LouisEly

Hey now, don't go talking about my avatar! A top prospect he is not, and Hammond is definitely ahead of him as far as leftys go. I'm not so sure about Miller, as his WHIP is in the same neighborhood as Welch suggesting that Miller has been more lucky than Welch as far as ERA, and Welch is a year and a half younger than Miller at the same level (and a year younger than Hammond). While Miller strikes more guys out, Welch last year in the FSL allowed the fewest baserunners per game by a starter, and had the second fewest walks per nine innings of a starter also. Welch is also two years younger than Narron. Welch probably tops out as a #4 starter at best, but if he can maintain that control and limit baserunners he may have a shot.

Bummer last night, we all knew there was no chance once the rain started 90 minutes or so before game time, yet in true Red Sox fashion, they had us sit until 9:00 PM while they cashed in on concession sales. Classic Mass. Here's my thoughts on the weekend in Boston: 1) There are some places that you go and fall in love with and want to go back. That being said, if I never go to Boston again in my life I probably won't be that disappointed. 2) Seemed like a lot of dudes running around the back bay at night there. Either that, or I just did not notice the women. Probably because very few of them made any effort to try to be "hot". I can't recall seeing any women with streaks, highlights, layers, or anything sexy with their hair, or much for low-cut tops or showing off the cleavage or tans (via tanning beds or tan-in-a-can). I didn't expect it to be LA, but I'd say even Madison has an edge in the female population (and it is a fair comparison because Boston is a college town). And for being fairly plain, they weren't very engaging. Seemed like people went out in their "clicks" to hang out with their "clicks" and not meet people. 3) If I never see Youkilis or Pedroia again it will be fine with me. Youkilis might have made the Top 10 Most Hated list; not to Sheffield, Bonds, or Zambrano status, but somewhere around Kirby Puckett and Derrek Lee status. 4) The one thing Boston has going for it - a Dunkin' Donuts on every corner. Chocolate glazed razed or chocolate stick... mmmm. Gimme that over Starbucks/Coffee Bean on every corner any day. 5) My roommate, who is from Connecticut, asked me how I liked Boston. I said it was OK. When he asked why I said because the women weren't very attractive. He said, "Welcome to the East Coast." 6) I was amazed by how many people, mostly Boston fans, who stopped me to compliment me on my "Tropical Tuesday" jersey. One guy literally was pulling all of his friends over to look at it. I was hoping more chicks would notice, but again it was pretty much just dudes. But very complimentary, with some saying it was the coolest jersey they had ever seen in their life. That made the weekend tolerable. 7) I think I know how I will make my millions. I will start a chain of health clubs in Boston that are geared towards women that have workout facilities, spin/pilates classes, a spa, tanning beds, and hair/makeup stylists with stylists flown in from LA to train them, all under one roof. The health club membership gets you discounts at the tanning beds and hair/makeup salons. There is a need.

Yeah that's just great, but what do we do when Bill Hall's bat catches fire like it usually does at some point and Branyan starts racking up the K's? Now we have to try and get him through waivers again and we just wasted a major league contract on him. Who cares? They signed Branyan for emergency purposes and to take a gamble; now it's time to see if that gamble pays off. If it doesn't, then DFA him - if he doesn't hit in the majors then no one will sign him and if they do then I guess they resign Abraham Nunez. Who cares about Nashville. Their purpose is to feed the ML club in times of need.

On a side note, no offense to the bloggers on this board, but society is at a pretty sad state where some putz with a website somewhere who makes a claim about something that is going to happen makes the news. Anyone can hide behind the "anonymous sources close to ____" shield. Don't get me started in a rant about irresponsible journalism.

It would certainly be good news for our sales for Yosted t-shirts for the time being. "I'm not motivated to buy one of those "Yosted" t-shirts at this time."

Gillespie is definitely doing his part to answer questions about whether he'll have enough power to play the corner outfield. Is Gillespie athletic enough to possibly play CF? I don't know - just asking those who are more familiar with him.

FTJ beat me to it - Ramirez has been pitching great and is a lefty and with the open spots on the 40 why not? The only thing I can think of is with the sheer quantity of leftys Boston has they may need a lefty who is a long reliever who can go 2-3 innings or more, especially with the DH.

I was just going to say the same thing. Normally a guy with a .891 OPS in Huntsville is one we'd be going nuts over, but with three other guys on the team blowing that away it's just a "ho, hum" performance. Eight dingers for Gillespie so far and we're only in the middle of May.

And after todays game:Stetter has 7H, 11BB, and 16K in 11.2 IP with a 3.09 ERA, and a 1.54WHIP McClung has 14H, 12BB, and 20K in 17.1 IP with a 3.63 ERA and 1.50 WHIP Funny how as the numbers get larger, McClung doesn't look as bad and Stetter doesn't look any better than McClung. If you're going to say that McClung walks too many guys, then what does that make Stetter who has one less walk in 5.2 less IP?

So I just looked at the website for Crossroads and I am down for meeting there because 1) the pictures of the girls at the bottom of the website, and b) any place that has Beirut tournaments mid-week has got to be a good place. As mentioned earlier, before is my preference because there's a good chance that we may not be in such a happy mood after. Then again, that also means we may be in serious need of alcohol.

Well, there's certainly a glut of ML-AA OFs/1Bs right now with Fielder, Braun, Hart, Gwynn, Gamel, LaPorta, Gillespie, Errecart, Brantley, Nelson, Katin, etc., (not including stopgaps like Cameron, Kapler, Dillon, etc.), so I think the poster was referring to moving a couple of these guys for some pitching. I'd still like to see what the Giants would offer in return for Nelson, Iribarren, and one or two of Errecart/Gillespie/Katin.

I'd rather have Crabbe as our AAA utility man than Abraham Nunez. If the Pads won't give us anything decent, let's trade Nunez for Crabbe.

They may cheat, but they have an absolutely gorgeous campus. Yes, but go three blocks off campus and you are in the middle of the 'hood. Not a place to stray off-campus after dark.

Remember, he is in the People's Republic of Madison, where no sports news other than UW athletics and the Packers is deemed important. That being said, I sure as heck hope this dude does his homework about UW recruits or he will be in a world of hurt.

Can one of the mods please push-pin this until Friday so we can coordinate? Friday I will be in the right field box, section 10, box 97, row TT, seat 5 Saturday I will be in the Loge box, section 29, box 156, row EE, seat 1 (aisle - yay!) I will be wearing my Helena Brewers Tropical Tuesday jersey, #73, unless it is raining and I need to wear a jacket. Someone suggested in the other thread meeting before or after the games, and had a good suggestion about meeting somewhere a few blocks from the stadium where it won't be as crowded. I vote before the games; any suggestions on where would be welcome. Friday I will be touring Boston and doing sightseeing and will probably stop by Cheers; if you would like to join me let me know. Thursday I will be at the Hampton Inn by the airport; Friday and Saturday I will be at the Hilton Back Bay. I still have the availability to share a hotel room if someone is in need. Email me and we can negotiate how much.

I'll be really mad if they demote Parra or Villanueva after such a short period of time. But they have options remaining so they can send them down to work on their mechanics and/or get their confidence back without exposing them to waivers. That can give them time to evaluate DiFelice and/or Weaver for a couple of starts. My preference is DiFelice because of consistency and K:BB ratio.

When Hall and Weeks are below the Mendoza line, then Dillon needs to give these guys a couple of days off if nothing else to get their head right. Why Dillon didn't spell either one this series is a head-scratcher, and more ammunition in the anti-Yost camp.

1) I don't think it is Melvin's fault that most of the team is well off their 3-year average performance. On paper everyone was praising the offensive juggernaut that he had put together. He put together a team that has five potential 20/20 guys (Weeks, Braun, Hart, Cameron, Hall) and two others who combined for roughly 80 HRs last year (Fielder, Hardy). You have to look at the coaches and players there. 2) Of his off-season acquisitions, two were carrying the team for a while offensively (Kendall, Kapler) and the jury is still out on the other (Cameron); as for pitching he acquired, two have been very good (Torres, Mota) with the Mota for Estrada looking like a major fleecing so far, one the jury is still out on (Riske - but he has only given up one earned run in his last 8.1 IP so he is settling down), and one is looking like a bust (Gagne). So he hit on four, two are questionable, and only one was a bad acquisition. Everyone will focus on the one that the most money was given to, but most of his off-season acquisitions have been successes so far. 3) The only bad deal was the Suppan signing, IMO. Gagne was only a one-year deal without a lot of other options. The rest of the division hasn't made real good decisions on their closers either, as Isringhausen, Wood, and Valverde all have robust ERAs so far, and Cordero has given up a lot of walks that luckily so far haven't hurt him (10 BB in 14 IP). 4) Melvin's job is to acquire talent. It is the coaches jobs to develop it. Eveland was like Ron Bellylard - both came up in the organization and had poor work ethics and poor performances, so there was no reason to keep them. Sometimes players need a wake-up call by being dumped before they get their head straight. I've made my thoughts about Maddux known several times, and Eveland is not the only young pitcher who did not develop under Maddux. 5) The only criticism so far of Melvin is that other than the Inman/Garrison/Thatcher deal he has not been willing to part with even marginal prospects for talent. That deal was criticized heavily, but this year those players are not exactly lighting it up, and the draft pick they will get for Linebrink may turn out better than any of those three they gave up.

It probably has to do with timing and being this early in the season if anything. It is so early that everyone is still in it if they can catch fire; so why take chances with a gas can like Turnbow who can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on any given night. Had this been in July or August when teams know what their fate is (and most of his salary paid), then someone who is out of it (or a contender who is really desperate) would more than likely have claimed him.

Wow, that is a really helpful tool that I will bookmark. I have had more than a few times I have come racing home to try and get on-line to figure out what a song was but by the time my computer started up it was too late, and they never respond to emails when I ask about a title/artist. Thank you very much for posting that. Don't think it will help with the original search though as I think I heard them during a DJ mix session (Vonyc Sessions, Judge Jules, Pete Tong, etc.). But a very helpful tool.

Well, I've tried this before here with about as much information and got lucky so I'll try it again. I'm trying to figure out the title/artist of two songs that I have heard in the last 3-4 months, so they are relatively new. Both fall under the trance/progressive house category and I heard them on Sirius 33 (Area 33) during different mix sessions from DJs. Which ones I don't know because I heard them in my car, and my factory-installed satellite radio does not show title/artist/program info. Both songs feature female vocalists. I've done searches on what I think are the lyrics but with no results coming up on Ask or Google. So if you're deep into trance/progressive house, I could use your help here. Song #1 - suspected lyrics: - chorus repeats something like "I love the night" - other chorus lyrics repeated: "Everybody wants to be with you, and everybody want to ____ with you" (couldn't make out what the ___ is) - other lyrics: "Night by night, day by day, just leave me alone and let me ____ away" - this one I have heard more often than #2 Song #2 - suspected lyrics: - chorus contains lyrics "then you wish you found something... now you wish you found anything" (that's all I have) - only heard it once, about 3-4 months ago If the lyrics sound familiar please let me know. Thanks!

Villy and Parra have options, so I'd prefer that they figure out how they can "regress back to the mean" in AAA than continue to struggle. I don't know about Weaver, but it is DiFelice time. His sample in AAA is getting awful big, and it is awful consistent. Time to see if he has it while they give Villy and/or Parra a chance to rebuild their confidence in AAA. Also, Maddux doesn't get a pass here. I've heard before that it is frustrating for young players to work with him because he is constantly tinkering with them. No first-hand proof, just what I've heard second hand. But if you think about it, how many promising young pitchers have come up the last 4-5 years, and how many of them have panned out? Not many young pitchers have gotten better under his tutelage.

The decision to fire Yost is only half of the equation. The other half is his replacement. Certainly a mid season replacement means someone on the current staff I don't see many managers that will be available that will have that kind of experience 1a) Bobby Valentine 1b) Jack McKeon (with Frank Kremblas as bench coach) 2) Frank Kremblas (managed most of the young guys at some point) 3) Phil Garner - bring back the 'stache! (All is forgiven, Phil.) 4) Bob Brenly Four of those five have managed in the World Series this decade. And none of them are employed. Mike Hargrove is unemployed as well, and he managed a team to the World Series 11 years ago.

Errecart was selected for the Hawaii Fall League, along with Salome and Gamel, so the Brewers brass definitely thinks something of him. He was mashing in Hawaii (albeit a small sample) until he broke his wrist on a HBP. Salome's OBP at Brevard and West Virginia was nothing to write home about. Perhaps that's the reason he is batting 8th - teams will pitch around him to get to the pitcher so he will need to learn to lay off pitches off the plate at the #8 spot.

Why wouldn't Salome bat 5th instead of 8th in that line up? No offense to the other guys, but Salome is arguably the 3rd best all around hitter, why not have him follow Laporta. Errecart and Gillespie are much better hitters than you give them credit for. Gillespie had a similar OPS at Brevard with a lower SLG but a higher OBP. Salome's was on a much smaller sample due to the suspension. Salome may be a better hitter than Errecart, but I would not go so far as to say he is a better hitter than Gillespie.