LouisEly

Maybe the Brewers can trade Suppan for Hall.

Fixed.

To what extent is there concern about college pitchers and PEDs enhancing their performance? I know the same can be said about college hitters, but I have a couple of friends who played college baseball and while it wasn't commonplace it wasn't rare either. There is a big difference in how a pitcher is perceived with just 4mph added to their fastball - someone who throws 93-94 will get a lot more looks and probably drafted higher than someone who throws 89-90. Plus with how much and how frequently they pitch it can really benefit to speed the healing time between outings to be able to go more. We wonder about college pitchers flaming out or getting hurt relatively quickly in the minors, and while it is often chalked up to their arms being "abused" in college baseball you have to wonder whether the use of PEDs in college baseball makes someone look better than they really are or contributes to injuries down the road in the minors. Thoughts?

I'd love to see him back, but if he never pitches again the lasting memory I'll have of him is him throwing his arms up in the air after fooling both Derek Lee (IIRC) and the home plate umpire with his cutter that was ruled a ball, walking home the winning run at Chicago. One of the worst calls I can remember in recent Brewer history.

"Bad things, man. Bad things..." Rest in peace Dennis.

Actually it would be a Kieschnick, as Brooks came up an OF and then became a pitcher with Milwaukee. Hell, go for it Billy. Take up pitching in the offseason.

Good call on Colon - he's the guy I was thinking about as far as bats, and if he were the pick, hopefully he can stay at SS. I know that Escobar is progressing, however I'm still not sold on his bat and if Gennett truly is a 2B then Prince is the only other legit SS prospect they have. So I would not be terribly upset if they go SS in the first or second round. What I want to know is who is the next... Roy Oswalt. A guy who is overlooked a bit because of his size which causes him to slip into the middle rounds (unfortunately the don't have the DFE option now like they had when Oswalt was drafted). Oswalt was a 23rd round pick, so you don't have to draft aces in the first round. Unfortunately it seems like many on this board aren't willing to wait the five years it took for a high school/juco arm like Oswalt to develop, because it looks like that same path is paying dividends with Odorizzi. Another interesting thing about Oswalt - he pitched 80 innings in 1997 and 1998 (looks like 1998 was cut short due to injury), but then jumped to 151 the next year and 175 the year after and only had one season shortened by injury (2003 - 127 innings). A big jump in innings from one year to the next didn't cause him any harm. Maybe he's the exception, maybe if a guy is destined to get hurt he will no matter how you handle him. Who knows.

Fiers got a little unlucky with the 3-run HR - otherwise 5 hits, 1 BB, 5K in 5.2 IP. WHIP for the season barely above 1.00.

So why did we spend $90M+ to win at a .377 clip? Because the season isn't decided after 44 games, it's decided after 162 games. They have 118 games to make up 8.5 games on the Cardinals. The season is far from over.

Based on what? Isn't the objective to win games? Yes the objective is to win games, but if you keep "selling high" on players who are you going to have left who is above replacement-level who is good enough to win enough games to get you in the playoffs? That's the toughest part of being a GM - trying to figure out who will sustain their success and who will not. You mention the fleecing of the Giants by the Twins. The thing is, they had the second most valuable trading commodity next to good young pitching - they had good young catching in A.J. Pyrzynski to trade, who posted a .824 OPS as a 26-year-old in 2003. Look at the haul that Atlanta got for Saltalamacchia. Good young catching is very valuable. You mention the trade for Garza by TB. They had young talent to trade - Delmon Young, the #1 overall pick in the 2003 draft, good enough to play 162 games in the majors at age 21. Regardless of being the #1 pick in the draft, anyone who is good enough to play 162 games in the majors at age 21 is someone who everyone including you would think has a world of potential. Hell, Young put up a .924 OPS as an 18-year-old rookie in A-ball, and a .881 OPS combined at AA-AAA as a 19-year-old. That's what it took to get Garza. You mention Edwin Jackson being acquired by the Tigers. He was traded for an OF who posted a .831 OPS as a 23-year-old rookie. For reference, Corey Hart as a 24-year-old rookie posted a .796 OPS in 2006 in slightly fewer plate appearances. If all you knew was someone who was 23 posted a .831 OPS in the majors, you would think that person had a tremendous amount of potential. The first time Jackson was traded - by the Dodgers to the Rays - it was for a 27-year-old closer who saved 41 games and had a 2.86 ERA in 2005. So who have the Brewers had to trade who has the potential of a 21-year-old good enough to play 162 games in the majors, or a 23-year-old who posted a .831 OPS, or a 27-year-old closer who saved 41 games and had a 2.86 ERA? Not many players the Brewers have had have fit those descriptions or that level of talent/potential. Yes, young pitching can be acquired, however it takes a lot of talent in return, and I think you underestimate how much talent/potential was given up to get those pitchers. Edit - sorry, that was way, way off topic. My apologies. Back to the Capuano discussion.

Nice to see Ramlow go multiple innings in his first two appearances back. Hopefully that means he is 100%.

I'm just sayin' I was told he wouldn't be there when the Brewers drafted much less past the 5th pick, and he was.

I've noticed that Gamel has been getting subbed for every game, usually by Steve Braun. Why is he being taken out? Is he still not 100% and they are protecting the shoulder? Shouldn't be for defensive reasons - it's the minors, that's why players are there, to work on things.

I was gone for 5 days on a business trip, and ever since I got back I can't launch MLB.com Gameday on Firefox. I can on IE. I cleared out the cookies on Firefox and still no luck. Anyone else having that issue, or know how to fix it? Thanks!

Well... he actually did slip past the Brewers... twice. And now is at Oklahoma City, the Rangers AAA affiliate (albeit in their bullpen). And Arnett... well, we won't go there. My 2010 choice - Barret Loux, RHP, Texas A&M. 7th nationally in K/9 in the NCAA, 5th among starters; 10th in hits allowed/9, 6th among starters. 6'5", 220.

Good call on Caupano - I keep forgetting about him. Yeah, Cappy in a week (or less) can replace Suppan.

Get rid of Soup I think the only reason Soup is on the team is because he can go multiple innings out of the bullpen. As gassed as the bullpen is, they need guys who can go multiple innings much more so than one-inning guys, even if they are worse pitchers. I'm pretty sure that Mark A. understands the concept of "sunk cost"; at this point I would think there would be some other reason than salary for keeping him. Loe is pitching pretty well at AAA so he could be at least replacement level/ML average and an upgrade over Soup for a minimal increase in cost. Rogers still has a shot to be decent, I think everyone would trade Rogers for Bailey in a heartbeat. Well, not really. So far Bailey has been replacement level. Last year in 20 starts he had a WHIP of 1.47 and an ERA of 4.53, and this year through 8 starts while he has one shutout (against Pittsburgh) his overall numbers are 1.47 WHIP and an ERA of 5.21, which shows you how bad he's pitched in the other 7 games outside of the shutout. About the only benefit of Bailey over Rogers so far would have been not needing to sign Doug Davis - a benefit, but not a huge one.

Well all he said was Macha wouldn't be fired on Monday, not that his job is safe Bingo. He can easily be fired Sunday after the game. you can just sense that the players just don't want to play for the guy That's my biggest concern, and the reason I want a change. It is easy to look at the surface and say that it's the player's fault and not the managers... but why? Could it be because the players aren't motivated by the manager? Or could it be because the players aren't put in positions to succeed by the manager? I bet he tells his clients the sure way to loose money is to panic and make moves just because. Any money manager or financial planner will tell you that, because in finance and business that generally is true. But when you are dealing with managing and motivating people, sometimes making a change for the sake of change - especially when the people are stinking up the joint - often yields positive results. They can't get any worse... so they really have nothing to lose at this point.

It's one thing to have these top selections toil in mediocrity for five years before fading away, but we can almost write off immediately Evan Frederickson, Cody Adams, Seth Lintz, and please not, but I fear, Arnett. That is just insane. Top two rounds! For what it's worth, St. Louis' stud (so far) rookie starting pitcher was drafted in the 22nd round. Here's hoping that Fiers is the next one in 2012 or 2013. And as much as I hate to say this, here's to hoping that Arnett is hiding an injury and can be back on track in 2011.

and his inaction regarding the organization's pitching issues should be grounds for dismissal on it's own. I don't think "inaction" is the right word to use. Signing Wolf (2007-2009 ERA of 3.95), Davis (4.22), Hawkins (3.14), resigning Hoffman (2.82), and stocking AAA with Estrada, Loe, and Lofgren is not what I would call "inaction". Now, so far the major league portion of those players have been poor choices (and the AAA players very good), but "inaction" is not accurate. You could also argue that letting go of Cameron to free up the salary to bring in Wolf and Davis could also be considered "action" to address the organization's pitching issues. I disagreed with Wolf and Davis simply because they were left-handed in a division stocked with right-handed bats. I advocated Joel Piniero because he is a righty, and while he hasn't been great this year he has been slightly better than Wolf and a lot better than Davis. But the point is that Melvin did quite a bit to address the pitching issues, they just have not been good decisions so far.

It's a 3-game series in an AL park so they have the DH. Not as much of a need for pinch hitters when you have a DH. I think they can get by with a short bench for three games and carry an extra pitcher. On a slightly unrelated note, I hope that Fielder, Braun, and McGehee rotate the DH duties to get a bit more rest.

After watching Vargas from behind home plate in the Dodgers series I can confirm that he definitely has a lot of movement on his fastball - as much as I've ever seen from anyone. Almost too much, to the point of sacrificing control. At LA he was hitting 91 but it was moving a lot. Until the disaster at Philly Vargas was actually having a good month of May.

Wasn't this kind of what many people were advocating - send down the higher ceiling guys with options and keep the guys with no options, and if the guys with no options fail or get hurt they have a backup plan. Well, it's time for the backup plan.

Does Luis Cruz really need to be on the 40-man with Escobar, Counsell, and Inglett? Lucroy isn't, so that would have to be another move. My guess is Cruz for Braddock, and if they need to make another move for a catcher then one of Suppan/Vargas. Are McGehee's knees healed enough where he can be the emergency catcher if Zaun is only out for a few days?

I can think of a great example to counter that argument. 16-22 is eerily similar to 15-25.