Rex Hudler

Game over. Barons lose 4-2.

Don't have full details at this point, but Cotts had a no-hitter through 7 innings tonight, then Mobile scored 4 in the bottom of the 8th. No word on how man walks, strikeouts, runs allowed for Cotts yet.

Well son of a b****..... Just turned on the Barons game and found they were losing 4-2 in the top of the 9th inning. Apparently Mobile scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning after being NO HIT through 7 innings. Looks like another tough luck loss again for Cotts. More details to follow.

Yes, the pitching coach does factor in those decisions, although it is the manager's ultimate decision. Most of the time, the manager will ask the pitching coach his opinion and then decide from there.

The point is the timing of it. Why rock the boat when the team has just won 8 out of 9 and is finally making a move for the positive? Why not speak out when the team was struggling so bad earlier? Understanding the team concept is not that difficult. Speaking out at this time can do nothing but potentially rock the boat at a time when the sailing is getting smooth. Whether White is right or not is not the point. Speaking out at the time he did was very selfish and certainly does not fall within the team concept. So for him to say that the team will not win (or not make the playoffs or whatever he said) is ridiculous, because he is preaching the team, yet doing his best to cause it so self destruct. If he can't see that, then he is stupid. If he knows it and he should, then he is selfish as hell. I have never given one of these to any player, but it now seems appropriate. :fyou Rick White

My only suggestin is to include their season numbers as well as some basic info about the player, whether it is scouting report type info or even some personal info you might be able to dig up. Also, incluse the exact dates for the week in the synopsis at the top, rather than buried at the bottom. That's it. I like the idea. The Birmingham News does a Barons Clubhouse each week and has a Who's Hot and Who's Not piece. It is something I have always tried to catch.

Yeah, back in the '50's. Won't happen in today's era of specialization and routine.

Reed should not be promoted this year. It is way too early for that. That said, Reed is an excellent player. Right now the only question about him is how much power will he develop. Right now he would fit very nicely as a two-hole hitter. He can hit the ball to all fields, can bunt (both for sac and for a hit), run, and doesn't strike out much. If, down the road he develops more than gap power, he could easily move into the three hole and be an unbelievable hitter. Some may question his defense, but I sure don't see it. He has played a stellar OF whether he has played RF or CF. He has made some unbelievable catches. I see him as a really solid Major Leaguer. He may not be spetacular, but he will be good at the least. He brings all of the intangibles you want to the table as well. He is just a damned good baseball player.

In all seriousness, Cotts has been pretty inconsistent this year and especially lately. Now let me explain, because I am admitting up front that I am splitting hairs... Cotts last two outings were against Chattanooga, which is a team that has several veteran hitters. DATE G# OPP H/R DEC GS GF CG IP H AB TBF R ER HR BB SO WP BK 07/17/03 CNG R L 1 6.0 8 24 27 4 4 2 4 2.28 07/23/03 CNG H L 1 7.0 3 23 23 2 2 5 2.30 He struggled against them, then turned around and dominated them. If you didn't catch the discussion about that outing before, he had faced the minimum through 7 innings on only one hit. He gave up two hits to lead off the 8th and was removed. In his two outings before that, they were both against Jacksonville. DATE G# OPP H/R DEC GS GF CG IP H AB TBF R ER HR BB SO WP BK 06/28/03 JAX R W 1 5.0 3 17 20 1 7 1.83 07/04/03 JAX H L 1 4.1 2 12 18 2 2 6 3 1.97 He pitched well in the first outing, then struggled with 6 BB's in the second. Don't get me wrong, Neal is a great pitcher and has improved in terms of the number of walks allowed (sans the July 4th outing). He can be a very dominant pitcher and I am hoping he can put together two dominating performances back-to-back. If he does, then I will feel comfortable that he has turned the corner and is ready for Chicago. If he comes out tomorrow night and walks 4-6 guy in 5-6 innings, then I would hold off promoting him right now. I am much less worried about him giving up hits than I am walks.

No....... one outing isn't gonna kill a guy...... Most of these guys are tough enough to deal with that..... Hell, if they are not, then it is better to find out now. again a great post............ i am ready, bring up the kids. i been high on a lot of them and i want to see them succeed. f***ing a!!!!!!!!!!!!! This won't be popular, but I think Wright is the best option, depending on rest. Cotts goes Monday and if a 5th starter is needed on Saturday (going on what someone else posted, I haven't looked at the schedule) then he would be right on schedule. Watch how he does tomorrow night and it may give you some insight. He is coming off by far his best outing of the year, so if he can double that up tomorrow night, he may be deemed ready. The only catch may be the 40-man roster issue. According to the Sox web site, they only have 38 players currently on Major League roster. If that is the case, then the only issue with bringing up Cotts is do they add him to the 40-man this early. If they are not confident he can be in Chicago next year and may need AAA time, then you are starting the MLB service time clock awfully early. I think Cotts will be the man, although Wright is the safer choice. I got a great feeling about Cotts and I think he can handle himself. Rex, only got one question From what you've seen of Neal does he seem strong mentally. By that I mean can he overcome aversity if he does get hit hard at first. Hard to say, he never gets hit hard. LOL

Looks like all eyes are on Neal tomorrow night. Hope he doesn't sneak a peak on here tomorrow. LOL

I did a little research last week and don't think I ever posted this... It comes from the "meaningless, yet somewhat interesting stat" category... Before last Wednesday's start, Neal Cotts record was 8-4 with a 2.28 ERA. Anyone want to guess what Mark Buehrle's stats were with the Barons, when he was promoted to Chicago?? Yep, you guessed it....... 8-4, 2.28 ERA Note: To show you how numbers can be deceiving... Cotts record now stands at 8-5, 2.30 ERA, yet he just came off his best outing of the year, by far.

No....... one outing isn't gonna kill a guy...... Most of these guys are tough enough to deal with that..... Hell, if they are not, then it is better to find out now. again a great post............ i am ready, bring up the kids. i been high on a lot of them and i want to see them succeed. f***ing a!!!!!!!!!!!!! This won't be popular, but I think Wright is the best option, depending on rest. Cotts goes Monday and if a 5th starter is needed on Saturday (going on what someone else posted, I haven't looked at the schedule) then he would be right on schedule. Watch how he does tomorrow night and it may give you some insight. He is coming off by far his best outing of the year, so if he can double that up tomorrow night, he may be deemed ready. The only catch may be the 40-man roster issue. According to the Sox web site, they only have 38 players currently on Major League roster. If that is the case, then the only issue with bringing up Cotts is do they add him to the 40-man this early. If they are not confident he can be in Chicago next year and may need AAA time, then you are starting the MLB service time clock awfully early.

Who pissed in you Cheerios this morning?

No....... one outing isn't gonna kill a guy...... Most of these guys are tough enough to deal with that..... Hell, if they are not, then it is better to find out now.

Why not? Seattle has struggled big time offensively lately. I'd rather stick a guy in there that has been having success as a regular starter than a guy who has been rotting away in the bullpen not getting regular work. Glover is no better than those other guys. He is definitely no better than Wright.

Bringing them up now wouldn't be rushing them, LDF. Starting them in the rotation next year could be. Starting them in the rotation while they are coming off an injury, would be.

Ginter won't start. If no trade, you will see someone from Charlotte or Birmingham. If a 5th starter is needed on Saturday, that be exactly four days rest for Cotts. I say that Wright, Cotts or Diaz are the likely choices, rather than Glover.

Seems VERY unlikely

By the way, I also recommend the Hyatt in Louisville. Got it for $45/night on Priceline last summer. Louisville has a really nice ballpark too. Care to give your impressions Michelle?

thanks cw... lol rex...well you know i have a love fest for miles... and hummel was cuttin into his action.. but since hes moved to 3rd ( a place that suites him quite well i may add) i have to jump on the hummel bandwagon.....hes good....very good.... and as for the mix up on the rauch/meyer/jaquez/ diaz thing sorry it was a loooooonnnng weekend.....lol..... you know what i meant ...lol either way we have some pretty crappy pitching that needs to be addressed.......surely theres guys down in b-ham who are doing much better.....maybe we can swap a few out?????? I just thought maybe you had a little too much "sauce" this weekend... Here is my question for you....... How did Diaz look up until the 7th inning today? He had a 3-2 lead going into the 7th and only walked one while striking out 7. Was his outing really that bad? Or did the three runs in the 7th inning make it seem worse than it was? Also, did he give up all 3 runs in the 7th himself, or did Meyer give allow inherited runners to score?? Glad you had fun. You didn't have any problems with the law down there did you? You know, stalking Miles and everything. LOL

HSC, you must be delirious after a long trip....... I thought I read that you liked Hummel and thought he was a good player. If I recall, wasn't he basically on your all overrated team before?? LOL Also, you said Rauch came in after Jacquez on Saturday and that Felix Diaz came in for Jake Meyer, but both of those should be reversed. Rauch and Diaz were the starters, Jacquez and Meyer relieved. How many beers did you drink tonight??

Yep, but stocks go up and they come down.

as i asked before and i will asked again, is cotts, diaz or anyone else ready to help us in the majors now, excluding wright and ginter. if not and the sox rush them up, is there a chance of rushing someone along like they did rauch several yrs ago? I don't think promoting Diaz or Cotts for 5 starts would hurt them. Would they be able to pitch well enough to help, who knows? If they can't make a deal and aren't willing to give Wright another shot, then Diaz or Cotts might be worth a try. One of them could surprise. Diaz' start tonight wasn't bad. He had a nice outing going before giving up 3 in the 7th. Watch Cotts start Monday night in Mobile.

Did someone say that Rowand was better than Lee? If so, I missed it. What I recall being posted is that they would rather see Rowand playing CF and Everett playing LF, and trading Lee for a 5th starter. If that is the case, then no comparison of Rowand and Lee was actually made.