GenoSeligPrieb

Tom Haudricourt wrote a few weeks ago about Mark Attanasio's belt-tightening for 2013: "When all was said and done, some $51 million had come off the books, more than half of the payroll...Some of that went toward raises for arbitration-eligible players, but, anyway you figure it, the payroll is down at least 20% from a year ago." I'm still grateful for Mark spending to give us a few postseason berths, and he'll never achieve a Selig-Prieb level of cheapness & incompetence. But it seems as if we fans have to fill the damned park every game, to watch some pretty uninspiring baseball and baseball players, on a discounted payroll, just for Attanasio to not cut payroll. We're the smallest market in the majors, with a still-bad TV deal. We've upheld our end of the bargain. While we still have Aramis, a so-far unsuspended Braun and a healthy Lucroy, our pitching could have been taken care of a LOT better. And by "better" I DON'T mean another suspiciously-good-only-as-a-Cardinal, like Kyle Lohse! Migod, if we give that Suppan/Looper clone more than $3 million, then Melvin should be demoted to race in the Italian Sausage costume.

Nice topic! Since he cut payroll, due to attendance, I'd go with Attanasio first. But as the year wears on, I'm afraid Axford will be the biggest target of the boo-birds. Hope he has an All-Star season to prove me wrong

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm a sucker for one of these human interest stories as much as anyone, and at least Mike Olmsted's mother was appaently real, and not a Lennay Kekua thing. But these guys are available for a reason. You don't see us picking up a David Price or a Matt Cain off the scrap heap, and for every Axford or Turnbow DM picks up, we see dozens of late-20's rookie bustouts like Bronswell Patrick and Joe Winkelsas. I wish him well, and I'd love to be proven wrong, but this team has let me down SO many times.

Olmsted = Axford = Turnbow = McGehee Doug gets another colorful, hard-throwing big donkey off the scrap heap, one with a nice backstory (I'll bet his wife's getting pregnant......tonight) who will dominate, pitch in the 2015 All-Star Game, and then, like a Behind the Music story, he'll lose his mojo and resurface in an Independent League somewhere in 2017 He's Casey McAx-bow!

First of all, I want to give a shoutout to Igor! Great to read you again, m'friend! Anyway, I stopped expecting anything from Gamel, about 3 years ago, so it's not like I feel we lost anything. It's like when my wife felt compelled to buy a PowerBall ticket last year & asked me to check if we won. I didn't bother. That's how I viewed ANY kind of contribution from Gamel. We didn't lose what we never had. Mat Gamel will be remembered as the latest version of JM Gold or Joey Meyer.

Isn't Fiers kinda old, too? He'll be 28 in June, so he's no young phenom who's starting to put it all together. Rogers is out of options, so at a minimum, he'll be in the pen until/if he doesn't impress in ST. - YoGa? Of course. - I still think Peralta is in. He has only 29 IP in the majors, so I'm worried, but he seemed poised and looks like one of those guys who'll stick. He's our 2nd-best starter. Zoinks! - Fiers is our #3, fans. Wow. - Estrada will be in, by default I guess, but given his flexibility to relieve, he could be bounced to the pen, as they give Fiers every chance. If Fiers tanks, it's Estrada who's ourt #3...and a half...starter - Narveson will be one of the 5, because Roenicke seems to like him for some reason, and DM too often stockpiles LHPs for the rotation. - As a surprise to some, I see Tom Gorzelanny in the rotation by...May. That's when Rogers will hit the DL. That, and I just can't imagine the Brewers with only 1 lefty - one whose arm fell off last year. Brandon McCarthy was a free agent, was willing to take a 2-year deal with Arizona for only $15M, and we passed. Dan Haren was expensive, I admit, but he would have been a #1 or a #2 on this team. Probably too much money, but I would have been thrilled if we got him. For some reason, John Lannan was jerked around by the Nationals despite being pretty solid when he was there. Really? Their Opening Day starter had a 3.70 ERA in 2011, and he gets sent to the minors? Now the Phillies signed him for only $2.5 million! Kyle McClennan came cheap to Texas, Peter Moylan went to the Dodgers on a minor league deal, and he's not bad, and even Scott Baker wasn't too expensive as a low-risk Cub signing. I'm not saying I knew definitively that Melvin chose to ignore all these guys - it does take 2 to tango - but he could have been more creative in trying to assemble a better pitching staff to go with this offense which won't stay this good indefinitely.

He can say THAT again. That's a direct quote from Nori Aoki today, when asked why he wasn't playing in that dumb-ass World Baseball Classic. His translator said it was "(he) wanted to get ready for our season here." Exactly! Now I know that players can just as easily get injured wearing a Brewer uniform in an exhibition game here in camp, By the way, the practice jerseys are OK, but those caps with the white front look like Tony Migliaccio bought out a roadside stand full of puffy trucker hats, in Guadalajara. Anyway, I'd rather see our players playing...together. Our own catchers, Maldonado and Lucroy, getting in a rhythm with all of our young and new-to-Milwaukee pitchers, instead of a Blake Lalli or a Dayton Buller working with guys like Gorzellany, Gonzalez and Fiers. Interestingly, Roenicke saw his shadow this morning and declared "We've got enough guys in the WBC; I'm glad he didn't join in." I'd say the catchers are more important, but hey, a genuine sense of irritation from RR? Who knew?

Thanks again to everyone who welcomed me back so warmly. From now on the posts will not have my name in the topic. I promise!

Ennder: Ordinarily, I'd agree, but this was LaRussa - a man whose M.O. is to get in the other team's heads. To paraphrase Sean Connery in "The Untouchables," when Roenicke was afraid to match LaRussa's borderline tactics, much less even call him out for them, it was like bringing a knife to a gunfight. And Homer? Brady Clark is going to burn in Hades, when he dies since he already leased his soul to Mephistopheles for the chance to bat cleanup a dozen times in '02.

Ennder: I don't equate hitting Freese with a World Series berth, but LaRussa knew that he could get away with it, without payback and without harming his team's chances pne bit. It also set a tone. As a player, could you respect a manager who was afraid to answer back at a bully like TLaR, even verbally? We came off as the same old, small market team who was not "big-time enough" to play with the big boys. My boy, xis! Wassup, casual fan?! Even if we suck this year you better stick around. Now we need JoPal, NDOG & other cynical ****** like us!

Ennder: One thing St. Louis was able to do, was to throw at Ryan & Fielder first, BEFORE the warnings we're issued. As I recall, we had an opportunity to do the same thing right back to them, and our weak inexperienced "take-the-high-road" manager chose to take a pass. Weak sauce. That was torture for me

My SP wish list - unfulfilled - started with Brandon McCarthy, Dan Haren and to a lesser extent, Edwin Jackson. DM should have also tried to get someone from Miami's fire sale, and Billy Beane is always giving away decent young SPs. Joe Saunders is not awful & he'd be cheap. Likewise, Zambrano & Valverde (while both are a bit...."quirky?") may also be a buy-low good risk. Papa Grande would be a nice hedge for Axford. I DO see Gorzellany in the rotation soon to pick up for a Rogers or a Fiers flameout, and Gonzalez will probably close if...when...Axford implodes

Migod, it's been a long time! But things in my personal life that I promise NOT to bore everyone with, have kinda sorted themselves out, and well, I guess you're stuck with me again. Back to baseball. My first regular post is about 2 issues that have been bothering me for a while lately First, let's start with Roenicke. Not to open a sore old wound, but I haven't seen anyone ask this: Why did he let LaRussa's pitchers to basically throw at Ryan and Fielder in the NLCS without ANY balls coming near David Freese? We Brewer fans get a championship-caliber team once every 20 years or so, until some low-lives like Boras start taking key players away from us, and when we get there, what do we have? A manager who doesn't argue calls, who allows the opponents (and it just HAD to be St. Louis of all teams) to bully us. At one point, the TBS cameras showed Furcal standing with his spikes literally a few inches outside the batters box as that bast$&@ Freese did, because there was NO fear of chin music coming from Brewer pitchers. After that series, I wanted Roenicke (and Marcum of course) gone. 1 down, 1 to go. 2 points for the price of 1 post. I also never saw where any reporter asked Attanasio why the fans are basically being punished for not filling the stadium every game last year to watch K-Rod and Axford ruin our season, with a much-lower payroll. I genuinely appreciated when Mark paid up, but once Fielder's salary slot went unfilled, that was that. Now we're going into a season with a #1 offense, but 4 shaky rotation spots & that same shaky closer. This lineup won't stay this powerful indefinitely. A trade for a REAL #2 should have been made, since Greinke's slot also went unfilled. I expect about 82 wins this year, which seems like a huge wasted opportunity. At any rate, I'm thrilled to be back, but as Chief Cynic, understandably, I'm not as optimistic as I was before Roenicke and Attanasio brought me back down to the ol' Skeptic Tank

"Some people just enjoy being perpetual cynics, I guess. " It's what I do, Invader! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Believe me, I'm not being ungrateful or anything. I was thrilled. When Ryan hit that homer in Game 162 against Chicago, I lost it. And when Helms saved our bacon to cement the playoff berth, it was a day I won't forget for decades, maybe never. But it's just seems a bit...embarrassing?...to raise a banner for a 1-and-done playoff berth, while other stadiums have multiple banners commemorating division titles, league championships, and world championships. By comparison, it just makes our organization seem a bit needy or satisfied with barely, and I mean barely, making the playoffs once in 26 years.

"Don't take this the wrong way but that 4-ish ERA that throws 200IP is Suppan... I don't know that I'd rather have him. " Phoenix: If Suppan were indeed capable of an ERA at the 4.00 mark, his 4 year, $42,000,000 deal would have been worth it. But he's not that guy. He'll give you a 4.80-ish ERA, which isn't even close. If I were to pull a prototype out of my hindquarters here, I'd say a solid SP who DM should at least inquire about this winter, with that 4.00-ish ERA and 200+ IP, is...maybe a John Parrish from Baltimore, a Kyle Davies from KC, a John Lannon from Washington... I'm not saying Doug should just pull up his shopping cart and take whomever he wants off the shelves, like the Yankees can and have, but that's the type I'd target. Not that expensive, under 30, on the way up, all that. Again, it may prove difficult to pull off this type of deal, but if we can get that kind of production, I'd be satisfied, since I don't expect us to land a major star SP anyway. Hell, if we wind up with CC, YoGa, One of the guys I listed above, along with Bush/McClung and Suppan, there are few teams who can line up that well. OK, if CC goes elsewhere, and Sheets leaves, too, then we DO have some pricey salary slots available, and since our offense is fine, then maybe we can get someone to take our money, and perhaps bring in a solid veteran like a Derek Lowe or an AJ Burnett to help YoGa anchor the rotation. But again, free agents tend not to take our offers, so we may have to trade a nugget or 2 to make it happen.

But Russ, Ned DID have to go at that time. I would have whacked him after the end of the 2007 collapse, but Mark had to salvage a season where he overspent on CC, and had a rare window of opportunity to sneak in a playoff berth. If Ned stayed, the miserable atmosphere in the locker room he presided over, would have remained, and the Mets would have been in the playoffs. Whether the next manager would be Dale, or Brenly or Macha, or even Robin, the overriding stench of failure had to be fumigated. At the time, it had to be anyone but Ned, and Dale was that guy. Now, with Big Boy Time still upon us for a while, it's time to get a real manager with experience...winning experience. And a Ned manage-alike like Willie Randolph (bench coach for a big money team always in the playoffs, but chokes under the pressure when it's HIS team trying to close the deal), is not the answer, either. I welcome wither Macha or, to a lesser extent, Brenly, over the losers we've had.

"If this were the case, wouldn't any team that did not win the World Series just be a "participant" in the post-season? " Not at all, mtrebs. If we earned an NL Central Champs title, I'd look forward to the unveiling of the banner commemorating it. Win the pennant? Even more so. But a Wild Card berth, with no advancement in the playoffs, suggests celebrating mediocrity. A Wild Card berth, and a win in the first round? Yeah, I guess. But what do you call it? I'd just have a banner reading "Milwaukee Brewers: 2008 National League Championship Series."... But even that's a little hollow.

"Bedard is a bigger injury risk than Sheets. I'd much rather try to re-sign Sheets before I gave up players for Bedard. " Stevo: I'm not saying that's the way I'd prefer to go, or anything. I'm just saying that Bedard's price will be temporarily low, and Jack Z may be open to dealing with us for some of the nuggets that he thought had talent, back when he was here. Hell, Doug STILL yearns for ex-Rangers. And do you REALLY think Erik Bedard (3 trips to the DL in 4+ years), is more of an injury risk than Sheets (8 times in 6 years)? Nah. In fact, other than, say, Mark Prior, off-hand I can't think of any pitcher in the game who's a bigger injury risk than Sheets. "All we'll have to do is find a someone who can put up a 3.5 ERA for 150 IP next year. How hard could that be?" It'll be easy, Russ. YoGa seems capable of that, at least. And my money says he'll stay a lot healthier. Again, I'm not saying Sheets is not a terrific pitcher...when he's out there. Put it this way: I'd rather pay a starting pitcher $8-10,000,000 a year, for a 4-ish ERA, as long as he gives us at least 200 IP, than give Sheets and his 3.5 ERA more than $13,000,000 if we'll still need a starting pitcher to take at least 10 of the starts he misses every season.

The part I cringed at, was when Bud declared they "dealt with it", in the past tense, as if to imply that the problem was fixed. Sure, it's wonderful that the Rays and Brewers qualified for the playoffs. But who else qualified? Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles again, and Chicago again. Those teams also have such large population bases, that they fill their own parks, drive up higher TV ratings for bigger advertising rates, and their insufferable fans buy up the tickets to road games, and drown out the home crowds, by sheer force of their numbers. The Cubs and White Sox are on a superstation, with national followings, the Red Sox share a superstation with the Yankees (ESPN, of course), and the Angels' AL West competitors can't come close to leveling the financial playing field against them. Hell, if not for the heroics from our portly friend, Wes Helms, we could very well have been aced out by the New York Mets, and then what would we have? I'll admit that the competitive balance is a little BETTER than it had been, but I'll declare it fully restored when I see a free-spending team with a huge population base to draw from, lose a major free agent they'd WANT to retain, because they're capped out, and a better-managed team like the Brewers can sign away a Derek Jeter from the Yankees or the Twins can steal away a Kevin Youkilis from Boston. I'll hold my breath for that day to come, without a cap.

A banner for a team that didn't win even a division title, is about as meaningful as the red "Participant" ribbon I was given after the 7th grade Science fair, for my 10 minutes of in-depth investigation of the growth patterns of my Chia Pet.

I agree with Peavey here, too. I want Macha, and it seems that Doug has always wanted him, as well, given the tone of his rhetoric this week. DM defended Ken when asked about KM turning down the Brewers in '03, saying it wasn't an attractive job at the time, "I wouldn't have taken it, either." But a few things seem to be also pointing toward Brenly: Yount loves him, and Kendall hated him. Now, these 2 may have smoothed things out since their days in Oakland, but JK is well-perceived around here, and I'd say Kendall has some pull. Also, since Robin remained loyal to BB, after the Cub announcer was fired by the Diamondbacks, if Mark indeed wants our franchise's signature superstar's calming, luminous presence back in the dugout in '09 (along with Sveum, probably), then that should swing it toward Bob. On JS Online, poll, I was among the 7% who voted for Davey Johnson. He doesn't appear to be a possibility, but the question was asked, and I answered. But believe me, I'd be happy with Macha. To me, he's a gruff Davey Lopes type, except with better success and tactical skills. I'll confess I was hoping Davey would success because he was perhaps the only Brewer manager to open his yap and say how bad the stench was around here. Give me a surly Ken Macha over the Polyanna "All-Is-Well" of a Ned Yost, or the "Jim-Abbott-And-Marquis-Grissom-Are-Going-To-Lead-Us-To-The-Playoffs-in-'99!!" of an Ol' Scrap Iron, any day.

All I keep reading is that Roy Oswalt is recruiting him to the Astros, and that the Yankees could try to sign him if they don't get CC or trade for Peavy. I'm fine with either possibility. Houston could wind up handcuffing themselves, financially, with his contract, when he heads to the DL. But I don't rule out the Yankees because they can pee money away on any banged up, overpriced free agent they want, at any time. $13 or $15 million a year, sitting on the Disabled List? Nothing new or troubling for them. Honestly, the highest I'd offer Ben to stay, would be 3 years @ $25,000,000, tops. I know that won't get it done, because some free-spending team who doesn't look at the consequences of their payroll decisions, and who feels their roll of the dice on such an injury-prone starting pitcher will be lucky (the Yankees, maybe someone like Seattle or Arizona) will sign him for probably 5 years, $75 million. And I say, mazel tov!...go for it! My patience with Sheets ran out when we needed him most a few weeks ago, and he came up injured yet again. I'm not saying he was dogging it, but the fact was that he didn't answer the bell. We're so used to operating without him for so long, that it shouldn't be tough to patch together a Sheets-free rotation in '09. I could even see DM phoning Jack Zdiurencik, and kicking the tires on an Erik Bedard, for a few of our nuggets Jack scouted. I'm not saying that's the ultimate solution, but I wouldn't be shocked if I heard something like that....

"Some of us are able to follow more that one sport at a time. When your season consists of 16 games, they're all important." JB: Isn't that why God created TiVo? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif We must remember that not every woman is like our Brewer-mad friend, Laura, she of the blue Kool-Aid avatar. Get this. Thursday night, my sister-in-law phones, and I can hear my wife's answers...which suggested impending bloodshed as surely as fresh napalm: "...so it'll be like an Oktoberfest!! Sunday at 1? That sounds great!! We can make it!!" Smart girl that Lorna is, after hanging up, her eyes darted at me with a hint of disquiet. She understands how and why the world must stop spinning on its axis, when the Brewers are in the playoffs. And that some damned Oktoberfest will cause a major scheduling conflict. This morning, just for gits and shiggles, she asks "Umm...so, are you going to Maureen's today?" I looked at her, and switched the TV to the To Do List screen...Noon...TBS. So, long story short, here I am, listening to the pre-game....at home...alone...as she and the kids are on their merry way. If I can win this domestic skirmish in the name of the Brewers, then Joe Blanton doesn't worry me for a second...

I took a vacation day tomorrow, so I'm literally still drunk. Since the last out of the Mets game. I forgot how great this feeling is. This team made me proud again, and (happily) proved me wrong, since I predicted they'd lose. Migod, so I love being proven wrong! Thank you, Ryan...and CC...and Counsell, and Dale, and Seth and Suppan and Prince and Rickie and JJ and everyone else. Even if we lose to Philadelphia, (which we won't) I'm thrilled with our new direction. The pessimist in me may not be dead, but he's in bad shape. Thank you, Mark Attanasio, for caring, for investing in a team we can believe in. And thank you, fellas for making what I thought was impossible, possible.

Yeah. I've got to admit, I'll never blaspheme Wes ever again! Consider the Wet Ramp issue dead and buried, as far as I'm concerened. Hell, this new emotion is so foreign to me, I'm not sure how to react to success as a Brewer fan. I just peed myself, if that helps...