GenoSeligPrieb

Last month's annual "Cool Music/Hot Stove" conference featured its regular panelists: Peter Gammons, Scott Boras, Brian Cashman, Theo Epstein, Red Sox employee Bill James and various Yankee and Red Sox players, mingling and glad-handing one another. This season, now including Manny Ramirez who just switched to Boras, this one agency handles over a dozen players from these 2 teams. This closeness, this unhealthy relationship between an agent guiding talent to certain teams, a top ESPN presence keeping the unofficial agreement all together...none of it is investigated or at least questioned. So if Prince doesn't wind up as a Yankee, it'll be in Boston. Not much difference these days...

Yes I do realize that. I apparently did do some research after all. My point was that he was able to somehow hit 51 homers in 2005, and never returned to that level again. By the way, now that the Dodger deal is done, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Joe Torre is concerned that Andruw Jones has appeared in camp at a whopping 241 pounds. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3520 As I replied to Russ, for my fantasy team, I always try hard to get Boras clients in their walk year, and avoid 'em like working girls with Adam's Apples, the first year of their new contracts.

"Asked if this might compromise any future talks with the club, Fielder, who is represented by Scott Boras, said, "I'm not going to talk about that now. That's between me and my agent. He's handling it." Wonderful. If Boras is handling it, then cover your eyes. Of course it appears that Boras will make Prince the replacement for Giambi, as soon as contractually possible. I'd be blind to not see that. But is this contentious handling of Prince a sign that there's no way in hell that Boras would even CONSIDER allowing Prince to stay here, even if we pony up 8 figures per season? Sounds like it, since Doug's not even trying to make any goodwill gestures. So......do the Yankees have any good Rookie League players we can start following NOW, since they'll eventually become Brewer nuggets in, say, 2010? Best power-hitting prospect in the franchise's history, and I'm already cushioning the blow for when he leaves. *sigh*

Very possibly, Russ. But if you're represented by Scott Boras, the rules change. Magical things somehow happen to guys in contract "walk" years when that pimple on the buttocks of the game is involved. - Javy Lopez, who suddenly becomes able to now hit 43 HRs, with a .328 BA in 2003. Boras parlays that into a big contract with Baltimore, and he's never even close to that good ever again. - Todd Hundley, outed in the Mitchell Report as buying drugs to cheat in 1996. That was the same season he broke the HR record for catchers, with 41 & 112 RBIs. Boras got him 4 years, $26 million for that & again, he was never that good again. - Adrian Beltre was probably the worst of all. Amazingly, this fellow Boras client, and career .260-ish hitter, usually good for around 20 HRs, 80 RBIs, finds religion in 2004, (his walk year, of course) and becomes able to put up this kind of stat line: .334-48-121. His slugging % rose by over 200 points! Of course, Boras used that to find him a lucrative deal in Seattle. There were many other Boras clients who attain plausibly unreachable career peaks, sustainable for only that one season, through the years. JD Drew, Johnny Damon, Eric Gagne, Andruw Jones, Jeff Weaver, Kevin Millwood, Tim Belcher, Corey Patterson, Travis Lee, Rick Ankiel, Carlos Beltran, Barry Zito, all became short-term miracle workers. Boras continues to coincidentally get superhuman performances out of his clients...and then they drop off, badly. Why no one in power is watchdogging THIS guy, as he continues to get a free pass from any sort of scrutiny, still amazes me.

For Brewer players (and their manager), I only bother to invest hope in those who can benefit from my magic touch! Some, I believe, like Yost, Turnbow, Suppan, Kendall, Bush and our motley cast of reserve outfielders, are not exactly "hopeless", but certainly not worth investing much emotion or prayers, toward. So hoping for them to change, seems to be a waste of time. Others are so good, like Prince and Ryan, that I don't have to bother hoping for better performances from them. And since I'm not exactly a Barack Obama, with all the audacity of hope thing, I'll parcel out the little hope I have, to Brewer players who could either step up, or regress without my cheering, in this order, I guess... 5) Billy Hall. OK, he may not be a 35 HR guy again, but I certainly HOPE he's not that same 14 HR guy from last year. Besides, he's probably my favorite Brewer, so... 4) Ben Sheets. May he start at least 30 games. That even allows wiggle room for him to miss a start for a nasty splinter, another for vertigo, another for a paper cut, another for a planter's wart, and another for a bad dose of St. John's Wort. That's not hoping for too much, right, Ben? 3) Chris Capuano. Like Billy, he may not be as good as he was before 2007, but he can't be as bad as he was last year again, can he? I hope not. 2) Rickie Weeks. Was his post-demotion production real and sustainable, or was it a reaction to being dropped to the minors which he may not be able to keep up? Heads? Tails? C'mon, Rickie! 1) Eric Gagne. Who knows what to expect? Was he so godawful in Boston because his ego was bruised when he was forced to defer to Schilling by switching from #38 to #83? Was it because he was not the designated closer, and just one of the guys? Was it because the HGH and the roids wore off? If he's even Texas Rangers-good this year, he can make us forget about CoCoCo pretty fast. But then again, if he is, Scott Boras will "guide" him to a richer team anyway, so as an 8-figures-a-year rental, all the risk is on us, and he'll just walk away after 2008, one way or the other, anyway. Just be good, Eric, that's all I'm hoping for...

While the column is pretty even-handed, I'm just grateful to get front page coverage from the Yankee/Patriot network's website. I tried the "Insert hyper-link" function, and my link just disappeared. Damn Yu, Yuku! http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2008/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=3260725

"if this is such a creative strategy, why hasn't it been employed more often? answer--because it is stupid." Ozzy, so far you've been a good 'read', so you may want to rachet it down a notch on the confrontational rhetoric. Some long-time, respected posters like Brettac, JBriggs, adambr, Sam and Casey have at least kicked the tires on this idea, and Tony LaRussa has employed it in limited doses, so dismissing it as "stupid" is a bit harsh. Otherwise, keep up the solid posts, rook! "And Jason Kendall has his horrible SLG and "eh" batting average - not the guy to drive them in. But he's got that solid OBP, so placing him 9th will actually make a pretty good impact on getting some baserunners for Weeks to drive in. " While I agree with the parts about the BA and SLG, the cynic in me just can't wrap myself around the notion of JK as able to just bounce right back to lucidity after last year, Sam. He's a physically overused (abused, really) catcher in his 13th season who very well may have hit his career wall in 2007. The odds of JK hewing closer to his 2007 numbers, seem much more likely than JK reverting neatly back to what he was, years ago. It's fine to feel confident in him and all, and you're obviously entitled to that. But I see him as a lineup hole, and batting him 8th or 9th probably won't make enough of an impact anyway. It's a fun topic to dscuss when games, even exhibition games, are nowehere to be found. But I just don't believe Ned's capable of seriously entertaining such out-of-the-box ideas, do you? And if it IS Simba advocating such an unusual move, then he must have a lot more influence than we've been led to believe, and if the team DOES falter coming out of the gate, if we're still close enough to rescue the season, then Simmons will take over sooner, rather than later...a move, by the way, which I'd applaud.

Believe it or not, I'll stick to the theme of this thread, and keep it positive, because except for Mark's illogical, unwavering support for Ned, he's done what I've been bit...beefing about in Brewer forums since the 90's. He has invested in the on-field product at the major league level. For decades, we as fans were doomed to failure by an ownership group pocked by nepotism, ineptitude, and of course, rampant cheapness. The on-field product was assigned the lowest priority as long as enough customers kept spinning the turnstiles enough to show a decent profit. And to be fair, yes, Mark has raised ticket prices, but it's not as big an imposition on fans when Mark has invested in good players. However, another thought I've expressed in the past, returned to mind when I read the comments above. Were Brewer fans so beaten down by Wendy's excuses for playing it on-the-cheap, and perhaps conditioned to expect failure by arguably the worst ownership group in the 4 professional sports, that by comparison, Mark is perceived to be that much greater? Maybe a little. Because migod, it was as if Brewer fans were crawling through the desert, gasping for any kind of hydration, and at that point, even a bottle of Kefir would satisfy your thirst. But still, again, Mark has done pretty much what I was clamoring for from the Seligs, for decades, and never got. And now that Mark has invested in talent, the team is experiencing a renaissance. One that was never possible as long as retiring debt, which is of course owner-speak for 'pocketing the profits', came first.

Nieves...Higuera...Eldred...Woodard...D'Amico...Neugebauer...JM Gold...Mike Jones...Sheets...Gallardo?

"My guess is that the DBacks very much would have asked for someone we wouldn't want to let go (Villanueva, Parra, etc.) as a starting point in exchange for arguably the best C in the NL in 2007." I wanted him to be our catcher instead of Moeller back in the Sexson deal. I didn't expect to GET him! But if he were offered, which he wasn't of course, for such a great offensive catcher as Jason Kendall, plus Parra AND Villanueva, I'd have to get a Micah Owings back, but I'd do it. Without Owings, substitute Zach Jack and Stetter? Still, my point was that I still want a D-first catcher. And by the way, Miguel Olivo would have been OK. The Royals will use him to back up Buck, but just for his arm, and a decent slugging %, this is the kind of guy I wish Doug would have kicked the tires on this winter, instead of hurrying up and signing The Horse Whisperer. Olivo's no star, but he's 29, cheap and that glove alone makes him worth it.

Bud even admitted that players were given advance notice before testing, so his system must have been so chock full of this crap that he still couldn't flush it out in time. Throw the book at him...and Clemens.

"How would a suspension for McClung be career ending? " A 3-game suspension could be, given that he shouldn't earn his way onto a Major League mound ever again!

"I think most people would like that young cannon arm catcher and that is part of the problem. Where is a guy like that available and what do you have to give up to get him?" I never said he had to hit! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Brian Schneider was apparently available. Gerald Laird's name was bandied about, although he did't get moved. And I still harbor a man-crush on Arizona's Chris Snyder. Are these guys awesome players who'd cost us a Yo Gallardo? Nah. Stetter and maybe a Gamel for a catcher under 30 who's a defense-first type? Others like Jose Molina, Chris Coste, you can get for a Zach Jackson...

In the All-Star Game every year, I cheer for the Brewer player(s), but I still root for the American League. And one thing no one mentions is that it was an intense rivalry with the White Sox for quite a while. I can't wait for the next chance to stick it to Pierzynski, The Ozzeroo and Hawk Harrelson. And yes, the Pirates and Reds ARE boring. The Astros too, lately. Part of it may be perception. We see those same 5 teams in the NL Central SO many times that, by June, I'm dying to see the Padres or Nationals hit town. But realistically, Cub fans travel infinitely better than the 2 dozen wallet-on-a-chain guys in stained white tank tops who follow the White Sox on the road. Mark would fight it if MLB forced us to lose out on 20-30,000 Cub fans "invading" The Keg.

"But if your uncle the mailman had a knee injury that he recovered from, then later fell down on a really icy day and then got bit in the hand by a dog would you think that he was more likely than other mailmen to get hurt the next year?" A fair analogy, Ennder. I see your point. But not every mailman gets bitten by dogs, not every one of them goes on disability leave of absence after slipping on ice. They're supposed to be rare occurences. But our ace letter carrier keeeps getting them. Maybe if he avoided entering that yard with the Beware of Dog sign..if he side-stepped that icy patch! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Say you have an expensive, but terrific mechanic you've found in your neighborhood. You need him to be there, but the shop was closed that day. The next time, he was there, and a 2nd time he came through. But a few months later, once more, he was away, and you were desperate and went to a lesser auto repair shop. Another time, missing, And another. It's not happening every time, of course, but it's human nature to get a little frustrated, and the next time, if you really need your Yugo fixed, you may look for a place that's as good or almost as good, as long as it's regularly open. Migod, my analogies are getting worse and worse! "Sheets pitched way too much in 2004, Sheets got hurt in 2005 with an injury that they said would take 9-12 months to heal. 6 months later they tried to pitch him and he aggravated the same injury..." Maybe a significant portion of the blame for the Broken Ben is the Brewers fault. It wouldn't surprise me. Maybe he breaks down more often than dozens of other starting pitchers, because he was impropely handled? Did all these back, finger, hamstring, shoulder...incidents come as a residual, cumulative effect?

"Let's not forget about the changes that've been made by the Brewers - actually of bigger impact than anything the Cubs have done. If the Cubs get Roberts, perhaps then they've improved as much as the Brewers have this offseason." Anything? They replaced 2 poorly-aging, declining outfielders in Jacque Floyd, with Kosuke Fukudome, who seems to be a .300 hitter with 15-20 HR pop, who can steal and play Gold Glove-caliber defense in right. That's a major upgrade. I'd also wager that Geovanny Soto all year will prove to be an upgrade over Jason Kendall in Chicago, last year. Otherwise, yeah, they didn't undergo a major facelift, I agree. But they didn't require one, as the Brewers didn't. If they add Roberts, that's a problem for us. He's a quality leadoff man, something they lacked. It also means DeRosa now slides into the Bill Hall role, circa 2005, getting 400-500 ABs in 3, 4 or 5 different positions, providing quality relief when injuries strike, or when rest is needed. Their pitching acquisitions didn't do much for me, as Lieber's an older, banged-up version of Suppan for less money, and Trachsel's just OK. For us, Cameroon should be better than the combined contributions of Menchkins, but not by much. CoCoCo to Gagne is a downgrade, and I'm not thrilled with our 2, 3 or 5 catchers. I love the Riske signing, but Turnbow's still going to pitch too often, and Torres and Mota in 2008 don't inspire confidence. A few years ago, yeah, but.... Without Roberts, we still have a very good chance of catching the Cubs. But with him, it's really tough. And with Ned? Much tougher....

"Alright, so if it's 50% 2007, shouldn't it be also 50% 2006? Or do you just choose to ignore 2006 entirely? If you don't choose to ignore it, I have no explanation/understanding for how you can be so doom & gloom. " I don't know exactly how much weight I give each subsequent year when evaluating a player, but if I'm assigning 55% to last year, then it's probably 25%? 20%? to the year before that, and then another 10%, and so on... Again, because he's an overused catcher over 30, it's not like his chances for rebounding from such a bad season are going to increase as he reached AARP age. I just see an aging catcher who can't throw anyone out, who rarely hits for even doubles-power, and hasn't been given much rest, and I'd rather have sacrificed that #8 slot in the batting order to a younger, cannon-armed, defense-first guy behind the plate. I just can't share your optimism about the old fella. That's all.

To address the question? Sadly yes. The Cubs already won the division, they made what looks to be a significant outfield upgrade in Fukudome over Old Cliff/Jacque Jones, and unfortunately, they'll keep Pac-Manning up more talent by bringing in a terrific leadoff hitter, with blazing speed, a solid glove, and a great ability to get on base, in Roberts. This also moves Soriano to an RBI slot, where those solo shots can turn into 2 or 3 run homers. This acquisition can add 3-4 games to an already scary team. And don't forget, we plan to pee away 3-5 games on managerial decisions. (Sorry, couldn't resist! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif )

"But do his numbers at 33 count 100% toward forecasting 2008, while age 32 is totally forgotten and ignored?" Again, TLB, here's what we typed, up the thread: "See, they don't necessarily, though. To you, they do 100% (give or take). " More like 50-60%. I did type "plausibly expect." ________________ You can't blame me for extrapolating 2007 stats for an aging, overused catcher - the most physically demanding position in the game, and allowing them to influence what I expect from JK this year. And even then, I'd say I'd only weigh his 2007 numbers at around a 50-60% ratio...

"Can we put all this Yost junk into one thread this year? PLEASE? It gets to tiring to come on here for good baseball talk to always see "garbage" like this being posted." Garbage? That's harsh. JBriggs made a salient point about Ben Sheets. He provided examples which imply that too often, Ben gets hurt performing the normal, everyday activities his job places on him, which isn't good. If my uncle the mailman had bad knees and couldn't walk, or if Lary Sorenson wanted to drive a truck for a living, they'd have a tough time staying healthy and available to execute their duties. His DNA angle didn't seem like chromosome analysis, just a little way to help support his discussion point. Jeez!

"We had one of the worst defensive players for their position in MLB history and our fans are ripping on Yost for replacing him so he doesn't cost us a game because of it? It just doesn't make sense to me... I know that Counsell ended up coming up to bat in some critical situations but Yost really had his hands tied in those late game situations with Braun's defense." area: You act as if having Ryan Braun at 3B was like having a cardboard cutout of Mary-Kate Olson standing there on defense. He was bad, defensively. No question. But I'd wager that in many of those cases, Counsell may never have seen a ball hit his way...but he DID eventually bat. That wasn't avoided. The CHANCE that Counsell could get an opportunity to do better at 3rd (and believe it or not, Counsell IS capable of committing an error, too) is not worth losing your top hitter the rest of a tight game in a pennant race. "I also don't understand why Ned is looked at in a negative light for the beanball situation while it was completely ok for LaRussa to act like he did... " Because, as opposed to Ned, LaRussa had nothing to lose, in this situation. Don't believe me? here's the url: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=668037 To refresh, that night, September 26th, there's less than a week left in the season, the Cubs had already been defeated, but the Brewers were losing 3-2 in the 8th inning. We desperately needed this one. Prince was drilled in the 2nd inning, and both dugouts were already warned. 6 damned innings later, with the bases empty, Yost brought in expedable hack Seth McClung just to face, and inevitably plunk, THEIR best hitter, Albert Pujols, putting a runner on. Given Ned's usual unwavering penchant for having Turnbow pitch the 8th inning, and knowing full well that McClung would have been ejected anyway, the next pitcher summoned was Turnbow, who gets as distracted by baserunners, as Frank Costanza is by tinsel. Turnbow had a 6.32 ERA when coming in with men on base and 2.48 ERA with nobody on. Think Ned didn't know that? But anyway, to no one's surprise, Turnbow gets torched, a hit, 2 walks, and 3 earned runs later, we lose again. Wasn't a good chunk of this, Turnbow's fault, you'll say? Of course. But, by waiting until the game was on the line, late, to extract his pound of flesh at the expense of St. Louis's best hitter, Ned goes against what a manager's job is supposed to entail, and intentionally places his fragile setup man in a situation he doesn't tend to succeed in. Vengeance was the top priority, over possibly winning a key game in late September. Go ahead and argue against that, but you won't get many takers on it. That's 4 games that were blown due to decisions Ned made, in the heat of the pennant race, which damaged his team's chances. "Is it because we ended up losing a game because of it?" Is that a rhetorical question?

Found one more, Stevo! I just KNEW there was at least one more time when Ned cost us a game last year with a key bad decision, and I found it. The Brewers blew yet another 5-0 lead, at the end of a painful 1-5 homestand, against Cincinnati on August 19th. Top of the 8th. JJ Hardy just gave us back the lead, 6-5, with a solo shot, and an obviously struggling Scott Linebrink loaded bases. I'll just turn copy and paste from Rick Braun's game article, from here: "The game then turned on one big decision. Switch-hitting catcher Javier Valentin ran in from the bullpen to pinch-hit for Ryan Jorgensen, who had struck out three times. Valentin seemed to take his time getting ready for his at-bat but later revealed that he was fully expecting Yost to pull right-hander Scott Linebrink and bring in lefty Brian Shouse to face him. Valentin was batting .231 from the right side in 13 at-bats and .292 from the left side in 144 at-bats. When asked why he didn't turn Valentin around to his weaker side, Yost said he wanted Linebrink to face Valentin. That backfired when Linebrink fell behind, 3-2, and Valentin drove a fastball into the gap in left-center for two runs. Reds manager Pete Mackanin said he expected Yost to hail Shouse from the bullpen to face Valentin. "Yes, I was very surprised," Mackanin said. "I know it's a tough decision, but Javy struggles a little bit more from the right side than he does from the left." http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=649106 Migod, an opposing player expected and actually waited for, a better managerial decision that didn't materialize. The Reds interim manager was able to sniff out the situation, and also would have made a better choice. This tells me that Pete Mackanin is better-suited to make in-game decisions than a guy with 5 years on the job. If Ted Simmons won't take the job, let's hang onto Pete's cell phone number. It sounds like the blame game to Ned supporters, but we're quoting situations where other teams' players, managers, our beat writers...are all wondering what goes into Yost's decision-making process. We lost the division by 2 lousy games. August 19th vs. Cincinnati...August 30th at Chicago...September 3 vs. Houston ("the choice of Aquino to face Pence" game). There were quite a few others, such as when Counsell was brought in for Braun and wound ending the inning ahead of Prince a few times, or the instances when Cordero was left to gather cobwebs in the pen, because it wasn't the bottom of the 9th on the road. But anyone paying attention closely could easily argue that these 3 specific examples alone, were the difference in costing us our first playoff berth in 25 years. Yet, all I heard today on Talkin' Brewers was how Ned deserved this extra year extension on his contract, how he comes to the park for night games, at noon, how well he handles a clubhouse....blahblahblah.

"Belichek wasn't a good coach in Cleveland and now is a god. Phil Jackson has been average with the lakers and now they get Gasol and they are contenders. In baseball Larussa had bad teams and then moved on to St Louis and had some great players who helped him win. I could go on and on. But when people constantly bash Yost, it seems like a waste of time to me." OK, whynot, let's take these points apart: Bill Belichick took the Browns to the conference title game. LaRussa won the pennant 3 times with the A's, and won a World Series once, there. Then, he took over the Cardinals, and won a championship with them, too. Not good? Phil Jackson won not 1, or 2, but 3 World Championships with the Lakers! That's average? :lol "But in the big picture, having more talent than the other team is the thing that decides whether or not you go on to the playoffs and win a title. Yost could win the world series this year and then the Yost bashers would simply say it was the talent that covered up his mistakes. It can't be both ways." That's the thing. Last year, he DID have more talent than the Cubs, and a huge 8 1/2 game lead...which was blown...for the 2nd time. That's on him. Tell ya what: If Ned guides this team to a world championship this year, I'll be right there leading the charge for him to be kept. (Holding breath.....turning blue....passing out...zzzzzzzzz).

"I really wish Yost would take a class on in game management or something but that is the kind of thing I feel does grow with experience. Oh yeah and he has to stop doing that little grimace/smile thing when his boneheaded moves don't work out, that little thing makes me want to smash the TV." I hears ya. I'm just as frustrated by management's apparent free pass they're giving him, like Garner. It just seems odd that a manager heading into his 6th year on the job, would still need help with in-game decisions. Over 800 games, and he's not ready yet! And I agree that if there was ever a clear-cut, fan-friendly time for Doug and Mark to get out their hammer and club Ned like a whack-a-mole, it would have been at the end of his 2nd late-season meltdown. I'll even agree that Mark's first Vote Of Confidence (the dreaded V.O.C.!) on September 3rd, was appropriate, since we were still close, and an in-season move at that point would have destroyed any chance we may have had (although it didn't help, anyway). I was livid when we were officially eliminated that Saturday by the Padres, and in Sunday morning's papers, within hours after the cinders of our season were still smoldering, Mark gave his 2nd V.O.C., declaring "Ned is fine!!" If he said nothing, he and Doug still could have enjoyed the ambiguity, and used it to their advantage in strategizing. But no, Mark's mind was made up that Ned was going to be rewarded, regardless, so his public statements of affirmation didn't matter, since it was already decided. My question is, what was the rush to retain Ned? Were other teams secretly angling for Ned's services? Was his brilliance making him a possibly attractive managerial choice like a Girardi or Piniella? Hell no. I'm sorry, but hurrying up and extending Ned back when, was not a wise move. Ned had no leverage, Ned was given the best talent he ever had in 5 seasons. The team was either going to improve, regardless of who was managing, or....Ned was going to blow it again, which he, of course, did. Now, Doug's left to say "People are fired in the middle of contracts," . To me, that sounds dumb. One minute, Doug's saying he didn't want Ned operating under the pressure of that last year of his contract. But then, he says that he could easily fire Ned. That's pressure, too, right? Bad.

"I think the flaws in his managing are things that can be fixed with experience so I'm not overly upset with the move. " So, you don't consider him "experienced" yet? It's been 5 long years! I'm not baiting you or anything, I just wonder. It seems Ned is pretty rigid when it comes to such by-the-book managerial commandments as The-one-designated-as-the-official-closer-shall-not-enter-a-game-without-the-lead-in-road-games-until-the-the-9th, and Counsell-shall-enter-the-game-as-a-defensive-replacement-and-ruin-the-offense-as-early-as-the-7th-inning, or his designated catcher nonsense. Here's a piece from Friday's Tom Haudricourt article, that tells us all we need to know: "Even had Melvin not picked up the option on his contract, Yost said it wouldn't have altered his approach to the 2008 season. "It doesn't change anything that I'm going to do," Yost said. "No manager likes (going into the final year of a contract) but I'm not going to do things differently, whether he picked up my option or didn't pick up my option."" Do you see him changing his style anytime soon, ESPECIALLY since Mark keeps giving him votes of confidence and extending his contract? Ned's questionable decisions not only don't endanger his job, he seems to be rewarded for them, so why change? He's staying the course, and that's that. Ned driving this team, inspires about as much confidence as Lary Sorenson driving my taxi. "...at this rate Yost is going to manage as long as Bobby Cox, only without the whole winning baseball games tradition thing." LOVE this, adam! Dollars down: Who lasts longer as an inept Brewer manager, because the owner is comfortable with him, despite the lack of playoff appearances? Phil "The Best in the Business" Garner, or Ned "Attendance is up" Yost?