LouisEly

This ump has not been giving the bottom of the zone all night for Jungmann. Hernandez should have just struck out. This is at least the fourth time I've wondered where that pitch was. Now with the SB I hope this doesn't come back to bite the Brewers.

Brian Dozier's minor league numbers weren't that great - one good year which was primarily driven by a lot of triples - and at a much older age than Perez at the same levels. But the hitting coach of the Twins noticed something, got him to change his approach, and now not only is he an All-Star but he also has as many HRs this season as he had in his entire minor league career. Some guys can develop later on with the right coaching.

Cotts himself won't bring back a top prospect, but I wonder if the Brewers might think outside the box and add a C-level prospect with Cotts to up the return. Cotts plus one of Roache, Goforth, Magnifico, Neuhaus, Yadiel Rivera, Hellweg, etc., would that be enough to get a B level prospect?

Well, I'd say that Tony Bennett is a higher-profile guy. However, I'd bet that three people interview for it - Gard, Bennett, and Rob Jeter (or perhaps some other token minority candidate). UW is strongly pushing diversity right now, so I'd be surprised if a minority is not interviewed. Given the budget cuts, I'd take Gard as the favorite. If they can get Gard at $750K (versus Ryan's $2M plus or similar for Bennett), UW will gladly put that $1.25M towards retaining faculty or research.

You could say that everybody had fun tonight in Bradenton. Cravy with quite the outing too.

Daz Cameron signs with the Astros for a reported $4M. The Astros saved ~$1.6M with their #2 overall pick Bregman, and about $700K with their other picks, to allow them to go ~$2.3M over the ~$1.6M slot. Would be nice if the Brewers could get three years of top-five picks and that type of bonus pool to come out with a top five and a top 15 talent out of each of those three drafts.

Well, yeah, Garza did better than that last year and while he pitches in the NL he also pitches roughly half of his games in a hitter/HR-friendly ballpark in one of if not the toughest division in baseball. Wilson, while in the AL and having to face a DH most games, plays for a team in one of the weaker divisions in baseball in a more pitcher-friendly ballpark (SEA and OAK are also very pitcher-friendly). Wilson will be 35 next year, and I trust a 32-year-old to rebound more than I trust a 35-year old to maintain. I also think a 32/33 y/o Garza has the ability to bring a lot more back in trade in terms of prospects than a 35 y/o Wilson.

Wilson is 34; I'd bet on Garza bouncing back before I'd bet on him returning to 2013 form. This is why trades haven't been made yet - teams are still posturing, with buyers saying they will only give up 2nd-tier prospects and sellers saying that they will only move guys for big returns. It's Negotiating 101. Hard to believe that TheCrew and I agree on something but I really wanted Newcomb last year too. Perhaps the Brewers can throw in one or two of their starting pitching prospects (a Tyler or a Taylor) with Lind and Parra to be able to upgrade to Newcomb.

Don't forget, he also swung at three or four pitches that were at least 8" outside the strike zone! I know it's hard with these Latin players because of the old saying, "You don't walk your way off the island." But the Brewers need to reinforce that it's better to strike out looking on a pitch that is on the corner than it is to strike out (or hit a weak grounder) on a pitch that is 8" (or more) off the plate. If you swing at stuff that is far off the plate you'll make an out 98% of the time (you'll get lucky occasionally). But if you give the edge of the plate, you'll walk at least 10% of the time and by seeing more pitches you'll increase the chances of the pitcher making a mistake that you can drive. I know that falls under the category of, "Way, way easier said than done", but it's the reinforcement of the philosophy that's important.

But I (deliberately) don't have my phone number attached to my Facebook account. Pretty sure she doesn't have/know my last name. And my FB account (deliberately) still has me living in LA, and I don't have a picture of me as my profile pic (deliberately). How would she search for me if my phone number isn't on my account, she doesn't know my last name, I don't live where it says I live, and I have no picture of me on my profile? Extremely unlikely she was searching for me or that her contacts would pull me up. But... I do believe I have evidence that FB is searching your phone and text messages... because the settings of the app say that they can. Yep, when I go into Settings on my (Android) phone, go to Apps, click on Facebook, and scroll down, sure enough it says that by using the app FB has permission to read your text messages, both the ones you send and the ones stored in your phone. Yes, FB can read all of your text messages.

And when you're up by four runs in the 9th, you throw strikes and make them hit their way back. K-Rod's biggest error was the leadoff walk. Last I checked, no pitcher in baseball with more than a handful of innings has a 0.00 ERA. All of them occasionally give up runs. Amongst the 29 pitchers with at least 10 saves this season, K-Rod is one of only five who have no blown saves. Amongst the 29 pitches with at least 10 saves this season, K-Rod is 8th (even including todays "meltdown" if you will") in ERA. Craig Kimbrel has pitched exactly one more inning than K-Rod this season, but has given up more than twice as many runs.

Looking at 2014, these are the more well-known position players who were traded during the offseason and in-season: Offseason: Prince Fielder/Ian Kinsler, Bourjos/Grichuck/Freese/Salas, Fowler, Seth Smith, Aoki, Trumbo/Eaton (Skaggs involved in that trade), Logan Morrison, Matt Davidson, Drew Stubbs, Logan Forsythe In-season: Ike Davis, Kyle Blanks, Nick Hundley, Chase Headley, Kendrys Morales (more of a dump than a trade), Asdrubal Cabrera, Stephen Drew, Allen Craig, Jonny Gomes/Cespedes, Gerardo Parra, Martin Prado Kind of even, but no real good comps. Cespedes was actually the "prospect" that was in that deal with Lester going to the A's. Craig was part of the Lackey deal. More prospects were involved in the offseason, with Skaggs moving in the Trumbo/Eaton deal, Grichuck for Freese, and Jordan Lyles for Dexter Fowler. And a 3-team deal is more likely to happen in the offseason than in-season.

My point was the converse of RoCo's - just because trades involving those guys don't happen in July doesn't mean they aren't going to happen. Typically contending teams don't go into a season with a known hole at a position. Needs are created typically by injury or unexpected poor performance. That's more likely to happen with pitchers than position players, simply because of quantity. You have five starters and at least six or seven relievers; you only have two guys who can play CF or C, and one is typically a backup who doesn't play very often. What are the odds that a contending team needs a CF, versus the odds of a contending team needing a starter or reliever? It is typically much easier to take on pitching during the season because you can always move a guy into the bullpen and send the worst reliever down/out. Harder to do that with a position player (but OF would be the easiest since you need three of them). The offseason is when teams look at all of their positions and think, are the people we have there adequate? Then, like Logan said, a team that may not have a need might move someone because they get an offer that is too good to pass up. The offseason is also when players become free agents. A contending team may hold on to a guy whose contract is expiring because they are contending, but then have a need when the season is over. Players typically retire in the offseason (Mike Schmidt being one of the exceptions); sometimes it's known like with A-Ram and Jeter, sometimes it isn't. But in those scenarios there may not be a need during the season at the major league level, but will be after the season.

Throwing super duper hard doesn't mean anything if you can't find the strike zone with your secondary pitches (or fastball). Alex Meyer is a top 100 prospect who throws hard but after averaging 4.4 and 4.8 BB/9 in AAA the Twins have moved him to the bullpen (for now). Stephenson, in repeating AA this year, has averaged 4.9 and 5.0 BB/9 in AA and his HR rate in AA (1.1/9) is the same as Mike Fiers career HR rate in the majors. Lopez still needs some work on his walk rate too, but his walk rate and HR rate are both significantly better than Stephenson at the same age, same level, same league.

I just don't want people getting their undies in a bundle if they don't trade Gomez or Lucroy at the deadline. Melvin has said that you can get more for position players in the offseason. Gomez will have more value at the deadline (still eligible for a comp pick) than in the offseason, but if you think you can get more in the offseason (perhaps due to injury concerns or more buyers) then you don't just take any offer for the sake of making a trade. Even guys like Lohse and Ramirez can still clear waivers in August and could still have a trade happen after July 31st.

Nope, have not given FB permission to access to my contacts or uploaded my contacts. None of my professional contacts or former co-workers in my phone have showed up as "People You May Know" except for ones with mutual friends I'm already connected to. I doubt she could search for me either because I never told her my last name and my phone number is not on my account. Hell, I called her and she never called back, texted her and never got a response, and that was over a year ago - why the hell would she be searching for me now, and how would she find me if my phone number is not on my account? I know very well how FB works and I fully expect them to mine anything I post or put in my account (which is why I have deliberately not added my phone number, an up-to-date location, my past schools/education, occupation, relationship status, and have very limited connections with family members). But I do not expect them, nor think they should be allowed, to mine other parts of my phone or someone else's phone.

The problem with Lind to the Nats is that they have Zimmerman signed for five more years and $73M and they can't use Lind as a DH. They would have to move him (or Zimmerman, but good luck with that) again in the offseason and other teams would have the leverage knowing that the Nats would have to move him because they would have no room for him. That decreases his value to the Nats, and with the Mets fading it may not be an urgent need. Espinosa provides an adequate bat at 1B (.797 OPS) with Rendon at 2B. Good idea in theory, but I just don't know that it is a pressing need for WAS.

In 13 outings covering the last five weeks, in 15.1 innings has given up 13 hits (four in one outing), 2 earned runs, 5 walks, and struck out 18. I believe in the Royals outing where he gave up four hits and the two earned runs he was victimized by a poor decision to play the infield in which resulted in at least two extra hits and one extra earned run that wouldn't have happened if the infield had been playing back. All but one of his outings covered multiple batters - he wasn't being used as a LOOGY. For the season he has a .213 OBP and .546 OPS vs. LHH. Any team that is competing against a team stacked with lefties would love to have him. Regarding K-Rod and a lack of interest, I think it has very little to do with his contract and everything to do with practically all teams in contention with the exception of Toronto having solid closers and set-up men. With Papelbon making $13M this year, and a $13M option vesting if he finishes 55 games this year, K-Rod's contract is a bargain. And frankly, the way that K-Rod has been pitching, he's a bargain anyway at $6-7M/year - if he keeps pitching anywhere near like he has been, why the hell would you buy him out?

Early last summer I briefly dated a girl down in Chicago; met her late spring and we went out a couple of times, but then she pulled a Houdini and disappeared, never to be heard from again. We had talked and texted a fair amount, but never connected on Facebook. Hell, I never even knew her last name. Last I heard from her was a little over a year ago. So this morning I hop on FB, and under the "People You May Know" feed, there she is. We have no mutual friends. How the hell would they know to suggest her as someone I may know if they aren't mining my (or her) phone or text records? I don't even have my phone number on my FB account, but they did recently "suggest" my phone number to me (while logging on they asked, "Is this your phone number", and it was, but I have deliberately not added it to my FB account for privacy reasons). We never emailed (don't have an email address for her), so she couldn't have uploaded a contact list/address book from an email client. I think this crosses the line. Or is there something about their privacy/data policy that I'm not aware of? I don't recall giving them permission to search my phone outside of the app. [sarcasm]Any attorneys want to start a class action lawsuit?[/sarcasm]

It was the Clippers pick (and is lottery-protected). I think they are looking at Vasquez as a combo guard, as he shot 37.9% from 3 last year and 35.6% for his career. I thought he was a rising star two years ago when he averaged 13.9 ppg and 9 apg, but then he was traded to TOR and played behind Lowry.

^ This. Chris Paul is 6'0", 175. For a true freshman, Jones looked amazing. 2-3 years from now I think people will be talking about him as the next Chris Paul, and if the Bucks pass on him it will be like passing on Paul for Bogut. That being said, I think he will be gone by the time the Bucks pick. I'll reiterate that I'd love to see Joseph Young in the 2nd round as a scorer. A little short, but he looked ridiculously good against UW in the tourney the last two years and reminds me a lot of a young Monta Ellis (himself a short-ish 2nd round pick) with his quickness and ability to create his own shot. On defense you switch him up against the other team's PG/smaller guard and have MCW guard the SG/taller guard. Tyler Harvey is also regarded by some as being the best pure shooter in the draft.

In 2007, the average signing bonus for picks 13-18 was $1.5M. In 2006 it was $1.58M, and in 1998 it was $1.34M. Assuming 5% inflation of bonuses per year, that would equate to 2015 signing bonuses of $2.33M, $2.57M, and $3.23M.

No, he specifically said "injuries are not an excuse this year". He specifically said that this is "the first year we would be labeled a seller" (used the exact word "seller"). He specifically said that they are scouting other major league teams for needs and "where there might be an opportunity for us", and he specifically mentioned Aoki and Pence going on the DL for the Giants creating a need for OF. He said, "now we are looking to see where we can help fill other team's holes." He said that teams are just now starting to feel each other out regarding trades. He said they are looking at "younger players, both on the major league level and at the minor league level". He said that "Doug has been making some outbound calls". He said, "I don't think we are kidding ourselves as to where we are going to end up this year". Brian and Bill were paraphrasing, who knows what the exact words that Mark was using, but Brian said, "People should not assume we are going to trade Francisco Rodriguez." He didn't say they wouldn't; he said they shouldn't assume they will, and that K-Rod has value beyond his pitching performance. I think this means they will not just dump him for some piddly return, and the value received needs to exceed the value given up, factoring in both pitching and leadership. I have the game on my DVR and am pulling in exact quotes.

The Giants are a recent phenomena. They weren't exactly competing 2005-2008, and probably wouldn't be without the top-10 picks from those years. This is why I am not disappointed with where the Brewers are now. Teams, especially moderate payroll teams, just cannot compete year in and year out, even if they do trade their players at their peak. The Cardinals gave up two recent first round picks and a recent 2nd round pick for Holliday, and none of those three panned out for the A's. A certain percentage of prospects don't pan out (see trades of Sheffield, Vaughn, Grienke, etc.) and after a certain period of time the well will run dry on trades. You have to have a run of top-10 picks, if not top-5 picks, to compete. The Giants had four years of top-10 picks (Bumgarner, Posey, and Lincicum among them). The Royals are riding on the success of eight years of top-10 picks. The poster children for trading talent for prospects, the Rays, wouldn't have competed without David Price (#1 overall) and Evan Longoria (#3 overall). The Rays have Chris Archer as a result of Delmon Young (#1 overall); yes they traded to get him, but wouldn't have had the talent to trade w/o that #1 pick. Houston is where they are because of four years of top-11 picks. What would the Cubs be without Bryant, Baez, and Schwarber? I'm looking forward to a few years of top-10 picks so that the Brewers can have the next wave of talent to compete.

You're not exactly matching apples to apples yourself. Bradley never pitched in low-A ball. How can you compare the results of one pitcher in low-A ball to another pitcher at a higher level? How do you know that Toussaint will pitch as well at high-A, much less AA? You've touted Robert Stephenson from the 2011 draft, and while he has upside, his BB/9 has increased with his promotion to AA - last year he walked 4.9/9 and this year he's walking 5.0/9; you yourself state how important it is to have control/command. I think that it is a relevant comparison because one was the #15 overall pick and the other was the #16 overall pick of their drafts. You're also missing my point (and agreeing with most of it without knowing) - my point is that you would be happy to "sell" Bradley for $10M, but how do you know you would be happy "buying" Toussaint for $10M? Toussaint hasn't been given the opportunity to fail yet; Bradley has. Regardless, it is an interesting scenario, and it does give credit to the argument of dumping payroll. I'm just not sure that $10M is the right price.