Brily0204

Forty-five different Brewers took the field in 2002. I would argue that any of those 45 aside from Sheets, Jenkins, Sexson, and perhaps Jose Hernandez would be a good candidate for an appreciation thread. My vote is for Jose Cabrera, who posted a 6.76 ERA and still managed to get into 50 games. Good times.

Here was the starting lineup on 22 August 2002, Mr. Alcantara's last game as a Brewer: E Young 2B A Sanchez CF R Sexson 1B J Hernandez SS I Alcantara RF R Thompson LF R Belliard 3B R Machado C J Osting P I, for one, will look back at that lineup the next time I feel like getting frustrated with this year's team.

Cordero and Turnbow will be well rested for the Houston series. The Rockies' short relievers will also be rested for the Cubs series.

Thanks for your responses. Boy Jeenius: If that is the case, wouldn't the jump to AAA be the toughest? That would be where the hot 23-year-old prospect who has always gotten by on superior talent and tools runs into the wily veteran with big league experience. That difference in level of experience is perhaps more pronounced than any place after R+ ball, where highly-drafted players with 3-4 years of college experience (e.g., Cole Gillespie, Chris Errecart) often compete against 18- or 19-year kids. This difference is especially pronounced when Helena plays a team such as Missoula or Casper, whose parent clubs have no AZL or GCL team and therefore supply them with very young squads. It seems logical that a 22-year-old with 3-4 years of big-time college experience would feast in such an environment and then struggle more in A-ball and above where the field is more level . (Hence my surprise that Chuck Caufield, a 39th-rounder in 2006, is doing as well in West Virginia as he did in rookie ball.) But why, then, is AA so frequently picked out as the true proving ground? --Is it, as suggested above, simply the result of funneling? AA is the place with the greatest number of prospects with the least roster filler? --Is it because we are quite logically drawn to really young prospects, like Inman, who are competing in AA against players several years older than they are? --Or is "the jump to AA is the toughest" just something that people have repeated for so long without their being any real validity to it. Sorry if I am rambling in only my, what, 6th post. It's like 95 degrees down here, and typing with the air conditioning blowing on me seems like the best course today. Tim

I have frequently heard (and read) that the toughest jump for a minor league player is from A+ ball to AA, but I do not think that I have ever heard (or read) a good explanation for why that is. I understand that the leap to AAA is less traumatic because so many AAA players are not hot prospects but are instead spare part-type players: the R. A. Dickeys and Jose Maciases who can fill out a roster and sub at the MLB level without hurting their development. But why is the jump to AA considered harder than the jump from A to A+? Or from R+ to A, which is where I notice that a lot of college hitters flame out (e.g., Josh Brady, Tommy Carrow). Thanks for any help that anybody can offer! Tim

If anybody wants Jon Garland, now would be the perfect time to make an offer.

If the Pirates' rotation holds up, Youman will face the Cubs on Sunday. Too bad that will not be a WGN game, because Youman was, with Fontenot and Theriot (and former brewer farmhand Heath McMurray), a member of the 2000 LSU College World Series championship team, and I am completely not sick to death of hearing stories about Fontenot and Theriot and LSU.

I realize this post would have sounded a lot wiser about 30 months ago, but if I were named general manager of a major league franchise, the first thing I would do is have a sampler made to hang on the wall above my computer. That sampler would read, "Never make trade for young Atlanta Braves pitchers or their pitching prospects," and it would include a collage of Damian Moss, Horacio Ramirez, Odalis Perez, Jose Capellan, and, in the very center, Bruce Chen. Nobody seems to know his pitching prospects as well as John Schuerholz, and if he is giving one up, you can be pretty sure he knows better than anyone what that guy's ceiling is. Now why he wanted Dan Kolb...

I was at the Power game at Augusta last night. Here are a few completely amateur impressions: 1) Jeffress really did not get hit very hard. The first out he recorded and the three-run single (more on that in a bit) were the hardest hit balls. He did not seem to have very good control, though: lots of long counts and hitters' counts. He IS just 19, of course, and the Greenjackets are very good and very experienced--lots of 22- and 23-year-old players. I think this difference in experience was evident last night. 2) Jeffress really seemed rattled by baserunners. After the first hitter reached on a vary slow roller to right and then stole second, Jeffress slowed waaay down and spent more time looking at second base than at home plate. And since the Greenjackets had baserunners virtually the whole time he pitched, he just never seemed comfortable. 3) I was very surprised at how quickly the Power had the bullpen up. Somebody must have seen something wrong. 4) I was quite disappointed in Charlie Fermaint's play in center. The three-run single occurred because Fermaint trotted to the ball and then never seemed to look at the runner from first. When Fermaint lobbed the ball to Holmberg at second, the runner just kept on going. Later, a single turned into a double when Fermaint and Mojica in left could not decide who would stop the ball from rolling. 5) As the box score tells, it was a pretty dull game. But the weather was pleasant (by Augusta-in-summer standards), and I got to spend 2.5 hours explaining baseball to my 5-year-old daughter, so all was well.