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JohnBriggs12

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Everything posted by JohnBriggs12

  1. JohnBriggs12
    I think Gomez deserves tons of credit for the late season surge last year too. He creates so many things, and in close games, his ability to win games in so many ways, is so valuable. Like I said at the time, his contract is an absolute gift for the Brewers. Imagine his price on the open market if he hit even .285/.335/.475? over a full season at his age?
  2. JohnBriggs12
    I think the criteria for a Kotsay type is lefthanded hitter with experience producing in a limited role. All those guys are either righthanded and were primarily starters their entire careers. A guy who would fit other than Kotsay would be Greg Dobbs, but he's starting in Miami so he might cost a big more to acquire.
  3. JohnBriggs12
    The perfect "Kotsay type" is Kotsay himself isn't it? I know he likes playing at home in SD, but they are going nowhere. The guys the Brewers have used sparingly, Schafer, Lalli, Davis, and Prince are a combined 9 for 58. It's tough to produce when you are not getting AB's. Kotsay's numbers given his limited ABs are why he is still playing. The other names that come to mind like Brad Hawpe or an Ishikawa, aren't doing much at AAA these days.
  4. JohnBriggs12
    Yuni did hit .289 and slugged over .400 his first 2 full seasons in the majors in a pitcher's park in Seattle when he was 24-25 years old. It's not like he hasn't been blessed with the ability to hit early on or came out of nowhere like Casey McGehee. Now freed of the defensive responsibilities as an everyday SS, he's swinging the bat like that again, with a little more power. As Counsell said last night, he's never going to walk (oh maybe intentionally now and then), but when he goes after the hittable stuff, he can do damage and at worst he'll make contact. Weeks has been a hole in the lineup wherever he's batted. Yuni is a viable option to take playing time from him, and also give ARAM and Hart a day off now and then.
  5. JohnBriggs12
    I disagree. Perry could have quit at 39 and his stats were easily HOF worthy. Look at the innings he logged. What a workhorse. I saw him throw 15 innings against the Brewers in April of 1974. He stayed in there after blowing a 4-0 lead by allowing 2 runs each in the 8th and 9th. Imagine that happening today? He was finally removed and replaced by Ken Sanders in the 16th who promptly gave up a walk off HR to Bobby Coluccio. That remains one of the most amazing games I have ever seen, live or not in more than 50 years of following baseball. At the time, I felt I had seen greatness and that was Perry.
  6. JohnBriggs12
    I was once a big Weeks booster. On pure talent I thought he was as good as anyone including Braun and Fielder. But even his best years didn't seem to me up to his talent as even in those seasons there were slumps. Now his slumps are more prolonged and deeper and he no longer is needed to lead off on this team. With his contract, he's got very little trade value now if any. As long as Gennett is hitting over .400 at AAA, the heat on Weeks isn't going away any time soon. Maybe a hot month could bring some interest, and if it does, I think the Brewers should move him even if they have to eat part of the contract.
  7. JohnBriggs12
    If you're looking at his WAR, he had a WAR of 0.1 last April, so you're completely correct. I know people like to hate on Rickie Weeks because of his (lack of) performance last year, but if you look around the league it's hard to find many second baseman who get on base and hit for power like he does. He's a top 10 second baseman every year in my eyes. And the Gallardo contract is also a good one. But you can't ignore what Weeks did last year especially since he's off to another horrendous start. That's not "hating on him", it's pointing out the obvious. The 2nd base position isn't that strong. Weeks isn't alone in recent dropoffs. Utley and Uggla have slid in recent seasons too. but Weeks' .728 OPS last year was not strong, and he's showing no signs he's any better this year.
  8. JohnBriggs12
    Weeks "turned it around" after a similar start last year but his seasonal numbers: .230/.328/.400, a .190 BA with runners on base, 169 K's were really not a very good return on investment. It could be he peaked as a player from age 26-28. The thought of that 2015 contract kicking in is disturbing.
  9. JohnBriggs12
    The bolded part is all that really matters. The guys on base in front of Weeks are not the more athletic guys who are on base in front of Yuni. They are pitchers, catchers and whoever bats #8. Huh? Weeks has been hitting behind Braun, Segura and Aoki all year. He's 3 for 37 with men on base. Last year he hit .190 with men on base. Either he has trouble picking up the ball out of the stretch, or base runners are distracting him. It has nothing to do with the athleticism of the guys on base. Weeks is a .224 hitter with men on base in his career. Yuni is a .273 career hitter with men on base. Yes Weeks walks a lot more, and that leads to runs too when he was ahead of the Brauns and Fielders, but for getting the job done with the bat, he's not good and hitting where he's been in the 4 and 5 spot, you need to get some hits because Braun and Segura have been on a lot.
  10. JohnBriggs12
    It's hard to see any other team claiming him (they'd have to carry him on their active roster too) if he continues to struggle on rehab. So either he pitches well and returns to Brewers in bullpen role, or he doesn't, then gets through waivers and assigned. I'd put the odds this way: Pitches well enough that he's put back on Brewer active roster at the end of rehab: 20% Somebody claims him off of waivers: 5% Gets through waivers and is assigned to minor league roster: 40% Brewers just release him outright: 10% Gets another injury and is put on 60 day DL: 25%
  11. JohnBriggs12
    Who? You might want to google her. Obviously you never watch the Golf Channel but I'm guessing after you see her you will tune in to Morning Drive. Holly is must see tv. She's also on the cover of this month's Golf Digest.
  12. JohnBriggs12
    I'm thinking it's kind of hilarious that nobody mentions Hiram Burgos who's gone from A ball to a major league rotation in less than a calender year.
  13. JohnBriggs12
    Nothing wrong with a little eye candy. Look what Holly Sonders has done for Golf Channel. Then again who tunes into baseball for eye candy over insight?
  14. JohnBriggs12
    Weeks has had 58 runners on base when he's batted so far this year. He's driven in 2 of them (3%). That is putrid. Yuni has batted with 46 runners on base, and he's plated 12 of them (26%). That is exceptional. Now it's unlikely Yuni will keep up that pace of course, but for his career, Yuni is right on the major league average of knocking in 15% of the runners on base, whereas Rickie is below the major league average at 13%. Now the regression to the mean should mean that Weeks will have a stretch where he's above his career norm and Yuni will have a stretch where he is below his. But right now Yuni is swinging much better. Now I would assume Yuni will get the bulk of the work at 1b when Ramirez returns to keep his bat in there. If the trends of this season continue to the time Hart returns, then it's a legitimate question whether you bench Weeks at least some of the time in favor of Yuni.
  15. JohnBriggs12
    Gonzalez is 36 and coming off a serious injury. He never was that great a hitter and while he'll likely pick it up some, my guess is Yuni will hit better going forward too. Yuni is still in what should be his prime at 31. His numbers of a .263 BA and .290 OBP pretty much match his career numbers. His power is up and that should tail off a bit, but he showed more power in recent seasons than earlier. He's not going to keep up this RBI pace either obviously, but he's not even on a cliff, much less showing signs of falling off one.
  16. JohnBriggs12
    Keeping Gonzalez if he's still hitting under .200 when Bianchi's rehab assignment ends makes zero sense. For some unexplained reason Roenicke saw Gonzalez being the hitter he was for a month last year pre-injury. He certainly was never a great hitter, but he had been trending down prior to 2012 and a hot month shouldn't have been the criteria for projecting him after such a serious injury at age 36. With Segura seeming capable of handling an everyday role and not needing significant time off, they would be well served with Bianchi and Yuni as backups. The AB's both Bianchi is getting on rehab and Yuni is getting with A-Ram and Hart out, should have them sharp when they become bench guys. They still could use a veteran lefty bat off the bench. Relying on Schafer to be a primary lefty PH is asking a lot of him. He's better suited as a late inning guy or a guy who can give Aoki and Gomez a day off from time to time.
  17. JohnBriggs12
    The odds of Manny still being around by the time the Brewers see the Reds appear slim. Then again maybe he's got pictures of Dusty like he had of Doug Melvin.
  18. JohnBriggs12
    They said last night that Roenicke has wanted to give Weeks some days off but Rickie says he wants to play. And why wouldn't he? His 2015 contract vests based on 1,200 plate appearances combined in 2013 and 2014 or 600 in 2014. It's tougher to reach those numbers down in the order, and not playing every day. Roenicke needs to man up and bench him from time to time and put the good of the team first.
  19. JohnBriggs12
    What stats are you looking at? Prior to last season, Gomez had a .357 career slugging percentage. Since then he's at .466. He used to have to bunt frequently to keep his average above .230. Now he rarely bunts, and since the start of last year he's hitting over .260. He's also facing all types of pitching now, and not sitting vs. tough RH. Gomez has always had tremendous tools, which explains why he got to the big leagues so young. Now we're seeing the player people projected him to be. His contract is a steal.
  20. JohnBriggs12
    Billingsley to have TJ surgery ending his season. With the Nats not looking so invincible and the Dodgers with half their rotation on the DL, it certainly opens up things up in the NL.
  21. JohnBriggs12
    The 1973 Brewers had a 10 game winning streak and still lost 88 games.
  22. JohnBriggs12
    So far Lohse has been as good as advertised. I was mostly concerned with year 3, and the lost draft pick, to the hated Cardinals to boot. I figured the Brewers could have traded for a rental later in the season, but with all the offensive injuries, it certainly helps to have him now. Of course, it's no coincidence that the bullpen's been a lot better during this streak and that was going to be a determining factor in success of this team regardless of who was starting.
  23. JohnBriggs12
    Gonzalez needs to pick it up a tad to make himself more attractive to Yankees. But I'd make that deal regardless of what they are offering. Yuni and Bianchi make a very decent bench pair. Gonzalez was signed more as insurance if Segura fell flat and there are no signs of that whatsoever.
  24. JohnBriggs12
    There's a spot in the order where it's not required to get on base via walks? Considering the opposition intentionally walks hitters (usually to get to a weaker hitter), the 8th spot in front of a pitcher is one where walking certainly has less value than say ahead of a Ryan Braun type. Of course, you have to be able to hit your way on occasionally too, something Weeks has been having difficulty with of late.
  25. JohnBriggs12
    I was out of touch all week in Myrtle Beach but let me add my 2 cents, having not seen Burgos' outing but having seen him in the WBC. First, Burgos is a command pitcher. Command pitchers get bad rapped, but command is a skill (see Greg Maddux). Be able to command 3 or 4 pitches and you will win at any level (see Maddux again). Second, Burgos works for the most part down in the zone. Guys that work down in the zone don't get burned deep as much and get double plays turned. What impressed me about him in the WBC was his poise on the mound. That's huge for a young guy. Having succeeded there, I think he'll handle the majors. Costas, who knows a little baseball, was duly impressed and said so in the broadcast of the WBC championship game. One concern. If Roenicke starts skipping his spot, he's risking having Burgos lose some command. But I doubt it. The young man seems to have what it takes to adjust to whatever is thrown at him.
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