go out every outing and compete and win. I have no doubt in my mind that I will pitch in the bigs one day. THe whole prospect ranking stuff doesnt always give a clear picture to what a guy has done it is more based on projection and age and velocity play a big role in it as well. Since I dont throw much harder than 91 and the fact I'm 23, my prospect status slips a bit. That doesnt mean that I will never have the chance to pitch at the big league level. Thanks for the question.

LDF, I'm not gonna lie a tell you that i am the best pitcher in the org or the worst. Honestly i think i am a solid end of the rotation starter. i throw 86-91, have a slider i can throw for strikes any time in the count, and i also have a changeup which is pretty good at times. I compete and I expect to win every time out and I throw strikes and challege guys. i plan on having a solid year at Bham, barring injury of course. Jim Fainter, Stumm seemed fine to me at the Cooperstown game and he was throwing hard. You cant really judge anyone when they've pitched at that field in Cooperstown. It was a band box. I think it was only 350ft to center. Stumm competed and thats all u can ask for there.

LDF, I would not say per se that there were obstacles to overcome in becoming a pro. A lot of it is luck, being in the right place at the right time and having a scout in the stands who sees something in you. I was fortunate enough to have all 3 of these things in my favor. And of course lastly I had to perform well to get me over the edge. SInce I was 9 I wanted to play pro ball and I have been fortunate enough to have been able to do it. There is no real stress b/c I take it a day at a time and dont ever get my emotions too high or too low. To survive in this game it is a lot more mental than physical b/c obviously people get drafted based on physical tools but they will only succeed with a strong mind.

Thanks Murcielago and LDF for the kind words. I love talkng with fans b/c I'm still a fan too and I like to see whats going on on the other side of the fence. You guys and girls really spurn up some great debates and I'm glad I found this chat room so I can get in on the action. A side note on Stumm: When he is healthy he has the best fastball in our organization and some of the best offspeed stuff as well. When he gets healthy again, and if he can stay that way, he will move quickly through the system. THe guy also has a great mind, I mean he has withstood 3 surgeries since '99 but yet he still has a positive outlook and he still works his ass off everyday trying to get better. Finally on Munoz: He could definitely start w/ what he brings to the table. When we were in Kannapolis and then Bham together he had some 3-4 innings relief duties and he pitched outstanding in all of them and he could have easily went 2-3 more innings if needed. He is only 21 and I think if he aint in the Bigs this yr at some point he will be starting in AAA. Alright that's all I got for now. I gotta go watch the mighty Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara Kick TOny Gwynn and San Diego St. ass.