DuWayne Steurer

What a brutal choke job. I know there's runs in games, but when you're a championship caliber team, you can't blow 17 point 4th quarter leads. you just can't. Middleton's shot selection in this game wasn't good. He's just running down the court and taking a lot of floating runners that he doesn't have good looks at.

This big lineup Bud put out there tonight is fantastic. Lopez blocked six (6!) shots in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the game.

Bledsoe ridiculous tonight.... Aaaaaand, the Bucks have clinched a playoff spot.

Ecstatic to re-sign Bledsoe at that price. Just ecstatic.

Nba admitted the call was wrong. It didnt cost the bucks the game. Its a scenario that will almost certainly not come up again. Refs make mistakes....

1B Cooper 2B Weeks SS Yount 3B Molitor LF Braun CF Thomas RF Jenkins DH Money SP Higuera RP Plesac

Vlad Jr is as close to a sure thing as they come. He's not 100% but he's close. If the Blue Jays nut up and play him regularly, he's a top 100 player.

The NL average for IP per game started was 5.5 The Brewers averaged 5.2 IP per game started. That's 1 out less than the NL average per game. Over the course of a full season that adds up to 54 innings extra the bullpen would have to eat. Spread out over 12 - 15 guys (which is the actual bullpen size/usage, if not more) that's not a lot of innings per guy. There's no reason to believe the Brewers will be pitching less IP per start this year.

Cain was a 6 WAR player. He also just signed an 80 million dollar contract. He was also just a top 10 MVP finisher. But we're suggesting moving him to a reserve role? Why? To play Thames more? The 2017 version of Thames posted an .877 OPS... Cain in 2018 had an .813 OPS. In the first half of 2018, Thames had a .901 OPS. If he is healthy, he's got a very potent bat, one that is underrated because he's arguably been misplaced in the leadoff or #2 spot of the batting order. There is a 0% chance that they will move Cain to the bench to play Thames. I guarantee this. I would bet a paycheck on this. Thames is a sub-par defender, and a low contact hitter. I know you love these huge bopper lineups, but the Brewers are not moving Cain to the bench. It's just not gonna happen....

Or, they bump Cain to 4th OF... cf: Yelich lf: Thames rf: Braun 3b: Shaw 1b: Aguilar c: Grandal 2b: Moustakas ss: Arcia Or maybe Arcia sits, and... cf: Cain 1b: Thames rf: Yelich lf: Braun 3b: Aguilar ss: Shaw c: Grandal 2b: Moustakas No defense... but POWERFUL offense... Cain was a 6 WAR player. He also just signed an 80 million dollar contract. He was also just a top 10 MVP finisher. But we're suggesting moving him to a reserve role? Why? To play Thames more?

Sure, that's part of it. Wasn't really making a point about age though. Just pointing out that it's hard to tell when a person with a very slender frame has added too much body fat. People keep saying Khris doesn't look like he's gotten fat at all, and people say the same thing about me, but it's plainly visible if you know what to look for. I've noticed some of the most athletic people can tell right away, whereas weekend warriors and regular people can't. Maybe the fact that this is more of a baseball forum explains why people have trouble discerning the difference, because Khris's body fat and conditioning would hardly make a difference in baseball. Age, excess weight, and conditioning are all factors. Khris is very sluggish and lethargic compared to before his current contract. He's lost a lot of agility. He often gets some of it back towards the end of the season (last year's playoffs for example, or his run at the end of 2016). Combine that with the thin layer of excess fat he's carrying and it paints a clear picture of someone who uses the regular season to get in shape, as opposed to being ready to go at the start of training camp. As for "never hearing anything about", when did anyone ever hear about it with Redd, Bogut, or Jabari? Teams, players, and coaches never talk about this until after the fact. It's frankly embarrassing. Plenty of fans noticed it, but you still never heard about it from anyone but them. I hate to open your eyes, but what team in the NBA worth its salt goes all out every night? They don't play ball until February or March. Only rare exceptions for players do that. The Warriors are probably playing at 75% of max effort until the playoffs.

Yost was a terrible in-game manager who made decisions with his gut and was usually wrong. I don't think many would argue that he was a good players coach, but his in-game decision-making was often, and almost always baffling to the point of head-scratching.

There's probably less than .00001% chance that the Brewers are having any internal discussions of Aguilar playing 3B on anything more than an emergency basis. Unlike us armchair managers, the Brewers brass have shown that they value defense, and the defensive metrics very highly. The numbers last year showed that. Aguilar at 3B full time, for even a month would be a hot mess. It's no secret that you personally prefer lineups that get the most offensive pop at every position but the Brewers have shown that they absolutely value defense. That's why guys like Perez and Arcia have value to them. I think more than a few were surprised when they acquired Moustakas and shifted Shaw to second, but obviously they trusted their shift metrics (and Shaw) to at least hold the fort there, and he did just that. Aguilar is not Shaw. Aguilar made a few nifty plays here and there, but putting him at 3rd for 6 weeks just isn't a solution. As HNW said, now you're downgrading defense at multiple positions. Shaw to 2nd to put Moose at 3rd wasn't a defensive downgrade at 3rd, because Moose was (allegedly) a solid 3rd baseman. The Brewers need to be playing games to win them, not handcuffing their own opportunites by putting out suboptimal alignments. Their bullpen (and pitching overall) was so good last year partly because of the defense. Doing stuff like this is going to take a lot away from that.

Yeah... I don't mind Perez being on the team. I just mind that he gets 300+ PA's. He's versatile, can hit for a bit of power, plays decent/good defense, and he can steal you a base. He just shouldn't be playing as much as he does every year because he does not work counts and won't take walks. He's never going to draw a .300 OBP unless he hits .290 (which won't happen).

While giving up 130 with all the open 3's they allow. 20 point win is a 20 point win.

Bucks gonna score 150 on the wiz tonight. 10 of 13 from 3 so far.

The Brewers still have Thames and Braun. They have Gamel. They have enough hitters.

Pretty much this. Right now they're at a place where most everyone that is a critical core piece is either under enough years of team control or signed to a decent length contract (Yelich, Cain) that the team doesn't have to make really tough decisions at this point in time.

Jordan's probably not a great fit because he doesn't help w. spacing and he can't shoot from more than about 3 feet away from the basket. Giannis already isn't a threat deep.... I mean he will shoot 3's, but he isn't a true threat, and Jordan never takes threes. Lopez has been a huge add for the simple reason that he's a big that presents a very real and dangerous threat from deep, and helps space the floor for everyone else and creates room for Giannis to operate. Yes, Jordan doesn't need the ball in his hands, but he doesn't soak up a defender and is't a great passer. I just like the dynamic the bucks have on offense right now, and they're already the best rated D in the league right now. Jordan doesn't make their offense better (he probably makes it measurably worse) and while he might make the D "better"... it's probably marginal. Hard pass.

The Bucks beat the Raptors three out of four times. Unless Philly or Toronto make a game-changing trade, the Bucks are the team to beat in the east. I think the Bucks are clearly the number two team in the NBA, because the Warriors are scary scary good with boogie in that lineup. Everything kind of depends on where Anthony Davis lands by February 7th, but right now the Bucks are the best team in the East and they have proven it with their record and by clowning the Raptors three out of four times.

The Raptors were never close in this game. they shot 7 of 27 from 3, and they also have a LOT of guys that can score inside with ease. You can't just hang around the 3 point arc and hope they don't try to score inside. That's just the way the NBA game is played now. The Bucks are 37 - 13. Whatever they're doing, they're doing most of it pretty well.

I haven't weighed in on this yet. My 2 cents. 1) IMO, Miller Park was a great name for a ballpark. 2) It's a name for an inanimate object. A great name, but still an inanimate object. 3) People can (and will) still call it "Miller Park" I usually understand things, even if I don't agree with them, but the amount of hand-wringing over this is something I don't understand. Call it Miller Park for as long as you like. Most people, I suspect, probably will.

Markakis had been a pretty mediocre hitter for 5 straight years, hovering right around a .740 OPS before 2018. Not sure that's what you want out of a 160 game corner outfielder. Like others have said, this isn't a bad deal per se, it's just that he seems extraordinarily easily replaceable. Before 2018, Markakis hadn't had a 2.0 WAR season since 2011, and this is a guy that plays literally almost every single day. His chase for 3000 hits will be interesting. It's not that I don't think he can reach it, it's will there be any teams willing to give 150 starts for four of five years to a 10 - 12 homerun corner outfielder who might hit .280, doesn't draw a ton of walks, and plays below average defense?

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25844227/eric-bledsoe-where-wants-be Pretty good article about Bledsoe. Sounds like (reading between the lines) he would prefer to stay in Milwaukee. I would also prefer that he stays in Milwaukee.

Adding Lopez was huge. A big that can step outside and shoot opens up the floor so much. He doesnt have to score a bunch, he just has to present an option/threat. Bledsoe also, seems like hes playing more aggressive in Buds system and just become a more whole version of himself, if that makes sense.