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gregmag

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Everything posted by gregmag

  1. gregmag
    Ray King, ladies and gentlemen . . . Walks! We like walks. Greg.
  2. gregmag
    Wow . . . he really fell off the face of the Earth after '97. His minor league numbers up to that point didn't suck at all. Does anybody know whether he got hurt? If he's healthy, he's actually the rare type of player for whom a spring training look-see might provide meaningful information. Greg.
  3. gregmag
    Nobody outside Indianapolis cares if the Indians "gell," win, or entertain their fans. MLB's antitrust exemption sucks, but as long as it's in force the AAA team is just a food source for the big league team. Every decision made about the Indy roster should be about what's best for the Milwaukee Brewers. At this point, I have no complaints about DM's roster management, because the Brewers have a lot of present and future holes to fill. Bring in as many potentially useful players as possible for the spring and figure out who we can use. Greg.
  4. gregmag
    I think Danzig nailed it. Pitchers develop unpredictably. Having a large number of talented guys with upside is the best thing a team can do (short of drafting Mark Prior). This year, with a bunch of solid pitching prospects at the higher levels, will give us a much clearer picture of the pitching situation (say that five times fast). Also, if we get a top college righty out of the draft, we'll have a pitching-side Weeks -- a marquee guy to top a solid group. Greg.
  5. gregmag
    I've heard that some Latin American players falsify their ages, but if they're going to do that, they should probably make sure they falsify their dates of birth to match (6/11/84 => 19 y.o.). Happily taking cheap shots at the people who do the real work around here, Greg.
  6. gregmag
    What about Weeks? The guy is a horsehide magnet. He doesn't need to walk to have a strong OBP; hell, he hardly needs to hit. Greg.
  7. gregmag
    No, no, no! We must send Rickie to High Desert! Every prospect must . . . proceed . . . one . . . painful . . . level . . . at . . . a . . . time. Sorry, I'm just feeling as cranky as everybody else today. Greg.
  8. gregmag
    A utility IF who will take a walk? God bless him . . . Nice to see Ford and Childers back as well. Greg.
  9. gregmag
    I'm sorry if somebody covered this and I missed it, but what the hell is the deal with Weeks' HBPs? I don't have stats handy, but it seems like he's constantly getting plunked. It's risen to the freakish level of a serious on-base skill / injury risk. We're not talking about a Don Baylor-esque human tank here; Rickie just isn't that big a target. Does he hang all the way over the plate? Is he slow to get out of the way? Does he ever get p.o.'d about beanings? Eyewitnesses please reply. Greg.
  10. gregmag
    I had a fun moment there, before I realized that someone had just forgotten to boldface "K. Johnson" after "HBP," when I had come to the disturbing conclusion that the only way Kade could have scored his run was that the Saguros had put him in as a pinch runner for the shortstop. Greg.
  11. gregmag
    So let me see if I have this straight: Players who cannot be lost in the Rule 5 draft at all: the 40-man major league roster, plus players drafted too recently to qualify for the Rule 5 draft. Players who can only be lost in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft: the 30 players on the AAA roster as of the Rule 5 draft date (excluding any who were drafted too recently to qualify for the Rule 5, but the team will bump any such players down to lower levels before Rule 5 day so that it can protect the maximum number of Rule 5-eligible players at AAA). Players who can be lost at either the major or minor league stage of the Rule 5 draft (which means that teams would wait to take them in the lower-risk minor league portion): Everyone else in the system -- below AAA on Rule 5 day -- who was drafted far enough in the past to qualify for the Rule 5 draft. If I've got all of that right, then a key piece of information is how long a player has to be in the system before he qualifies for the Rule 5. Could someone please explain that? Thanks. Greg.
  12. gregmag
    Clancy, with all due respect, that's fiction. On what basis do you think Jenkins would have made a difference, singlehandedly, of four to six games in a month and a half? If you extend that to a full season, then Jenkins -- singlehandedly -- is about twenty wins better than Brady Clark. So you're saying that a healthy Jenkins, alone, can make the difference between losing 100 games and finishing at .500? Please explain. Greg.
  13. gregmag
    I certainly agree that you can't assume a player will do something he hasn't done yet. But you also can't simply say "He hasn't done [x] yet, so we must assume he cannot do [x] until he proves otherwise." Try this: somebody makes the Brewers an offer for Gwynn next month. Wouldn't they need to make the best assessment possible of his potential to develop greater power? There's no path of least resistance; you can't assume he'll develop, but you can't assume he won't. The same principle holds if, say, you're trying to decide whether Prince Fielder's potential helps to justify trading Richie Sexson. You can't just stop the discussion by saying "Fielder hasn't hit a single major league home run, so we would be fools to trade Sexson." You have to look at predictors of hitters' development that have some value and draw the likeliest conclusions. Greg.
  14. gregmag
    One more thing I forgot -- Clancy, for 2004-2006 corner OF prospects, don't forget: Brad Nelson (probably AA next year, perhaps moving up to AAA later in the season): as far as I can tell from the varied reports, he was at least vaguely plausible in his first year in LF. He still looks like a good bet to hit a lot. Jason Belcher (presumably AA). Anthony Gwynn (A+ or AA)/Steve Moss (A or A+?): Somebody is going to have to move off CF eventually. If any two of Krynzel, Gwynn, or Moss work out, and one of them flashes some power, we have a corner OF candidate. D.J. Clark (AA, possible move up later). Greg.
  15. gregmag
    With Hall, OBP is the question. I agree with David that we can't make too much of Hall's MLB performance, but if you look at his combined performance this year, he appears to be a 23 year-old who can hit with some authority. Guys that age do tend to develop, if they stay healthy; Pat Listach is only one extreme. But Hall needs to learn patience, and that's iffy. A lot of guys can't do that, go from being hackers to having a clue about the strike zone. Hall is young enough that there's hope, but if he can't master the strike zone, he's a lot less likely to develop as a hitter. I don't mind in principle the idea of moving middle IFs to corner OF positions, but we don't need to be in any hurry to do it. It's a nice luxury to have a lot of talent at the up-the-middle positions. Weeks looks like a good bet to turn into Gary Sheffield (the player, not the person). As for Hall, his ability to play CF makes him a great utility option at a minimum . . . I'd say if he develops, he probably ends up at 2B if Weeks moves, but corner OF isn't out of the question. Speaking of Weeks, if his arm and athleticism are as great as everyone says, could he play 3B? Everyone is talking about OF for a move, but we may need a 3B if Hart (a) doesn't develop or (b) moves back to 1B for some reason. Greg.
  16. gregmag
    I'm one of those non-instinctive Web users who always forgets to look for the discussion boards . . . . First I discovered the power 50. Then I started following the minor league affiliates through the team stats. Finally I wised up and found the link reports. That was great for three reasons: it increased my knowledge of the system about tenfold, it gave me some competitive teams to root for, and it got me involved in the fan forum. This site is a labor of love, and the link reports are the day-in, day-out highlight. Sincere thanks to one and all. Greg.
  17. gregmag
    Yeah! He's a horse, an inning eater! You just look at him, and you know he can throw 150 pitches! Like Cal Eldred! Oops . . . bad example. But Clancy's post raises a serious point, and I wonder if anyone has data on this. I thought that (1) extra rest doesn't really mitigate damage from high pitch counts, and (2) extra rest actually hurts pitchers sometimes. But both of those statements fall into the "I think I read it somewhere, but I don't know where" category, and Clancy's point does make intuitive sense. Can anyone help? Greg.
  18. gregmag
    Great game. Excellent to see Sheets back in form. But why the ---ing ---- is Yost letting Ben throw 127 pitches when he's been hurt, nothing is at stake, and he's our best hope for the future?!? WHY, LORD??? [pounds head on desk] Greg.
  19. gregmag
    I remember when the Brewers' idea of "plate discipline" was to have a woman in latex talk dirty while hurling place settings at them. Certainly if a coach ever told Wes Helms to take a walk, Helms assumed he had been released. I'm glad we can even have this discussion. Pretty good season for Brady Clark tonight. Awesome debut for the Brewers' hotly anticipated new pitcher -- Mike Crudale. Can we play the Reds forever? Greg.
  20. gregmag
    jakesdaddio, welcome! You're going to fit in very well around here. You have successfully posed one of the Zen Riddles of Brewerdom. Some others: If a million dollar, 36 year-old shortstop takes a lunging, uppercut swing, and the pitch is nowhere near him, does he make a sound? What is the sound of one roster spot rotting? Greg.
  21. gregmag
    Wow . . . we're as good a road team as Houston and St. Louis. You think maybe we need to tailor the team a bit better to Miller Park? Actually, everybody in the division is equally mediocre on the road, except the Cubs. Is this interesting in any way, or is it just a random feature of a weak division? Greg.
  22. gregmag
    Wow . . . we're as good a road team as Houston and St. Louis. You think maybe we need to tailor the team a bit better to Miller Park? Actually, everybody in the division is equally mediocre on the road, except the Cubs. Is this interesting in any way, or is it just a random feature of a weak division? Greg.
  23. gregmag
    Just back from the Vet. I think the appeal call on Utley was right; Young noticed immediately that Utley had left the bag too soon. I wish EY was a Cub or something by now, but he had a brilliant night, terrorizing Wolf and snaring two ICBMs behind de los in the 7th (granted, he didn't have to move). Wolf and Obermuller made for an interesting contrast, aside from the results . . . Wes needs a third pitch. He was okay when he was throwing his 92-mph heater for strike one, but as soon as his control faltered, the hitters ignored his slider, waited for him to groove a fastball behind in the count, and hit ropes at will. Do 26 year-olds develop third pitches? If not, Wes needs to be in middle relief. Clayton had no fielding chances tonight, making him officially roadkill, except that roadkill at least has a sort of twisted Americana value. But nobody looked as bad as Jenkins' first two ABs against Wolf; he should have just improvised from the right side. Question of the night: WHY IS MARK SMITH ON THIS TEAM? As the charming locals like to say, Ph**k you.
  24. gregmag
    I just got back from the game (I live in Philly; I'll be seeing the whole series). A few random impressions, for what they're worth. Franklin's command seemed consistently spotty. He would have a game plan against one hitter, then lose the strike zone on the next guy. He got a lot of fly ball outs, but he got grounders when he needed them most. His fastballs were mostly 89, topping out at 91. A very hard pitcher to read. In the first, Podsednik fouled off a 3-1 pitch way high and outside as Young ran from first -- either the hit-and-run was on or Pods blanked on the count. Clayton looked great at shortstop, hopeless at the plate. Estrella and Kolb look like the best 8th-9th guys we've had in a while. Kolb's fastball was hitting 98 routinely. He only threw one pitch under 94, a wickedly located 91. I guess it was his changeup. He could really use a second pitch; Thome sat on the fastball and creamed one for a double. Kolb worked the corners beautifully, though. All in all, the Brewers played with an air of concentration and purpose, impressive for a last place team in August. A game like this gives me hope for some moderately exciting action next year.
  25. gregmag
    Sorry if I've missed this, but does anyone know why Brian Opdyke has been missing from the Arizona lineup? Is he hurt? If so, does that have anything to do with why he was DHing quite a bit over the past few weeks? Speaking of young prospects who have quietly been moving their seasons up from the "miserable" category, how 'bout Ozzie Chavez lately?
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