LouisEly

So who becomes the starting catcher in West Virginia? Fryer? I don't think that it would be Snijders. Does Bouchie get moved down?

Of the "consider" list I would add Welch for sure, probably Rogers and Narron, maybe Narveson and Periard, possibly Katin; Ryan and Hinton would be long shots. The others I don't think would be in much jeopardy of losing. Given the state of pitching in the upper levels of the organization I would be very surprised if they let Sheets go. And one of Cameron or Kapler would be needed back to play CF. Branyan would be nice to have back. The other 10 could be dropped to add Gamel, Salome, Cain, Hammond, Bell, Miller, Welch, Rogers, Narron, and one of Narveson/Periard. That would be enough to protect.

I guess the silver lining is another quality start from Welch. Three runs is not that great, but only four hits and two walks with six K's in six innings is pretty good. Errecart and Gillespie seem to be getting out of the funk they were in the last week. Same with Seidel - the four runs were not great but six hits, one walk and seven Ks in six innings is good.

Could you please help me understand the word y'all so that I may better understand the post and respond accordingly? Well, I don't know about us'all, but I'all am not a fan of messing around with the dimensions of a ballpark. The attraction should be on the field, not the field itself. And as for Richie Sexson, he'all ain't too happy with it, particularly that pole. But that mark is still there on the pole.

With no Bonds and with Soriano likely out, the OF field is wide open. Basically after Fuko and Griffey you have these guys competing for 5-7 spots: Ludwick, Burrell, McLouth, Holliday, Bay, Dunn, Braun, Rowand, Church, Nady, Giles, and Hart The only locks of that group that I see are Ludwick, Burrell, and McLouth. For the rest I think it will come down to the team they play for: how the team is doing and if the team is in need of a sole rep. Colorado is doing poorly, but they were in the WS last year, and I don't think that all of Atkins, Holliday, and Cook will get in. Same with SF - I don't think that all of Rowand, Molina, and Lincecum will get in. Same with the Mets - I don't think that all of Church, Wright, Santana, and Wagner will get in, and my guess is that with Church on the DL now he will not get in. Same with Pittsburgh - not all of McLouth, Bay, and Nady will get in. My guess is Sheets and Braun. My guess is the OF reserves will be Ludwick, Burrell, McLouth, Braun, Holliday, and possibly a coin flip between Bay and Rowand. C: McCann, Soto, Martin (only Dodger rep) 1B: Pujols, Gonzalez, Berkman (only Astro rep) 2B: Utley, Uggla 3B: Jones, Ramirez, Wright SS: wide open - only lock is Ramirez, other depends on vote OF: Fuko, Griffey, Ludwick, Burrell, McLouth, Braun, Holliday SP: Volquez, Lincecum, Sheets, Webb, Hudson, Santana, Dempster RP: Lidge, Wagner, Rausch (only WAS rep), Lyon, Wood 32 players, all teams represented. Fan final five will be Bay, Rowand, Peavey, Wellmeyer, and Zambrano Sleeper - Carlos Marmol

Nice to see the big fella Katin go yard again. Sure the K:BB ratio and OBP leave something to be desired, but gotta love that SLG. As I've said before, last year he led the Southern League in HRs, RBI, and SLG, so I'm not ready to give up on 'ol Gorman Deer yet. Also saw this about Katin: "Listed as the Brewers prospect with the Best Outfield Arm by Baseball America." I did not know that. Speaking of Katin, this also in his profile: "Led the Southern League in home runs (24), which is a Huntsville record". What is the over/under that LaPorta wipes that clean by the end of June?

he was not good as a RP before the 4 starts. He walked 13 guys in 20 1/3 IP as a RP. He made up for the walks by not giving up a lot of hits. He had one of the better ERAs in the bullpen too when he made the switch. McClung's WHIP is lower than every starter not named Sheets. His walks (and HRs) are on par with Suppan, but he strikes out more than Suppan. If you want to talk about walks, then you can't think very highly of Suppan; as "lucky" as you say McClung has been with his walks, Suppan has been even luckier. And to say that Villy and DiFelice are superior options is just not true, if not ludicrous. I don't know how anyone can look at Villy's numbers and say that they are superior. 71 hits in 59 innings? McClung has given up 5 HR in 42 IP; CV has given up 12 in 59 innings, DiFelice has given up two in 5.2 IP (Bush 15 in 64 IP). Villy's OPS-A is .853, McClung's is .697. C'mon, that's like trying to say that a hitter with a .697 OPS is better than a hitter with a .853 OPS. I'm sorry, but right now McClung is the best starter on the team not named Sheets. It's OK people... let your hate of McClung go... you can say he is an OK starter, we won't hold your previous opinions against you...

Not exactly a list of top-tier prospects that now make up the Nashville starting rotation, perhaps a sign of how thin pitching has become in the top levels of the Brewers system. But it is interesting, and perhaps a good sign, that those starters at AAA and AA that are still considered prospects are all left-handed (Narron, Narverson, Hammond, Welch, Miller).

Way to go, Tony Gwynn, keep building up that trade value With Cameron due a $10M option next year (and at this point not deserving of it), if they can't bring back Kapler they could be hurting for CF depth at the ML level. Hart might be able to slide over (and ultimately that might be the plan), but they wouldn't have anyone to back him up. Again, I don't think he's going to be a star, but TGJ's total value including offense, defense, and speed makes him an average major leaguer IMO, and if given regular playing time I think he would perform adequately at the plate. If they go with Braun and LaPorta at the corners, they could be in need of a late-inning defensive replacement in the OF. Kind of odd that Stetter and Narverson split an inning... I could see if it was lefty-righty, but with two leftys splitting an inning I hope that it wasn't necessary because of injury. And That - I posted a similar comment about Bray a couple of days ago. He's done everything asked of him, and I think part of the slow start this year was disappointment that his stellar year last year did not result in a call-up or roster spot this year. His GO/AO is a little concerning, but he has struck out a batter per inning so his stuff can't be that bad. I think that Tavarez will be gone when Riske comes back (I'm not optimistic that he will be back as soon as he is eligible though), and Gagne could use a nice long rehab stint to try to find his mojo. I'm not sure if I'd prefer Gagne or Pena at this point. Heck, I'd prefer Tavarez gone now and give Bray a shot. Or Stetter another shot. After three rough outings in a row, nice to see Hammond put together a second stellar start in a row. Despite those three games, over his last 10 starts he has given up only 49 hits in 62.2 innings with 51 Ks and a 3.02 ERA. He and Narron are legitimate candidates for a #5 starter/long relief role next year.

Gwynn has a projected .262/.338/.372 and a 0.8 WARP his your best projectection. Hardy hit .278/.329/.475 and a 6.2 WARP last year. Hart had a .299/.357/.588 and a 7.4 WARP last year. How is Hart ranked barely above Gwynn and lower than Hardy? As mentioned before (and now for the third time), All-Star was based on technical definition - whether or not they had been named to an All-Star team or not. Thus Hart is on the high end of Solid Major leaguer (call it a B+). To answer your question: 1) I think if Gwynn got more than 2 ABs a week his numbers would be better. I will say that he is on the lower end of average (call it a C-), but I think he is a solid #4/#5 OF and has a definite role on a balanced team. B) I value speed and defense more than you do. The game ain't all about hitting (exhibit A - todays game, Cameron misplaying Berkman's line drive which lead to three runs). And no matter what stats you throw at me I will not change my stance on that. My opinion.

No way he only has 1.146 years of service. He was on the roster all of 2007 and 2008, plus 1/3rd of 2006 and 2005. The Brewers could use a second lefty in the pen. If all it costs is a Darren Ford, Lorenzo Cain, or a Brendan Katin, I'm all for it.

Welch with another solid outing - that now makes a total of 4 ER in his last 31 IP. Would like to see the walks come down a little and the K's come up a little (funny how K's matter with pitchers, but supposedly they don't matter with hitters). Also nice to see Ryan break out of his funk and return to his early season form with only 1 hit given up in 3 IP. Also a nice outing by Bray. No ER in his last 6 appearances covering 10 IP. He appears to have settled down and is returning to form.

Pierre's offensive game is (was?) defined by speed and refusing to walk; that's who he is. The comparison was based more on how minimally both of them strike out. Pierre may not walk a lot, but he also makes a lot of contact and puts a lot of balls in play - he has been the toughest guy in the majors to strike out over his career, and is #1 among active players in AB:K ratio. And it does not translate into DPs either - only 62 GIDPs in about 5300 career plate appearances, or only a little over 1% of the time. We don't get excited when other guys rack up 200 hits in a season and a half That is a big exaggeration. First, when is it a bad thing to be healthy enough to play in every single game in a season, much less mentally strong enough and good enough? Our leadoff hitter hasn't been able to stay healthy for a whole season. What good is a player when he's on the DL? Second, for as little as he walks, he has walked more times in his career than he has struck out. Third, with as much as he puts the ball in play coupled with his speed, he puts a lot of pressure on the opposing team. Is he an all-star? No. Is he "pretty terrible"? Not remotely.

Since the draft didn't feature too many hitters, keep an eye on Eric Komatsu. He's a very similar OF prospect to Luis Gonzalez My thought was that he profiled more like a Drew Anderson with a little more power. He has some speed and good plate discipline. Maybe a pre-PED Gonzalez (another guy who "suddenly" found his power stroke after the age of 30 when he moved out west).

He didn't look like he had that great of numbers playing baseball, so I think the Badgers should pay the Brewers to sign him just before the deadline and then cut him on December 1st, so he never plays a game for the Brewers or the Gophers. Teach that punk a lesson.

X, I'm somewhat with you on Schafer, and those pitchers would have been a little more exciting. But if he can turn into a Steve Finley type (even the pre-PED Finley) of CF that will do just fine. My beef is that I don't think they needed both Dykstra and Schafer in the top 3 rounds - one would have been just fine. 25 RHP and 6 LHP by my counts. Can't say they aren't trying to address the pitching situation, and I'm not complaining. Adams and Romanski could go to WV after a couple of weeks in Helena to help clear the logjam there. I think with Frederickson's control they will not want to bounce him around and keep him with the same pitching coach every year, so my guess is that unless he is lights-out he will stay in Helena. After looking at Romanski's numbers I'm a little less enamored with him, but he does have very good control and he could improve by focusing on pitching. Maybe he could be a poor-man's Mike Hampton. My "sleepers" from day 2: 13th - Robert Wooten (I think he is everyone's sleeper) 14th - Corey Kemp (C-USA's POY) 16th - The 'Stache drafts The Stosh! 20th - Liam Ohlmann (looks like a serial killer, 72Ks and 33 hits in 55 innings) 28th - Brandan Garcia (slugged .881) 36th - Evan Bronson (19BB vs 102Ks in 83 IP)

As far as debuts in the Power 50, given that the 4 of the top 5 picks are HS players and the fifth is a high risk/reward, I wouldn't debut any of them very high. More polished college players like LaPorta and Braun can debut higher because they will cruise through the system, but the high school picks lately have been very hit and miss. I wouldn't put any in the top 20, maybe Lawrie and Odorizzi in the 20's somewhere at best, and Frederickson in the mid-to-low 30's. In fact, I would only put Lawrie, Odorizzi, and Fredrickson on the list at all for now. Not so much anything against them as it is the talent already in the system. When Welch and Ryan are in the 40s, I find it hard to boot those guys in favor of a couple of high schoolers.

Dallas McPherson playing for the Isotopes... wasn't this dude once a top prospect? But he has 19 dingers on the year so far and an OPS over 1.000. Not sure what the dude has to do to get a shot in the bigs; his OBP hasn't been great, but his SLG has been good and his OPS+ has been about league average for the limited AB's he's gotten. Whether or not his back holds up has yet to be seen, but even prior to that he never go much of a chance in Anaheim. Should Hall be moved and/or Branyan not back I wouldn't be opposed to seeing if Florida would take a Gillespie or Errecart for him and hand him the reigns next year and see what he can do with regular playing time. Nice to see Hammond get back on track again. He did alright at Helena last year, not as well as I would have hoped for a 4th round pick. I've always felt that if you're going to spend a high pick on a 2B, it better be one with big upside (a la Weeks, Utley). You can find productive 2B later in the draft or move them over from SS or 3B (especially when you already have Weeks, Iribarren, and Bell in your system).

http://www.baseballamerica.com/draftdb/2008xrnd.php?rnd=3 A's at #90. With the Crew drafting Lawrie the odds of them draftind Paramore were not that good. Overall I like it - heavy on pitching with the other positions picked being CF, SS, and C. As much as I like the concept of BPA, they are so stocked at corner OF and 1B that they can pass on that this year and load up on other positions. 4 of first 6 and 6 of first 10 are pitchers - love that. Odorizzi was my favorite HS arm so I'm cool with that. Fredrickson... hopefully they can do with him what they did with McClung and Turnbow. Romanski's my sleeper so far. I like that the top 3 pitchers are all good with the bat too. With Lawrie being only 18 they have a while to develop him, so I'm not so worried about Salome and Lucroy. I'll want to see Lucroy in AA next year before I fully anoint him with top-5 prospect status. The Nashville catching rotation next year will likely be Salome and Palmisano - who would've thunk that five years ago? Then Lucroy at AA and Lawrie probably at West Virginia. It's a good problem to have when you are worried about too many prospects hitting the bigs at the same time.

Hey, the Giants DIDN'T make a wacky pick! First time for everything. Lincecum, Aardsma, Cain, Lowery, Hennessey, Bonser... I'd say they've done OK, especially considering that all but Lincecum were drafted in the latter part of the first round. Stop clicking on Kendall! Priceless. I've got 2 options for Lawrie A) Lawrie's salt I'm hoping that he earns the nickname "Prime Rib" more than "The Salt".

I don't put it past our government to do nothing about the situation. I don't necessarily know that it is the government's job to do anything about it. There is no "right" to oil or gas. They are commodities just like anything else, and go by supply and demand. Right now demand is skyrocketing because of the rapidly growing economies of countries like China, India, Russia, etc.; US oil consumption has been fairly steady and we are using less and less of a percentage of the global oil consumption. If gas gets too expensive, find other means. Live close to work. Move to a warmer climate where you can bike to work most of the time. Buy an electric golf cart to make short trips with (one of my neighbors has one - it has license plates and everything). Carpool with coworkers. In major cities the government should push for public transportation, but this is a democracy so people can vote against the implementation of things like light rail. These people therefore have no right to complain about the cost of gas. The other problem with public transportation is that people don't respect it; people trash it, it is not kept clean, so most people don't want to take it. Vote for public transportation, use it, and keep it clean and everyone wins. The funny thing about capitalism is that it will correct itself to gravitate towards what is most profitable; if the price of oil keeps rising, the relative cost and profitability of using alternatives will rise and society will gravitate towards other means. More people will use public transportation. More shippers will use rail. Companies will invest in and implement more alternative energies. I've noticed that traffic has been significantly lighter the last month or so here in LA; not sure if that is related to school getting out (lots of commuters to the colleges) or the price of gas, but I have been getting home in record time lately. There is a big plus to high gas prices in big cities - less congestion. I will grant you that the government does have a little responsibility - why solar panels are not mandatory on all buildings in the southwest is beyond me. But for the most part it is capitalism and supply and demand.

"George always said, 'The kids who want to get started playing, those are the kids you want,'" Zduriencik said. "I don't think there's anybody in the big leagues who regrets what he signed for." That's what the Brewers offer most of all: a realistic chance to get to the big leagues. A player who signs with Milwaukee likely won't find his progress blocked by an expensive free-agent acquisition. The Brewers have drafted well. This time, they must draft well and often. An interesting last couple of comments. I think this means that 1) it is unlikely that the Brewers will draft someone who will threaten to go to/stay in school - I think they will interview potential picks and find out how eager they are to start playing ball, whether that be a HS kid (Fielder, Jeffress) or a college kid (Braun, LaPorta); and 2) the last point is an interesting selling point for the team, however now with so many young players who could be around for a long time, particularly at the corner OF and 1B positions, that could be a tough sell. A HS or JUCO kid may look and say, I won't play for MIL for a long time because of Fielder/Braun/Hart/LaPorta/Gillespie/Errecart/Nelson, so they may not sign and take their chances next year. But the reverse is true for pitching - a pitching prospect may look at the Brewers and see that there isn't much standing between them and the big leagues and be eager to sign. So even though their philosophy is BPA, I would look for them add a lot of pitching and not much corner OF early in the draft.

"George always said, 'The kids who want to get started playing, those are the kids you want,'" Zduriencik said. "I don't think there's anybody in the big leagues who regrets what he signed for." That's what the Brewers offer most of all: a realistic chance to get to the big leagues. A player who signs with Milwaukee likely won't find his progress blocked by an expensive free-agent acquisition. The Brewers have drafted well. This time, they must draft well and often. An interesting last couple of comments. I think this means that 1) it is unlikely that the Brewers will draft someone who will threaten to go to/stay in school - I think they will interview potential picks and find out how eager they are to start playing ball, whether that be a HS kid (Fielder, Jeffress) or a college kid (Braun, LaPorta); and 2) the last point is an interesting selling point for the team, however now with so many young players who could be around for a long time, particularly at the corner OF and 1B positions, that could be a tough sell. A HS or JUCO kid may look and say, I won't play for MIL for a long time because of Fielder/Braun/Hart/LaPorta/Gillespie/Errecart/Nelson, so they may not sign and take their chances next year. But the reverse is true for pitching - a pitching prospect may look at the Brewers and see that there isn't much standing between them and the big leagues and be eager to sign. So even though their philosophy is BPA, I would look for them add a lot of pitching and not much corner OF early in the draft.

tjones, thanks for the post - it takes a lot of courage to post your feelings on a message board when you are related to a player on a team. As you can see, with any aspect of society, some people express themselves with more tact than others, and that is especially true on anonymous message boards where people can hide behind an avatar and a fictitious name. I think the vast majority of people here want Bill on the team, myself included. You made some good points, and if you check the thread earlier I said it is healthier to express your frustrations than keep them bottled up. Bill isn't the only player in the league who gets shuffled around; Chone Figgins and Kevin Youkilis come to mind off the top of my head. Is Bill the only player on the team who is/was struggling? Absolutely not. Unfortunately he happens to play the position that Branyan plays, and the Brewers were in desperate need of a hot LH bat. If Branyan played 2B it would probably be Weeks who is sitting; if he played CF it would probably be Cameron who would be sitting; if he played SS it would probably be Hardy who is sitting. It's not just what Bill is doing, it is also where Branyan can play. Figgins and Youkilis have something else in common - they have World Series rings. And their versatility and willingness to take one for the team are big reasons why they have those rings. We need that from Bill the rest of this season. The team is rolling now - they've won 8 of 9. 24 other guys in that locker room need Bill the rest of this year. Let's ride this wave and sort this out after the season is over.

In an earlier post a comment was made that the U.S. assembly plants for foreign/Japanese car companies pay lower wages and benefits. That is not true. They pay the same wages and benefits; they just aren't saddled with the liability of the benefits to thousands of retirees. (Not to generalize or stereotype, but the American factory worker on average is not someone who eats healthy, exercises regularly, doesn't smoke, and drinks in moderation, so those health care benefits are not cheap.) Also, the factories owned by non-U.S. based car companies are newer and more recently built, so statistics may show that the average worker at those plants makes less than the average at a Big Three plant, but that is because the non-U.S. based companies' plants haven't been around as long so they don't have people who have been there 30 years (and thus accumulated more wage increases, vacation, etc.). They technically may make less at those plants, but that is because of tenure. On a per-hour basis, equal tenure, they pay the same wages and benefits. Edit - it won't make Janesville a ghost town, but it will have a big impact. A lot of restaurants, contractors, services, etc., rely on a lot of business from those workers. So it is going to have a ripple effect that will impact a lot more than 3000 people.