Rex Hudler

MSF is the one that called it.... He is usually reliable and very thorough. Haven't seen it in print myself, however.

Glad you had a good time

might not be true at all..... just what i read...

Have fun Josh?

No, read that on another board.....

Cotts called back up to replace him????

Majewski will make the big leagues in my opinion. The question is, how long will he stay there?

Fields got the save in every playoff game... that's impressive! Ulacia pitched in almost every game as well and was excellent. We'll see what we get out of him in the future. Honel pitched very well in both of his games as well. I will look forward to seeing more of him next year in Birmingham. Winston-Salem has really sucked the last few years and the Sox kept that team together as best they could for the playoffs. Personally, I think that is a good thing. Congrats to all of them.

This still applies..... Quintero is fun to watch and that is NO knock on Olivo at all.

This begs for an obvious question..... Why, if Riviera is Plan B as you say, is Burke the one that is in the Big Leagues right now and not Riviera?? Riviera is on the 40-man and they don't call him up. This has me perplexed.

A lot can be said about Cotts, but I don't recall Bill Melton being here in Birmingham watching Cotts throw at all. Cotts control had indeed improved greatly before his promotion, so looking at his season stats weren't accurate of the way he was throwing when he was promoted. I know he didn't succeed in Chicago, but keep in mind after the 3rd start most people were encouraged and saw signs of progress. Then comes the Yankees debacle.... Malone, Phillips and Ulacia had nothing to do with mishandling. They just didn't get the job done. Some guys work hard to improve, some don't. I know very little about Wyatt Allen, but I have heard from more than one person with decent baseball knowledge (and from UT at that), that they never thought he would make it. They alluded to mental make up. Not sure how accurate that is.... he did have a pretty good year, repeating High A.

Two hits in the series...... yes, he certainly cooled off..

I questioned why they would throw him on two days rest as well. Thought they should have tried to get one more out of Pacheco. He had runners on base, but wasn't getting hit hard at all.

HUNTSVILLE (2) AT BIRMINGHAM (1) HUNTSVILLE AB R H BI BIRMINGHAM AB R H BI C Barnwell 2B 5 0 1 0 C Durham CF 4 0 0 0 D Krynzel CF 5 1 2 0 D Sandoval 2B 4 0 0 0 J HARDY SS 4 1 1 1 J Reed RF 4 0 0 0 C Hart 3B 4 0 0 0 G Alvarez 1B 3 1 1 0 B Gemoll 1B 3 0 1 1 S Bikowski DH 3 0 3 0 N Varner RF 3 0 1 0 J Piniella PR 0 0 0 0 B Nelson LF 3 0 1 0 C Maldonado C 3 0 0 1 K Johnson C 4 0 0 0 J Hamilton LF 4 0 0 0 A Machado DH 4 0 0 0 G Reyes SS 3 0 0 0 T Nicholson 3B 3 0 1 0 TOTALS 35 2 7 2 TOTALS 31 1 5 1 HUNTSVILLE 000 020 000 -- 2 BIRMINGHAM 000 000 100 -- 1 E--D Sandoval. LOB--HUNTSVILLE 9, BIRMINGHAM 6. 2B--S Bikowski 2, T Nicholson, J HARDY. SF--C Maldonado. IP H R ER BB SO HR HUNTSVILLE G Bruso (W,1-0) 7 4 1 1 1 2 0 J Hundley 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 C Saenz (S,1) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 BIRMINGHAM E Pacheco 4 4 0 0 1 3 0 C Castillo (L,0-2) 2-3 3 2 2 1 0 0 R Meaux 2 1-3 0 0 0 0 3 0 J Bajenaru 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 SO--HUN: C Hart 2, D Krynzel, K Johnson, B Nelson, A Machado. BIR: T Nicholson, C Durham. BB--HUN: B Gemoll, B Nelson, N Varner. BIR: S Bikowski, G Alvarez. T--2:22. A--1,410.

I was going to mention Guerrier tonight. I talked to his parents today and they told me. It was the deciding game to give Nashville a series win. Congrats to Matt. NASHVILLE 010 000 200 -- 3 ALBUQUERQUE 001 000 000 -- 1 E--J Wood. LOB--NASHVILLE 9, ALBUQUERQUE 2. 2B--D Doster, R Thompson, M Erickson. HR--A Hyzdu 1 (3) (off A Small), J Barnes 1 (2) (off A Small). IP H R ER BB SO HR NASHVILLE M Guerrier (W,1-0) 9 3 1 1 1 6 0 ALBUQUERQUE A Small (L,0-1) 7 7 3 3 1 4 2 K Olsen 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 HBP--D Doster by A Small, B Hill by A Small. SO--NAS: M Guerrier 2, C Snusz, B Hill, A Hyzdu. ABQ: M Erickson 2, D Wathan, M Treanor, A Nunez, R Stratton. BB--NAS: C Snusz. ABQ: C Donnels. T--2:34. A--8,051.

Today, Barons lost 2-1.

Plus they are making observations/comments every day, five times a day... Generalities should be expected.... And when they are wrong, no, that does not make them stupid...... I want some of the stuff you are smoking! LOL

Sounds like a positive comment to me........ You guys think the Sox should be above criticism and think the whole world is against you. Relax, there is no conspiracy here.... The Sox get the coverage they deserve nationally.

An average LF, a weak CF and a supar 1B, along with a SS with a rep for not being great defensively doesn't help......

Spidale has awakened..... huge outing by Ulacia considering the start by Purvis..

No, he is marginal..... great clubhouse guy, clutch hitter, hard worker, good overall hitter..... just doesn't have the power a corner infielder should have..... and he is not big, so that doesn't help..... he has a chance, but it is an otside one..... the Sox org likes him, however

Yeah, he gave up eight earned runs that night.......... He has one other outing in May where he gave up four earned runs.... other than that, he hasn't given up more than two all year......

The Barons have not scored for Cotts all year......

Cotts pitched well today, but unfortunately was not perfect. He struggled a bit in the 5th inning and gave up two runs. He struck out Krynzel and JJ Hardy (two of Huntsville's top three hitters) to end the inning. He gave up a solid single, an infield hit, a ground ball between 1st and 2nd for a single in the inning. Throw in a walk and a fielder's choice that failed to get an out and you have an ugly inning. On a good note, he came back out strong in the 6th. Definitely a solid outing overall. HUNTSVILLE (3) AT BIRMINGHAM (0) HUNTSVILLE AB R H BI BIRMINGHAM AB R H BI C Barnwell 2B 5 0 1 0 D Sandoval 2B 3 0 1 0 D Krynzel CF 4 0 0 0 J Piniella LF 3 0 0 0 J HARDY SS 4 0 1 0 J Reed RF 4 0 1 0 C Hart 3B 4 0 2 0 G Alvarez 1B 4 0 0 0 B Gemoll 1B 3 1 0 0 S Bikowski DH 3 0 0 0 N Varner RF 4 2 2 0 C Maldonado C 2 0 0 0 B Nelson LF 4 0 0 1 T Nicholson 2B 4 0 1 0 K Johnson C 4 0 1 1 G Reyes SS 1 0 0 0 A Machado DH 4 0 2 1 J Hamilton PH 1 0 1 0 J Shaffer 3B 1 0 1 0 C Durham CF 2 0 1 0 S Morales PH 1 0 0 0 TOTALS 36 3 9 3 TOTALS 29 0 6 0 HUNTSVILLE 000 020 001 -- 3 BIRMINGHAM 000 000 000 -- 0 DP--HUNTSVILLE 2. LOB--HUNTSVILLE 7, BIRMINGHAM 9. 2B--J Hamilton, T Nicholson, J Reed, K Johnson, C Hart. SB--G Reyes 1 (1), A Machado 1 (1). CS--C Durham. S--J Piniella. IP H R ER BB SO HR HUNTSVILLE P Liriano (W,1-0) 5 3 0 0 4 4 0 M Adams (S,2) 4 3 0 0 1 2 0 BIRMINGHAM N Cotts (L,0-1) 6 5 2 2 1 10 0 J Bullard 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 M Smith 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 M Wylie 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 HBP--C Maldonado by P Liriano. SO--HUN: D Krynzel 3, K Johnson 2, B Nelson 2, J HARDY 2, C Barnwell. BIR: J Piniella 2, T Nicholson, G Alvarez, C Durham, J Reed. BB--HUN: B Gemoll. BIR: G Reyes, S Bikowski, C Maldonado, D Sandoval, C Durham. T--2:35. A--1,370.

Damn, can you squeeze more questions in one post?? Well here goes.... Yofu's window is next year. I don't see him having much of a chance to make a splash if he doesn't make it at some point next year. He has done well here, albeit not dominant. I think he has a tendency to lose aggressiveness and doesn't throw his fastball (which he can run up to 92-93) enough. He doesn't walk guys, knows how to pitch and has experience. I'm not sure how signing a 29-yr old free agent works, so he may be a free agent after this season. Bullard certainly has found his niche. He has pitched very well as of late, including the last two playoff games. He definitely has a shot to make it as a lefty out of the pen. Meaux I am not sure about. He seems to have pretty good stuff and has pitched well for us, but nothing jumps out about him for me. You never know with lefties, but I would think if Meaux has a realistic shot, it is at least a year away. Bajenaru has rebounded really well coming off of surgery. He has been very good. He had a bit of a rough stretch right after Ring was traded when the bullpen roles changed (as did the whole bullpen), but he has stepped it up since becoming the closer. Take one really s***ty outing out and his ERA drops from 3.20 to 2.15. He has only allowed earned runs in 10 of his 50 games pitched. He has a good arm and definitely has a chance to be a middle reliever/setup guy. Timing will be the key with him. He is a RH and is not big, so if he does not seize the opportunity when it comes, he may not get another. All of these guys give the Sox good depth and options. Not all of them may make a splash in the Majors, but they are all well-respected pitchers with some value.