Rex Hudler

Yep, on his way now...

your boy

I think IF Borchard ever "gets it" and it clicks for him, then Sox fans will love what they see. He had one great season here for the Barons, strikeouts and all.

I'll add two cents here.... Borchard, when he first came to Birmingham in 2000 (for the last week of the season) had the "deer in headlights" look and was terrible. No one could figure out how this guy was a top draft pick. Once he came back the next year, you could see he was clearly more comfortable and that look was gone. Defensively, he is not a burner but can cover ground with long, smooth strides. Keep in mind that he hadn't been playing CF that much in Charlotte before the callup. He has bounced around between all three OF positions in AAA, so he probably still does need to get comfortable, which is followed by confident. I think he can be a decent CF once he gets to that point, but I don't see anywhere near a Gold Glove. Serviceable might be a fair word. Also, I have never seen the cannon for an arm everyone speaks of. I am basing my opinion solely on his time here in Birmingham, but there was no question that his arm then, came nowhere near comparing to the arm of Aaron Rowand. Rowand was by far the strongest armed outfielder I have seen for the Barons. Perhaps Borchard's arm has developed with playing more baseball, but when I saw him it was clear to me and many others that Baseball America was off base with their scouting reports in that regard at that time.

I don't think Borchard is as bad defensively as you do Brando, but I too question whether is more than adequate in CF over the long run. I have never heard anything but good things about Reed defensively, however.

Interesting group of questions UNS. LOL So, ncorgbl, who is effectively running the baseball operations right now? If trades were to be made or someone was to be released or sent down, who is making those calls? How involved is Roland Hemond (one of the most genuine guys I have ever met)? And what is the roster move they are going to make either today or tomorrow? Inquiring minds want to know.

Stumm is only 22 and has only pitched in 52 games in 4 seasons prior to this one. He is not old by experience, nor bye age. Yet a call up to AA later this year seems possible.

Ncorgbl, I commend your loyalty to Jerry and Frank. I can certainly understand your feelings about Frank and although I don't completely agree with you, I am more than willing to admit there are two sides to every story and that both sides are not always heard equally. I do have a couple of questions, however... 1. Is there any truth to the rumor(s) that KW is on his way out as GM? Is he still running the team as GM at this point or in title only? 2. If KW has been as insubordinate as you say he has, then why has Jerry not fixed that problem by getting rid of Kenny? Does he not want to admit to his mistake in hiring him? Is he just too damned nice?

Daylan Holt is not a prospect. Mike Spidale has slowed due to injuries, but could come back and make some noise. He's been doing well so far this year. As far as pitchers..... Kris Honel and Ryan Wing are definite prospects. Wyatt Allen and Byeong An, along with Kris McWhirter (who recently came up to Birmingham) are a rung below. Stumm is down there and trying to have a healthy season. If he stays healthy, he could be as good as any of our prospects, I am told. I believe the quote was that he has some "serious s***". Not sure where Ryan Meaux and Frank Francisco fit in. Both have solid numbers.

HEy Rex, do you think that he can be a number 2 in a rotation or a number 5 or bullpen guy(long relief)? Stewart is definitely not a #2 guy in a rotation. Josh, as great a kid as he is, is a borderline MLB pitcher. I truly think he is more suited to AAA and will spend most of his time there. Could Josh Stewart make a contribution to a Major League team? Sure. Do I think he will have an MLB that spans more than 2-3 seasons? No I hope I am wrong here, but I don't think I am. I hope he turns into a Jamie Moyer and makes me look stupid.

Yep, Ring proving human cost Bull a win.

is he going to drink like a fish, is he going to chase women all night long What the hell is wrong with that??

I knew I forgot someone. Probably others too. I believe I read Stewy should be about ready to go again. Hope to see him back on the mound soon.

Mr. Bullard has seemed to have found a home in the bullpen. I don't have his numbers handy, but I do know that his ERA has consistently fallen since he moved to the pen. I heard on the radio last night that he had gone 12 of his last 13 outings without giving up a run until last night, when I believe he gave up one. I have seen him pitch a few times out of the bullpen and he has been effective. He's not the kind of guy that comes in and blows batters away and impresses with 90's heat, but he could certainly be the type of lefty that can get people out. Paul Assenmacher, Mike Remlinger, etc. I did notice a couple of times that he seemed to be getting squeezed when tyring to backdoor his breaking ball on a righty. I generally don't question umpires, but these looked like pretty damned good pitches and I was just behind home plate. The 2 or 3 at bats I saw where this happened ended in walks. I don't recall any runs scoring, but this just stood out to me because it looked like a pretty damned effective pitch and he wasn't getting it. I think I could see the frustration in his face once or twice as well.

And Munoz has for the last two months of the season. Go back to your fantasy world, because I am now convinced you have no clue what happens on a real baseball field and with real players.

Yeah it would be nice if we could ALL take out our bad days. LOL give me a break. Bmr, it doesn't surprise me one bit that you can't figure out that it is legit to look inside a guy's numbers. But your ass is so buried in them that you can't see the big picture. If you can't see that a bad stretch that is isolated like his was, has to be factored in, then you are an idiot. Would you rather have a guy that gives up a few runs all the time and sports a 6+ ERA or one that had a tough stretch and has gotten his s*** together? If you have ANY baseball sense, you'll understand that is a rhetorical question because there is only one right answer.

Take out the first two weeks of the season (including his good outing mixed in there) and his numbers would look like this.... 2.97 ERA 18.2 IP 13 H 6 ER 9 BB 25 K Those numbers are more than respectable, and arguably excellent.

He absolutely got hammered. Here is the day-by-day for Arnie. I think you will see that since the first week of the season, he has been quite stellar with one bad outing. DATE G# OPP H/R DEC GS GF CG IP H AB TBF R ER HR BB SO WP BK 04/03/03 RMD H 0.2 4 6 7 5 5 2 1 1 04/06/03 RMD H 2.0 5 10 12 4 4 2 2 04/12/03 IND R 0.1 1 2 3 1 04/15/03 LOU H 2.0 3 9 10 3 3 2 1 2 04/19/03 2 IND H 1 1.0 3 3 04/29/03 DUR H 0.2 1 3 3 1 1 05/01/03 ROC H 1.0 3 3 2 05/04/03 ROC H 1.2 5 5 3 05/05/03 SYR H W 1 0.2 1 1 1 05/07/03 1 SYR H 0.2 2 2 05/07/03 2 SYR H 0.1 1 2 1 1 1 05/09/03 TOL R 0.2 1 4 4 1 2 05/14/03 COL R 1 1.1 3 5 2 05/16/03 COL R 1 1.0 1 4 4 1 05/18/03 2 SWB H 1.0 1 4 4 05/20/03 SWB H 0.2 1 3 3 2 05/27/03 DUR R 1.0 3 3 2 05/28/03 DUR H S 1 0.1 1 1 1 1 05/30/03 SWB R 0.2 1 3 5 3 2 1 1 06/01/03 2 SWB R L 0.2 3 5 6 3 3 1 06/06/03 ROC R 1 2.0 2 7 9 1 1 2 5 06/09/03 OTT R 2.2 1 9 10 1 6 06/12/03 COL H 1 0.1 1 1 W- L- S ERA GP IP H AB AVG TBF R ER HR BB SO WP BK TOTALS 1- 1- 1 6.94 23 23.1 25 92 .272 106 23 18 4 13 30 3 0

Munoz is fine. He has only had 4 bad outings all year and three were in his first four appearances in early April. He has been almost untouchable since.

Pena is on a Major League contract and is out of options. He has unbelievable raw skills, but it still just that, very raw. He puts on a show during batting practice, but can't convert that to games. He is not ready for the big leagues, but the Reds (or any team he might be traded to) don't want to risk losing a player with potential All-Star tools.

No

No

But you can say the same thing about most any MLB team, because of the very same reasoning. I wouldn't be pessimistic about the Sox young arms at all.

I agree. You have very solid prospects in Cotts, Munoz, Ring, Honel, and Wing (not counting others at lower levels). You have a next tier of prospects which are a little less of a sure thing but still have possibility of being good in Rauch, Diaz, Phillips, Allen, An, Pacheco, and Yofu. Then you have guys like Malone and West who although injuries and struggles have lowered their status, could make it if everything eventually comes together for them. I know I am missing some (Bajaneru and Bullard, etc.) that could be on one of the above lists as well. I think that is about as solid of a list as most teams could come up with.

OUCH Thanks for the support Method