TooLiveBrew

Can the Greg-Maddux-is-proof-Fiers-is-for-real posts stop? That's getting to be a bit much.

Well two Helena recaps, including one from the club itself, with no mention of any kind about a Taylor injury... guessing that's a good sign ... ?

I don't think this Maldonado trade idea is a bad question to ask, but at this point I genuinely wonder if some Brewers fans have significantly lowered expectations* of what constitutes a prospect with legitimate value/trade value due to the Brewers not really having many in recent years. Maldonado's a useful player for the Brewers, in that he's young, cheap, and talented in ways that fit nicely with the current 25-man roster. But I'd be willing to bet that many clubs have C prospects of similar value to Martin, and enough that there wouldn't be much demand for him on the trade market. * I know there are other former MadTV viewers out there... tell me you don't always think of that skit whenever you come across that phrase

I got you bro. Thanks man. I have internet access via phone, but not the ability to link stuff, let alone have multiple tabs open at once EDIT: I legitimately lol'd at your note on De La Rosa doing the AZL Crew catchers proud... good one

EDIT: phone let me post the quoted part before nixing my efforts, at least. Heading into 2011, the Tigers had a pitcher whose lowest single-season ERA was 3.37, with a career ERA in the high 3s... despite pitching half his career IP at Comerica, one of the best pitchers parks in recent memory. Surely this pitcher would never be discused as being in Matt Cain territory, and anyone who would've argued that he'd not only win a CY but also the MVP would have been a fool!

That was my exact thought when I read what you quoted, monty. Melvin's m.o. is to keep big-league guys instead of trying to capitalize on value via trade/'sell high'.

As I noted in the 'Help the LR live on' thread, I will miss tonight's & tomorrow night's Huntsville games, as I'm out of town to celebrate my grandpa's 90th b-day.

I'm not sure if that is an incredibly stupid saying or incredibly genius. I tip my large, calf-free, hat to you. (to both)

Well, the gf just got off of work early, which means we'll be heading out today instead of tomorrow. The occasion is my grandpa's 90th birthday. So this means I will miss tonight's game & tomorrow's doubleheader. Apologies for short notice.

Oh, and nothing really important to note from the T-Rats game tonight. General Lucroy recap: His only throw on a SB attempt was pretty bad (one-hopped over 2B & into CF). But his swing looked good. He hit two trademark Lucroy-liners back up the middle -- one line drive single to RCF, and one lineout to 2B, both hit well. The double to RF was a ball that probably would've been a F9 at the big-league level... he didn't really clobber that one as much as it was a well-placed flyball. Landed fair (by a decent amount) near the line, a good 20 feet or so short of the RF corner (Time Warner Field's RF foul line measurement is 325' iirc).

Oh, and I just posted this in the "Who'll help the LR live on?" thread, but I'm going to be out of town & unable to do the Stars doubleheader on Saturday. Just thought more people might see this note if I posted it here, too.

Whoops... forgot to mention until now that I'll be out of town & unable to take Huntsville's doubleheader on Saturday. Apologies! I'm back on Sunday, but they're off Sunday & Monday anyway.

Huntsville 8, @Jackson 3 Huntsville Box Stars starter Josh Stinson settled in after a shaky first inning+, putting up zeroes from the 3rd through the 7th. He scratched his way through the first without allowing a run, despite giving up three singles and one walk -- he had help from one CS and one OF assist at 2B after a Generals runner tried to turn a single into a double. Then in the 2nd, he allowed a leadoff triple. After that point, only three of the next 19 Jackson batters would reach (two singles, one BB). A groundout with one out in the 2nd did manage to bring that leadoff triple home to score, but after that, Stinson had this game locked down through the 7th. In the 8th, a leadoff walk was followed by two strikeouts... but also a two-run HR. Stinson struck out the next batter to close out the 8th, and finished with a final line of: 8 IP, 7 H, 3 R/ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 10:3 GO:AO, 103 TP Mitch Stetter came on to begin the 9th, and faced a LH-RH-LH trio of batters. He worked through the three hitters with groundout-walk-flyout, but was pulled with another RH hitter coming up. On came Brandon Kintzler, who induced a 6-3 groundout to end the game. With a five-run lead, I'm a little surprised that Stetter wasn't just left in to finish the game, but there's no note in the game log that his removal had anything to do with injury. All but one Huntsville batter had at least one hit, and every batter had either a hit or a walk. The key inning was the 4th, in which the Stars got some help -- an E and two WPs -- to go along with their two singles, double, and walk. They plated four runs in the frame, which alone would've been enough offense tonight. It was C Adam Weisenburger who was the position player star for the... Stars... as he went 2-3 with a HR, two RBI, and a BB (all out of the 9-hole in the lineup). Weisenburger also was 2/2 in gunning down attempted SBs. Kentrail Davis continued his inspired July performance, going 2-4 with one RBI; his July OPS now stands at .995. Davis stole a bag, too, and his success rate for the year is now 15/19. Josh Prince finished 1-5 with a 2B & two RBI. Khris Davis also doubled, going 1-4 with one BB. Hunter Morris was 1-4 with one BB and one RBI. Hainley Statia went 1-4 with a BB. Scooter Gennett went 1-5. T.J. Mittelstaedt was 0-2, but had one RBI & one BB. Huntsville PbP After retiring the Stars in order in the top of the 1st, Jackson had its first two runners single... but each guy found a different way to make an overly-aggressive out at 2B before the hitter behind him was able to put the ball into play. I mentioned that Stinson scratched his way through this inning, & here's what happened: Jackson Bottom of the 1st -Francisco Martinez singles on a ground ball to third baseman Hainley Statia. -With Nate Tenbrink batting, Francisco Martinez caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Adam Weisenburger to shortstop Tommy Manzella. -Nate Tenbrink singles on a fly ball to left fielder T. J. Mittelstaedt. Nate Tenbrink out at 2nd, left fielder T. Mittelstaedt to second baseman Scooter Gennett. -Stefen Romero singles on a line drive to left fielder T. J. Mittelstaedt. -Joseph Dunigan walks. Stefen Romero to 2nd. -Rich Poythress flies out to center fielder Josh Prince. Stinson really got into a groove after allowing the leadoff triple in the following inning, & was able to keep things on cruise control for the Stars late into the game. The four-run 4th inning, which pushed their lead to 5-1, was the best offensive frame for Huntsville: Huntsville Top of the 4th -Hunter Morris grounds out, first baseman Rich Poythress to pitcher Forrest Snow. -Khris Davis reaches on a fielding error by shortstop Gabriel Noriega. Khris Davis to 2nd. -Hainley Statia singles on a ground ball to center fielder Francisco Martinez. Khris Davis scores. -Kentrail Davis singles on a ground ball to center fielder Francisco Martinez. Hainley Statia to 3rd. -T. J. Mittelstaedt out on a sacrifice fly to right fielder Johermyn Chavez. Hainley Statia scores. -Adam Weisenburger walks. Kentrail Davis to 2nd. -With Josh Prince batting, wild pitch by Forrest Snow, Kentrail Davis to 3rd. Adam Weisenburger to 2nd. -Josh Prince doubles (17) on a fly ball to center fielder Francisco Martinez. Kentrail Davis scores. Adam Weisenburger scores. -With Tommy Manzella batting, wild pitch by Forrest Snow, Josh Prince to 3rd. -Tommy Manzella grounds out, third baseman Nate Tenbrink to first baseman Rich Poythress. Weisenburger's 2-R HR came in the 6th, and extended Huntsville's margin to 7-1. After Jackson got their own 2-R HR off Stinson in the 8th & tightened up the scoreline to 7-3, the Stars managed to get a nice response-rally in the top half of the 9th -- nothing wrong with one more tack-on run: Huntsville Top of the 9th -Pitching Change: Moises Hernandez replaces Mauricio Robles. -Adam Weisenburger singles on a ground ball to center fielder Francisco Martinez. -Josh Prince lines into a double play, right fielder Johermyn Chavez to first baseman Rich Poythress. Adam Weisenburger doubled off 1st. -Tommy Manzella singles on a line drive to right fielder Johermyn Chavez. -Scooter Gennett singles on a ground ball to right fielder Johermyn Chavez. Tommy Manzella to 2nd. -Hunter Morris singles on a ground ball to right fielder Johermyn Chavez. Tommy Manzella scores. Scooter Gennett to 3rd. -Khris Davis flies out to left fielder Chih-Hsien Chiang. That could have been a lot bigger than just a one-run rally, but Jackson got the key double play. Maybe a diving catch by the RF? A hit-&-run with a laser beam off the bat of Prince? Always fun to play the MiLB-Game-Log-What-The-Heck-Happened? guessing game. Huntsville Gameday

I like your reading of that quote from Melvin, monty. I sure hope that's the case, anyhow. If he's indeed fielding offers from those teams & playing them against one another, I love it.

DMB, Summerfest 1999 (Marcus Amp.)

Rays team president Matt Silverman didn't mince words about what he thinks of this new system -- excerpt:

Ok, let me try this again... I'll be at the T-Rats game tonight, & will share any relevant details when I get back.

I had to look this up, it's been bugging me how seemingly effective this dude has been against the Brewers... Arroyo has a career 3.70 ERA against Milwaukee over 151 IP. The only teams he's fared better against, w/a min. of 80 IP, are the Cubs (2.97!! ERA) & Mets (3.63).

I get what you mean, but I think it's very relevant to remember that the Rangers haven't given much indication that they want to operate in that manner. One other really important angle to consider is that, if they do decide to deal Profar, they could target someone with a heck of a lot more salary control remaining than Greinke. If I had to guess, I'd guess Profar could get the Rangers any number of young, salary-controlled SPs. And over the course of half a season, I'm just not sure I'd bet that Greinke's performance would necessarily blow anyone else's out of the water. If I'm Jon Daniels, and I decide I want to deal Profar, you can bet the last thing I'm interested in is half of a season of a FA-to-be w/zero comp. picks.

It's interesting to me that you're discussing TEX while addressing the win-now mindset. The main reason Texas has created a long window of contention for themselves is that their organizational strategy is typically to not making the win-now/mortgage the future type of move... however, this is also the team that traded for Cliff Lee in 2010, so clearly even a team with a build-first mentality can recognize the value in adding a blue-chip trade piece. I don't know what to expect from all the Greinke trade rumors, but I do know that almost anything that's 'leaked' (or legitimately leaked) is hard to take without a grain of salt. If push comes to shove, I think Olt will be available. I do think that Daniels & Co. will stand their ground on Profar. That dude is on a different level than even a good prospect like Olt.

IF THEY WIN THE CINCY SERIES, TIME TO BUY -- THORNBURG+PERALTA FOR HAMELS! [/OPTIMISM CAPS LOCK]

Wow -- the Garfield & McMahan HRs alone make this a worthwhile watch.

I'm torn -- do we honor the sausage race & go with Klement's? Or do we go with Ueck & Usinger's? I guess you could get Klement's inside the park... so maybe Usinger's is the way to go...

Mass Haas posted this in today's Link Report: Disciples of Uecker's Midseason Top 30 Prospects Top 15 sneak-peek -- 1. Wily Peralta 2. Taylor Jungmann 3. Jimmy Nelson 4. Tyler Thornburg 5. Clint Coulter 6. Scooter Gennett 7. Jorge Lopez 8. Jed Bradley 9. Logan Schafer 10. Victor Roache 11. Hunter Morris 12. Mitch Haniger 13. Caleb Gindl 14. Tyrone Taylor 15. Drew Gagnon

EDIT: Today is not Thursday. I'm going to tomorrow night's T-Rats game. Also, I am dumb.