Rex Hudler

I don't have a problem with Old Socks........ he likes his prospects. What's the big deal?

Try Top 50

There is an opening yes, but they aren't using it for him. Heard on today's broadcast that Becker was sent down to W-S and Bikowski was activated off the DL. Still have one spot open from Baj's move, but that will likely go to a picther, more likely a bullpen guy. I'm guessing An or Purvis to be used as filler. Wouldn't be shocked to see McNeal come back either. He hasn't hit well in AAA at all.

Charlotte won 7-5.... so-so start by Grilli, but scoreless relief from Sanders and another save by Bajenaru. Birmingham lost 4-3... a HR by Murphy and two scoreless innings of relief by Fields are about all the good stuff there is..... Phillips allowed 4 runs (3 earned) in 6 innings, while giving up 13 hits. He struggled, but battled to keep the team in the game. Winston-Salem wins 7-5.... Lopez and Sweeney (now at .280) with 2 doubles each. Rogowski, who should be moving up to Birmingham soon, with two hits and a walk. Blakely with a 2-run HR. Ken Ray with a nice outing (5 IP 6H 3ER 1BB 8K) and Pollock with his 22nd save. Kannapolis wins 6-5.... Antoin Gray goes 3-4 and a walk with 2 rbi..... No hits for Nanita (down to .397), but two walks.... the Schnur (0-5) hitless for the second straight night.... Haigwood with a real shaky outing (5IP 9H 4ER 3BB 5K) but picks up the win..... Wasserman picks up his 22nd save to go with his 2.03 ERA. He and Pollock might need to move up. No missed extra points, but Great Falls still goes down 14-10.... Josh Hansen with a big day (3-3, 2 BB, HR and 2 RBI). Gary Bakker, Rylan reed and Matt Nachreiner all with a tough day on the mound. Bristol loses 10-6..... Javier Castillo went 2-3 with 3 runs scored, a HR and two RBI. All the pitchers struggled.

Steff, at a certain point, taking a 2 or 3 year deal is not a paycut if a guy wants to keep playing. He could go year to year, but that is risky because one bad year could see him making $750k the next. I would be surprised to see Jose get more than $5 mil per year in a multi-year deal.

I was thinking more along the lines of $7 or $8 million for two years, total. I don't see paying Jose $6 mil per season..... then again, if you have no other option, they may not have much choice... Problem with counting on Uribe as a backup plan is that Uribe is a utility player. He is not an everyday player for a whole season. He had a great start to this year and earned a lot of playing time, but playing most everyday has brought him back to reality. I think it would be awfully risky to count on him being a starter at all.

Just depends on how they do their callups. If they are in a pennant race, which they should be, then they will likely call up only a few. I think Baj only gets called up if they think he can help the club. If Jackson continues to struggle and Baj gets hot again (which he may just be doing) then he may be the answer. I would be surprised to see Santiago or Duncan get the call, but you never know.

Bajenaru with a save in his first AAA outing, tossing an empty frame..... Bullard pitches real well out of the pen after LaMura faltered, Barons win 11-4. Nice night from the missing soxtalkers.........

Actually, Jim, I believe they can. He was sent to Tacoma earlier by the Mariners and since options are defined as years I don't there would be a problem sending him down. Not 100% sure though.

Technically he is 3-0 in 7 games... 31.1 IP with a 1.15 ERA and .204 BA against. 27 strikeouts and just 6 walks...... But who's counting?? ;-)

He is 21 and in high A. The Sox would be quite happy if he were doing that in Winston-Salem and he would still be in our Top 10 prospects. My point is simply that he is having a solid season after a really slow start. Don't discount him as a prospect just because he hasn't flown up the system as fast as ARod did in Seattle many years ago. To put things in perspective...... if he went to college, he would have just come out this year, same as Josh Fields. Compare his numbers at High A and they are quite solid. I am not trying to compare him directly to Fields or knock Fields at all, but the fact is they are the same age. Fields is labeled a big time prospect and people suggest we be patient with him. Yet Webster is having a solid season and people act like he isn't worth a damn. Independent of everything else, Webster is still very much a prospect. That and only that was the point I was trying to make.

And that boost got the Sox where last year???

Here, let me spell it out for you....... Webster is hitting .267 with an OBP of .352 and a slugging % of .444. For those of you that are OPS fans, that is an .800 OPS from a top of the order type hitter. He has 18 doubles, 6 triples and 7 HR (31 extra base hits). He has scored 52 times, driven in 39 runs and stolen 17 bases while only being caught 3 times. He is on pace to score 85-90 runs, drive in 60 runs and steal 25+ bases. From a young kid who is strong defensively in the OF, I can comfortably say that he is having a nice season. Don't get blinded by one stat.

Actually, Webster and Rupe are very highly regarded. Francisco is pitching in the Major Leagues now. Webster is quietly putting up a nice year and Rupe is dominating after coming off an injury that kept him out for the first two months of this season.

He was quoted as saying he didn't believe dinosaurs existed..... He's out in left field in the way he thinks...... too bad he can't play good defense while he is there.

Munoz? Hope it is not McCarthy?

Could mean lots of things........

Honel cannot be considered a top pitching prospect right now........ It would likely take an Anderson or Sweeney to get Batista.

Certainly nothing special or spectacular........ a solid season, but not one to make me want to go out and trade for him.

Learn them......... Sizemore has been compared to Reed, with a bit more projectable power..... Jackson has excellent stuff, but is still a bit raw....

The history you are looking at is sporadic as hell...... Scouts don't always get it right.... hell, somebody paid the guy $9 million at one point and he sure as hell isn't worth that.... if he was worth $6 or $7 million he would still be with the Sox. You can have him. I don't want him just because he is better than Gload or Timo.

I certainly could be wrong, but I think that is a formality so they can play if things change. My understanding is their MLB teams still have the final say. Since both are candidates for a September callup, at worst, it is unlikely they will let them play. Aren't the Olympics during the Minor League season also?

Thanks for the support cw, but don't follow me blindly.... it's just a gut feeling I have with him. He will be mediocre at best.

let's see..... 1996 - so-so 1997 - decent 1998 - good, not great 1999 - very good 2000 - great 2001 - bad, highly disappointing 2002 - average 2003 - good again seems sporadic to me!

What makes you think that Montreal wants to get rid of him and would only take a mid-level prospect? His contract is reasonable and he is signed through next year. Montreal will want to take some good players to their new home next year, wherever that will be.