I didn't see this posted elsewhere on Soxtalk. If I missed it, I apologize in advance:

 

According to a poster at nsbb, Piniella had this to say about Cotts:

 

What does Piniella see in Neal Cotts? "I see he gives up runs every time he pitches," Piniella said. Cotts has allowed eight runs in eight innings, including two Saturday.

 

I didn't see the quote in any articles... did I miss it? For fun, feel free to read the dopey cub fan comments below on how they got ripped off in the cotts for aardesma deal.

http://www.northsidebaseball.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=39137

Neither of Aardsma nor Cotts should be on a big league roster at this point.

 

I'm sure Piniella meant that as partially tongue in cheek probably laughing afterwards and throwing a few compliments his way.

 

Neil has been terrible thus far but I highly doubt Piniella would hang one of his players out to dry like that just because they're struggling in Spring.

Aardsma > Cotts

I would like some clarification on this, but Gene Honda Civic said Cotts can refuse his assignment to AAA because he was on a major league roster for 3 full, consecutive seasons.

I would like some clarification on this, but Gene Honda Civic said Cotts can refuse his assignment to AAA because he was on a major league roster for 3 full, consecutive seasons.

I'm not 100% sure about this, but eventually you gain rights as a player by which you can refuse your assigment to the minor leagues even if you have options remaining. I believe Cotts is eligible to use this right because he's been in the bigs for 3 straight years without interuption.

I'm not 100% sure about this, but eventually you gain rights as a player by which you can refuse your assigment to the minor leagues even if you have options remaining. I believe Cotts is eligible to use this right because he's been in the bigs for 3 straight years without interuption.

According to the Neyer transactions primer, you need five full seasons before you can refuse an assignment.