Jim Fainter

Whoever occupies our number 5 pitching slot will get about 8 more starts this year. If we are going to contend, we need some victories there.

I always thought Ricky got a bad rap that day when he broke the SB record and announced that he "was the greatest of all times." I think he just got a liitle emotional and mis-spoke. He had a great career.

Pacheco should get one more start before the Rangers make their decision. I think we should hold him out and announce that he has a sore arm. And speaking of the selections available to the Rangers, what has happened to Anthony Webster lately? Batting average dropping to around .285? We make him available to the Rangers?? His power hasn't shown up yet. Do the Sox still consider him a big time prospect? I don't know what the Sox do with these kids over the winter, but if he goes to High A ball next year and hits in the mid .200's, he then might be done, because we have so many young, good outfielders in the system. Rex or Jason, (or anyone else) do you have any inside info on him? Tks.

I wonder if there is any talk about moving Bounds up to Kannapolis this year. The regular fist baseman there is Julio Reyes, who is hitting about .250 with little power. Between last year and this year, Bounds must have had a fair amount of AB's at the Rookie League level, where he has proven that he can hit. Outside of our stud outfielders, Bounds has to be one of our most promising hitters in the org.

The Yanks just slapped the s*** out of the Tribe. I don't know if that's good or bad for us.

Boston would probably like to have An back.

The Sox aren't the only team with an important pitcher having serious problems this year (see Koch). Denny Neagle of the Rockies has been horrid again this year. 35 innings, an ERA of almost 9, 12 homers given up, and he's getting $10 MM per year. Ouch. General Managers can be so incompetent when you give them a blank check book.

Porzio is kind of a homely Jamie Moyer. He should do well.

The question about our hopes reminds me of Jim Mora, former coach of the Indianapolis Colts. "Playoffs??? Playoffs??? But, yes, I still have hopes.

Mulholland broke into the bigs in 1986.

His arm probs were caused by that collision with the Braves' midget second baseman, Giles. And Jason, Prior looks full grown to me.

LDF: Go to baseballamerica.com click on stats, and select the team of your choice and you will get up to date stats on every player on that team.

Wrist injuries are VERRRY slow to heal.

I saw that bit on BBTN, and I thought Brantley sounded like a buffoon. He actually said that Koch was throwing in the high nineties, was uncomfortable with a new team, got hit a few times, and JM caused him to lose confidence AND velocity. Brantley writes his own material, I am certain, because nobody else would be dumb enough to come up with that s***.

Jason, I had the exact same question about Rupe and Pacheco. It's like we are obligated to help the enemy scout us. IF we feel that those two are the prospects most worth keeping, hide them, don't flaunt them.

I noticed in today's sports section that Mr. All World, Alex Rodriguez, has a batting average down to .279. He is too good of a hitter for that. I have to think that he is going for the long ball too much, although it is tough to say for sure, because I don't get to watch him very often. But the fact is that in his first full season, 1996, he hit .358. I thought he was a future .400 hitter back then.

After a slow start at Great Falls, King is now hitting .258. He received a $440 K signing bonus, so somebody must have liked his stick.

Regarding trading of draft choices, as Rex said earlier you can't trade them AND after you draft a player, you can't trade him for one year.

During the first 6 innings, did the Detroit pitcher have dominating stuff, or were we helping out a bunch by over swinging?

Two SB's....... Does Sweeney have a good set of wheels? I don't think that I ever heard that he did or didn't.

Even if we have a bunch of high draft choices, say 6-8 if we get really lucky with our future free agents, it won't be a problem getting the money to sign them. It's just another budget item that will be established at the beginning of the year. Some Accountant will just do a little pushing and shoving with numbers, and presto, the money is there.

If this thread is about possible managers for next year, two who I would like to have considered, besides Wally Backman, are Robin Yount (D-Backs) and Terry Pendleton (Braves).

That's one reason why arbitration is so unfair to the owners. Before the last Collective Bargaining Agreement, there was talk that the owners would try for a small change in the process. That is, if the owner didn't like the arbitration result, the team could release the player and make him a free agent. However, it got lost under the cloud of revenue sharing, or luxury tax, or whatever they call it. The union prevailed on this issue, just as they did on drafting of foreign born players. The Sox will have some delicate decisions to make in the off season. If they want draft picks, they have to offer arbitration, and if the player accepts arbitration, the Sox are stuck with the new contract. For example, if Colon gets on a hot streak and wins several games, some arbitrator could conceivably award him $10 MM next year. Same with Alomar, Everett, Lee, et al.

I think A ball is a little low for Blanton. I mean, he had three years of college and is now in his second year of pro ball. Still, he is a great pitching prospect.

That catch by Hunter saved another blown save by Guardado.