TooLiveBrew

Sorry. Wasn't intended to get laughs; I thought it was a pretty crappy thing of him to accuse the Brewers of when he left Milwaukee.

This thread is proving strangely therapeutic. Team Oof

"That might be the softest group of pitchers I've seen in years." Ouch. All the more reason why it's time to see what Manny Parra can do (and for that matter, Marco Estrada)

TooLiveBrew is as off base on Escobar as Braun was last night. You're right -- 19 plate appearances clearly settle this matter. I'm very happy to see Escobar doing well, but I absolutely don't believe he will sustain production worthy of hitting #2 (though I of course hope he does)

Macha was absolutely inept last night imo with handling Wolf in the 7th inning. The guy had already (iirc) surpassed 100 pitches, you had three righties coming up, & good ol' Kenny runs Randy out there. You had at least Axford & Coffey available, with Stetter to face Jones & Doumit had it gotten that far. Just an absolute blunder last night. I'm definitely in favor of Macha getting the axe, and it has little or nothing to do with the team's W-L record. He has been inept in handling the pitching staff this season imo. Ned-esque decisions at times. Couple that with his seemingly constant mistakes imo in lineup construction, and I don't see much that he's adding we couldn't equal or better with anyone else. My only problem with firing him is that I'm no fan of Randolph as a manager, and I definitely would want to see Rick Peterson retained.

Reply sent to Danzig to avoid any further thread hijacking EDIT: also sent to Jeffyscott

Another team releasing him because his wife died. Clearly, MLB is out to get him

“I’m concerned about the fact that I suck” Even though last night's game was another really depressing one, that quote is hilarious & awesome

Ha! Fantastic

I think you mean "hopefullly" http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

That's from the McCalvey blog entry Invader posted. Fitting typo.

His BABIP was .229 & his LOB% was 88.2%. Those numbers are completely unsustainable, and point to how lucky Smith got in '09. He's not someone for whom the Brewers should make any moves to clear room. He's completely replaceable. Like trwi7 mentioned, Dillard is a much better choice.

Or his .714 OPS against righties. I agree that if the Crew can get anything of worth for Corey, pull the trigger sooner rather than later.

Tampa Bay is a nice story. We'll see how they do in the long run. I agree that they haven't had a sustained run of success just yet, and probably do need to 'prove it' some more. However, if we're comparing 'models', the Rays already have one more WS appearance than the Twins since TB's inception (1998)... and the Twins' postseason record since '98 is a woeful 6-18. Your point on the divisions is relevant only to the divisional titles. The Rays inherently have it harder, but imo that doesn't mean they should be overlooked for trying to build an elite organization (which, at this point, they have imo), where the Twins have merely been compiling one that will compete in the AL Central (after all, ultimately the Twins have to compete with Boston & the Yankees as well). Nor does it mean, to me, that the Brewers should favor MIN's approach over TB's. I should say that I think very highly of the 2010 incarnation of the Twins, and think they are a serious contender in the AL as long as Mauer, Morneau, & Liriano stay healthy. I like the Rays as currently constructed, but to my eyes there is a heck of a lot of "lightning-in-a-bottle" there. I don't agree with this. They are constructed well enough currently to be serious contenders with the likes of BOS & NYY, and have the best record in MLB. They also have a farm system regarded as the best in baseball. I'm definitely betting on them being able to sustain success. The other approach, to simply stockpile an arsenal that is focused on the postseason and which sort of takes a playoff appearance for granted, is simply beyond the means of all but a few franchises. I think the fact that the Rays have been able to essentially do this through drafting & development calls into question whether or not only a few (I take that you mean the wealthiest) franchises can do it. I think that it takes a bit of a perfect storm, a la Tampa, but it seems to have been proven that it can be done without a $150M-ish payroll. You need to make the right hires in the front office, of course.

If you want to get into nitpicking the accomplishments, they've been to a WS, so that's not really the same results. And their farm system is widely regarded as being better than the Brewers' (ranked #1 in MLB heading into this season by Baseball America), as is their big-league club. You make a good point on the fanbase, but there seems to be some extra difficulty in doing well there in Florida (beyond the woeful stadium). Perhaps it's the amount of transplanted 'natives'? I'm not sure.

It's really not up for debate. Gerut has been solid there in his career, and has been spectacular there going by UZR/150 this season. I don't think he's a spectacular CF, but I think he's very solid. I'm glad it's so cut & dried for you on Gerut, but I think there's a lot more to him than the surface stats. If he keeps up a .217 BABIP then I guess I could see him continuing to stink like this, but I just don't think that's likely. He's a guy with enough career data to reasonably make the assessment that he should be expected to produce an OPS in the .775-.825 range against RHP & play a decent CF (& corner OF as well, of course). Clearly we disagree on him, but that's a player I'd gladly spend $2M to have in a given season.

No, as I'm sure TheCrew07 can (or already has) fill us in, it's about their development/drafting of pitching & identification of talent as a whole. Plus, they're leading the AL East at this point by a relatively healthy margin -- imo it's pretty unfair/misleading to leave that out.

My problem in this case is you're claiming you knew heading into this season that Gerut was a bad idea at $2M. Iirc most here felt $2M for him was a good value, as he'd shown his ability more as he got more playing time later in 2009. And yes, I'm saying Gerut is better than Gabe Gross -- I don't see how that's up for debate. Gerut can handle CF & has been a significantly better hitter over their careers. This is Gabe Gross of the .574 OPS in 2010, .684 OPS in '09 & career OPS+ of 90, right? I don't see how spending less money for an inferior player is a better idea. If a guy like Gross is your alternative, I feel like I can stand comfortably behind Melvin's decision on Gerut.

I would much rather have Vargas than Smith. Smith is not someone that I want to see on the 25-man roster.

Jody Gerut's career OPS+ is 104, and he had a season of 132 as recently as two years ago. Are you claiming that you thought $2M for Gerut was a bad idea coming into the season? I don't recall anyone with a real problem with that at the time (but I could certainly be mistaken). Guys that can hit like him & capably man CF aren't cheap.

http://www.fangraphs.com/...hp/break-up-the-brewers/ Cameron piece for FanGraphs Invader referenced ^ Excerpt

So what's your solution, sheethead? Trade prospects for someone you don't consider terrible?

Did he maybe mean Mark Sweeney?

3). Didier Drogba. The Ivory Coast are my darkhorse for no other reason than the best striker in Africa. Chelsea's finest. Samuel Eto'o?

Oh, and I meant "first few pitching injuries around the league", not on the Brewers of course