BADGERJOBOB

I doubt it has to do with the one poor year. There has to be some other underlying factor like only wanting coaches who are never critical of their players and never benching players who go into prolonged slumps. Also maybe Kremblas doesn't play his starting catcher every single day of the season without any breaks.

Sorry to burst everyone's bubble but this team will not make the playoffs. Forget the last 2 weeks. All you have to do is look at what we have done against the good teams that are fighting for a playoff spot. Swept by the Cubs. Swept by the Mets. Halfway to being swept by the Phillies. This team is in an offensive rut but this lineup has had major problems all year long. I still can't believe this team is still even in it when you look at the production of our usual starting lineup. Hall. Brutal. Weeks. Brutal. Cameron. Brutal. Counsel. Brutal. Kendall. Brutal. When Braun and Fielder struggle, we struggle because Hall/Counsel, Weeks, Cameron, Kendall and now Hart have a hard time getting on base consistently. You can get away with 1 maybe 2 of them in the lineup but not 4. Add to the fact that our manager refuses to sit guys out who are slumping and our potential to go into prolonged slumps only increases. Hopefully next year with the money we save from not signing Sheets, C.C. and dumping Cameron and Gagne, we will go after and sign some players who can actually get on base and plug them in the 1 and 5 hole at least. We are not staying status quo next year, thats for sure.

I don't think we have to worry about Houston because it looks like Philly and St. Louis will pass us up very shortly so another team passing us up doesn't matter. Can't win when our 3-4-5 hitters are stinking it up. We obviously can't sit Braun or Prince but why is Corey still in the lineup on a regular basis. The one thing that gets me so angry with Yost is that he is so stubborn when it comes to leaving players in the lineup when they are struggling badly. Your two big guns are Braun and Prince so you can't sit them down for any extended length of time but the rest of the players in the lineup can all be replaced over a short period of time. Hart has been in a free fall for the last month. You would think at the very least Hart would have been given at least a few days off here and there with a player (Kapler) who is always hitting the ball hard when he plays. Yost did the same with Cameron and Weeks for much of the year. I can't help but think Yost's stubborness to bench unproductive players here and there has cost us more wins than saved more losses.

I would take a gamble on signing Bonds and then bench Cameron and move Hart to center. A lefthanded bat that has a history of great on-base percentage. You then can sub Cameron for defensive purposes late in games and spell Braun and Hart from time to time. I think it is better than standing pat.

The problem is the current lineup is not working so why not mix it up. Why not start platooning certain individuals. JJ has been horrible but I don't think he is that much worse than Weeks or Cameron. You lead off Hart and then place a number 2 hitter who will bunt, hit the ball to the right side, take pitches. Cameron might be that guy but he is so screwed up that he really needs to be platooned and moved down in the order. Really need to attempt to mix things up and stir up the pot as leaving everything stand pat is obviously not working. These changes don't have to be long term or make sense for that matter, just need to find a spark and get the ball rolling.

I was disappointed with the lack of real moves this team made in the off-season but am extremely disappointed in the lack of moves Yost/Melvin have made with what has transpired in this season. We can't have our top two players in our lineup bat under .200 and then have another player in the lineup also under .200. 1. Weeks needs to be moved down in the order. Preferrably batting 8th with the pitcher 9th but with Yost's stubborness, I would concede batting Weeks 7th and the pitcher 8th. The one thing Weeks has been able to do is draw walks even when he is hitting abysmal which is most of the time. 2. Need to move Cameron down in the order as well and probably start platooning him with Gwynn/Dillon until Cameron heats up. 3. Hart needs to move up to the leadoff spot. 4. Not a fan of JJ Hardy but his mediocre bat is better then 3 other regulars. Probably needs to bat second when Cameron is in the lineup with Dillon/Gwynn or maybe Kendell batting second. Basically who ever is the hottest. 5. Need to start platooning Hall. No ifs ands or buts about it. Branyon should be called up and Hall should only be seeing lefties. I am not a fan of Counsell getting more at bats. 6. Need to consider bringing up Pena and see what he has or trading for a reliable relief pitcher even if it means overspending. Season is not lost but really need to make headwind and get to at least .500 before the all-star break. Its a long season and we don't need to go on a huge massive winning streak but with the talent we have, we can go 7-5 every 2 weeks to get us back into the wildcard race and then determine how much of a buyer do we want to be at the trading deadline. Unfortunately that will cost us a lot and the makeup of the roster really should have been handled better before the season started.

Agreed. Mashers are great but pitching and defense wins out. Imagine making this trade, than signing Sheets to an extension. Your top 3 pitchers are Sheets, Yo and Lincecum. You don't need a lot of hitting to win those games and its not like we would be barren in the hitting department either. On top of that, you are a little less concerned about any of the potential fluke like injuries that Sheets has had in his past as you would still have 2 phenomenal starters. Also, come playoff time, very few teams would be able to throw out a staff that could match our top 3.

Of course he is going to walk...He is batting in front of the pitcher. Why would you pitch to Hardy when you can just pitch to the opposing teams pitcher. Of course there are situations were the 8th batter does get pitched around or intentionally walked from time to time. Having said that most number 8 batters bat 8th because they are not good hitters and Hardy has not proven consistently to be a good hitter. Unfortunately for the Brewers, Weeks and Kendall are also probably best suited for batting 8th as well and as for Hall well thats another story.

You are correct but also the division that year was extremely weak. Also while their starters struggled for much of the year, their relief pitching was good and they had veteran players in Edmunds, Pujols and Rolen who carried that team down the stretch. If we manage to stay in til September do you believe Fielder, Braun and Cameron can carry us down the stretch like the Cards top 3 leaders? I don't think so.

Yo's injury is a killer because we failed to improve this club in the off season. I mentioned it numerous times and got blasted for it but there were serious issues with this club heading into this season. 1. I never understood why everyone was on the "our young guys are going to improve and thats all we need" bandwagon. How? Where? a.Our two best hitters had career years last year. Was everyone expecting Fielder to hit 60 dingers this year? .410 on base? As good as Braun was last year it was expected that pitchers would make adjustments forcing Braun to do the same. b. Hardy has never really proven to be a great hitter other than a 2 month period in his career. c. Weeks has not proven to be able to hit consistently in the majors. Again he had success for what 1 month? d. Hart was probably the only player that I could see making an improvement as he has always been a good hitter. Now I would love to see him lead-off. 2. Can't expect to contend for a championship when your going into battle we 3 very inexperienced starting pitchers, 1 ace who is constantly getting hurt and a pitcher who didn't look real good last year and is on the downside of his career. So here you have it, one plus month into the season, Sheets has missed a start, no surprise. Yo is done for the year. Parra and Villanueva can't get out of the 5th inning and we have no one else to stop the bleeding. 3. For all the experience we achieved last year, it still falls woefully short compared to the Cubs club leaders (Lee, Rameriz and Soriano). Also the Cards for that matter but who would have thought the Cards would be playing this good. 4. The closer position was the one huge question mark going into the season and so far Gagne has been a disaster. For all you stat crunchers who have defended this club through their blue and gold colored glasses, what percentage of his appearances have lead to a 1-2-3 inning? Anyone? We all know about the 5 blown saves but even the ones he doesn't blow are very nerve racking. 5. This club is still very young and while we went out and got Cameron and Kendell, I was not sold on their production. Kendell has been much better then I thought. Cameron is still a wait and see. Nevertheless it seems like we are still learning to walk when we need to be running. The future is bright but I just don't think the future is ready now. Unfortunately, it looks like we don't have the makeup this year to truly contend for a division title unless we get aggressive with trades which at this point in time is probably not a good thing. That was something that should have been done in the offseason. I know, one can never foresee injuries (Yo and Capuano) but based on past history, we should have assembled a better pitching staff as I would have loved to have gone after a legit ace pitcher like Santana or someone just below his stature. Add in the fact that we still don't have a legit lead-off hitter on top of all the issues mentioned above and there you have it, a disappointing season. Hopefully, Melvin will go after some legit talent in the off-season and arm this team with a legit chance at making the playoffs as we do have a very good core. A closer, #1 or #2 starter, a 2b or ss who can get on base and either signing Sheets or getting an adequate replacement are the keys to success next year. It looks like we have the money and the minor league talent to fill our holes for next year. I just don't know if we have the mentality from the top down to change our philosophy to winning instead of building. Hopefully we can maintain striking distance for much of this year as the experience would serve us well next year.

So does that mean that with Gallardo out for the year, that our season is flushed as well? NO, but it does make it all the more difficult.

Hmmmmm maybe because Freel has been ill. Might as well call Yost an idiot for batting the pitcher 8th in the lineup. Oh better yet, its a 162 game season and maybe we should let things play out before blasting coaches like their idiots. Or better yet, why don't you apply for the cincinnati job since you know so much more than Dusty. I believe Dusty was watching his team during spring training and Patterson was the best option when Freel is not in the lineup.

Wow. Is there really that much of difference between Gwynn and Gross? I don't see it. Gwynn offers a little better defense and Gross offers more pop. Neither is really starting material and anyone that claims they are, are fooling themselves. We are talking about two backup outfielders. The unfortunate thing is that we don't have a better option to play. Heaven forbid if we lose Braun or Hart to an injury as that is what scares me. Having said all that, given the choice between 2 backup outfielders, Gwynn is the appropriate choice. We have enough offense to win. We need a good defensive outfielder to go get the ball since we already have one liability in the outfield defensively. And this talk about Hart moving to center for 25 games needs to stop too. How often has he played center? It would be one thing I guess if we had a bit time bopper to throw into right but we don't so lets not mess with the defense more than we need to.

Ummmm whats there to re-visit? Kendall, Gagne, Cameron, Riske? So at catcher its a wash. I know must of you think it is an upgrade but its really a wash. Cameron? He misses a decent chunk of games and I doubt he puts up better numbers than Jenkins/Mench duo did last year so again a wash. Plus we move our outfielder to the infield and our infielder to the outfield. There will be an adjustment period and it will cost us some games. Than what? Gagne and Riske for Cordero and Wise. Cordero > Gagne, Riske > Wise. Again a wash. So now where is this huge upgrade that will propel us past a team that finished ahead of us? And don't our young talent will improve because the Cubs have young talent as well that is also improving. Don't get me wrong, i am a die hard Brewers fan but I just don't see the huge upgrade and nor do I see that the Cubs have taken a step back. Pretty much status quo to me.

You guys keep saying the Cubs didn't make any moves but your forgetting, NEITHER DID WE. And they finished ahead of us last year. i guess I just don't get how everyone here can be so confident that we are better than the Cubs when I would take just about all of their pitchers over ours if we are looking at a 162 game season.

Not with Corey Patterson as their starting CF'er. Patterson is just keeping the seat warm until Jay Bruce comes up and Bruce is a STUD. We are talking BA minor league player of the year, similar impact to what Ryan Braun provided us good. Having said that, I don't see where we upgraded from last year. Our starting pitching and relief pitching is a huge question mark. Should we finish higher than the Reds? Yes, but I would not be surprised if the Reds pass us by this year. Its just unfortunate that a lot of Brewer fans are looking through rose colored glasses and solely banking on all of our young players to step it up to the next level.

I know I am the only one on this board who thinks this way but I would have traded any and all minor leaguers including throwing in Carlos and Parra and dished out the cash to obtain Santana. He is the best pitcher out there bar none. Than with a little bit of luck, I would have traded Sheets around the all-star break to the highest bidder.