Rex Hudler

It's pretty common. There are always scouts, but not always brass from the big club. It was a s***ty, rainy night. Players had to hold back some, field was wet.

Yes, Jacksonville (Dodgers AA) was in town. The other guys just making their rounds. That's what rovers do. It was just weird seeing them all at once. The only ones missing were Snyder, Lum and Thompson.

It was an interesting night of baseball at the Hoover Met tonight. We had a rain delay, a Barons comeback 4-3 win (scored one in the 8th and two in the bottom of the 9th) and visits from several Major League personnel. Seen watching from the stands were Dodgers GM Danny Evans, Sox Roving Infield Instruction Nick Leyva, Sox Roving Bunting Instructor/Great Falls rookie Manager Cris Cron and Sox Minor League Pitching Instructor Kirk Champion. No sign of KW, however.

Yofu is a good find. He is a very good pitcher and has excellent. Backman is very high on him and Wally just doesn't jump on anyone's bandwagon. For those who were wondering, he is back in Birmingham. The Sox had to make a move to open a roster spot for Josh Stewart. He is not officially on the roster yet, but was in the stands tonight. I think they guy has a legit chance. I don't think he is going to be the rookie of the year next year at 30, but he has a good chance to be a solid Major Leaguer. No word on who will come off the Barons roster.

Dellaero, if any player ever need a change of scenery, is that guy. I doubt he will ever hit, but I am rooting for him. I loved watching that guy play SS.

Damn you're good, baggs.....

Because Shaffer has to play at Birmingham.

Roman, the Olivo trade was good for both teams. You could make an argument that Oakland "won" it because they dealt from a position of depth and got a contributing Major League player two years quicker. The Sox also dealt from a position of depth and got a position player where they had no depth, so I think it is safe to say BOTH teams won that deal. The Durham deal cannot be considered a wash at all. The Sox gave up Durham and paid most of his salary last year for Adkins who will never likely a make much of a contribution in Chicago if any at all. The kicker to this deal is the cash the Sox had to give up AND the two 1st round draft picks Oakland gets for losing Ray as a free agent. Granted the Sox freed up room to bring Jiminez up, but that doesn't offset cash and draft picks. The jury is still out on the Koch trade. You cannot argue that "we got Cotts and Holt" so we win the deal. Cotts is doing well, but walks way too many guys. If he doesn't solve that, he will get rocked in the Bigs. If he does, we have a nice pitcher. Holt is not a prospect. Lost in all of this is the fact we lost Valentine, who is having success again in AAA. I am not saying we won or lost that trade, but I certainly don't think it is leaning the Sox way at this point. I felt from the very beginning that swapping Foulke for Koch was a wash at most. Still feel that way.

It seems funny to me that Todd said what he thought would happen if there were an openly gay player in the clubhouse and his words were basically mirrored by former baseball exec (and gay) Billy Bean. But since Billy is gay, it is okay for him to say the same thing??

Stay tuned

Me too. But, IMHO, the Sox marketing sucks. All you have to do is go to a game at USCF when Ichiro comes to town or, in September, when Matsui comes to town and you will see that the Asian market is there and incredibly willing to fork over ticket money if there is a "hometown" player they want to see. But this team needs more Kids Days and Seniors Run the Bases Days Maybe if Koch goes on the DL they would give this kid a shot, but if not who would he replace on the roster? Yofu will not be in Chicago any time soon.

Or Sela Ward. At least we'd have something nice to look at.

They have a player, pitcher and rookie of the month in each league.

I for one will not retract my Anti-JM stance..Its one thing to be controlled like a puppet when it comes to who's in the line-up and making pitching changes or whatver the f*** KW was making JM do, but its another thing to sit there and show no fire for this team, not sticking up for his players when a rotten call is made on the field,not standing up to the likes of Frank Thomas. Is KW's hands so deep in his JM's ass he's not able to move Frank down in the order for instance..Maybe.. But does not excuse the doldrum that is Jerry Manuel..Ship both Kenny and Jerry out of here...I wonder if we can raise enough money to put them in the Space Shuttle that N'sync guy was planning to go on...But we must make sure its a one way ticket. ANNOUNCEMENT: Shipping KW and JM a one way ticket on a space shuttle does not automatically mean they will be killed up there(lack of Oxygen, food, water,etc) maybe they can live up in a space station or something similar with plenty of oxygen, food and water so they can live. We can also give them SAT video phones so they can be in contact with their loved ones..I don't want to be accused of wishing them dead cause I want to send them to SPACE forever. (just covering my ass ) Well done on the ass covering......

Not trying to open up a can of worms again, but I thought it would be fair to post his latest column. Todd Jones - Answers Should Not Be Taken Out of Context Greetings, Birmingham. Hope all is well. It's been a hectic week. As many of you probably know, I've been in the media spotlight for my stance toward gay players in the clubhouse. Many people think I should be released or fined. Some fans said they would protest the Rockies' games. Some think I'm a gay-hating redneck from Alabama that "ain't never been nowhere." People have said I'm homophobic and should move into the 21st century. While I stand by what I said, I think it's important for readers to know the context of the interview that took place with the Denver Post four weeks ago. The writer came to me about doing a piece on some play about a gay baseball player. He asked me what I thought would happen if a player came out and admitted he was gay. Every one of my comments was based on what I thought it would do to the team as it pertains to life in the clubhouse, not outside of the ballpark. One of the things fans don't understand is how delicate the clubhouse atmosphere is. There's not a doubt in my mind that if there were a gay player on the team, it would be a huge distraction from what the team is trying to accomplish. It would be even more difficult if he were open about his lifestyle. Some players would have no problem with him. Some guys would be willing to look past it as long as they didn't feel threatened. But some guys would hate it because they would feel very uncomfortable. Maybe my critics don't understand the closeness in the clubhouse. Guys shower together and there are no dividers. At most jobs, co-workers don't shower together, so maybe people don't understand. I stand by what I said 100 percent. All I did was respond to a writer's question about what I thought would happen if a gay player came out. For people to hold the Rockies, The Sporting News or The Birmingham News responsible for my comments is ludicrous. Sometimes I wonder why our society is so worried about what is politically correct. I don't hate gay people. Honestly, I couldn't care less if somebody is gay. But for people to treat this like it's a witch hunt, or to try to crucify a supposedly Neanderthal redneck baseball player for stating his opinions on a sensitive issue is scary to me. For all the people who have written to me, no, I don't have a T-shirt that says, "Gays not welcome." I'm tired of being politically correct. I have no social agenda. This wasn't a big deal until everyone who got their feathers ruffled made it one. This is America. People should be able to have a voice, regardless of what someone else will say. Someone asked me if I had it to do all over again, would I say the same thing? My answer is yes, but I'd want the people to know the context. It was only one man's comments on the clubhouse reaction to a gay player. That's all. From behind the seams, -- Todd Jones -- Todd Jones, a former Jacksonville State star, resides in Pell City and pitches for the Colorado Rockies. His column on baseball appears every Sunday during the season. Questions about baseball can be sent to Jones by e-mailing to: toddjones59@aol.com or by writing to: Todd Jones, c/o Colorado Rockies, Coors Field, 2001 Blake Street, Denver, Colo., 80205-2000.

Anybody else agree that this thread has run its course??

I don't know much about Leyva. I guess I just disagree with the idea of needing a fiery manager. I think a manager should show a calm demeanor for the most part and handle everything else inside the clubhouse and not in the media. I will say this, Backman is not much different than Manuel in what you see in the dugout and on the field. He may be a little quicker to argue with an umpire, but he still picks and chooses his spots. He by no means does it a lot. He is considered a player's manager. Guys like him and like playing for him. They think he is fair. From everything I get, Jerry is seen in the same light. I am not there in the Sox clubhouse so I can't say for sure, just the things I hear. But I really do think that what a manager does behind the doors of the clubhouse are 100x more important than the personna he carries on TV, in the papers or in the dugout.

Oh Please not Leyva!! NO PLEASE! Josh, why don't you like Leyva? He does have big league experience.

HSC... i told rex on the other boards for posting there... But i guess u deserve the credit... I LOVE YOU!!!!! You've made me a the happiest man in the world today. Method, before you get to loving anyone, let it happen first. Then hug anyone and everyone. LOL

Just for clarification, Nick Capra is the manager for Charlotte.

I have met them both and not surprisingly, Danny came up when Roland was with the Sox previously. Danny should have gotten the job before. From my understanding, Danny was more Schueler's guy where KW was Reinsdorf's guy. Apparently, KW always hung out in JR's suite while Danny watched and evaluated from Schu's. I have spoken with Danny a few times since he became the Dodgers GM and other than having less time, he has not changed one bit. On a different but similar note, KW has always alienated people. From contract negotiations to dealings in general, KW is widely known as "not being a people person". I do know that back when the Sox drafted Kip Wells, Kip was ready to go back to school because he and his family had been turned off so bad by KW. Danny Evans came in and smoothed things over and got the deal done. Kip's dad told me that there was no way they were signing with the Sox if Danny didn't get involved. This is only one example of many stories I have heard.

So IF the Sox won the World Series under Manuel, you still won't root for the Sox? I guess you'll be waiting for the fall the next still hoping he'll get fired, huh?

Other than Danny Evans, there is not a classier guy in baseball I have met than Roland Hemond. 1st Class all the way!

Kind of hard to bunt and steal when it seems we are always looking at a 5-0 deficit after the 2nd or 3rd inning!

Anyone think that Maldanado has any potential at one day making the bigs? Nope Barons will go with 4-man rotation for the next 2 weeks. Pacheco, Ulacia, West and Cotts