TooLiveBrew

They were #3 in runs. 8th in OPS+, which adjusts for ballparks. Fwiw the offenses I consider them to not be clearly better than, talent-wise, are ATL CIN COL DET LAA STL (this one I might be talked out of) WAS

I can't wait, either, homer. Once better temperatures arrive, it's going to be awesome to go to T-Rats games.

Man! It's almost like he still wasn't 100% from some pretty brutal injury he suffered late in the previous season... .269/.345/.468/.812 line over his final 97 games last season -- after .162/.302/.282 ./584 in his first 60. You tell me which slash line looks like his career norms.

At this point, any time I see someone question his defense, I want to bash my head against the wall. You don't find a better arm at SS in MLB, and his athleticism, glovework, and instincts are more than 'good enough.' He's certainly still a work in progress at the plate, but he's showing all the ability/potential we read about him having as a minor leaguer. I would also tender him a long-term extension right now. Offer the kid a life-changing amount of money when he's set to earn roughly a cumulative $1.35M over the next three seasons.

Sounds Silenced by I-Cubs; Lose 5-0 Nashville Limited To Three Hits In Second Shutout Nashville Sounds http://i.imgur.com/cDLLJCm.jpg Johnny Hellweg (Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds) DES MOINES, Iowa - The Nashville Sounds held the Iowa Cubs to five hits Friday night at Principal Park, but free bases via seven walks, three passed balls, two hit by pitches, and one error committed by Nashville gave Iowa the 5-0 victory and the weather-abbreviated two-game series sweep. The I-Cubs scored two runs in the first inning, as Nashville starting pitcher Johnny Hellweg (1-2) struggled to find control. Infielder Logan Watkins led off with the Cubs only hit of the inning, but Hellweg loaded the bases for Iowa by hitting Darnell McDonald with a pitch and walking Ian Stewart. The 6-foot-9 hurler proceeded to issue two consecutive bases-loaded walks to plate Iowa's two runs. Seven of Hellweg's ten runs allowed over his last two starts have come in the first inning of his games. The home team plated their third run on a pair of hits to lead off the fourth inning. Brian Bogusevic doubled to the wall in left field and was driven home by J.C. Boscan's slicing single into shallow right field to make it 3-0. Hellweg took the loss, his second, surrendering four runs, three earned, on four hits across four innings of work. With 79 pitches on the night, Hellweg walked four Cubbies and fanned six. Reliever Donovan Hand entered the game in the fifth inning with a man on first, inherited from Hellweg, and twirled two quick strikeouts. But a fielding error by Blake Davis, a walk to Bogusevic, and catcher Dayton Buller's passed ball allowed the run to score. The error by Davis ended the squad's error-free stretch at 43 1/3 innings dating back to April 12. Iowa recorded one final run in the sixth inning with reliever Michael Olmsted on the hill for Nashville. Pinch hitter Tim Torres reached base on balls, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball before scoring on a single to centerfield by McDonald. Olmsted continued through two innings, retiring five Cubs on strikeouts. Rob Wooten pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning. Offensively, only Scooter Gennett, Davis, and Dayton Buller recorded hits for the Sounds; each picking up a single. After ten consecutive games with an extra-base hit, the Sounds came up empty Friday, as five Iowa pitchers combined for the shutout, collecting 11 strikeouts. Starter Barret Loux (2-1) picked up the win. The Sounds have dropped four straight games, marking their longest losing streak of the young season. Having finished their first road trip 1-for-6, the Sounds return to Greer Stadium on Saturday to open the second homestand of the season at 6:35 p.m. against the Omaha Storm Chasers. Starting for Nashville will be RHP Mike Fiers, down from Milwaukee to make his 2013 Sounds debut, opposite Omaha's RHP Brian Sanches (1-0, 3.38). Nashville Box Gennett: 1-4, SB Davis: 1-4, SB, E (fielding) Cole Garner: 0-4, SB Caleb Gindl: 0-3, BB Buller: 1-2, BB, 3 PB, 0/2 CS [pre]Hellweg: 4 IP 4 H 4 R 3 ER 4 BB 6 K 2 HBP 79 TP (41 strikes) 2:1 GO:FO Hand: 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 2 K Olmsted: 2 IP 1 H 1 R 0 ER 2 BB 5 K Wooten: 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 0 K[/pre] Nashville PbP The visitors' half of the 1st started off promisingly enough, but no joy. Unfortunately, it was also the best scoring opportunity the Sounds had on the night: Nashville Top of the 1st -Scooter Gennett singles on a line drive to center fielder Darnell McDonald. -Blake Davis singles on a ground ball to right fielder Brian Bogusevic. Scooter Gennett to 2nd. -Hunter Morris called out on strikes. -Sean Halton strikes out swinging. Scooter Gennett steals (2) 3rd base. Blake Davis steals (2) 2nd base. -Stephen Parker grounds out, first baseman Brad Nelson to pitcher Barret Loux. As the game story noted, Hellweg struggled to find his command in the 1st. It it was so spotty that, despite only allowing one hit (a single), he walked in two runs: Iowa Bottom of the 1st -Logan Watkins singles on a line drive to center fielder Caleb Gindl. -Darnell McDonald hit by pitch. Logan Watkins to 2nd. -Ian Stewart walks. Logan Watkins to 3rd. Darnell McDonald to 2nd. -Ty Wright pops out to second baseman Scooter Gennett. -Brad Nelson walks. Logan Watkins scores. Darnell McDonald to 3rd. Ian Stewart to 2nd. -Donnie Murphy walks. Darnell McDonald scores. Ian Stewart to 3rd. Brad Nelson to 2nd. -Brian Bogusevic strikes out swinging. -J. C. Boscan strikes out swinging. Nashville only mustered six baserunners the rest of the way, two of whom reached base via errors. Nashville Gameday

Well the main reason that theory gained such traction was that the authorities were pursuing it as a tangible lead over their radios. So it's not like it was purely a product of any idiot with Photoshop.

Per Adam McCalvy: #Brewers stick with the same lineup as they look to continue a four-game winning streak. Nori Aoki RF Jean Segura SS Ryan Braun LF Rickie Weeks 2B Jonathan Lucroy C Álex González 3B Carlos Gómez CF Yuniesky Betancourt 1B Marco Estrada P Cubs lineup: David DeJesus CF Starlin Castro SS Anthony Rizzo 1B Alfonso Soriano LF Nate Schierholtz RF Welington Castillo C Luis Valbuena 3B Darwin Barney 2B Jeff Samardzija P

From the few times I've seen Burgos pitch, his stuff to me was reminiscent of pre-liner-to-the-elbow Dave Bush's

I think, if you want to evaluate a SD, you'd need to look at his entire tenure & not just use his best/a good single draft. In addition to the draft, any international FA prospects signed should be factored in (not going to attempt to dig into this one, since I'm not aware of any nicely-maintained database of these guys). It's also really important imo to analyze what kind of talent is making the bigs. I personally would rather take two or three really good players over five or six role-player types. To your challenge, it's disingenuous to count Gennett already, since it's entirely possible (however unlikely) that he doesn't make it to MLB. Here is the current list of # of big-leaguers produced from the '09 draft: 6: LAA, STL 5: None 4: CHC, MIL, TOR 3: ARZ, CLE, DET, SEA I'm not familiar enough with the other teams' draftees to realistically guess (like you/we are on Gennett) who else may make the bigs. But it's entirely possible that every other team that currently has three or four guys (heck, even two) in the bigs could pass the Brewers in the next year or two. That's not to say that Seid didn't do well in the '09 draft. It's just not such a simplistic situation that one can merely count big-leaguers developed out of the draft & that's the end of that. There needs to be a far more comprehensive approach.

Ugh.

I think you're probably right, but I guess you never know. One likely reason the M's got so much money is that Portland is basically South Seattle when it comes to MLB fandom. Two relatively large metro areas, and essentially all of both the states of WA & OR is a good amount of territory. I wonder how many Japanese MLB fans remain Mariners fans after Ichiro's tenure there, and whether or not that would factor into how much money the M's got in this deal.

That would work out as roughly $117-118m per season. And what is the Brewers' new deal supposed to be? $30m? Yeah.

How has he been pronouncing it?

False. Definitely top 10 for me, maybe top 5.

He probably would get that for simply being named to the 25-man, unless they wrote in some kind of innings or performance clause(s)

This comment is so silly that it isn't even worth commenting on. The best teams don't usually win the championship in most sports and the Marlin's teams that won these games were not better than the best teams we put out in the past 5 years, not even close. And yet, you commented. Naturally, you didn't respond to xisxisxis's or valpocrewsader's posts that completely refuted your previous post. You picked out the most cherry-pickable point & ran with that. Obviously the best team in any given season doesn't win; that's true in every sport nearly every year. Yet the titles are still handed out & recorded for the historical record. The Marlins have two, the Brewers have zero. Anyone mocking the Marlins needs to be reminded of that. The Brewers traded from a position of depth when they traded LaPorta, and when they traded Escobar & Cain. I don't agree with the long-term plan of which players they targeted with those trades, but to say they didn't trade from a position of depth is flat-out wrong. For your "challenge," this past offseason the Diamondbacks traded a package including SP Trevor Bauer as part of a three-team deal (CIN-CLE-ARZ) to acquire SS Didi Gregorius. D-Backs being proactive about their SS position, and addressing it long-term. KCR trading James Shields & Wade Davis for Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery, & Patrick Leonard. Rays being proactive about Shields, who they controlled through 2014 (Davis through '17). NYY traded C Jesús Montero for SEA's SP Michael Pineda. Yankees being proactive about their rotation, trading a premium prospect at a position where they didn't have depth to theoretically fill a rotation spot for the foreseeable future. Back in 2009, the Curtis Granderson trade: Tigers shipped off Granderson (to NYY) & Edwin Jackson (to ARZ), and in return got Max Scherzer & Austin Jackson. Not trading from positions of strength, but addressed positional needs for several seasons & capitalized on other franchises' desires to 'win now' with good longer-term planning. I could also list all of the Marlins' trades last season as evidence of a team being proactive. But I'm certain you'll come up with reasons why everything I've posted isn't relevant. I could go on & do more digging, but given that you won't accept anything I post, I'll leave it at this.

Given that Gord Ash said, in-game, that Yo will be starting on Thursday, I'm guessing no.

The amount of trade scenarios that were thrown around here involving Ramirez before he had even played half of the first year of his 3 year deal with the Brewers was what drove me batty. We're not the Marlins, and Doug doesn't run the team like the Marlins. To suggest that he's going to sign a FA, and then trade him 80-ish games into his contract isn't at all realistic. The worst part about it was that it was (for the most part) people that just didn't like the Ramirez signing. I agree, there's zero chance Melvin does it (iirc most discussing a potential Ramírez deal last season ceded as much). That doesn't mean it's necessarily not a good idea, or worthy of discussion. I think you should acknowledge that the main reason people were supportive of dealing Ramírez, aside from thinking the contract was a bad idea, was that he could genuinely bring back a solid return. It wasn't just discussing a salary dump. And, yes, we certainly aren't the Marlins... a franchise that can boast two WS championships in half the timespan of the Brewers' existence.

Wow, what a crazy one in Viera! Nice to see Cam Garfield with a huge night.

Thanks for that awesome first-hand report, Patrick.

If this is credible, according to the bar's owner, Gallardo left the bar with his bodyguard.

This news is all kinds of excellent. Keep on truckin', Santo!

Sounds Drop Series Opener In Iowa, 4-1 Nashville Out-Hits Cubs But Suffers Third Consecutive Loss Nashville Sounds http://i.imgur.com/ylLU3WK.jpg Frankie De La Cruz (Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds) DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa left-hander Brooks Raley twirled six scoreless innings to lead the Iowa Cubs to a 4-1 victory over the Nashville Sounds on Tuesday evening at Principal Park in the opener of a four-game series. The defeat was the third in a row and the sixth loss in the last seven games for Nashville (4-8). The Sounds out-hit the Cubs, 10-3, in the game and placed a runner into scoring position in seven of the nine innings but finished just 1-for-11 in RBI opportunities. Ozzie Chavez, Cole Garner, and Anderson De La Rosa all turned in two-hit efforts for the Sounds. Raley (1-0) stifled the Nashville offense, tossing six scoreless innings to earn the victory. The southpaw scattered six hits and struck out seven Sounds batters on the night. Sounds starter Frankie De La Cruz struggled with his control during a 26-pitch first inning, issuing three four-pitch walks to Cubs batters to load the bases with one out. Veteran infielder Donnie Murphy put Iowa on the scoreboard with a sharp grounder to third that resulted in an RBI fielder's choice as Logan Watkins raced home for a 1-0 lead. De La Cruz recovered to induce an inning-ending flyout from Darnell McDonald to strand two baserunners and limit the damage. The Sounds missed a chance to even the contest in the fourth after Chavez reached third with only one out. However, Raley struck out Sean Halton and got Stephen Parker to ground out to escape the inning unscathed. The I-Cubs didn't record their first hit against De La Cruz until the bottom of the fourth, when former Sound J.C. Boscan, the number eight hitter in the lineup, drilled a two-run double off the top of the left field wall. Darnell McDonald and ex-Sound Edwin Maysonet scored on the two-bagger, which upped the Iowa lead to 3-0. Nashville had a runner on third with only one out again in the fifth and once again failed to score. De La Cruz dropped a two-strike foul bunt with runners on the corners for the second out before Raley induced an inning-ending grounder from Scooter Gennett. Iowa right fielder Ryan Sweeney made it a 4-0 contest in the home half of the fifth with a one-out RBI triple into the right field corner to plate Ty Wright, who preceded him with a single. De La Rosa, the Sounds' catcher, erased Sweeney from the basepaths with a pickoff during the ensuing at-bat. De La Cruz (1-1) took the loss for Nashville after allowing four runs on three hits in his five innings of action. The veteran walked four batters and fanned none in his 78-pitch effort. The Sounds' bullpen continued its early-season solid work, combining to blank the I-Cubs behind De La Cruz. Chris Jakubauskas, Jesus Sanchez, and Travis Webb each offered a perfect inning of relief for Nashville as the final 10 Iowa batters on the night were retired in order. Nashville finally got onto the scoreboard against Cubs reliever Cory Wade in the top of the ninth to avoid the shutout. Third baseman Stephen Parker led off with a single to extend his hitting streak to seven games, matching Gennett for the longest effort by a Sound this season. Later in the frame, Caleb Gindl snapped an 0-for-19 funk by dropping a one-out RBI double down the right field line to put the Sounds on the board. Wade recovered to strike out De La Rosa and retire pinch-hitter Blake Davis on a game-ending comebacker to close out the Iowa victory. The teams continue the series with a 12:05 p.m. matinee meeting on Wednesday. Right-hander Johnny Hellweg (1-1, 4.00) will make his third start of the year for the Sounds. Iowa will counter with right-hander Nick Struck (0-1, 6.00). Nashville Box Of the 10 Sounds hits, only two were of the extra-base variety; both of those were doubles, and one yielded the only Nashville RBI on the night. Gennett: 1-4, PO Chavez: 2-4, SB Morris: 1-3, 2B, HBP, SB Parker: 1-4 Garner: 2-4 Gindl: 1-4, 2B, RBI De La Rosa: 2-4, PO (defensive, at 3B) [pre]De La Cruz: 5 IP 3 H 4 R 4 ER 4 BB 0 K HBP 78 TP (41 strikes) 7:4 GO:FO Jakubauskas: 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 1 K Sanchez: 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 0 K Webb: 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 0 K[/pre] Half of Iowa's position players tonight were former Brewers: J.C. Boscan, Donnie Murphy, Edwin Maysonet, & Brad Nelson. Another item of note in this one was the 1B ump -- Angel Campos. As best I can tell, he umped in MLB from 2007-'12. Interesting to see him demoted(?) to AAA. Nashville PbP The De La Rosa pickoff was a pretty big play, coming right on the heels of Ryan Sweeney's RBI triple that made the score 3-0. Brad Nelson's subsequent groundout could've pushed that deficit to four runs: Iowa Bottom of the 5th -Logan Watkins grounds out, second baseman Scooter Gennett to first baseman Hunter Morris. -Ty Wright singles on a ground ball to left fielder Sean Halton. -Ryan Sweeney triples (1) on a line drive to right fielder Cole Garner. Ty Wright scores. -With Brad Nelson batting, Anderson De La Rosa picks off Ryan Sweeney at 3rd on throw to Stephen Parker. -Brad Nelson grounds out to first baseman Hunter Morris. Unfortunately, the most noise Nashville's offense made in any inning was in the 9th: Nashville Top of the 9th -Pitching Change: Cory Wade replaces Yoanner Negrin, batting 2nd, replacing left fielder Ty Wright. -Defensive Substitution: Brian Bogusevic replaces pitcher Yoanner Negrin, batting 7th, playing left field. -Stephen Parker singles on a line drive to right fielder Ryan Sweeney. -With Cole Garner batting, wild pitch by Cory Wade, Stephen Parker to 2nd. -Cole Garner strikes out swinging. -Caleb Gindl doubles (3) on a line drive to right fielder Ryan Sweeney. Stephen Parker scores. -Anderson De La Rosa called out on strikes. -Offensive Substitution: Pinch-hitter Blake Davis replaces Travis Webb. -Blake Davis grounds out, pitcher Cory Wade to first baseman Brad Nelson. Nashville Gameday

"I love all the sausages, you know that." -- Bill Schroeder That has to go down as Rock's best-ever quote to take out of context.

I had Mutiny recently as well, and thought it was ok. I didn't hate it, I didn't love it.