Rex Hudler

thats what i was wondering too...........seems to me i read alot of that stuff in the game programs from last years playoff games.......hmmmmmmmm.............. Not sure what you are referring to HotSoxChick. BlackSox was referring to seeing me on a different Sox message board. I am not sure what you saw in programs, but the things I posted were a combination of fact, stats, and opinion based on what I have seen, read and heard from people around the ballpark.

thats what i was wondering too...........seems to me i read alot of that stuff in the game programs from last years playoff games.......hmmmmmmmm.............. Not sure what you are referring to HotSoxChick. Black Sox was referring to seeing me on a different Sox message board. I am not sure what you saw in programs, but the things I posted were a combination of fact, stats, and opinion based on what I have seen, read and heard from people around the ballpark.

hard to argue that one there murc.....what i want to know (and maybe jim can shed a bit of light on this)... whats wrong with our pitching program to have so many go down with the similar type of injury all at once?????. you would have thought that a red flag would have rose a few questions in 2001 wouldnt you??? what do they do to get them back healthy again, those minor guys???.. i know the minor guys dont come up here often enough to the lisle facility and reahab.. so where do they go??? what do they do to get back to full strength.... i know the birmingham guys are very fortunate to have UAB there within their grasp for the best treatment of sports med in the USA......do they have a program there for our guys??? just wondering....... The Sox rehab facility for Minor League guys and off-season rehab is in Tucson. They go there for the most part. I read somewhere that the Sox have actually had less injuries than other teams over the last 10 years. It just doesn't seem that way, but the stats I saw backed it up.

My take on Corwin: Corwin is young. He was drafted out of HS and was more of a football player in HS. He had very average number in both 1999 and 2000 and broke out in 2001. Sometimes I think as soon as a guy has one great year, we expect him to duplicate it or get better each year and that just does not happen. I think 2002 was a combination of Corwin reading his press clippings and the Sox tinkering with him somewhat. He has two main pitches and both are hard. The Sox wanted him to throw a changeup more to become more of a complete pitcher. Sometimes you have to take a step backward to take two steps forward. Corwin did not do well early on with the change and fought it, from what I heard. It became a situation of the player wanting to pitch one way and the organization wanting something else. I think Corwin just needs a little maturity and to learn to work through difficulties. At times he was dominant and other times he couldn't find the plate. There is no question about his talent, but I do question him becoming a solid Major League starter without adding the consistent off-speed pitch to his repetoire. I don't think the Sox have given up on him, nor should anyone else. Sometimes we just have to remember that these guys coming out of HS mature at different speeds and handling adversity differently. If he can turn it around, then you will see a guy that can be really nasty. But I think he has a lot to learn before that will happen. He should be a guy on the AA/AAA fence to start the year, depending on what shakes out of big league camp and who ends up in Charlotte from there.

Miles was a great AA player last year. He was decent the year before. He has only had two great seasons out of eight in the Minors, so I am not ready to annoint him the next great Sox 2B. Some guys develop late and Aaron may be one of those guys. If he is I am all for it, but let's not lose sight of the fact that he is 26 years old and still hasn't seen the light of AAA. Aaron hustles his arse off and plays solid (not great) defense. He was a sparkplug for the club and his intangibles rate high. There are lots of great players that don't make a big splash in the Majors or don't even get there at all. I have a good friend that spent 8 straight years in AAA and never got a sniff of the Majors except in ST. He could do everything Aaron can yet had more power. Aaron may make the Majors sometime, but his odds are still long until he puts up huge numbers again and proves that he is a late-bloomer and that last year was not a fluke.

hummel????? you are kidding right????? i have been watching him for a couple of seasons now and hes not that impressive..... by no means should his name even have appeared on the 40 man before miles.. miles only problem is that hes always been sitting down in the minors behind someone.....first it was biggio, and since his arrival here its been durham/ harris.... i hope he does blow them away in spring training and makes the trip here.....the kid is awesome.......he deserves a shot.......btw how many games do you go to down there in birmingham? i go to quite a few each year when i come down there.... Can I call you Hot or do you prefer Ms. Sox Chick? On Miles I will have to respectfully disagree with a few points you made. I am not going to get into an argument over whether Miles or Hummel is a better player because for one I am not convinced that Hummel is going to make it and because arguing over whoever is better is very subjective. Whether you think Hummel is good or not, you have to recognize that he will certainly get an opportunity before Miles, simply because he was a high draft pick and was paid a lot of money. We can argue whether that is right or wrong to no end, but the bottom line is that is the way it works and always will. So unfortunately for Miles, he is 4th on the 2B depth chart with the White Sox right now and that doesn't bode well for his chance unless things change. As I mentioned, if he has another great year this year then he will have to be taken more seriously. But he is fighting an uphill battle at this point and has less leverage than the three guys ahead of him. I am not saying he will never get there, but I would feel comfortable betting that he will never be more than a utility type player in the Majors in the long haul, IF he makes it and sticks in the first place. The problem with Miles is that his track record is not good. He spent 2 years in Rookie Ball, 2 years in Low A, 2 years in High A and 2 years in AA. That is certainly not a typical track record of a player that is going to be a starter in the Majors. Not to demean his ability, but he should dominate AA after 8 years in the Minors. Saying he was blocked by Biggio is not accurate either because he never got out of Class A with Astros. He truly only had one other Minor League season that compared with last year, so two out of 8 isn't that impressive. All that said, I am not down on Miles, just stating the facts. He is a long shot to get more than a brief stay in the Majors if any time, especially with the Sox. Miles had a great year last year and was a big part of the Barons winning it all. He was fun to watch and was a definite spark plug. I wish him well and hope he makes it, but I am not holding my breath because of the above reasons. I do like him though. Everytime I spoke with him, he was very pleasant and truly seemed to be having fun. Like I said before, this year will determine whether he has a real shot at the Bigs or if he is a pretender. Time will tell..... Lastly, I see a lot of Barons games. I have seen as many as 50 in a year, but it does fluctuate based on how busy I am.

welcome aboard and i hope to see a lot of your post, esp when the bham season starts. so the point is, are we to judge bham by its win/lose record? which i think will be very good. are we to judge them by if them make the playoff or anything like that? for me, i wish i was there b/c i will be judging them with the development of the players who will be there and i do think they will do good. I think you have to judge a Minor League team somewhere in between wins and losses and player development. The primary goal of the Major League club is player improvement and advancement. However, teaching players to win and play into the team concept when it comes to winning is important as well. I think Jerry Manual referred to this when talking about Frank and I am paraphrasing... He said that if players play well and buy into the team concept, then everyone wins and demand for that player increases. He was talking about what Frank's approach should be this year to maximize his market value for next year, should he decide to take free agency after this season. Everybody looks better when the team succeeds. I know in 1998 the Barons had Carlos Lee, Jeff Liefer, Chad Bradford, Mark Johnson, Kevin Bierne and Brian Ward - all at least had some time in the Bigs. But that team sucked and it was a miserable season. I have noticed just from talking to players around the park that aside from individual personalities, players tend to be happier and in a better mood when they are winning. That tells me that winning means something to them and that getting promoted isn't the only thing that matters.

In the very last sentence were you referring to Guerrier or Munoz? Thanks for all your comments on those prospects. I liked Guerrier in spring last year. I was angered when they dealt him for Marte and Edwin Yan, but in retrospect it looks like a good move. Marte is filthy while Yan has amazing speed and could turn into a pretty good 2nd baseman, although he has a ways to go. I was referring to Munoz. I like Guerrier a lot. I still think he will be a solid big league pitcher and his numbers last year were very misleading. Would these numbers be acceptable?? The won-loss record could be better, but those numbers work for me. Games Started 23 W-L 7-8 ERA 3.09 IP 140 Hits 115 BB 38 K 116 For what it is worth, those are Guerrier's 2002 numbers minus 4 starts. He had four horrible starts, and yes, I understand that every start counts. However, I'd rather have a guy who pitches great 23 out of 27 times and horribly four times, than a starter who is just average all year long.

In the very last sentence were you referring to Guerrier or Munoz? Also, do you get to watch quite a few Birmingham games? Thanks for all your comments on those prospects. I liked Guerrier in spring last year. I was angered when they dealt him for Marte and Edwin Yan, but in retrospect it looks like a good move. Marte is filthy while Yan has amazing speed and could turn into a pretty good 2nd baseman, although he has a ways to go. My point is on Munoz stamina...... Of course he is going to run out of gas after a certain point if you never use him or train to go past that point. He pitched effectively several times for three innings and four once or twice. Never did they ask him to go longer than that, so no one should expect him to be able to pitch 7 innings. You have to build up to that, ala they way they work starters in ST. I guess technically the fact that he didn't have the stamina is correct, but if you don't ever give the guy an opportunity or work him up to that, then you expect him to drop off after so many pitchers. It shouldn't be a surprise. My very last sentence was that I liked to watch that guy pitch. I was referring to Munoz, but it would apply to Guerrier as well. I see lots of Birmingham games, so I am very familiar with all of the players that have come through in recent years.

do you live near the team - how do you get to see the players? Live in Birmingham... See lots of games.

On Miles: This is a big year for Aaron. He was a bit old for AA last year and it was his first real breakout year. Aaron is a solid player but he will have to step it up again this year. If he can duplicate or come close to his 2002 numbers, then the Sox or someone will have to take him seriously. If he goes back to hitting .275 with 8 HR and 45 RBI and 12 SB, then he bascially is showing that he is a AAA player at best. There are a lot of guys who can excel at AA and AAA, but never work out in the bigs. Sometimes it is because they don't get the chance, other times it is because they just aren't good enough to take it to the next level. My best guess with Miles is that he will end up being that AAAA type player. He'll be solid at AAA but not spectacular. I know Backman liked him and likens him to himself, so it may be a lack of opportunity that holds him back. What hurts him is Jiminez/Harris/Hummel in front of him. They will all get an opportunity before Miles, unless he just blows them away in ST.

On Munoz: I don't buy that he lacks stamina. He has not been a starter before, so how would anyone know? The fact that he is smaller and isn't Mr. Muscles probably lead everyone to that conclusion, but who knows. I am guessing that he started in the bullpen because of his age and body type. He pitched well for the Barons many times in 3-4 inning outings. Stamina is something you build and it hard to build when you are used out of the pen in the 6th-8th innings. The problem with starting him is, where do you put him and the number of innings he has pitched this past year. Do you put him back in AA to start him? Do you wait until there is an opening in AAA and put a guy who has never started before in the rotation? It can be done. Matt Guerrier was converted to a starter in 2001 after posting 26 saves in 2000. It will be interesting to see how the Sox handle him. And for what it is worth, his stuff is quite nasty. He just smiles all the time and gets people out. I liked watching him pitch.

Re: The Sox AA club, the Birmingham Barons, are looking like they are going to have a lousy team this year. The Barons have looked like they were going to be lousy the last three years, yet have made the playoffs all three. The talent level was highest in 2000 yet no playoffs. I wouldn't necessarily write them down as being lousy just yet.