RealityCheck

MassBrew I watched the entire game on tv but not a single Brewer fan got in the view of the camera. I really enjoyed the two announcers the Paw Sox had working on the Cox 3 station that was being shown on our TV-40 in Indy. The Paw Sox also seem to get a better camera crew than the Indians always get. Very fun game to watch. I wish the games that I've been to so far this year would have been as exciting as this one. Corey Hart did a nice job on the field and on the bases. Steve Scarborough's glove to hand transition still bothers me. I've been watching it for 3 years and it has yet to improve. He makes a lot of easy outs almost turn into very close plays because of that. Once Ben Hendrickson got past the first few innings, he settled down nicely. His curveball was off last night so he re-adjusted with a fastball and slider combination. Roberto Giron needs to find a new organization. Three years is way too much time to invest into a AAA reliever. He shows some good stuff at times but he simply can not be relied upon. I hope he succeeds but his best chances are with someone else. Very nice game overall, especially by Earl Snyder.

It's been awhile since I posted here. I left for Spring Break and came back to a huge list of projects I had to start. I will not have much free time at all this year. Here is my game report for the Indians vs. the Tides. Those not included didn't really make an impact on me. Norfolk Tides C. Mike Jacobs - good defense, good offense RF. Victor Diaz - very good powerful/accurate arm CF. Esix Snead - poor plate discipline, suprisingly good defense, not as quick as I expected but still fast enough to steal plently of bases, smart yet aggressive on the base paths SP. Aaron Heilman - control problems, good stuff, B+ breaking ball RP. Pedro Feliciano - solid lefty reliever Doug Melvin should keep an eye on - Mike Jacobs Indianapolis Indians Coaches - poor job of advancing runners C. Mark Johnson - good defense RF. Corey Hart - suprisingly good arm CF. David Krynzel - excellent speed, faster than Esix Snead, aggressive hitter, not an ideal leadoff man, good but overhyped arm strength/accuracy, had trouble going backwords in centerfield SP. Victor Santos - best two pitches are a knee-high fastball and a high inside breaking ball, everything else was either hit, or missed the strikezone (several pitches in the dirt). Reminds me of Kyle Peterson, projection - generic AAAA relief pitcher. RP. Travis Phelps - better control than Santos, worse stuff RP. Matt Wise - good stuff, good pitch placement Keep an eye on David Krynzel. He is currently at the Alex Sanchez level but he has "Brady Anderson with half the power" potential. Indy Indians - free swingers, open runners Attendance report - 2/3rds empty despite perfect weather Autograph report - none

Here is a very nice link for evaluating positional prospects. www.fantasyinfocentral.com/prospectalert/001537.php

Me too.

For god's sake, they signed a contract with a horrible team who had an absolutely barren farm system at the time, what in the world did they expect? We didn't have many other options available.

Roberto Giron ......http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/mad.gif If Indy finishes below .500 again, I'll set Doug Melvin on fire! http://www.gothamist.com/images/milton_looks.jpg We haven't had 4 or more below .500 seasons in a row since 1909-1913.

While I'd rather have both, he's saying he'd rather have several older guys who can play at the AA/AAA level than one guy who was good in college, which I can kind of agree with. I concur. As an Indy fan, I would be happy to see veteran players like Rickey Henderson and John Burkett brought in. However, it is in the Brewers best interest to avoid short-term solutions (especially at critical positions - C, 1B, 3B, OF, SP, RP). The Brewers should use their playing time advantage to sign "young, starting potential" ML platoon players, back-ups, and fallen stars in order to avoid more "Mark Smith" type players. Although guys like Smith are well suited for Indy, they are not good enough to replace a missing ML starter (Jenkins) nor blossom into a future starter (Podsednik).

Ya know, if you believe Bill James, AAAA players aren't that far removed from major league talent, so if your AAA team is good, that means your major league squad isn't that far away from being good, yah? Very true. Indy has had 3 sub .500 seasons in a row. We haven't done that since 1979-81. The Brewers need AAA players who can possibly become part of the future 2005 and beyond squads. Five guys who are over the age of 30 with declining and/or non-existent skills do not help the Brewers. Dave Burba is the type of player that contenders need. Why use space for 37 year old Burba rather than another Doug Davis type (or preferably Ben Hendrickson)? I enjoy watching and meeting veterans like Dave Burba but it is in the best interest of the Milwaukee Brewers to not use their time and money (a very small resource) on players who are near retirement. Doug Melvin has no excuse for signing "AAA filler" players. If you had roadblocks (ex. Anaheim's 3 OFs) then you don't need a AAA team full of high potential OFs. examples Ben Petrick (younger and better) vs. Chris Coste Wil Cordero (older but ML proven) vs. Jeff Liefer

Hart, Krynzel, Martinez, Hendrickson, de la Rosa, Jones, Adams, Gemoll, Bruso, and Housman are all not on the current Indy roster. My opinion would be different if they were. Problems 1. Too many "WYSIWYG" players. 2. Doug Melvin focused on signing the best 6 year FAs rather than the best talent available (take a look at some of the players who signed minor league deals with other teams). 3. Take another look at who is and/or will be available to sign to minor league deals this spring. 4. Who's on first? Brandon Gemoll is good yet he is absent. Jeff Liefer is a younger version of Doug Jennings http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/eyes.gif . 5. Over 40 guys could be fighting for positions this spring (that's too many players to equally evaluate in a very short amount of time). To put it simply, AAA rosters should be (and mostly are by other organizations) managed similary to major league teams. The Brewers have a few competitions for starting jobs (SS, SP, RP and possibly, but not likely 2B, RF), Indy has competition for every position in addition to competition just to stay on the roster. I agree with GMs who start spring training with an organized and set roster rather than simply throwing a bunch of players onto a team and seeing which ones stick. An organized roster can simply be modified if problems occur (ex. Bill Hall for JJ Hardy or vise versa). An unorganized (overloaded) roster is much more difficult to fix because it will require more time to identify problems and back-tracking to fix them (ex. Chris Coste and Alex Delgado being released to make room for another catcher (via signing, trade, waivers, etc). "Gelling" is a very important intangible for winning. Teams on all levels, shapes, or forms perform much better when every member is synchronized (you've probably heard the phrase "hitting on all cylinders").

I'd rather have quality over quantity. The Good 3 outfielders 6 starters 9 relievers The Bad 3 catchers (all never-weres) 6 infielders (two with potential) 1 utility (never-was) Too many spring roster moves will prevent Indy from starting the season with a gelled team. I can already see 5 guys currently on the team being moved this spring. This also prevents the flexibility of signing players released in spring training.

Talk about good roster management from Doug Melvin http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/eyes.gif .

......hasn't Steve Scarborough gone from AAA starter to having plenty of competition for bench duty awful quickly? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif

Here is a few other good players that I watched in Indy that fell under the radar. Guillermo Garcia, Mike Frank, Chad Mottola, Roger Salkeld, and Pat Watkins.

I am officially Jon Nunnally's stalker. Or maybe he is my stalker? I met him back in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and soon to be 2004. I have gotten all 13 cards that I had of him autographed plus some photos (which means I have met him 22 times in four different cities). I have never really understood why he hasn't landed a regular backup OF role. He isn't a great defensive OF but he can hit very well. He is basically a left-handed version of Wes Helms (or an older Brad Wilkerson). Despite his age, I am very confidant that he could at the very least, replicate the production from the 2003 Vander Wal/Clark platoon. A Nunnally/Magruder platoon might be the most productive spot behind Jenkins.

Those guys are adequate for Indy but I would really like to see some pitching added. Give me a few promising prospects, a few new pitchers, one has-been player (Dean Palmer, Todd Zeile, Felix Jose, Jose Offerman, Rickey Henderson, Jesse Orosco) and I will happily spend a few hundred dollars on tickets and game-used bats again next season.