LouisEly

Hendrickson had no fastball Inman doesn't have much of a fastball either. Whomever said that the move might be Parra pitching the first game of the doubleheader and then getting sent back down after the game and activating Linebrink for the 2nd game might be right on. There's other options too - like activating Linebrink for tonight and sending Weeks down, then have Dillon in the dugout waiting to be activated after game one tomorrow when Parra gets sent down (I don't think Gross and Gwynn have been down long enough to get recalled) - then Graffy is your starting 2B and Dillon and Counsell are your backup infielders. Dillon would only be up for a couple of days until Gwynn and or Gross have been down for the mandatory time. And Weeks... he could use some time in AAA to refocus and find his approach. The Brewers would only have 11 position players for two games, but it would allow Linebrink to join them right away. Or they could just DFA Spurling.

Some other July 26th birthday notables: Sandra Bullock, Dorothy Hamill, Mick Jagger, Stanley Kubrick, Gracie Allen, Jason Robards, Blake Edwards, Marjorie Lord, Aldous Huxley, Joe Smith (G. S. Warriors), Bubba Wells, Laura Leighton (Melrose Place), Jody Reed (former Brewer), Kevin Spacey, Dorothy Hammill, Roger Taylor (Queen), Mary Jo Kopechne, Hoyt Wilhelm, Vivian Vance, Carl Jung, George Bernard Shaw. That's a lot better than me. All I have is Casper Weinberger. Happy B-day Phear Inc.!

As usual, when I go away for a couple of days I miss everything. My reaction: I think the people that don't like this deal are being really shortsighted. Making the playoffs is a financial windfall for teams. It could mean the difference of $10 to 15 million in next year?s budget. Throw in 2 comp picks that will be higher than where Inman was drafted, and it?s a win-win deal. There you go. In three lines, X summed it up, particularly the last sentence. If those two picks turn out to be another Sheets/Hardy, Braun/Gallardo, or Fielder/Gwynn, or will you be disappointed? he's going to help us in a few days, when his wife gives birth Maybe that?s why he has been a little distracted lately and not pitched well? Last 3 years his road numbers were better than home numbers Well, there you go. Tell me exactly how many pitchers in the Brewers organization over the past 10 years have come up and had solid careers? (This will be fun.) Nick Neugebauer? oh wait, JM Gold? oh wait, Dana Eveland? oh wait, Jose Capellan? oh wait, Jorge De La Rosa? oh wait, Ben Hendrickson? oh wait, Chris Saenz? oh wait, Mike Jones? oh wait, Ruben Quevedo? oh wait, Luis Martinez? oh wait, Valerio De Los Santos? oh wait, Ben Diggins? oh wait, Kyle Peterson? oh wait, Jeff D?Amico? oh wait, Allen Levrault? oh wait, Steve Woodard? oh wait, Angel Miranda? There you go - the last 10 years. How many ?studs? has the Brewer farm system produced in the last 10 years? Ben Sheets, and perhaps Yo Gallardo, but it?s too early to tell. Whomever said 10% is right on; for every Sheets and Gallardo? there?s 10 of the above. He has yet to lead us wrong. Jeff Suppan Johnny Estrada Very, very wrong. And so far the deal with Arizona has been Doug Davis for Johnny Estrada and Claudio Vargas. I think the difference between Davis and Vargas has been minimal, and much less than the difference between Estrada and Miller/Moeller being the primary catcher, and I think everyone will agree that Miller is too old to handle the everyday catching duties. As for Suppan, he may have overpaid for him, but he hasn?t missed a start. Sheets won't be back until September.... August & the remainder of July are crucial as well. A slight understatement. The lead is down to two games folks. They need to stop the bleeding now.

WOAH CONTNNU It took me a second to get it... classic. If you don't get it, go to the original post in the WOAH SOLVDD thread.

I'd find it hard to believe that eating out 3-4 times a week in the non smoking section of a restaurant would be all that hazardous to your lungs. Milwaukee isn't Madison. Non-smoking sections haven't existed everywhere for the last 25 years; in fact, 25 years ago I'd say that non-smoking sections were the exception and not the norm. And there is the possibility of a drink at the bar before or after dinner...

On a related note, I think a significant reason Braun is having such a phenomenal season is because he is batting in front of Prince. Thus he is being "pitched to" and getting more pitches to hit because they don't want to pitch to Prince with runners on base. With that in mind, I think Braun is starting to build that same fear into opponents, so I think Weeks could actually benefit from hitting second as opposed to first. Have Hart lead off, then Weeks - that may make teams to pitch to Weeks more, and thus cut down on the number of pitches he waves at out of the strike zone because they are pitching around him to get to the pitcher when he hits in the 8th spot. On that same token, Hart has the bat to do some damage hitting in front of Braun as well. So either way I think Weeks and Hart should be 1/2, and JJ has cooled down (not only in OBP, but his SLG is now well under .500 and his OPS is under .800). JJ could benefit from being in the 8th spot, thus drawing more walks to get his OBP up. The beauty of a guy like Hart is that he has the speed to hit at the top of the order, but also the power to hit in the middle.

He has helped people like Kolb, Capuano, Turnbow and Wise. Bush has shown consistent improvement. He helped Kolb and Turnbow, but then both regressed. He helped Davis, but then he regressed. So far he has helped Wise. But he also failed to help Dana Eveland, Ben Hendrickson, JDLR, Jose Capellan, Zach Jackson & Dennis Sarfate (so far). He has helped several pitchers, however I see an alarming trend of young pitchers that have not developed. CV has been good so far, and it's too early to tell with Yo and Manny, but other than that I have a hard time thinking of a pitcher who has come up through they system who has done reasonably well at the major league level. Some of them certainly had some impressive minor league numbers and some talent... the question is why has Maddux not been able to help them?

Yost really messed up by pitching Wise three innings yesterday so he wasn't available last night to pitch the 7th. Wise can't go two days in a row anyway, so it doesn't matter whether they pitch him one inning or three. So might as well pitch him for three. And as for Shouse, check out how he has done in his last 11-12 outings and see if this "change of role" has been bad or good.

Can they send Balfour down? I thought he was out of options. The rules may be different, as Spurling was on the bereavement list. The question is whether or not someone who is called up because someone is placed on the bereavement list counts as an option when they are sent back down. I think technically Balfour was called up to replace Sheets, but if he was in fact called up to replace Spurling and a callup because of going on the bereavement list does not count as an option, then they can send Balfour down. BTW, Balfour got CV out of the 7th, and Turnbow allowed Balfours two runners to score yesterday, so he hasn't been as bad as people perceive.

Lefty on the mound.. so BOOOOO MENCH. Are you kidding me? Mench has a 1.376 OPS this month, Jenkins has a .614 OPS in July. You should be THANKFUL it is a lefty.

I just noticed this, but according to the schedule, the Cubs play Milwaukee six games at Miller Park, but nine games in Wrigley: Cub's schedule I thought the schedules were supposed to be balanced. How do the Cubs get nine at home vs. the Brewers, but only get six at Miller Park? On a related note, the Cubs are finishing a stretch where they have 10 in a row at home and are home for 16 of 23, with the seven on the road being at Pittsburgh and at Washington. And the three in Pitt they didn't have to face Snell or Gorzelanny, whereas the Brewers had to face them right after they got snubbed for the All-Star game. No wonder the Cubs are surging. Then again, it would help if the Brewers could win at Pittsburgh and Washington. The Cubs are drawing every break this year. The schedule, the pitching matchups, then yesterday they score a run which turned out to be the difference when the pitchers signs got crossed and the ball riccocheted off the catcher's shoulder and they couldn't find it, allowing Cliff Floyd to score from 2nd. Oh, and the Giants sit Bonds for most of the series too. Unreal.

I don't understand why so many want Vargas to be Traded? Because he is perhaps the best option that can be used to get someone better. Most teams don't want to give up a good player unless they get one in return who is major league ready and can step in and fill that position (like last year - including Mench in the Lee deal, and getting Vargas in the deal for Davis). Vargas, packaged with some prospects, can get a better starter because the other team gets a guy who is ML-ready and can adequately fill that starter role, and the prospects offset the value of the upgrade. You're right - Vargas has not been bad at all for a 5th starter. But he can be used with prospects to get a #2/#3 level starter.

Actually I was thinking about Matt Morris. He's only 32, and has an ERA around 3.60 this year which is pretty darned good. I have a feeling that Morris is going to get traded because the Giants have a good young core of starters (Lowry, Cain, Lincecum), a lot of money invested in Zito, and the rest of the team is older than Moses. Do they have any starters under the age of 32? They are in dire need of youth, and Morris and Bonds are the guys who they can trade to get it. Unfortunately because they are so old they would want young guys that are ML ready, not AA or A ball prospects. They have Wynn and Fred Lewis, so I don't think Gwynn is appealing. I don't know that Brad Nelson, Brendan Katin, Alcides Escobar, and Hernan Irribarren are good enough, or the glut of A/A+ OFs are close to ready enough to get the deal done. But they need some power in the OF and 1B and some good middle-infield prospects, as Visquel, Durham, and Aurilia are on their last legs. I would certainly offer Nelson, Sarfate, Escobar, and Irribarren and see what the Giants say. Before you laugh too hard, the last couple of years teams have been very unwilling to trade top prospects, so those four may be one of the better deals the Giants are offered.

For those who haven't noticed, over his last 11 appearances Shouse has thrown 11.1 innings, given up 4 hits, 2 walks, and one unearned run, and now over the course of the season has a 2.59 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. Those who called for his ousting were a bit premature; I think it is a result of getting regular work instead of being used just as a LOOGY.

4-6 weeks = go get someone. Sure, the youth has talent, but as tight as this pennant race is they could use some experience to stabilize them. In 4-6 weeks this 3.5 game lead could easily be a 5.5 game deficit if Capuano and Vargas don't get it together and Yo/Parra start getting tired arms. The time is NOW. Seriously, how much are guys like Moss, Escobar, Irribarren, Dillard, Nelson ever going to contribute behind Hall/Gwynn, Hardy, Weeks, Yo/CV/Parra, Hart/Fielder? Ship a couple of these mid-level guys off for a Band-Aid that can hold everything together for the next 4-6 weeks.

Ugghhh.... Ben's supposed torn tendon (and out for up to 6 weeks), coupled with Yo and Parra rapidly approaching their innings limits, coupled with the Cubs acquiring Jason Kendall, coupled with upcoming doubleheaders... ... time to turn some of these prospects for an arm. Dillard, Moss, Escobar, Irribarren, Nelson, Fermaint, Sarfate, any A/A+ OF not named Gillespie... whatever you can get for them. Go get an arm Dougie. (You picked the wrong week to sell Oxspring to Japan.)

My answer: One of Jon Garland or Javier Vasquez. The White Sox are 10 games under .500, their offense is horrible and Mench would be an upgrade over what they have in LF (their only OF whose OPS even comes close to Mench is Podsednik if you can believe that). Mench and Vargas's salaries would cut the cost of adding either of those two in half (if they could take Dessens off the DL and throw him in, even better), and the playoff revenue would more than pay for the increase in salary. Perhaps the Sox could include some cash. Throw in one of the glut of A/A+ OFs (Ford/Cain/Brantley/Fermaint) and a pitcher (Dillard? McClendon? Garrison?). I'm not sure what prospects it would take, but the White Sox, with their glut of starting pitching and dismal offense, would make a good trading partner. Vargas fills their SP spot, Mench is an upgrade in LF over Mackowiak, and they get some young talent. Milwaukee solidifies the rotation, and the salary exchange is reasonably close. Thoughts?

Splitter's got it right. Bush has been about the only consistent starter as of late, with three of his last four starts quality starts (and rescuing the bullpen in the extra innings game vs. Houston). And Bush historically has been stronger the 2nd half of the season, and put up very good numbers in August and September of last year. I'd look strongly at that deal in the offseason, but not now. Too many question marks at SP. The time is now, not next year, and at 3.5 up on the Cubs, the post-season this year is far from clinched.

Michael Brantley, while hits much less extra base hits have been hard to come by lately, has 50 BB and 35 K on the season so far. And Drew Anderson, not so long ago looking up at the Mendoza line, has crept up to .256 BA. Still a ways to go with the OPS on the year so far, but moving in the right direction. Hammond has been solid now in his last eight outings... hopefully he's corrected whatever was messed up. Nice to see Goetz with a strong start so far in Helena... perhaps he can get back on the prospect radar.

I went by a park with a couple of little league size diamonds a couple of weeks ago on a weeknight in San Francisco and it was a ghost town. Then again, most people in SF either don't want to have kids (D.I.N.K.s), can't afford to (since you can't find a house for under $1M), or can't have kids (same sex).

One diphenhydramine and one sublingual melatonin (dissolves under the tongue, roughly $5 for 100 of them at GNC) an hour before bed usually works for me (and I'm doing it right now). Two diphenhydramine (recommended dose) and I feel groggy the next day.

This is China we are talking about and they historically been control freaks. This is a country that just executed their equivalent of the head of the Food & Drug administration for taking bribes to allow dangerous drugs and food ingredients to come to market. Not a country that I would mess around with what the government tells me to do.

I don't have these ones in particular (I looked at them a few weeks ago), but I do have the Reef sandals that have the bottle opener underneath. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif As for the weight, the heel is somewhat elevated, so it pushes the weight forward in your feet. When I wear them for a long time, sometimes the "thong" will cut me between my big toe and 2nd toe because the elevated heel pushes my weight forward. So weight on the flask is not an issue.

Bottom line - you can't have this type of performance consistently when you are in a pennant race. Nine straight losses when Cappy starts (yes, two of them aren't his fault, but that means seven of them are). If he is hurt, admit it, because going out there when you are 75% is only going to hurt the team. Put Cappy back on the DL, start Yo, and bring up Balfour; otherwise, figure out what is wrong, and figure it out quickly.

He would be a nice bat to have on the bench in September.