TooLiveBrew

Great bit on Smoltz from the NY Times' Tyler Kepner. It was definitely a bit sad to watch him just get annihilated last night, but I think he's a HoF lock.

When Torre and LaRussa order a hit, they always want to injure the player. While I think both of these managers are complete tools, I sincerely doubt that. Look at where Prince was hit. Now, getting beaned in the front-side shoulder, like the Pirates' Capps did to Prince, is another story entirely. The fact that Torre just skated on this one makes my blood boil. He is a bum.

Honestly, if the BoSox value a RP over Hardy, especially with Lowrie's durability in doubt, I would lose faith in the BOS front office if I were a fan of that team. Delcarmen is *way* out of line as a possible fair return for Hardy. And if BOS doesn't view Hardy as someone they'd bring in to be around for at least 3 or 4 more seasons, then they have no business acquiring him at all.

- Comparatively speaking (TLB's take), relative to other CFs, he's producing quite well offensively. - Compared to what's normally considered good, his numbers are okay but nothing too special. Neither viewpoint is wrong. Both are right. I see what you're saying here, MNBrew, but the problem with the second assertion is that finding production at CF is conditional on the first assertion. You can't compare corner OF & DH type production objectively with CF production imo. You have to have someone that isn't going to negate most of his value in CF (like even a Hart would). An example of this with regards to pitching would be comparing elite RP to starting pitchers & diminishing the results of certain SPs since they didn't match up with guys like Mo Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, etc. It's apples to oranges, since SP do something RP cannot (or do not)... just like CF do what corner players cannot. The only way you can analyze Cam's production fairly is to compare him with his peers (& for me also include defense). I think X says it best: "Pitchers that project to 4 WAR get huge long term deals, the kind that shouldn't be given out... Cameron is a safe, productive player, and should be retained."

He's decent defensively The main problem I have with Kendall getting so much playing time is that I'm not even sure this is true anymore. This season has just been a nightmare at catcher.

Remember Alex Sanchez? And Bill Hall? And Brady Clark?... Scott *shudder* Podsednik Was the Nationals trading for Soriano and moving him to the OF a video game scenario? No, that was removing a horrible fielder from a challenging position (like moving Braun to LF)

One way to have a more consistent offense is to replace the worst offensive player in baseball (Kendall) with someone competent. That would be a very nice first step. Offensively, he's not even 'worthless'. He has negative value. Sadly, I can think of at least three Brewers pitchers I would rather see batting than Kendall.

The Brewers really botched Gamel's development this season. He was ready to be called up, got called up, and should have played full-time. Now we have a dinged-up McGehee, a dinged-up Counsell, and a top prospect who's probably going to need a while to get his confidence back. Thanks a lot Doug & Ken! In the hopes that re-hashing of arguments can be avoided... he performed very well in the limited chances Macha gave him to start at his natural position, and even with his woeful performance as a PH & DH, his overall numbers are still very much in line with what should be expected from a prospect adjusting to the bigs.

The unintentional comedy on the ad on that page is through the roof. "It's OVER! Join the Done Club... Man up & click here" Yes, 1250 knuckleheads. "Man up" & quit.

Funny, spoke with my Dad last night, & he'd just gotten home from the game. He didn't say anything about Molly, who obv. is one of his all-time favorites. I'll give him a pass for sounding pretty tired. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

It's not clear they won't have a replacement either. Unless he comes very cheaply, I'd rather not spend on an aging CF who has trouble making contact. His offense is likely to decline and it's not all that great now. Defensively he's still very good although not spectacularly any more and he's liable to lose a step at 37. While I can respect the view that Cam might decline (& that you'd rather gamble with the money elsewhere), would you please stop trying to make people believe his offense has been anything less than great this season at CF? It is just pushing misinformation -- he's 6th in MLB of qualified CF in both OPS & WAR. You did this all last season, too. Great idea on this thread, imo -- it's a good place for all the scattered offseason thoughts to come together. Fortunately for the Brewers, I think the offense is set, and all the solutions are in-house, save maybe at catcher. I also don't yet believe that MLB scouts & GMs are going to weigh Hardy's struggles this season as heavily as us fans do. I think he alone would still net at worst a serviceable (Bush-like) SP, and it probably wouldn't take too much to add on (Salome? -- just an example) to bring in a better return. In short, I have full faith that Melvin will get the type of pitcher(s) this team needs. I think this season has been extremely frustrating, especially on the heels of the emotional high of '08. It's easy to lose perspective with a disappointing season (esp. when it followed feeling on top of the world), but the Brewers are still in really good shape heading forward. I think the obvious key is to land a top-tier SP (so far just this year Melvin has supposedly targeted Halladay, Peavy, & Felix Hernandez), and if possible get Suppan out of the rotation as well. I think it's a foregone conclusion that Looper won't be back, for better or worse. There's plenty to feel great about with the offense, which imo will again be the best in the division. Adding Gamel (& getting rid of Macha or McGehee if that's what it takes) & getting Weeks back by themselves are two great 'additions'. And as long as the Brewers take good care of Gallardo & Parra, and don't rush Bush back, that's a solid start to a good rotation. I just can't share the pessimism that some have, though I understand & respect the concerns. 2009 has been frustrating thus far, to say the least. Imo it's important to keep in mind just how much of that has to do with injuries, though (including injuries to the some of the SP Melvin had targeted).

Runs are random, but it seems to me the most consistent teams would be the high OBP teams...you are less likely to get held to 2 runs or less the more guys you have reach base safely, right? I'm by no means a math whiz, but in this case it really does seem that simple... which is why the general criticism of Cameron (OBP right about .360 so far this season) always makes me scratch my head. As best I know, BA w/RISP fluctuates quite a bit... so all you can do in building an offense is generate as many opportunities as possible (aka build good OBP).

Yeah, if Cincy would eat some of the cost of Harang's remaining contract, it would be worth considering. But overpaying for a mid-rotation type would likely wind up handcuffing the Brewers in the future, and having more slamming Melvin for overpaying & not getting top of the rotation help. Harang would help this year, in which Bush has gone MIA due to injury, but once he's back & healthy it would be hard to justify having both Suppan's & Harang's salaries on the books.

Distribution of runs scored in a game looks pretty normal Exactly. There's just no sense in complaining about the offense, when they've in fact been superior to almost every NL team. Melvin should spend his offseason working on getting better pitchers And all he has to do to get another mighty LH stick in the lineup is tell Macha that Gamel is the 3B, period. Great point on Weeks, too.

2. Anthony Witrado does not watch the games....there just can be no way...I have been getting this gist for awhile now, and his description of Fielder's reaction after getting hitting - "grimacing and going down to 1st" is just not even close to what happened after watching the video.....the js needs to completely revamp its baseball staff. That's really frustrating to see. Since tend to avoid the JS 'coverage', I hadn't noticed that. The sports department just seems a joke for anything non-Packers.

I guess I'd need to see some hard proof that this offense isn't consistent. Seems like the kind of thing fans yell like, 'We have to be the worst baserunning team in the league!' If there's anything not to complain about this season, it's the 4th highest scoring offense in the NL... that's been regularly posting 5 or more runs. There isn't an offense out there that scores > 3 runs every single darn game. Look at any top offense -- every single team has its bad games. And before anyone claims that the Brewers do it more, or they're the only team that has its bad games against anyone aside from Sandy Koufax, take a look at all the top-scoring teams in both leagues. Fielder is becoming a more versatile hitter Fielder has been the best hitter in baseball this season aside from Pujols & Mauer. He was 'becoming a more versatile hitter' over the past few seasons. He is as good as there is now.

Seems like the 10-16 guess by razzzorsharp should count for something

Torre showed what a classless clown he can be tonight, but it sounds like Fielder really needs to grow up a bit still.

The five "Futurama" cast members -- John DiMaggio, Billy West, Katey Sagal, Maurice LaMarche and Tress MacNeille -- have just sealed pacts with 20th Century Fox TV to return to the show as it reboots with 26 new episodes for Comedy Central. Hooray!

Sept. service time doesn't count against a player's rookie status, which imo is why it's confusing.

It didn't look like Macha planned it out anymore than that if Parra let the game reach a save situation, Hoffman would come in.

The announcers on yesterday's TV broadcast got a question on this (re: Gamel being moved to right field) and down played any chance of that happening. That's very reassuring to hear. Gamel has definitely improved at third, and I'm glad the Brewers recognize his value there.

Blasphemy! Kendall calls a good game! In all seriousness, I noticed two or three different instances where it seemed pretty clear that Parra & Rivera weren't getting along. That honestly doesn't concern me at all, but it was interesting to see the supposedly mentally-fragile Parra having clear disagreements with his catcher... and still pitch well. I don't think this one start means Parra is over his problems. But Macha needs to keep pairing him with Rivera. Although I (like others) am wary of small-sample-ism, I think that JohnBriggs might be onto something here. Even given their apparent lack of cohesion at times tonight, Parra turned in yet another nice start with Rivera behind the dish.

I like him as a base-stealer, and the speed seems to translate well to the outfield. In terms of hitting talent, I think he can't be hard to replace/duplicate. If push came to shove, I would rather the Brewers just retain Gerut for CF as opposed to giving up something to get Morgan... even though his first name is spelled with a "y" http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

But, his arm was "fine, big time'! ... Seriously, if a physical therapist that didn't even examine Volquez could tell that was bunk, what on earth are the Reds doing paying their medical staff? I swear Neault will get hired by an organization at some point.