JohnBriggs12

Ishikawa has deserved a steady look. I like Green a lot, but he's a novice at 1B. His future in the big leagues is at 2nd or 3rd. It's not like Ishikawa is all that old.

Exactly. Mike Greenberg called for a re-vote of the MVP award the first time he was on the air after the initial story broke. While they initially reported that Braun was facing a 50 game suspension subject to a hearing, they later reported that the arbitrator had overturned a suspension. In actuality no suspension was ever handed down from MLB. But that's how it was reported and repeated on ESPN. Since they were also the recipient of the leak, they never examined the ramifications for Braun's reputation that was entirely the result of the leak and the subsequent reporting of it in light of the fact that the arbitrator ruled in his favor. In effect, they were no longer an impartial news source, but they had become part of it, yet never acknowledged that in any reports.

Burgos retired the last 14 guys he faced. He was fine once he settled down.

"Seriously, I worked there... still know guys..who honestly don't who Tyler Thornburg is..." What does Bill Schroeder have to do with a discussion of the relative merits of ESPN?

Right now, I'd bring up Fiers (1.73 ERA in his last 4 starts) and put Estrada back in the pen. I don't think Fiers projects to be anything more than a 4th or 5th starter, but he's fully capable of being that right now. The pen is so thin right now that adding Estrada to it would be a big boost. I'd replace Fiers at Nashville with Thornburg.

Jeff Suppan, Miguel Batista. Who's next, Doug Davis? Pirates would be smart to bring him up just in time to face the Brewers. This team is bad. Seriously bad. It was fitting that the Ramirez play came against the Mets. It looked like a lowlight from the 62 Mets, the worst team in modern history. Brooks Conrad is a career minor leaguer so should anyone be surprised?

Since I don't track such things, the names escape me, but it's certainly not unheard of for a guy to start a year in high A ball and finish it in the big leagues. I believe Carlos Villanueva came directly from Huntsville to the Brewers in 2006, pitched a scoreless inning in relief, then shutout the Reds for 6 innings in his first major league start. He later was sent down to AAA. The deal with Saenz is the Brewers needed an emergency starter, and nobody viable in AAA was on regular rest, so he got the call. I would think the pecking order right now for starter callups is Peralta, Fiers, Thornburg. The other guys starting at Nashville are merely placeholders other than Rogers who they want to get innings for but who's role down the road would seem to be relief. If Burgos dominates at AA for 10-12 starts, he could end the year in Nashville, and that would put a September callup in play. edit: In 2009, Daniel Hudson went 4-3 with a 3.40 ERA for Winston-Salem in the high A Carolina League, was bumped to Birmingham where he went 7-0 in 9 starts there with a 1.60 ERA, then moved to Charlotte, where he started 5 games going 2-0, with a 3.00 ERA, then was a September callup for the White Sox, appearing in 6 games (2 starts). So it happens though Brewers are generally not all that aggressive. Still, this is a year when potentially 3/5 of the rotation could be elsewhere next year. So if they are out of it down the stretch, lots of guys could get early looks.

Hiram, you will be starting. I think you earned it. Hopefully the role is temporary stud....I say temporary because if he keeps pitching well, I'd love to see him bumped to AAA in a month or two. They've got a couple placeholders, Brian Baker and Seth McClung, currently in the Nashville rotation that hopefully will be pushed out fairly soon by Thornburg and perhaps Burgos or another Huntsville starter.

The same Trumbo who had a .291 OBP last year in 573 PA? He currently has a .300 BA on a .365 BABIP. Once that BABIP regresses, I don't think he adds a lot to a lineup that is already lacking in OBP ability. I think I'd rather just stick with Taylor Green at first and shoot for a .340/.440 slash line compared to a .310/.480 slash line that Trumbo is likely to give you. Seriously? I like Green too, but he's yet to take a walk in 49 major league PA. Trumbo's hit anywhere from 5th to 7th. Those are RBI spots and he's delivered. Green to his credit has gone up there hacking in the 7 hole too. But Trumbo is 6'4" and 225 lbs, with easy power and a great target at 1B. He projects as a cleanup hitter. Green is 5'11", 195, and while he generates some power, he's not the slugger Trumbo is and he's built to play 3B or 2B. Guys with high BABIP tend to be good hitters. Trumbo for a big guy with power doesn't strike out excessively either.

Both Green and Conrad's natural position is 2B. We'd see them there before Maysonet.

Brewers can't catch a break. The one Cub more messed up than Brewers hitters was Marmol. Now he gets hurt.

It might not have been a strike to Weeks, but pitchers have no problem getting the first 2 strikes on him, and then you have to protect the plate.

Don't let the uniforms fool you, this isn't the same team that could do that.

It started when for some reason Veras, who has a 95 mph fastball, throws a 3-2 slider to Reed Johnson of all people. That pitch was called from the dugout too.

I'd argue that it was his talent that got him those things. He's enormously talented. He's able to generate tremendous bat speed with a flick of the wrist. Its reminiscent of Aaron and Banks for us old timers. But that's the point. While he's been an All Star once, his talent suggests a perennial All Star. Yes 10 million is nice, but great players get twice that and more these days.

So we pay guys like Aram instead? Seriously all these arguments against signing him are given by pundits as to why he won't get the super big bucks. In 3 of the last 4 years, he's had at least 538 plate appearances and he's a difference maker when he's on the field. Are you kidding me about the team being called the Brewers being a problem? Have you ever been to Dallas? The night life there is pretty darn enticing to young athletes. Yes he'd come with risks, but also with a ton of upside too.

Granted we are a long way from November. But I thought I'd throw this out there for discussion anyway. What do we know about Josh Hamilton? He'll be a FA after this year assuming Texas doesn't sign him. He's extremely close to Brewer hitting coach Johnny Narron. Given his age, past issues, and injuries, he's not expected to command quite what his numbers/age combo could expect though who knows given his monster numbers so far this season. The Brewers potentially have money to spend if they part with at least 2 of Greinke, Wolf and Marcum along with K-Rod.

There are tons of examples of letting a guy sit for a couple days clears his head and helps him come out of his slump. There's also getting additional playing time for guys behind him, Green and Conrad, to keep them sharp too. Roenicke doesn't see him as pressing. But shouldn't he be? It worries me more if he's not pressing. A "what me worry?" attitude when a guy who's supposed to be a leader is hitting under .170 in mid May doesn't cut it with me. At least move him down in the order.

Jeff Bianchi doesn't seem to be finding the jump from AA to AAA too daunting so far.

Again, I'm fine with giving Weeks a day or two off but what you say above is almost certainly not true. Despite Weeks' mediocre start to the season, if we project how well we would expect him to perform today vs. Conrad or Green, it isn't even close. Unless this cold streak is being influenced by an undisclosed injury, it has little predictive value. In other words, Weeks' preseason projection is going to represent his expected performance today and tomorrow a lot more than his 130 PA this year. Every study has concluded that hot and cold streaks are largely a function of a random number generator. There are exceptions of course but the trick is being able to identify the "real" cold streaks from the random ones. Everyone always identifies all these mechanical flaws that a cold batter is supposedly exhibiting but I think more often than not, they are largely imagined. I'll call you and raise you a Bill Hall, Casey McGehee and Adam Dunn. Look what you say is true most of the time, but far from all of the time. Weeks has had bad seasons before. In 2007, he hit .235 though he still managed a .374 OBP thanks to a very good walk/HBP ratio. The next year he hit .234. and while his .342 OBP wasn't bad, it was still a function of walks, not hits. Now he's older, and frankly, slower. He also doesn't have his close friend Fielder around to lean on. He'll probably work his average back up to the .240 mark, maybe a bit higher, and if he does his OBP will be in the .345 range and he'll hit some HR. That's fine if he were a $5 or 6 million player and the 4th or 5th option on a team. But now he's getting $10 million which is substantial money and they need him to be one of the 2 or 3 key cogs on this team. It's too early and he's too expensive now to just shelve, but as long as Green is up, now is the time to sit Weeks for several days and let him work on what's causing this slump.

I'd rather have Bianchi off the Brewers AAA team already.

Forget 1B, now that Green's up, sit Weeks who is absolutely killing them and play Green at 2B. $10 million or no, Weeks isn't doing the job. Eventually sure, they'll have to go back to him, but let him think about things from the bench for a while.

I agree GormanHarvey. I don't know which was worse but those were the 2 worst I've seen all year. Estrada's not getting those either. Where's Sveum when we need him? He'd be riding this guy and probably tossed by now.

The problem is that Green's value is as either a 3B or a 2B, and those are the two positions occupied by very high priced veterans, both of whom are entrenched by their hefty contracts for two more seasons. Should both of those guys continue to underperform their contracts, it won't matter how well Green or Ishikawa, or Aoki does getting more playing time, they won't contend. So far it seems they have no inclination to make the obvious move of Ramirez to 1B. It appears as if some promise was made to him that he'd play 3B only. As for SS, teams with quality there are not inclined to trade for any price. Out of contention teams likely are either playing young upcoming guys or guys that wouldn't help the Brewers much anyway. While there is no obvious "heir apparent" at SS, Bianchi did hit .350 for a month at AA, is only 25, and was once a 2nd round pick. A case could be made that he's got potential to be at least an okay placeholder there. Given the much less than exciting alternatives of Izturis and Maysonet, I just don't understand why they don't roll the dice on the younger Bianchi.

The Brewers are in a tough spot. It's too early to toss in the towel, but at the same time, it's probably throwing good money after bad to rent veteran stopgaps. Then again, the roster now is full of stopgaps. The one move I'd like to see them make is to bring up Bianchi and give him the full time SS job. My gosh, they aren't going anywhere with Izturis and Maysonet was hitting .214 at AAA. Bianchi may not be a prime prospect, but he's at least young enough to be worth a look in these circumstances. He can't hurt them that much and he might have an upside. Or here's a radical thought. Stick Green at SS just to get his bat in there. He's played both 2B and 3B. I'm sure at some point he played SS in high school.