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JohnBriggs12

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Everything posted by JohnBriggs12

  1. JohnBriggs12
    Keeping Lucroy beyond 2016 is going to be very difficult anyway. I think they'd like his heir to be Coulter. Maybe a Maldonado/Zarraga combo can be a bridge to that if needed. Maldonado sitting behind Lucroy for two more seasons won't help his development. He'll have a hard time shedding that backup label by that time.
  2. JohnBriggs12
    When you factor in that he's a kid that should be in A ball, they've been outstanding. His change looked really-really good last night. I'm not real encouraged by his FB velocity, but that very well could be the result of not pitching regularly and not really building up his arm strength (doubt it, but hopefully). Given that sometimes position players come into games and breeze through an inning, you can't put much stock in a clean inning here and there. Almost any arm in A ball could accomplish that on occasion. Still he passed a small hurdle in the first situation that actually had some meaning. Good for him. I still don't agree with the philosophy of rule 5 draft and stash and until it actually works and somebody taken in that situation goes on to have a decent major league career count me as a skeptic. I still watch Wang and see Matt Ford and Enrique Cruz.
  3. JohnBriggs12
    I've always thought part of Braun's injury issues is that he swings such a big bat. He gets tremendous plate coverage but to generate torque (especially to pull the ball) it puts a lot of strain on his torso. That's part of the reason I believe he spends so much time getting his body loose and ready for every AB (as Segura can attest). As he gets into his 30's one wonders if he shouldn't taper down to an easier to handle bat. I'm sure it's easier said than done for someone who's made a career out of swinging a big stick, but it might help keep him on the field and also restore the ability to pull the ball more.
  4. JohnBriggs12
    "I'd object to is losing Estrada entirely. He needs to be kept around as depth until he can be replaced during the off-season." I disagree. If they have to go deep, they are in trouble whether it's Estrada or someone else. Fiers would be the next guy up internally. I don't think he's any worse than Estrada. Neither would be a guy like Correia whom the Twins would unload without much back. Another guy who fits in that category is Kendrick.
  5. JohnBriggs12
    I think I read on MLBTR that Parra isn't in discussion to be traded. He may not be a big name but he actually is. Because he's a Gold Glove winner(the Year Braun had deserving Stats to be) Arizona would be foolish to sell low on him. At Minimum I'd say he's easily worth Jungmann in trade Probably + with Jungmann. Briggs, why would Oak/Balt go and pick up Weeks if Prado can be had? If I'm them, I'd trade for Prado first and Weeks would only be an option if Prado was traded away already....Same thing goes in line with Zobrist. Those two are going to be sought after well before Weeks is. Unless Milwaukee has a far to low a price tag in what they ask for Weeks. Both Prado and Zobrist will command a decent return. Weeks won't. Oakland's showed it's focus is on this year. Period.
  6. JohnBriggs12
    Maldonado is very expendable and replaceable. His playing time is starting to resemble that of Mike Rivera's when he backed up Kendall. If there is a team out there that's interested, they'll get something, but probably not much.
  7. JohnBriggs12
    It's one thing to assume a very talented 22 year old everyday player will be around and still productive beyond the 6 years it takes to get to FA. It's quite another to assume any starting pitcher will be, regardless of age. What's so aggravating from my perspective is it's quite possible Nelson is as good as he's ever going to be right now at age 25, and he's using up innings in his arm getting minor leaguers out. Even if you figure the jump from AAA to the majors is worth 2 runs on a guy's ERA, that's still an ERA of under 3.50 in Nelson's case, a full run and a half better than Estrada has posted this year. Maybe Nelson still has room to improve, but how are they going to measure that improvement pitching at a level he's already dominating? By keeping him this long at AAA, assuming it's to avoid a Super Two year, they might think they are taking the "safe route". I suggest they are being foolishly risky. They are risking potentially not having the services of a top flight pitcher in the heat of a pennant race, something that is not all that common for this franchise.
  8. JohnBriggs12
    Worst case scenario, Nelson gets an extra season of arby in 2017. He's still under team control through 2020 at which time he'll be 31 going on 32. Many guys are already on the decline by that point. Only difference is he gets an extra arby year. If he's so good that he earns a lot in arbitration, so be it. Right now this team is in position to win a division, and they should look at Nelson attaining Super 2 status as a cost associated with going for it. After all, Wang is the ace of the future anyway. They can also look at a non-tender of Estrada for 2015 being the trade off for an extra year of arby for Nelson.
  9. JohnBriggs12
    There sure seems to be talk that Prado could be had in a deal. Arizona just might figure it's better off getting out from his contract. If the Brewers could deal Weeks to say Baltimore or Oakland, and find a way to get Prado from Arizona that would be fine. Prado, unlike Weeks, plays anywhere including 1B and is a viable option to take over full time duty at 3B if they decide not to pick up ARAM's option. The trading away of Matt Davidson doesn't factor in. Davidson's prospect status is taking a gigantic hit this year. He's hitting .201 in Charlotte with nearly twice as many K's as hits. I think Arizona had doubts about Davidson before they dealt him despite his high prospect rankings.
  10. JohnBriggs12
    How dominating has Nelson been in AAA? Aside from Brad Mills, the next closet qualifier for the ERA lead is 0.90 behind Nelson or nearly a full run. In fact there are only 6 pitchers in the PCL with ERA's under 3 with enough innings to qualify, and Fiers also in that group at 2.63. What does that tell us? First that the PCL is a hitters league and pitchers who dominate there are rare. Second, that pitchers who do dominate that league usually don't stay there long. Finally that the Brewers are way too over cautious. I get trying to avoid the Super 2 status. But my goodness, Nelson is 25 years old. The Brewers control him into his 30's. He is in his prime as a pitcher right now. What is he doing in the minor leagues?
  11. JohnBriggs12
    Shifting defenses have increased the value of hitters that use the entire field. I am just guessing but I'm thinking Zarraga is just such a hitter. Throw in the fact that he's a switch hitter, and they really would appear to have something, reluctant as they seem to be to put him in the lineup every day.
  12. JohnBriggs12
    Only a need because apparently the starting outfielders can't handle the workload. One seems to go down every other day. If they aren't running into each other or foolishly sliding head first or swinging so hard they pull something, they'll find something that keeps them out for a few days. Somebody tell them Advil is approved by MLB. Lest I forget, the reluctance of Weeks to play anywhere but 2B also makes the need for a backup OF bat more pressing.
  13. JohnBriggs12
    Henderson isn't too far away. He's basically going through ST again. If he's healthy that would alleviate some issue with the pen but I still think they need to add one veteran RH out there. The platoon at 1B situation is exasperated when one of the OF is down and Reynolds isn't hitting HR. In the last week +, we've seen Gomez go down, then Davis and now Braun. These guys have to all be in the lineup at the same time for the offense to be at peak. Nice game yesterday by Schafer but he's had them occasionally and they haven't been a signal of better things ahead. Sure it would help if they got more out of 1B. Where is that guy? Who knows? Internal options?? Morris has been out of the lineup and his numbers just ok. Was the signing of Clark meaningful? He's got nice numbers. Halton's up to .294 but the power's been strangely lacking for a guy his size. Zarraga?? I don't think we'll see them roll the dice on those guys in a pennant race even though they might actually be a slight upgrade.
  14. JohnBriggs12
    While this particular deal appears to be fine, I have a problem with a team basically deciding they are not going to compete for half a decade. Particularly in a sport like baseball where 162 games are played every year and teams charge major league prices regardless and where many hard core fans are elderly, many of whom won't be around if and when this plan works out. I'm all for a long term approach, but not at the total expense of the present. I hope Epstein fails miserably so this doesn't become a model for franchises elsewhere. I don't want to see MLB become the NBA.
  15. JohnBriggs12
    Look, I'm not saying what the Cubs are doing won't pay off. My problem is that teams can build for the future while still putting a representative team on the field for now. Yeah it's great that by 2018 they'll have a strong team. But baseball fans come in all ages. Many, many current Cub fans will be dead by that time. Seriously. Yes it took the Brewers a while to build a representative team. But they never purposely lost 100+ games. They went down swinging. I remember when Damien Miller became a Brewer. Some fan yelled at him in spring training, "Hey Miller, help this team grow" Miller looked back at the fan and said "I'm here to help this team win". That's how athletes think. What the Cubs have done since Epstein got there is just put junk on the field. It's unprecedented and an anathema to anyone who's a competitor.
  16. JohnBriggs12
    I'm sorry but I'm glad I'm not a Cub fan. It's one thing to rebuild for a couple years. It's another to keep sticking it to fans who are paying major league prices now. They were playing pretty decent ball in large part because of a very solid rotation. Now for the 3rd straight year, Epstein has gutted the roster at mid season. What a con artist. As long as he can keep expectations low, he's under no pressure to win. Meanwhile the fans that do show up especially in the second half of seasons, are treated to non competing roster.
  17. JohnBriggs12
    If a year of service amounts to 172 days where are you getting 366 for two years? Shouldn't it be 344? Adding in the 30 he already has that puts him at 374. 465 (172+172+121) - 374 = 91 days which Nelson would now be under for the remainder of 2014. That's how the story on Polanco reads, that Polanco could have fell under the 2.122 at the end of May but they added 10 days as a precaution.
  18. JohnBriggs12
    I gotta believe Doug's acutely aware that chancing the season on Wooten or Kintzler in key bullpen rolls would be foolhardy. He should be burning up the phones. The Red Sox are teetering again after being swept at home by the Cubs and Uehera is a FA after this season who has been outstanding. Not sure I'd want to try Badenhop again but he's another possibility.
  19. JohnBriggs12
    I imagine Pittsburgh felt secure in bringing up Polanco on the 10th of June. After today then Polanco would be at 24 days and counting to Nelson's 30. Brewers have TBA listed in the probables for Monday against Phillies. Now lets assume they start Peralta on his normal rest that day, and bring up Nelson to start on Tuesday, July 8? Through the 7th, Polanco would be up to 28 days and Nelson would be just 2 ahead. Nelson could make two pre All Star starts on Tuesday the 8th and Sunday the 13th, then be optioned back for 10 days, returning on July 23rd. As for Jeffress, if Henderson's not close, they could put him on the 60 day.
  20. JohnBriggs12
    How are you figuring mid to late July for the cutoff date. Nelson spent 29 days in the majors last year and what 3 days this year? Isn't the typical cutoff date around June 1 for a player with no prior time in the big leagues? I would think he could be brought up to make his next start on the 7th, and be beyond the cutoff date. What am I missing?
  21. JohnBriggs12
    Texas would definitely want something of quality in return, but it's not like they'd need to empty out the farm system. Speaking of Texas, Frasor is a cheaper type having a solid year and would just be a rental that I'm sure could be had at a reasonable cost.
  22. JohnBriggs12
    Do you think Estrada would be able to control his homertastic tendencies out of the pen? That's not a rhetorical question; I don't know the answer. It does seem important. Obviously, anywhere you put Estrada, he's liable to surrender a HR at any time. Maybe he'd bear down and be able to spot his pitches better in short relief. But the main point is, they need to make room for Nelson to start and they have issues in their pen which won't go away. There are two ways to minimize the relief problems. One is better starting pitching allowing team to build bigger leads and starter to go longer. The other is personnel changes in the pen. Doing nothing is problematic. What's a better 7th inning combo, Gorzelanny or Duke and Estrada or Wooten and Kintzler?
  23. JohnBriggs12
    The bullpen is far more critical. Brewers have real problems with Kintzler and Wooten in high leverage situations and uncertainty over Henderson and Thornburg. Benoit, Street, and Qualls all figure to be targets for contending teams. There's some buy low veterans that could be had but Brewers have been down the Hawkins, Axford and Balfour road before.
  24. JohnBriggs12
    I think the Brewers have to roll the dice and try to get Street or Benoit. Expensive?? Heck yeah, but there's a ton at stake and they don't have a ton invested in their pen right now. Maybe move Weeks and his salary if you have to. Oakland is looking for more offense at 2B.
  25. JohnBriggs12
    The alternative right now is Wooten....ouch. They are really missing a healthy Thornburg and Henderson. Bring up Nelson to start, move Marco to the pen and start using Gorzelanny in high leverage situations. My goodness Kintzler/Wooten combo isn't getting it done.
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