GAME05

As for Joba the Brewers already have the next Joba in Jeffress. I certainly wouldn't mind having two Jeffress-es. was AJ's year an aberration or a downward trend? no sense in essentially paying $15M/year for Joba Chamberlain. Villy and Coffey would be pretty easy to part with.

This smells like a Suppan deal to me. i'm starting to think the same thing. another "he's ok" starter that pitches like a #5 but we pay as if he was a #3. it's not just Suppan, but Looper, Doug Davis and first-half Randy Wolf. i guess i wouldn't mind Pavano on a two-year deal, but there will be enough teams after him that we won't be getting any bargain. i think i'd rather take my chances with both Jeffress and Rogers in the rotation even if one fails than a much more expensive Pavano, who it doesn't seem like will really out-produce either of them. i'm just not sure paying mid-level money for a mid-level rotation is the way to go, and maybe it might work best with a high-end 1 and 2, and a cheap-but-riskier back end. unless we give away the farm to get Greinke, i'm not sure Pavano in the rotation necessarily gives us an upgrade for the financial and injury risk that we'd be taking on.

i guess this is Randy Wolf v2.0. maybe Melvin signs him and then goes after Doug Davis v2.0 next. offseason done.

I have no issue with Hernandez winning, but saying the "stats folks" should be happy with the result is a bit much. stats folks are never happy. ha!

it's too hard for me to envision Prince signing anything with Milwaukee right now. he turned down our "security" contract so he could make bigger bucks in free agency, so why would he suddenly sign anything now? that's just not what Boras is about.

i'll take a 40% shot at the playoffs for two years than a 10% chance at it for eight years. although i'm not sold on trading all of the pitching prospects from one of the two levels we have (Rogers/Jeffress at AAAA and Odorizzi/Scarpeta at A+). if a trade were to happen, i hope Melvin mixes it up more and maybe even includes Lawrie, just so we're able to keep at least a little depth from each level. but it's not like we're going to have three rookie pitchers being promoted to the ML club all at once. at some point there's going to have to be a decision made with them, regardless, whether it's to hold at AAA or for a bullpen role--at that point, trading most of them for Greinke might be a better use of their talent. keeping them to have depth is nice, but Greinke is worth a lot more wins than depth is. what scares me about always keeping all prospects is that it will take three years for Rogers/Jeffress to (maybe) develop into the next Greinke, and the same three years for Odorizzi/Scarpeta to even get to the ML level. by that time Fielder, Weeks and Hart will be gone. when a .500 team always keeps its depth to replace its star players, you remain a .500 team. i'm not satisfied with that anymore.

i'm not completely dismissing the possibility of an extension with Fielder, though i do think it's unlikely. look at Hart, who was shopped around until Melvin felt he couldn't get fair value, so we went with a contract extension. maybe the same thing could be happening to Fielder. plus it's hard to get in the head of Attanasio, who certainly understands the risk of signing anyone to a gigantic contract, but may very well not care and just want his superstar player to remain a Brewer.

just updated the resume and on the advice above, will repost it on the industry job sites so it looks fresher. i think i'll exclude the WalMart job from the resume just because i don't want to end up pushing down or deleting the industry-specific work, but my outfitter job will be on there so that people see i'm doing something. now the decision is whether or not to apply for jobs in Dallas (three hours from me, in Austin). have zero money to pay an apartment, but the father would be more than happy to front me. wouldn't like Dallas as much, but then it's industry-specific work. ok, just decided to apply and if it's a management job, then i've got to take it. knowing it's not as good of a city, if it's menial work, then i won't.

been in Texas (Austin) for about two months now and loving this weather! i'm guessing things here are basically the reverse of Wisconsin, that it's 75 and perfect here during the winter, but unbearable during the summer. i think i like warm-weather cities better because at least when it's burning during the day, you can still go out at night and be comfortable. for Wisconsin winters, you're not getting that noontime portion of the day where it's not still unbearably cold.

i agree with Colbyjack. if the #1 priority is to bring in top-flight pitching, then you have to hold on Lawrie just in case you need him as a trading chip to bring that guy in.

Montreal is a big party city but also has a lot of differences with the French/European influences to make it different and exciting. if you're willing to rent a car and already thinking about Napa Valley, Highway 1 (i think that's the number) is considered one of the most beautiful drives in the country. another incredible drive is the Blue Ridge Parkway around the Asheville area in North Carolina. it's a bit past the prime of the year, but the trees should still have a good bit of colour on them, and Asheville is an awesome town to hang out in--a LOT like Madison. same vibe, same type of people, Biltmore House, ton of ethnic restaurants, and there's a wine-growing area two hours from there that isn't as scenic as Napa Valley, but has some great wineries. Asheville had a half-inch of snow a couple days ago, so i don't know if you're looking to escape the cold weather for a weekend. Savannah, Georgia is a very beautiful and historic city if you like Civil-War-era architecture and ghost tours.

Same thing, minor negative, turn it around. If you have to fill out a test about your behavior/beliefs, on a scale of 1-10, every answer should be a 1 or a 10. interesting. i'll get those questions every so often and always go with "8". i feel like answering "10" would show a little overconfidence, and as a kind of made-up, haven't-thought-about-it answer. i like "8" because it says you're good, but accept that you can always get better. for the "What's your weakness" i always go with "confidence," and also mention that it was my previous supervisor's negative comment about me (shows it's not made up). then i add an example of how i tried it and realized i could do it successfully. haven't decided yet if that's a strong answer yet or not. the question that always throws me is "Describe a problem you faced and how you solved it." i seriously can't think of any particular problem i've had, so i typically just tell them about how i go about solving problems. side note, i got a job at Wal-Mart part-time, and just yesterday got a job at an outfitters (an hour away, which stinks). so with two part-time jobs i should be able to get by financially now, which is a huge load off. now to wait it out for a year+ until something career-oriented comes along. hope i don't need a hospital in the meantime.

wish i still worked in travel that i could get all the destination information for you. your wife would definitely love Napa. the winery tours are really popular, and you can easily get on guided tours so that you don't have to worry about the drinking. also some of the best restaurants in the country around there. if not Vegas the city, there's a ton of stuff to do nearby. Joshua Tree is about four hours away, Hoover Dam and Red Rocks in Northern Arizona if you like hiking and nature. if you want seclusion, there are a number of bed-and-breakfasts you can get on a number of the Florida keys. is there anything you two have a particular interest in? seclusion, history, nature, theater/shows...?

how many times are we going to have to hear that he likes the secretary? we get it already.

great prospect aside, most have their careers progress like Escobar's and not Braun's. to rely too heavily on Gamel being able to produce right away is such a huge risk i'd rather not take. even if Macha misused him, his bat never really jumped out and demanded to be in the starting lineup.

doubly-happy because i had absolutely no money if it even could be fixed. so the newest two KFC commercials bug me, the one with the pretty girls raving about their new sandwich and the one where a hamburger and a chicken shouldn't have the same bun. apparently we're all supposed to be soooo excited that their bun now has a few bumps on it instead of a round top. and another time the woman exclaims "I've never seen anything like this!" really? you've never seen a chicken sandwich before?

the Twins can make the playoffs as they are, so they have every reason to stand pat. we're not that sort of team. and the Devil Rays are letting loose everyone on that team, so maybe they should start to have that conversation of trading Longoria. i know it's mostly for fun, but it's interesting to think that we could do a 180 in an instant and be loaded with pitching and lacking hitting.

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy sleeping dog! so relieved.

yep,aoteook.adowthekeysdo'tevework.headigtoestuytodaytoseeiftheycacleaitout.crossigmyfigers.

da6ngit, i spilled a ti6ny 5bit of coffee o6n my key5board, a6nd 6no i ca6n't type the letters 6n or 5b without getti6ng 6num5bers i6n fro6nt of them. i ca6n o6nly hope that o6nce the water evaporates that whatever circuits will 6no lo6nger 5be co6n6nected a6nd thi6ngs will retur6n to 6normal. otherwise, this will prove to 5be a huge pai6n i6n the rear.

Straw's lineup has been in my head, too, and it's definitely appealing. and that doesn't even consider whatever FA hitters we would no doubt add. now, i doubt 99% that Braun will be traded, if ever, but it's fun that this is yet another viable option that Melvin has to work with this offseason. just a million different directions this team could go this offseason. but i can't think of a .500 or better-caliber club that has traded its best two players in one season before. it's an intriguing concept just the way the market typically goes. if i'm not mistaken, Melvin has said himself that the pitching market is always more fickle than the hitting market. suddenly we'd have two youngish and mostly dependable guys in the rotation for a lot of years, and you're never going to find pitchers of that ability and age in the FA market ever. suddenly we wouldn't have to worry about our rotation for the next four years. it's also a plus considering the late-season trade market. for good reason, many of us consider Odorizzi almost untradeable, but now we'd have him, Rogers, Jeffress and Rivas as trading pieces when it came time to adding someone for a playoff run, and young pitchers are definitely more valuable than hitters. definitely a trade like this is creating one weakness to solve another, but i think hitting is a weakness that is easier to solve than pitching. and keeping Fielder would give us two years to solve that hitting problem, not just one. this year we replace Braun with Werth and have an overall better team. the following year we replace Fielder with someone else.

i think firejoemorgan actually posted an article related to it even though the site isn't otherwise current. the article said it wasn't just fan reaction, but other people at espn were tired of his demeanor during meetings and his complete lack of preparation for games. say what you will, but i'd get a huge kick out of listening to any broadcast with both John Madden and Joe Morgan in the same booth. in honour of Joe Morgan, for the rest of my time on this thread, i'm going to only make posts based on gut feelings that run contrary to obvious statistical reason, avoid the actual topic at hand, and then repeat that same thing over and over and over within the same page.

makes me wonder what the real value is in keeping a potential HOFer (or at least a perennial All-Star) in a Brewers uniform for as long as possible vs. making big moves like this. bring in Lester and that sells a lot of tickets from people wanting to see him pitch. yet Braun is the face of the franchise, and people used to really identify the Brewers with Robin Yount. a lot of value to having Yount and George Brett and Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn as citywide heroes, too.

Perhaps trading Braun would be an indication that they would sign Fielder to a long term contract maybe. but since Boras doesn't offer hometown discounts and will clearly have Fielder testing the FA market, it'd be just as easy to sign any other position player for the 2012 season. for $25M per season, i think you can find better players than Prince.

we have one report that lists the Brewers as possible suitors for Lee, and now a report that has the Brewers at least considering trading Braun for top-notch pitching. the first time you hear a report like that you give a "no way." the next time you think "really doubtful," what what happens at the third? the fourth? easy to figure that Melvin is pretty anxious to get a starter who can at least compliment Gallardo, and who knows how anxious Attanasio is. maybe it's just possible that DM has found absolutely no interest in Fielder and is now on Plan 9.