JohnBriggs12

The comparison that comes to mind is death of Princess Diana. Both were passengers in vehicles that were speeding. Totally senseless and avoidable had the person at the controls used common sense.

I don't think they can go back and eliminate replay reviews. What they've proved is that umpires miss calls a lot. I'd be worried if I'm an umpire. Baseball needs to weed out the guys that get calls overturned a lot. That would reduce the need for so many reviews.

How can the pitching coach from Brevard survive after a season when the 12th overall pick in the 2014 draft posts a 5.93 ERA and one of the pieces back in the Khris Davis deal posts an ERA of 5.59?

70 and counting! Its possible the Brewers will end up within 10-12 games of both wild card participants having dealt an All Star catcher at the deadline and a 40+ and 100+ RBI bat just prior to ST. Which proves my point that you never know when playoffs are going to be right there for you. Giving up before any season rubs me the wrong way. Attanasio while pleased with progress this year essentially threw in the towel for 2017 the other night. Just no reason to do that.

His curveball last night was nasty and I've noticed he's getting some fastballs up near the mid 90's which we didn't see early on. Hard to argue with results, and they've been there even though Counsell's leash has been very short. He hasn't allowed more than 3 runs in a game since June. While you can argue he hasn't gotten deep in games, the Brewers are 12-17 in his starts. Most teams would take that from their 5th starter.

Depends on where you hit in the order. Davis has scored 82 runs (almost as many as Villar who's OBP is .368 batting in front of the 2, 3 and 4 hitters), Davis started the year batting 5th (he eventually was moved up to 4th). Those are run producer spots, not table setter, and he's driven in 99. That kind of production is extremely valuable.. Those would be 2nd and 1st on the Brewers in 2016.

He throws well enough to pitch or catch. Catcher is an area the Brewers need to improve....could they have him try catching in winter ball?

He's certainly athletic enough. I did bring it up as a possibility before Broxton came on strong and they traded for Brinson. If versatility is his ticket to a long major league career, I'm sure he's not going to fight it. I'm still amazed that last October the Brewers took him off their roster. What were they thinking? I liked him last year when he only played two positions and hadn't flashed HR power but did show gap power. They were very fortunate he took them up on their offer for a AAA contract and didn't sign elsewhere.

Ted Williams had OPS over 1.000 through age 39. Not comparing Braun to the Spendid Splinter, but Braun's certainly been an elite hitter and had he not had the PED stuff, he'd have HOF credentials. He's worth taking a risk that he'll be productive through age 36 or 37.

Seems like this team had to get in a few rolls in the hay before they headed out for Spring Training. Would seem more important to cover Braun's maternity leave by adding Wren, but what do I know? Elmore in starting OF? Please. Pena didn't miss the game and why would he? His family benefits more by his establishing himself as a major leaguer.

Villar's tailed off considerably the last month. He does have 5 HR this month but he's batting just .175 in September and he's 4 for his last 40. It's probably a little early to tell just what kind of player he'll be going forward. It could be he's just worn down after a long season.

I have no recollection of that game or even a few of the players for the Brewers, Rafael Novoa? Matt Maysey? Then again my kids were 7 and 2 at the time, and I didn't follow the team as closely though usually late night after the kids were in bed, I'd have Uke on.

It's no different now than it was in 2008 and 2011. Brewers can't buy quality FA starting pitching. They need to either build it from within or trade for it. When the time is right, they should have the pieces to get it and hopefully without completely depleting the system.

Got to believe that at some point in the next 1-3 years, they are going to be in position to add pitching at the deadline or ready to deal for it in the winter and they'll tap into their surplus in CF to get it.

I focus on it because I thought at the time (and posted it here) that it was not the ideal time to trade Davis as to me he was clearly on the verge of becoming a premier power bat in all of baseball and they weren't going to get value back that reflected that. Indications are they didn't. It wasn't so much that his absence cost the Brewers anything in the standings this year (though having him and Carter in the same lineup would have been fun and it wasn't much fun watching the likes of Flores for much of the year) For goodness sake, Davis still has a shot at being the top HR hitter in all of baseball this year. Your OBP is irrelevant when you are hitting in a run production spot in the order. He's not a table setter. Davis has produced runs, a lot of them. By the way, Brinson does not walk much either but does that really bother anyone?

I have a hard time looking at how this team has played since starting the year without wondering some things. Since May 1st (around the date Guerra came up and the rotation became essentially average), the Brewers are just 7 games under .500 at 60-67, this after trading off an All Star catcher and getting no current major league talent back. Think about it. Since February, they traded a guy who's hit 40 HR and driven in 99 runs this season and an All Star catcher at the deadline, got nothing back at the major league level in return and yet they have except for August, the month that followed the Lucroy deal, been essentially a .500 team. Going back to last year, they were also essentially a .500 team after June 1st. It begs the question of whether a complete tear down at the major league level was necessary or even wise. Certainly in cases where players were nearing the end of control years (Gomez, Lucroy), they could have been dealt without announcing to the world essentially that they are backing up the truck by why deal Davis or consider dealing Braun who are still productive and controllable for several more years? Now they still have Braun (barely apparently), but except for Santana, Anderson, and Hill (briefly), none of the players brought back in the major deals so far has hit the big leagues. Yet the talent they've acquired in much lesser fashion by waiver claims (Perez, Guerra, Torres) minor trades (Villar, Broxton), and minor FA signings (Carter) have all proven to be productive major league players with still some upside in some cases. I think it's time to re-assess where they are and start looking to compete instead of looking at every player on their current roster as a potential trade chip for yet more prospects. The farm system has a few spots they need to add to, but they will again be drafting fairly high next year.

There used to be a time when it was not all that uncommon for organizations to loan excess players to affiliates of other organizations needing players to fill out a roster.

I do believe Braun will be .900 OPS guy the next couple seasons and an .850 OPS the two seasons after that. He'll need the occasional day off and that diminishes his impact somewhat but I just don't understand the thinking that trading him somehow speeds up the rebuild. Taking his presence out of the lineup sets back the rebuild. This isn't the Lucroy situation. Lucroy's value beyond 2017 was going to be the draft pick compensation they'd receive. Still and all I do wonder what this team would have looked like with Braun, Lucroy, and Davis in the middle of the lineup heading into 2017 with guys like Villar, Perez, Broxton, Carter around them. That's a wild card contender with average pitching.

Khris Davis, the guy Stearns traded for a class A pitcher who posted an ERA of nearly 6 and a AA catcher who posted a .641 OPS, hit his 40th HR today. Just saying.

Brinson get a call? Wren?

Virtually any starter who's had any success in the major leagues is better than the 4th thru 8th man in anyone's pen. And unless a "long man" gets regular work, he's not going to stay sharp. Yes it would shorten the bench, but having versatile bench players, it's possible even in the NL. You would need to have the flexibility in your roster to keep the "next day's starter" available for extra innings, and the ability to dip into the minors to replace him if used for one game.

I don't know why anyone other than Arcia would be completely ruled out. It all depends on the return. You probably don't want to deal Broxton or Santana because their value could still hasn't been fully established. Any of the pitchers though are fair game at this point. I would suspect that Brewer trades this winter will be packages of major league players for other major league players and less of veterans for prospects (as evidence of the Braun for Puig talks). The time has come for some fine tuning on the major league roster, and that means balancing out the lineup with more lefthanded punch, and fortifying areas made weak by trades areas like catcher, and bullpen depth. The Brewers will have made up about 25 games on Pittsburgh and 20 games on St. Louis this year over last year without really building a roster designed to compete in the present. Look there's likely no catching the Cubs for the next 4-5 years regardless of the excellence of the farm system. The goal should start being to get in the wild card mix and they aren't that far off that now. If they fall short of that goal through 4 months of 2017, they can always turn the focus back on veterans for prospects at the deadline.

Ever since the Brewers went to the 6 man rotation, the starters have been solid from 1 to 6. Given that all 6, with the exception of Guerra perhaps, are 3-4 type starters, maybe the extra rest between starts is ideal for this team to maximize these guys abilities? I believe the success of the 6 man rotation should make the Brewers strongly consider starting off the 2017 season in the same manner.

Yea, that's smart on their part. I've been saying for years it's not the length of games that's the biggest problem, it's end times during the week. I'm sure they're just testing it, but hopefully they move up Wed/Thurs games too- especially in April, May, Sept (school months.) When I went to my first Braves game in 1958 on a Friday night in June, start times were 8:00 p.m. I was 5 going on 6. My mom left it up to me earlier in the day whether to go that night or the next Saturday afternoon. I was so excited I wanted to go that night. Downside was I had to take a nap. Oh yeah, Sandy Koufax beat Joey Jay that night 3-1. Only Brave run was on an Aaron HR. Not bad for a first game.

Seriously? Davis has 37 HR and 90 RBI, both would lead the Brewers. I was upset with the deal when it happened and I still am. I said at the time they were trading a 40 HR bat (which a lot of people disputed) with control through 2019 for no major league talent in return and that unless Nottingham were the real deal, they got robbed. Davis has some flaws, but he's a now a proven premier power bat as opposed to last winter when he his status was as an emerging power bat with potential to be a premier one. Proven premier controllable power bats in their prime are a lot more valuable than a decent but no sure thing catching prospect and a B-C type lower level arm.