Rex Hudler

I like him. He throws hard and has been very effective. He is one of those guys that could sneak up on you and end up in the big leagues before you know it or he could get buried behind lots of prospects and never make it. I like what I have seen. Whether the opportunity arises in the Sox organization, I am not sure. I think he would be very good trade material. He would be well-respected by other organizations, I think.

Something has to shake out somehow.

Im very high on Arnie.

But where do you put them all? Majors: Olivo, Alomar, Paul AAA: Rivera, Burke, Morales AA: Aceves, Maldonado None of these guys belong back in A ball.

My guess is they are just considering him as insurance.

Birmingham could probably use all five and they all probably deserve a promotion, but my best guess is that Reed, Yan and Wing will be the first three. Meaux could beat Wing here if a reliever is needed, but right now, the Barons have no real rotation. My guess is Honel gets the nod later in the season, or perhaps not at all this year.

Agreed. He has only had 4 bad outings all year and three were in his first four appearances in early April.

Don't hold back Josh. Say what you really think.

I think he is ready for another shot. And I think and hope he will do well. He should certainly be an improvement over what we have had.

What a dilemma, huh?

He wasn't in the Charlotte lineup tonight, so that makes sense.

Ring with another 1-2-3 save. I like those kind.

Wonder if any of them will be in Birmingham by then and have to pull out of the game?

My take is this..... Joe has not improved a lot in the past two years. That much is evident. Now that he is going back to Charlotte and will be able to work with Gregg Ritchie who was with him in Birmingham, where he had success, we'll see if things change. If Ritchie can get him straightened out, then we could see the Joe Borchard we all hoped to see. If he continues to regress, then your concerns will be validated.

Winston-Salme lost 2-0 and Kanny won 10-2. W-S still with a two game lead over Salem for the first half division title. No boxes for either yet.

Birmingham still mathematically alive. Nice outing by Barons pitchers. Bullard to start tomorrow night, I believe. Yofu to start the Rickwood Classic on Wednesday. HUNTSVILLE (1) AT BIRMINGHAM (2) HUNTSVILLE AB R H BI BIRMINGHAM AB R H BI R Knox LF 4 0 0 0 C Durham CF 4 0 0 1 D Krynzel CF 4 0 1 0 D Sandoval 2B 3 0 1 0 J HARDY SS 4 0 1 0 R Hankins 3B 3 0 0 0 C Hart 3B 4 0 1 0 G Alvarez 1B 3 0 1 0 B Gemoll 1B 4 0 1 0 S Bikowski RF 3 1 1 0 R Paz 2B 3 0 0 0 D Ingram DH 3 0 1 1 D Clark DH 3 0 0 0 C Maldonado C 3 0 0 0 K Johnson C 3 0 0 0 J Piniella LF 3 1 1 0 N Varner RF 3 1 2 0 G Reyes SS 3 0 0 0 TOTALS 32 1 6 0 TOTALS 28 2 5 2 HUNTSVILLE 001 000 000 -- 1 BIRMINGHAM 001 000 10x -- 2 E--C Maldonado, R Paz, D Krynzel. LOB--HUNTSVILLE 5, BIRMINGHAM 3. 2B--N Varner. SB--J Piniella 1 (6), S Bikowski 1 (2), D Krynzel 1 (25), N Varner 1 (2). CS--D Sandoval, B Gemoll. IP H R ER BB SO HR HUNTSVILLE P Liriano (L,4-7) 7 5 2 1 0 5 0 R Miller 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 BIRMINGHAM E Pacheco 6 6 1 1 0 3 0 J Bajenaru (W,4-1) 2 0 0 0 1 3 0 R Ring (S,14) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 WP--E Pacheco. SO--HUN: D Clark 2, D Krynzel, K Johnson, B Gemoll, N Varner, C Hart. BIR: C Durham 2, J Piniella, G Reyes, G Alvarez, C Maldonado. BB--HUN: R Paz. BIR: D Sandoval. T--2:14. A--1,740.

Knights lose 6-5 in 12. Almonte takes another loss. Rauch got lit up. CHARLOTTE (5) AT OTTAWA (6) CHARLOTTE AB R H BI OTTAWA AB R H BI A Miles 2B 6 0 1 0 B Littleton CF 6 1 1 2 T Hummel 3B 6 1 1 0 J Hammond 2B 4 1 1 1 R Gload 1B 5 0 1 0 E Garabito SS 6 1 2 2 C Brumbaugh CF 5 0 0 0 J Cust LF 6 0 1 1 A Sanders LF 5 1 2 0 J Leon 3B 5 0 1 0 S Morgan RF 5 1 1 0 R Machado DH 5 0 0 0 J Burke C 5 1 2 2 P Swann RF 5 1 1 0 T Nicholson DH 3 0 1 1 C Lemonis 1B 2 1 1 0 J Nunez SS 5 1 0 0 B Rios PH 1 0 0 0 S Lomasney C 2 1 0 0 TOTALS 45 5 9 3 TOTALS 42 6 8 6 CHARLOTTE 000 000 500 000 -- 5 OTTAWA 005 000 000 001 -- 6 1 OUT WHEN WINNING RUN SCORED E--C Brumbaugh, J Nunez, E Garabito, J Cust, C Lemonis. DP--CHARLOTTE 1, OTTAWA 1. LOB--CHARLOTTE 7, OTTAWA 9. 2B--J Burke, R Gload, J Hammond, J Cust, E Garabito. SB--E Garabito 1 (6). CS--S Morgan. IP H R ER BB SO HR CHARLOTTE J Rauch 3 5 5 5 1 4 0 C Eason 3 1 0 0 3 3 0 J Adkins 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 A Munoz 2 2-3 1 0 0 1 6 0 E Almonte (L,2-6) 2-3 1 1 1 1 0 0 OTTAWA E Dubose 6 2-3 7 5 3 2 4 0 B Pulsipher 1 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 H Carrasco 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 M Mohler (W,3-3) 3 1 0 0 1 2 0 HBP--C Lemonis by J Adkins. SO--CHA: C Brumbaugh 2, T Hummel 2, J Nunez 2, S Morgan, A Miles. OTT: J Cust 3, R Machado 3, J Hammond 2, B Littleton 2, B Rios, E Garabito, P Swann, C Lemonis. BB--CHA: T Nicholson 2, R Gload. OTT: S Lomasney 3, J Hammond 2, C Lemonis. T--3:35. A--1,316.

Jim, I am flattered that you think I might have the answer. LOL The Riviera thing caught me totally by surprise. Someone must know something about Josh Paul. If they lose him, they likely want insurance for Sandy, and don't think Jamie Burke or Steve Morales is the answer. That's the only thing I can think of. Birmingham has two pretty solid catchers here in AA in Aceves and Maldonado. Plus they will have to move someone when Cotts comes off the DL, which should be sometime later this week unless something has changed. So if they send someone from Charlotte down, it just creates a bigger logjam at AA and on down. I still figure on Rowand coming back up and Willie going back to Charlotte, but that is just a guess.

Not to sound like a naysayer, but Ring hasn't been as dominant as his numbers indicate. Don't get me wrong, he has been very, very good, but there have been a handful of instances where he has given up other pitcher's runs. Please let me reiterate that I am not bashing him, because he has been great. But his numbers look so unbelievable that one would think he has hardly been touched. He has been more human than his numbers show, but he still has been excellent. As a Birmingham fan, I'd love to see him stay here all year. Not sure that will happen though.

I think you have to evaluate a trade based on what it is supposed to do for you as long as the guy you traded for didn't bomb. This trade was a good one because it set up the Sox for a run at the Division Championship. Yes, things have fallen apart, but that has nothing to do with the trade. Ginter could be up here now instead of White. Munoz could be here, but they chose to go with veterans in Gordon and White. I think that trade was one KW had to try and make and it set everything it was supposed to. The trade cannot be faulted (as others have said) because the rest of the house has come crumbling down.

If I were a betting man (and I am), I 'd bet you will get that wish soon.

Smoltz for Doyle Alexander 2003?????? I'd take it in a hurry if you can guarantee me that is how it will all work out. LOL

Talking about blind to reality. Frank has been an whiner and an individual caring only about himself for years. He's a cancer in the clubhouse (although for the most part has seemed better this year) and always has been. No one will speak up about Frank because of how well he has hit, but the media did not create Frank's image. He has no one to blame for that but himself. If you can't see the ego and individualism in Frank, you are blind to anything outside of the world of silver and black. Why is it if ANYONE disagrees with you it is because they are blind to the silver and black, this place is for ALL opinions, whether they agree with you or not. Has nothing to do with disagreeing with me. But everything to do with objectivity. There are those fans that think Frank is next to perfect and have what I call a blind affection for him. Nothing he can do is wrong. I simply disagree and think that most others do as well. I have heard the same things from too many sources for too many years for every one of them to be completely off base. If you want to back Frank, fine. But if you think everything is the media's fault and none of it is his, then you cannot claim objectivity. Maybe I am too far to one extreme with him. And maybe reality settles in between my views and some of those who disagree with me. I am more than willing to give credit where credit is due, as I believe I have. I have said all I want to say on this because some of you will agree me on this and other will not regardless of what he does and says. Like I said, we can agree to disagree. I can certainly live with that.

Sounds like the house is divided on Mr. Jiminez. LOL And speaking of Rowand, expect to see him back in CF for the Sox soon.

LOL