FVBrewerFan

I'm okay with a Chacin, Woodruff, Peralta, Burnes, Anderson rotation... they're the five healthiest guys. Nelson and Davies missed a lot of time, and have the options to have them start in San Antonio to get back into the routine. I keep seeing this - what happens when Nelson and Davies are fully healthy then? Do the Brewers then burn options on the other guys and play musical starting pitchers for whole season? If everyone is healthy and performing they are going to have to come up with some creative DL excuses. If the younger guys (Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta) are all performing well, it's going to look really bad to option one of them back to AAA to make room for a more veteran starter - particularly Davies. That's why I think if he's healthy in Spring Training, Davies is going to get traded. I know there is some flexibility with shifting a couple younger guys between the pen, rotation, and AAA - but you can only fit so many established MLB arms on a 25 man roster. If all 5 pitchers are healthy and effective, I'll take that "problem" all day long. And they don't necessarily have to option them, and they certainly don't have to play games with the DL. Woodruff and/or Peralta could go to the BP. They will be shuffling guys in the BP anyhow, that's why they want at least a couple guys with options. Look at the alternative. You would rather have exactly 5 starters going into the season and hope they hold up for 6 months? And that all 5 are really good?

Bledsoe charging call may be the worst I've ever seen. Not only was the defender well within the circle, he was literally in the air!

THAT is your take-away from this game? Wow. Bucks defense was outstanding for most of the game.

So we've gone from hoping to get Miley to getting both Kluber and Kuechel. Awesome! Did you notice the Brewers were reported to be in the mix for virtually every SP last off-season? How many did they get? Zero. How about at the trade deadline? Correct, zip. That's not to say they won't trade for someone, just keep in mind chances are very slim. Just doing my community service, I don't want anyone to collapse on me when April comes around and nothing has happened.

Yes, it is pretty bad. Remember, after all the moving around there are only 6 major conferences left. So 5th out of 6 is nothing to hang your hat on. Also, if you're using KenPom to support your views on Marquette, they have them ranked 25. Marquette is better this year, but they are also seeing a huge benefit from the conference being down. Even Nova isn't the powerhouse they have been. Even those middle of the pack teams frankly aren't very good. We can say IF Providence, Xavier, Creighton, etc. were better things would be different. Well....yea...of course. But they're not.

I can promise you there are people here who know things. They're just not foolish enough to drop sensitive information on a public forum. Not talking about a potential Keuchel trade, just in general.

You were driving around with your windows down?

I feel your pain. But what can the NBA do if a player really wants to play for a certain team? LeBron was always going to LA, tampering or not, as an example. I don't think the NBA wants certain teams to do well, it's just players wanting to go where it's cool and try to create a big 3 somewhere. Not sure how you stop that. In a way, AD is doing the Pels a favor by making it clear he will leave when his contract is done. If that's how he really feels, at least they can trade him now and get something for him. Not all players are so short-sighted. Giannis extended once already, and he will again. He is mature beyond his years and understands they can build a perennial contender- even in Milwaukee. If it was done in SA and OKC, it can be done in Milwaukee.

Why? Suter will be out for the season, so he won't be on the 40. Also, if it came down to adding Miley (or anyone really) and DFA Wilkerson I won't shed any tears.

Stearns may know this, but does Counsell? Good point, but I think he does. If you look back to last year when they were really struggling at 2B, he tried Perez there at times because that was still a better choice than the other options. One they got Moose, you didn't see Perez starting against RHP. He also had to play some OF when Braun was down. This year, with Spangenberg and Gamel on the roster, his exposure to RHP will be limited. IF all goes according to plan.

Have you noticed the crickets from MillerCoors? If this story wasn't true, and MillerCoors really wanted to retain naming rights, don't you think we would have heard from them? They've been hiding under the desk before, during, and after this announcement. The Brewers didn't say anything until now, because it didn't serve anyone for them to throw MillerCoors under the bus. Once the bad PR came out, they felt the need to respond. Don't look for something that's not there. MillerCoors wanted out.

I think the "hate" around here falls into two categories. 1) A few people really just don't like him as a player- period. 2) Most posters who have issues with him think he gets used too often. For me, it's very simple. He's a very good player when used properly- vs LHP. That said, when you're a bench or platoon player it's not always possible to avoid ABs vs RHP. When there are injuries, his versatility allows him to play anywhere which actually hurts his numbers. And there are times he will have to face RHP as a PH. But if you can limit those ABs vs RHP, he can flat out hit LHP: 2018- .783/.612 2017- .805/.678

If AD wants to go to the team with the best chance to win it all, maybe multiple times, he would choose the Bucks. With a big two like that, who needs a big 3? But add Bledsoe, Lopez, etc. Wow. That said, I fully expect him to be a Laker.

Yes. Yankees Red Sox Cubs Cardinals Rockies First four have a right to have a conniption. Rockies fans would get over it, just as Brewers fans will. But I would add the Dodgers to your list.

They have at least 4 guys on the bench who can do that (Hill, Ersan, Brown, Snell). The problem (?) is they all play team ball and don't chuck, so no one comes in and shoots the ball 8 times in 4 minutes. It should be easy enough to stagger minutes. It's not unusual to see lesser players start. For example, you can get more productive minutes out of a guy like Snell by always playing him with Giannis. They have good timing together, and all Snell has to do is stand behind the arc and take kick-outs and hand-offs. They usually have really good splits in lineups together. Then you could have Brogdon on the bench in a Manu Ginobili role. However, Brogdon wasn't as effective in that role, and I think part of the reason he's starting is because Bud realized he would be much more effective with better scorers taking attention off of him. Therefore you could make a case that Khris should come off the bench, since Snell is better at sf and has better synergy with Giannis, while Khris has proven he can carry an offense as a go-to scorer but doesn't have the same chemistry with the other starters. His mid-range isoball and slow-it-down game doesn't mesh with them, but would be less infuriating (and more needed) with a bunch of role players and glue guys on the bench. I agree with all this, but that's the problem. They're not going to use Middy as the 6th man, not in his contract year. He doesn't seem to have a big ego, but he is an NBA player- he still has one. And I don't know that you want to mess with the starting lineup, it's been working. Thing is, he does play with more 2nd teamers than the other starters- so they're sort of doing that already. I just think they need a Jabari-light type guy that can score, wants to score, a true chucker in the Constanza mold.

No way. As I said earlier, he'll be in a strict platoon at 2B, facing LH starters. Plus a PH in other games. No way will that put him close to 500 ABs. Also, Gamel will keep Perez out of the OF vs RHP. I think we all agree Stearns is not stupid, he sees the splits and knows Perez should be facing RHP as little as possible. Just as Spangenberg should never see a LHP.

Well, I don't think there are hardly any hotels around Maryvale, not much to do either. No reason you need to avoid it though, in terms of going to the games. Where to stay? You'll get different opinions. We usually stay either in Scottsdale or Chandler area.

I know the news has been slow on all fronts, but I think we're reading way too much into the comments Stearns made, and now Nelson. All of these comments are so general, and really no new information. Not surprising Nelson has ambitious goals, he's a competitor. And anyone who has been through rehab of any kind knows that goals are important. But all we know is he is throwing and that he'll participate in ST. At what level? When will he be ready to pitch in a MLB game? Nobody knows, including Nelson. This isn't coming back from TJ, he may never be an effective pitcher again. I want to keep reminding people of that, because it is possible. Don't get me wrong, if you want to be optimistic nothing wrong with that. It's just that I look at it this way, no sense in trying to predict anything- I'll just be pleasantly surprised if he can help in any way this year.

True, but that ignores how the Brewers will use Perez/Spangenberg, vs LHP, RHP respectively: .277/.304/.479/.783 .261/.332/.393/.725 (in a pitchers park BTW) Every reason to believe this platoon can put up above average numbers at 2B, and .750ish is actually very realistic.

Exactly. Most of the names I've seen tossed around in the Transactions threads wouldn't even be an improvement over Spangenberg/ Perez platoon. It's almost impossible for them not to be an improvement of at least 50 points in OPS. Throwing Saladino's name in there scares me a bit, but it is still January. I'm sure they're pretty confident Hiura and/or Dubon will be ready sooner rather than later, so why spend more money at that position. All that said, there's always a caveat that Stearns will bring in another IF for the right price, and especially if said player has options.

Becoming clear to me what this team needs- a heater off the bench. The Bucks bench is what I would describe as "solid." Guys that don't hurt you, fit into their roles, etc. But they don't have anyone who can come into a game and put up 10 points in 4 minutes.

That would be worse, mixing multiple sponsors in the name. I don't see how any parties involved would agree to that. Also, I don't think it's a case of executives not caring what people think, I just a have a feeling they didn't expect a backlash. It's a big PR mistake, they could have done a little research. Send out a letter to season ticket holders with 5-6 corporate names (to avoid exposing AmFam too early) and see what reaction is. Then do the same with the general public, maybe even part of Fan Fest or something. Then based on the feedback, both the Brewers and AmFam could have made a more informed decision. Who knows, maybe they would have forged ahead anyhow. But now that they know, I would suggest they sit down together and make sure they can live with some bad PR and hope that fades away. Otherwise, it's not too late to put the brakes on and go back to Miller to work out a deal. Really doubt that happens though.

I actually think the travel teams and personal coaches are for the 99% of kids who will never play professional ball. The special kids will be drafted without any of that, but I digress.

Oldschoolsnapper. He's going to Hawaii while I'll be stuck here in sub-zero hell.

Gruber and Hupy would be waiting for him.