TooLiveBrew

It's a shame the media spout off so much about the importance of 'productive outs'. Realistically, there just isn't much good that comes from making outs... especially with men on base.

Ready's been managing the Pads' AAA affiliate here in Portland, so I'll be rooting for him too (not for any really good reason, admittedly)

That was awesome. I don't know why, but that game seems like it was years ago. That was one of the more rewarding games I've ever watched... since it would've been easy to 'pack it up' & not watch 'til the end.

I assume cameron is gone because melvin said they were going to sacrafice offense for starting pitching. If we sign Cameron how can we afford to pay for 2 starting pitchers???? I think he is good for a team, but the bottom line the money is spent better elsewhere. It's not that cut & dried though -- the money might not necessarily be better spent elsewhere. And I think you can apply Melvin's comment on sacrificing offense to someone like Felipe Lopez as easily as you can Cameron (though I admit that's a nice nuance to pick up on, wishicouldhit). At the time Melvin spoke it, I took that comment to mean we'd be trading hitting to get pitching (& specifically the offensive downgrade going from Hardy to Escobar). I hadn't stopped to think about the comment in the context of FA/re-signing guys.

Yeah, I agree, Weatherman. I like to see the top dogs advance & square off for the LCS-es. Both should be awesome series-eseses this year. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

I have to agree with X. I love Gerut as a 4th OF -- he's perfect for this team as presently constructed. His D would be passable in center, good in the corners, and his LH bat of course fits great (enough pop to hit in/near the middle of the lineup, enough OBP to bat near the top v.RH) with a RH-swinging starting OF. I'd be fine with him as the CF if Cameron gets injured, but imho Cam is a huge priority to re-sign this offseason. I know it was a smaller transaction, but the Gerut-for-TGJ move is one of my all-time favorites that Doug's made.

It would be incredibly stupid to lose these two because these are the most special players to ever come up in our system Aside from what Tbadder added, I think it's waaaaaay too early to make this specific claim. They're both great right now, but haven't logged nearly enough time to get that 'most special' label just yet. I agree they're both talented, but let's not overlook a guy like Paul Molitor, who is truly one of the great hitters of all time -- or Yount, one of the best all-around players ever. Both of those guys were better defenders than our current duo, to boot (or, at least played more demanding positions). It's not that I think Prince & Braun will suddenly forget how to hit or anything, but I think it's too early to make a claim that they're the best ever... although it's sure exciting that one actually has to stop & weigh that question! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Luckily for the Brewers, there are plenty of areas in which Kendall is deficient, so upgrading over him shouldn't be hard... even if it comes at the expense of a little OBP. Kendall shouldn't be projected for much more than ~ a .330 OBP anyway, so it's not like he holds some huge edge there, either.

How on earth you let a struggling Street face Howard with the tying runs on base is just so far beyond me. Horrible, horrible, horrible managing by Tracy. And just last game Joe Simpson (iirc) was praising Tracy for managing the bullpen well by having "roles" for his pitchers (a la Ned Yost). Whoops. Looks like playing the matchups might be a better idea.

Jack Moore has a short piece on this topic at FanGraphs. Nothing shocking or new, really, but certainly an interesting quick read.

On Punto, I really thought his 3B coach hung him out to dry. If you watched the replays, the coach was like 3/4 of the way to home plate, and only threw the stop sign up (pretty low/discrete sign, to boot) at the very last minute. I even thought he gave the sign well after Jeter had gloved the ball back up the middle, but I'd have to watch the replay again to be sure/sure-ish.

Wow, that writeup is beyond flattering. I'm happy for BA to get recognized -- he definitely deserves it. "...while we're stuck with TBS's No. 1 guy, Chip Caray, on Yankees-Twins, TBS's second-string duo of Brian Anderson and Joe Simpson have helped make Phillies-Rockies a good watch and an even better listen. ... [Anderson & Simpson] have been alert, yet relaxed, pleasant and amusing without being silly or shticky. When something happens, they sound excited, not hysterical. They don't choose to analyze every pitch and swing nor are they inclined to decorate their thoughts with extra fancy." I've grown so tired of Chip Caray's senseless screaming into the microphone (though that's more of a tip-of-the-iceberg than definitive gripe http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif).

I'm not so sure on Mulder. This is from the SI article linked in post #28: "Peterson's program isn't for everyone-Oakland lefthander Mark Mulder, for one, was less than enamored with some of the coach's techniques-but it has proved effective." Granted, I know nothing more than that one line from a 2003 article, but it doesn't seem that Mulder would inherently be interested. That's what stood out to me -- the scientific approach. I think Peterson is very firmly committed to 'his way' not because it's his per se... I get the impression that it's 'his way' because he objectively feels it's the best approach. Objectivity in a coach is a stellar trait, imo... keeps you out of "zim zams"

Yes. Exactly like that. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/mad.gif They probably should have said that Escobar made some great plays, but was inconsistent. Agreed, but these comments are rarely phrased that way. I often wonder if it's just the writer(s) fishing for something negative to say about a player... kind of like how saying a guy is a battler/scrappy/gritty is often fishing for something nice to say.

It always makes me chuckle when the old 'he's incredibly gifted, but he sometimes makes careless mistakes' line is thrown out there. Literally every player "sometimes makes careless mistakes", but it's far too often applied to the guys that have exceptional ability (like Escobar in terms of defense) -- like it's some downside only that particular player has. Meanwhile, we're inundated by the sports media with nonsense like Nick Punto is 'just a ballplayer' ... 'plays the game the right way' ... & that 'managers just love this guy'. I can't stand it. Imo it's objectively not a knock on a player that "he sometimes makes careless mistakes", but when it's applied to the supremely-gifted guys, I always get a sense of some jealousy -- 'Yeah, he makes incredible plays, but sometimes he boots the routine one!' Well, no doy. Baseball players make mistakes sometimes, you say? I hate how it's used almost as an indictment against the more gifted players, like they have to validate themselves by not just being better than their peers ... but by being flawless.

That's from Mark A's annual open letter to Brewers fans. I just wanted to say (once again) how excited I am for this offseason, and I'd give just about anything to be a fly on the wall around Miller Park right about now. The comment I have in bold just gets me all hot & bothered! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif I know Attanasio isn't just going to say, 'We're doing squat right now!' -- but still. I wonder which teams have contacted Melvin about Hardy/McGehee/etc. ... I wonder what trade avenues Melvin & Co. are currently exploring ... which pitchers are being targeted in terms of trades. Yeah. I'm a "freaking geek"

I have nothing more to add than that I loved seeing the "ballplaying" Twins get swept by the Yankees. I swear, if I had to listen to any more of the, 'This is just a team full of ballplayers!' crap, I would've lost it. The Twins: They lose in the playoffs The Right Way

I have to say, after watching/listening to each of the Divisional Series, the BA/Joe Simpson pairing is hands-down the best team. Not that it's hard to be better than Chip Caray/Ron Darling or anything... actually, it'd be hard to be worse than those two clowns. A tip of the cap to Brian, though. He's really done a nice job showcasing his talent again this postseason (but I hope not a good enough job to get hired away!).

Found a recent DrivelineMechanics.com piece on Bailey. If you're interested, most of the mechanical discussion is in the comments -- the author (Kyle Boddy) designed the piece that way, just to clear that up.

Here are a few articles on Peterson & his approach to pitching mechanics & coaching - 2/17/03 Baseball Prospectus Q&A (with Jonah Keri) - Brief SI article (by Stephen Cannella) - FullCountPitch.com piece (by Gary Armida) I was wondering what "biomechanics" exactly meant, so I just did a quick Google search. Here's an explanation, from the third article I linked -- The article continues, identifying the 5 'red flags'

Why would Milwaukee be his only option? If he's so well-regarded, wouldn't he have several opportunities?

That's just incredible. Congrats to Thomas. So, John... what does your dad do?

That was one of the funniest errors I've ever seen -- the digger he took after whiffing on the catch was the best. I almost felt bad for Holliday. Almost. Here's the response from someone at another forum I frequent. He's a diehard Dodgers fan who was at the game last night: Adam Wainwright is pathetic blaming Holliday's error on the white towels. Firstly, no one waves towels when the ball is hit in play, only when pitches are being thrown or after a big play. Secondly, the white towels were being waved the whole game, even when Clayton Kershaw was busy mowing down Cardinals hitters. I guess Wainwright is just trying to make Holliday feel better for his error but to place the blame on someone else is just pathetic.

Ditching Mike Cameron to make way for Doug Davis or Jarrod Washburn is definitely not the direction I want to see from Melvin this offseason.

Now you can spin all you want that fielding percentage doesn't reflect ability, etc and that other factors weigh in, blah, blah, blah. But those numbers are significantly in McGehee's favor despite playing with a sore knee. 'Blah blah blah' all you want Briggs, but as long as you continue to cite Fldg.% as your main defensive metric, you will continue to weigh fielders poorly. McGehee doesn't cover much ground, and was an average fielder in the minors (as a guy older than Gamel at basically every level). Gamel, on the other hand, has improved his defense continually by all first-hand reports, and has the athleticism that absolutely sets him apart from a guy like McGehee. Did McGehee's knee injury affect his fielding? Absolutely. It seemed to take an average or below-avg. fielder & turn him into a bad one this season. Gamel, on the other hand, just needs more repetition on his footwork in his throwing mechanics, and is probably already at worst equal to McGehee in the field, all things (not just Flgd.%) considered. For a long time, the argument about range/covering ground & its value to defense was had surrounding Weeks. We saw just how good Rickie was in the field this season before he got hurt, and also saw the value in waiting for a supremely-gifted talent to bloom. While I understand the loaded name I'm using here, I think there is a lot of similarity in equating going with McGehee over Gamel at 3B to going with Bill Hall over Rickie Weeks at 2B (circa 2007 or so -- and yes, I know that was never really a debate... I just see similarities). The point is Scott Podsednik's "bad season" still validated him as a major league player (he led the NL with 70 steals in 04) and not a one year wonder at least as far as base running. If you can get a slugger like Carlos Lee because some slappy hitter "validates himself as a basestealer", then I think as a GM you've won what is a bad trade for the other team. The ironic thing is that Pods really didn't validate himself, and got less effective as a basestealer in each successive season.