Rex Hudler

Yas, the voice of reason.......

The Braves beat up on Prior once........ lotsa history that is.....

Kind of a soft body, don't ya think??

Who is this Alizee? Help out an old dude here........

You won't see Wood in the 9th.

Wood just got really lucky in the 7th. He is leaving his breaking ball up and it is staying flat. He just threw three of the flattest spinners I have ever seen, all for strikes against Castilla. Most times they hangers are deposited into the LF seats. Guess that is what having a 95-97 mph fastball does, gives you more margin for error on other pitches because they have to respect the cheese.

Some guys work harder than others. Some get by on natural ability alone, but very few get to the Majors and stay doing that.

I saw him one time the last weekend of the season. He was good and pitched very well. 6 IP 2 H 0 R 1 BB 7 K He is very tall and well built for a pitcher. If I recall correctly, he threw in the low 90's, but I couldn't swear to it. With the Southern League's wonderful scheduling, Greenville ended the season in Birmingham as their only trip. Carolina, with Cabrera and Willis, made their only trip to Birmingham to start the season. Makes it hard to get a good feel for some of the Eastern Division guys.

I don't know much about the EL prospects, but all of the SL pitchers were starters and all had a pretty good amount of hype coming into this season. On my list, I didn't include Haren or Bautista, only because I didn't figure they were around long enough to be considered. The pitchers on BA's list are legit and came in with hype ahead of them. My guess is you would really have to blow a league away as a reliever to beat out starters of that caliber. I agree and would almost expect a goose egg for the Sox. I think Miles will be deemed too old. Gload certainly is. Borch can't make it unless they go on total hype. I can't see anyone else from Charlotte cracking a Top 20 in a league of 14 teams. Thanks, Jason.

Here is my full take on Pacheco, including playing the Devil's Advocate side..... Pacheco came to the Sox and developed a reputation for being lazy and not working hard (weights, running, etc.). He had a live arm, but was all over the place. He was the last pitcher to make the Barons team this year and started the season pitching mop up duty out of the bullpen. He pitched pretty well early on in the few appearances he got. After several successful relief appearances and an injury to one of the starters, he was given a spot start. He pitched very well and earned another shot, one he would not give up the rest of the season. At some point, he started listening to Juan Nieves and/or Wally Backman and started doing more work in between starts. He is still not considered the hardest worker, but I am guessing he has realized the strides he can make after improving the workload. In each start, he got better and better and comanded his fastball like he hadn't before. Early on he was throwing 90-91. By the second half of the season, he was throwing 92-94 consistently and not walking many hitters. A scout did tell me one time that the knock on him was that he was not consistent from inning to inning, going from totally dominant in one, to missing spots in the next. That improved as the season went along as well. He is still not a Curt Schilling or Greg Maddux in terms of precision, but is not a guy that will walk 4-5 a game either. His slider is solid, although he does leave it up at times. In the SL, he got away with that a lot. His changeup looked really good at the end of the year, but he did throw it too often. In my mind, he needs to show this was not a fluke year. He needs to continue to work hard and learn to work even harder. If he does, and improves again next year, then he could easily be a # 3 starter with the potential to be even better. If he does not improve and relies on his fastball to blow away AAA hitters without command, then he will regress and I will look like an idiot, which is okay. The danger here is that he thinks his success from this year was easy and that it will continue without pushing himself. If he gets that idea into his head and he listens to too many people telling him how good he is, then the above may ring true. I think the potential is there with him for big things. But there are still question marks. For one, the Sox have to put him on the 40-man roster or lose him to free agency. It hasn't happened yet, but should be a formality in the coming weeks. I certainly would not rule him out as a possibility for a rotation spot next year depending on his spring. I think I covered both sides fairly.

Sox have not won a playoff series since 1959, a playoff game since 1993. You call it negativity if you wish , but I am not in dreamland saying everything is great for the Sox, sorry if being a realist about Sox baseball is hard for you to accept. If it bothers you that much skip my post, but it is called Soxtalk /not Rextalk. I, for one, appreciate anyone that posts so direct and to the point. This Organization is a joke, run by buffoons, cheap at that, that have lied to the fans on more than one occasion. Case in point..... fans show up this year when the White Sox give the fans something to be excited about and Ownership awards us with the "can't spend $1 when I only have $0.50 bulls***." Or how about the "WS or Bust" talk we heard in July after the R Alomar and Everett trades. Jeez..... if it was "World Series or Bust" maybe we could have dealt for a 5th starter too????? Some people just see through the White Sox BS. SoxFest is one of them. POST THE HATE SOXFEST!!!!! My point is, why deal with the hate? If things are so bad, pick another team. Why waste so much time on something you have so much disain for?

Pacheco is number 10 on Rex's BA list Pacheco was #10 on Rex's personal list. BA did not have him listed, which is a crock of s***. There are a lot of solid pitchers on the BA list, but none were as dominant as Pacheco, sans possibly Cotts. Pacheco was left off because he came out of nowhere and wasn't on any Top 10 lists, so he had no hype. I am telling you, if this guy can take one more step up in terms of improvement, you have one hell of a Major League pitcher on your hands, one with more upside than Cotts. In my mind, yes that affected his status. He wasn't dominant early in the season, but was very good. A full season would have pushed him higher.

1. Miguel Cabrera, 3B Carolina Mudcats (Marlins) 2. Jeremy Reed, OF Birmingham Barons (White Sox) 3. JJ Hardy, SS Huntsville Stars (Brewers) 4. Edwin Jackson, RHP Jacksonville Suns (Dodgers) 5. Neal Cotts, LHP Birmingham Barons (White Sox) 6. Adam Wainwright, RHP Greenville Braves (Braves) 7. Mike Jones, RHP Huntsville Stars (Brewers) 8. Adam LaRoche, 1B Greenville Braves (Braves) 9. Corey Hart, 3B Huntsville Stars (Brewers) 10. Enemencio Pacheco, RHP Birmingham Barons (White Sox) 11. Angel Guzman, RHP West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (Cubs) 12. Joel Hanrahan, RHP Jacksonville Suns (Dodgers) 13. Steven Smitherman, OF Chattanooga Lookouts (Reds) 14. Dave Krynzel, OF Huntsville Stars (Brewers) 15. Donnie Bridges, RHP Carolina Mudcats (Marlins) 16. Luis Martinez, LHP Huntsville Stars (Brewers) 17. Matt Diaz, OF Orlando Rays (Devil Rays) 18. Caonabo Cosme, 2B Tennessee Smokies (Cardinals) 19. Bubba Nelson, RHP Greenville Braves (Braves) 20. Humberto Quintero, C Mobile BayBears (Padres)

Lack of class, perhaps?? LOL

I haven't seen anyone actually pick the Braves...last night the entire sports team from NBC 5 all chose the Cubs to win.. Didn't realize the Brave sucked... I picked the Braves and I put a lot of money on it. Let those other fools pick the cubs, thats how i got the Braves to win teh series at only -128. You bet the Braves to win the series?? Sorry, don't understand baseball betting.

Rex talk would be scary............... Yeah, everyone would be much smarter.

I haven't seen anyone actually pick the Braves...last night the entire sports team from NBC 5 all chose the Cubs to win.. Didn't realize the Brave sucked... Rich King from WGN now just picked the Cubs in 5... Wouldn't you think the local TV people would pick the Cubs?? That's as much PR as it is a prediction.

I am pretty sure they are referring to the game being on. MLB is n ot going to dictate whether a team can have a TV in the clubhouse if all the guys want to watch Trading Spaces!

No the other 18% had the Braves winning the series. Somebody forgot to finish the job and post all of the results. I don't get it. 80+% of Cubs fans think they will win. What the hell else would you expect them to say?? If the tide was turned, would you expect 81% of Sox fans to pick the Yankees?? This obssession with the Cubs is quite pathetic. Get over it and worry about the Sox!

That's ridiculous. Prior has only pitched against the Braves twice, once the game before the all-star break where he got hit hard both by their bats and by Marcus Giles. To break out OPS numbers and act as if they mean something when the sample size is so small is just stupid. Why spend so damn much time planning the Cubs demise? Why is it so important that is Sox fans are miserable, that the Cubs have to fail too? Again, I reiterate...... I find all of this very sad.

Clubhouses cannot have television monitors. Didn't say they can't have TVs.

It is???

Sparky Anderson Chuck Tanner Tommy Lasorda Earl Weaver Lots of options..... LOL

And they are morons because????

Sox last three have been 1st time, time to go proven this time Proven, meaning someone somebody else has already fired??