Jump to content
Brewer Fanatic

JohnBriggs12

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    13,295

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Profiles

Forums

Blogs

Events

Milwaukee Brewers News, Rumors & Analysis

2026 Milwaukee Brewers Top Prospect Rankings

Milwaukee Brewers Videos

2022 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Milwaukee Brewers Trade & Free Agent Rumors

Milwaukee Brewers Fan Guides & Resources

2023 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2024 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

The Milwaukee Brewers Players Project

2025 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2026 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by JohnBriggs12

  1. JohnBriggs12
    "he would undoubtedly be claimed by another team" Not necessarily. First if he shows anything at all in spring, he makes the team. It's hard to imagine the Brewers not carrying him to start the season even if his results in Arizona are not that good. If he's then so bad during the season that the Brewers decide they can't even carry him as the 12th man, it's questionable that other teams would claim him and carry him on their 25 man roster too. Remember he turns 27 in January and would be an out of options pitcher.
  2. JohnBriggs12
    Throw Sean Burnett in the bullpen mix as it's reported he's turning down his mutual option.
  3. JohnBriggs12
    Forgot Dave May was part of a father/son combo to play for the Brewers. His son Derrick was a Brewer briefly in 1995. Off the top of my head, the only other father/son combo I can remember to play for the Brewers were Tito and Terry Francona.
  4. JohnBriggs12
    You had to be around in those days to appreciate that team and the atmosphere. Those crowds were nowhere near as big as today, but trust me, we made way more noise. I don't know when it started for people to stand and make noise when the other team is batting (I still don't get that) but back then, that was strictly verboten. You made noise when your team was batting and their pitcher was getting rattled. I remember games in 73 and 74 when opposing pitchers just lost it walking in guys as the County Stadium crowds just howled. I was in my early 20's then. I was a bit too young to have clear memories of the Braves championship teams, but I felt the heartache along with all the rest of my generation when the Braves left town. Their leaving affected us more so than our elders who were fans of other teams before the Braves got there and just went back to following the Cubs or Sox or whoever. Now we were able to get to games on our own, and we had a lot of pent up emotions over losing the Braves, and were so eager for this new team to make things right. So we got loud, very loud, when this new team showed life.
  5. JohnBriggs12
    Who would know better than I that it was Briggs and not May with the 6 hit game on August 4, 1973 in Cleveland? It was that 73 team, led by May, Briggsie, and Boomer Scott, that was the first Brewer team to really win over fans to this new franchise. From June 1 to June 18, they won 15 of 16, and vaulted into first place. Fans took this team to heart right then. May later went on to record a 24 game hit streak that year (he hit safely in 32 of 33). Though they faded in the 2nd half (which would become a common thing in Del Crandall's tenure), that was one of my favorite Brewer teams of all time. In addition to those 3, it had Coluccio, Pedro Garcia, Jim Colborn (who won 20 that year), Slaton, Darrell Porter. Great memories. Sad day.
  6. JohnBriggs12
    That's my thinking as well. Six runs a game makes life a lot easier on a young pitching staff. Yeah they'd lose some OF defense, but this staff, that included all these young guys, struck out a lot of hitters, and likely will again. No defense needed when hitters are grabbing some bench. There are going to be veteran rentals available in July if you need one to bolster a rotation and be a post season starter.
  7. JohnBriggs12
    Now wait a second. If Rogers isn't that valuable, then why restrict his innings when he was dealing late in the year? Wouldn't it make more sense to just to have him prove his worth on the mound in a sink or swim trial? My original post said that Rays would want Peralta as the centerpiece. It would up to the Brewers to include more. I do think a Rogers/Morris combo could be a centerpiece that could be added to. Having money doesn't mean you should spend it foolishly. They are better off hanging on to it. Long term deals to pitchers in their 30's coming off career years is a recipe for disaster.
  8. JohnBriggs12
    If the Brewers do sign a FA vet, they have some tough decisions regarding their rotation. As I see it, right now they have enough solid arms to man the 3-5 spots in the rotation. If they lack anything in the rotation, it's the guy to pair with Yo at the top of the rotation. Some of the names linked to them could do that, but they'd come at a premium price and overpaying a Dempster or a Lohse could backfire. If they sign a middling guy, who do you push out? Rogers is out of options and while some suggest him in the pen, he's never relieved. Fiers certainly deserves a spot initially to prove that last year wasn't a fluke. Same goes for Estrada. Then there's Peralta, who's the one guy with top of the rotation upside. Could he be ready now. The fall back guy is Narveson.
  9. JohnBriggs12
    No way Rays take low level guys for Shields. You are going to need to give them a rotation ready arm like Rogers and either another quality arm or a bat at a position of need for them. That happens to be 1B. If you are lucky, they'd take Gamel and Rogers, but my guess is they'd want Morris and Peralta. I would think Brewers consider Peralta nearly untouchable, but not Morris so my guess is Rogers and Morris for Shields. For the pen a combo of Rauch and Howell is much more cost effective than giving Affeldt that kind of money and gives you a veteran setup guy and a quality lefty, their two pressing needs.
  10. JohnBriggs12
    Mentioning Reed Johnson or Hairston is getting way ahead of ourselves. Hamilton is a longshot. Hart isn't going to be traded. Aoki does well enough against LHP that with the lineup of RH thunder the Brewers put out there, he's fine. He might not hit great, but he still works counts, fouls off pitches and plays good defense. The bench will include Schafer, Bianchi, and either Gamel or Ishikawa. That leaves one non catcher backup job who ideally would be a RH hitter. I wouldn't be shocked if they brought back Cody Ransom. Melvin keeps saying he likes power and doesn't care about strikeouts, and Ransom hit some big HR.
  11. JohnBriggs12
    Give Livan credit, he probably went out there with the worst stuff I've seen since Larry Bearnarth (RIP) made 2 appearances (10 hits, 6 runs, 3 IP) in 1971 with stuff that would embarrass most high school pitchers.
  12. JohnBriggs12
    What was the Brewer record after Greinke left? 38-25 right? A healthy Narveson or any one of the young guys would win 15 games with a lineup (that's already pretty stout) that included Hamilton. That's maybe 2-4 less than Greinke would but it would help all the other pitchers add a couple wins too. The thing is signing Hamilton would trigger other moves. Dealing Hart being the most logical. Count me in the group that says if he falls into their laps at a reasonable cost ($90-100 million over 5), I say go for it. Otherwise not.
  13. JohnBriggs12
    Speaking of Chicago pitchers, the White Sox have some interesting decisions. Floyd has a $9.5 million team option for 2013 and Peavy has a $22 million team option. The speculation is they won't exercise Peavy's option but still are interested in bringing him back at a lower amount. But until they know they've got Peavy locked up, they really can't afford to let Floyd go. So assuming they come to an agreement with Peavy, they are going to want to unload Floyd's $9.5 million. Now Floyd's been a hot and cold pitcher his entire career. But he's not a bad fit from a Brewer perspective. Because he's a salary dump and only under control through 2013, his asking price won't be high either.
  14. JohnBriggs12
    Why would we want to help the cubs down the road? To win now? Besides, there's no guaranty whoever the Brewers would give up would help the Cubs down the road. They are going to get somebody from somewhere for Garza anyway.
  15. JohnBriggs12
    With the Cubs not being a serious threat for at least another couple years, I would at least look into Matt Garza. He's a FA after next year and was hurt for most of the 2nd half. From Cubs perspective, they would figure Garza would be long gone from Milwaukee by the time they get good anyway so it's not like they are helping a rival at their expense. The Cubs probably want Garza to start the year and boost his value for a deadline deal (another thing the Brewers could think about later too), but he's worth asking about anyway.
  16. JohnBriggs12
    Veras didn't allow a run in his last 14 appearances and his stuff is such that with Parra, Loe and K-Rod coming off the books, I think he's a guy they'd want to bring back. If he thinks he wouldn't get his arby number as a FA, maybe even for a little less. But if not, I'd still tender him. Relief pitching being so hit and miss, Veras has as good a chance to be good next year as anyone they'd get off the street in his price range.
  17. JohnBriggs12
    Outlander is correct. The biggest rivals of the Brewers back in the day were the Yankees and Red Sox. The series against those teams in the late 70's and 80s were terrific. The Orioles too. There was a time when the Tigers qualified as well after Billy Martin's famous "If the Brewers are contenders I'm a Chinese aviator" quote. The neighborhood rival was the White Sox. There was never any love lost between those teams and that lasted until the Brewers changed leagues. Other teams at other times were big rivals such at Toronto in early 90's and Cleveland when Belle decked Vina, but overall it was mostly division games that go the blood going. I went to a lot of Brewer games back then and I don't remember the Twins being anything special. Then again I didn't come from western Wisconsin either.
  18. JohnBriggs12
    The farm system is no longer affected by the Grienke/Marcum deals. Escobar was already a major leaguer when the deal was made, and now Cain and Lawrie are established as well. Their absence is on the major league level and all have been adequately replaced. Odorizzi would be one of a large group the Brewers have knocking on the major league door so his absence doesn't have a significant effect on the current systems depth. Jeffress has struggled. Furthermore, there have been 2 drafts since those deals were made and two high level pitchers added in the Greinke deal. The Brewers have enough quality in their system to do a deal for one established starter.
  19. JohnBriggs12
    The MLB playoffs are well down my list on must see tv as well. They fall behind the NFL, College Football, TVG, Golf Channel, Nascar, reruns of 2 1/2 Men, and Presidential Debates. They are about on par with Bill O'Reilly and only slightly ahead of the Weather Channel. Old man Illitch in Detroit spent his heir's money to win a championship. Good for him and Detroit, but bad for the game. It's hard for me to root for his team. If I had to pick a team it'd be the Giants. They have by far the most enjoyable tv broadcast team in all of baseball in Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper, so on that basis, I'll go Giants.
  20. JohnBriggs12
    Ervin Santana is an interesting name. His numbers all look decent except for HR allowed. That number is scary (39) He was fine in inter-league though with a 3.45 ERA and 0.837 WHIP. For a one year deal that's not over the top, he's a pretty good gamble moving to a league where the pitchers bat and he won't be facing the Rangers (who destroyed him). I'd stay away from the multi year deals for guys in their 30's, especially ones coming off very good years that aren't likely to repeat them. I think the Brewers will be fine starting the year seeing what they have. If they bring somebody in, it should be a guy who's at a discount, but has rebound potential (like a Santana) and that has a veteran presence. If he flames out or loses his spot to a young guy, so be it. I'd also be okay if like 2 years ago, they "went all in" and used some of their young pitching and a hitter for a top of the rotation guy to pair with Gallardo. Keep in mind though the objective the first half of the season is to get in position. They can always deal for a more experienced guy to handle the pressure the last couple months.
  21. JohnBriggs12
    His numbers are very comparable to Ron Santo. It took forever for Santo to get in. Rolen will likely stay in the conversation for a long time, but if he gets in, it will take a while.
  22. JohnBriggs12
    TheCrew7. Hoffman worked out the first year of his deal. Some of the mid level guys have worked out ok too. Hawkins worked out in the 2nd year of his. Saloman Torres wasn't a huge money sign, but he worked out well too. The guys I'm suggesting they go after now, like Rauch and Howell are in that mid level price range. Rauch got $3.5 million from the Mets last year. He's very comparable to Torres. Howell's likely in that same range. Axford is still the closer. Henderson, Veras and Kintzler appear to be viable mid and late inning guys. They need to replace K-Rod and Parra (assuming Kintzler replaces Loe).
  23. JohnBriggs12
    I mentioned this guy in the trade forum, but Jon Rauch is a veteran I'd pursue. It's always a crap shoot building a bullpen, as guys tend to be inconsistent, but even though Rauch's ERA has fluctuated, over the last 4 seasons, his WHIP hasn't exceeded 1.346. He's also been durable averaging 65 appearances over that time. That and the fact that he's got some closing experience, makes him comparable in my mind to Salamon Torres.
  24. JohnBriggs12
    "Spending 10% of the teams budget on a guy who pitches 4% of the innings is just...well...stupid" It depends on where else that money would be spent. The Brewers spent plenty on starting pitching in 2012. It's hindsight to point out that the money spent in the pen in one particular year was wasted. I'd argue that spending 10% on Wolf was stupid too, but that's all hindsight too.
  25. JohnBriggs12
    Two guys I'd target are J.P. Howell and Jon Rauch. Howell's effective against lefties (.200 BAA in 2012), and RH hitters don't destroy him so he's perfect for a late inning situation where a team has 2 lefties scheduled up in an inning. Rauch has some mileage on him but his WHIP of .9888 last year was outstanding.
×
×
  • Create New...