Palehosefan

Not to stray too far off topic but a kid I really liked at draft time, Billy Butler, is doing very well for KC. He's 18 and is playing at high rookie ball and is hitting .374 with 9 homers and 63 rbi's with an OBP of 487. He has the 63 rbi's in 69 games. He should be there 1B or LF of their future.

idle huh :-)?

Congrats BMAC on the best minor league season I have seen in the Sox system since Rauch's Minor Leage Player of the Year season. Also thanks for giving Sox fans like myself something to be happy about during this dismal stretch of the season.

My sleeper pick is Rylan Reed. But he might be asleep for 10 years. So I will be back in 10 years to rub it in. But really my pick of Fernando Hernandez.

That was a great recap of UNC's chances this year Zoom, I couldn't have said it better myself. But Quentin Thomas is better then people realize. He was in alot of the West coast gurus eyes, the best PG on the West coast. He is very tall for a pg at 6'4, and can hit the 3 with regularity. He's just a little bit raw, but will have time to sit behind Felton for a year and learn. KU and UNC are pretty even this season. Both have alot of depth, good coaching, and alot of pain if Simien or May goes down.

Orionny Lopez is a suprise. I wonder though if he will ever get to pitch for the Knights.

What happens next is they go to Civil trial, unless they are going to cancel that one too. But from the looks of it the Civil potential win is all she ever wanted in my opinion. $$

well Schuff KU is about to get Miles in all likelyhood, he just eliminated Arizona and UNC is next in the near future. Thats a very, very good pickup. Plays alot like Kareem Rush.

BMac is 5th on this week's hot sheet from BA. Add up his performances across three levels and you get a 17-5, 3.05 record with 197 strikeouts and just 28 walks issued in 165 innings. He leads the minor leagues in wins in stikeouts. That is the definition of emerging pitching prospect. Thats awesome that he's leading the minors in K's and wins.

The sad part is that it happens almost every single night. Valentin at .220, Borchard below .180 and Crede creeping towards .230 I believe. Its past time to bring up Valdez just to see what he can do. It can't be worse than whats here. I drive myself nuts expecting more out of this team only to see Borchard, Valentin, and Crede run out there to play every game.

Someone needs to sneak in and scratch Valentin, Crede, and Borchard from the lineup everyday for the rest of the season. Minny would be scared to death.

Ho Hum Valentin hitting .220, Crede popping up with 1 out and runner on third and it didn't visibly bother him a bit. Just another day at the park.

I know it didn't really hurt guys like Kerry Wood, John Smoltz, and Percival. I have also heard it can strengthen your arm by adding an even stronger ligament to your elbow than you had before. So we will see.

I love in north Texas, similar to Dallas weather in the summer, but colder and more snow than rain like in Dallas.

Those are some nice things Davis said about UNC. But UNC fans are still eager to play IU again because of his comments a few years ago to a UNC fan during the game. Fans were getting on Davis and he replied something like "call me when you get a real team". I thought it was hilarious but other people were pissed. I think that was 2001 or maybe 2002 so it was the truth, and we finally have a real team now so it should be a fun game.

lol I'm definitely not a Yankee Texan. I'm not really complaining about the weather, I enjoy hot summers and snow in the winter. Its just crazy weather.

Try living in the part of Texas that I do. 100 degree summers and it gets down to negative numbers in the winter. We have days during the year where we get 70 mph gusts. As an example, we had a day last year where it was 80 one day and then 11 the next. Fun, fun.

I'm gonna throw a changeup and say Willie Harris. Willie was the catalyst of our lineup and was hitting over .300 and playing solid defense. Then I went on vacation to Cali for 2 weeks. I came back and he was barely hitting .260. I couldn't believe my eyes. As New Found Glory's song goes, "Its all down hill from here". I just didn't know it at the time.

If Ozzie truly thinks they can compete here and that they can make the team next year. I would have no problem with it. They aren't gonna get 130 at bats to ruin their rookie title next year(if it natters to anyone else but me).

I honestly can't fathom the Sox without the Barons. When I think of minor league baseball for us I see the Barons. No matter what happens with the other teams in our organization, I can't imagine ever splitting from the Barons. But thats just me.

Yep DBAHO I actually thought about that after I got offline. The Cowboys will be very solid again, I'm just pissed at them for letting Tar Heel Ekuban go

Believe me, I know where you are coming from. My two favorite teams by a wide margin are the Steelers and the Panthers, I watched almost all 16 of both teams games last year. As a sidenote, and somewhat of a homer. Watch out for Ryan Sims to break out this year at DT for the Chiefs, he has finally come to the realization he needs to work his ass off in the offseason to be better.

My thoughts are similar to yours Jason. I expected Jon to finally break out and have that 14-15 win season with an era around 4. I see Jon with good stuff and better control than he had in the past. I see a 24 year old that helps himself out by being a great fielder also. But then I see the K's per 9 innings not even at 5 for most of his career. I see pitches left up in the zone and big innings killing him. I see him blaming teammates for mistakes. I see Jon creating a gap between himself and the fans by saying they have been on him since he arrived. I see Jon not only NOT stepping up when we need him, but in his last 18 starts he has been even worse. But then again I do see Jon as a 24 year old with alot of MLB experience and still unfilled potential. He has the potential to be a Derek Lowe type pitcher, when Lowe was good :-). I'm just frustrated from this entire season and I'm probably too hard on Garland, I just want so much for him and this team to be better. He would be a great 5th starter next year with no pressure on him. Maybe that potential will finally be realized. Maybe not. Right now I'm gonna buy Garland, because we have no reason to trade him, wouldn't get a whole lot, and we don't have an abundance of starters as it is.

The Panthers will have the best DLine in the league no doubt. Jesse Armstead and the return of Mark Fields will make their linebacker core very solid also. Their question will be with the secondary. Artrell Hawkins will help as a possible starter beside Manning. The Panthers have the luxury of not having to have a dominant secondary due to the ability to rush the quarterback so well. The Ravens probably have the most talented defense in the league. Their DLine will be the question however. Suggs, Lewis, Boulware, McCalister, and Reed are all Pro-Bowl type talents. The Patriots have pretty much a solid defense overall, not really dominant at anything particular, but no holes on the field either. The bring in new talent every year, especially through the draft, and they step in and help immediately. I would give the edge to the Patriots right now for the best defense in the NFL due to question marks on the Panthers and Ravens defenses. But Stephen Davis and Jamal Lewis will pound the ball enough that they should help cover up the holes in the defense. I wouldn't be suprised to see Carolina on top with Julius having somewhat of a down year last year and should bounce back with over 10 sacks. I wouldn't be suprised to see the Ravens on top if their front 3 can clog the line. But I'm expecting the Patriots to keep things together and claim the #1 spot. Watch out for the Redskins though, Portis' help with clock management coupled with Sean Taylor's immediate impact could propel the Redskins near the top. Their DLine is the question though.

Hey Jason do you know what kind of stuff Tracey has? He is old for his league, but he was raw coming out apparently so I can understand. He could have a nice future here.