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JohnBriggs12

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Everything posted by JohnBriggs12

  1. JohnBriggs12
    I'd take Hall. Look, Hall's defense at 3B has been bad. There's no getting around it. But prior to this season, Hall had only started 66 games in his career at 3B. Hall's natural position is SS. His career fielding % there is slightly below average .965, while Hardy's is slightly above average .978. I'd give Hall the range edge though. Offensively, Hardy has had 2 outstanding months in his career, April and May of 07. The rest of the time he's been a .245/.325/.375 type hitter with no speed. I doubt going forward he's going to do much better than that most of the time. Hall, for all his ups and downs, has slugged at a .463 career rate. For a shortstop, that's pretty good. Either way, I like Escobar in late 09 if not earlier.
  2. JohnBriggs12
    Vazquez is the ace of the White Sox. No way they part with him. A couple months ago you could have easily gotten Contreras for Hall, but Contreras has been lights out this year. Maybe Contreras would still be an option, but it might take Hall and McClung at the minimum. The Sox might be willing to deal FA to be Crede for Hall. Then they'd bring up Fields and play Hall either at 2nd or CF.
  3. JohnBriggs12
    sbrylski, The Brewers couldn't get rid of Branyan fast enough after 2005 after he hit .219 in August and .217 in September. In fact he barely played after Sept. 6th of that year when Aaron Harang fanned him 3 times on a total of 10 pitches, only one of which he managed to foul off. They had no interest in bringing him back in 2006. Branyan cannot be trusted to be the main 3B option on a team with championship hopes. Branyan has always been capable of a hot 2 weeks, but he's never been able to sustain it. Dillon is a nice bench bat but has never had consistent playing time in the major leagues. It would be another risky move. That's not to say Hall can't be traded, but how's this one? Hall to the White Sox for Joe Crede. Ken Williams was after Hall this offseason. (pared back long quote --1992)
  4. JohnBriggs12
    Gamel made 53 errors last season in 128 games (1 every 2.4 games). This year he's more than cut that in half (11 errors in 55 games). If he can keep progressing with the glove, I see him up in Milwaukee in late May 2009, just as Braun did last year and platooning with Hall. I think LaPorta is the guy who's going to used in the trade to get the young stud pitcher. If not LaPorta, then Hart. I don't think we'll every see an all righthanded OF of Braun, Hart and LaPorta.
  5. JohnBriggs12
    I don't know about either being CF material. Braun's been getting the job done, but he's looked far from polished in LF. Hart's tentative at times too in RF. They are very fortunate to have an experienced guy between them. Both Braun and Hart play very deep to compensate for their inexperience going back on balls and both let a lot of balls fall in front of them that more experienced outfielders catch. You can't have that out of your CF. Speed is only one attribute a CF needs. Some of the fastest players in history were primarily leftfielders because they couldn't play center. Lou Brock, Rickey Henderson, Carl Crawford for example. Even Scott Podsednik, as fast as he was, played himself into a leftfielder.
  6. JohnBriggs12
    I'd politely applaud Davis. It's a nice story. But do I miss him as a pitcher? Frankly no. There was no way they were going to keep Davis and still sign Suppan and Suppan's record as a Brewer is pretty much even with Davis' record with Arizona. But Suppan has a lower WHIP, logs a few more innings, and doesn't put the defense or the crowd asleep by walking so many hitters. Granted Suppan got a bigger contract, but that was because he was coming off a better year than Davis.
  7. JohnBriggs12
    I totally disagree. A lot of June is spent playing AL teams. Neither Bush or Parra have shown the consistency to have a huge edge over the 5th starter anyway and Sheets needs to stay healthy all year. Of course Villanueva should be starting over McClung, but what happens if you don't start either, and Bush or Parra falters heading into the break? Who do you replace them with? Neither Villanueva or McClung will have been used enough to step in. The big push comes after the All Star break when after one series with the Giants, the next 11 games are against St. Louis, Houston and Chicago.
  8. JohnBriggs12
    Cubs have 3 relievers with 30 or more innings (4 if you count Lieber who's made one start). Brewers have just one (Torres) Piniella is burning out that pen big time. Marmol wore out last September and he's way over his innings pace this year. A total collapse of the Cub bullpen by August is the Brewer's best hope.
  9. JohnBriggs12
    The Cubs have 17 road games and just 10 home games in June. They've not been invincible on the road. I don't have a prediction, but I think the Brewers have an opportunity to shave a couple games off that Cub lead.
  10. JohnBriggs12
    The guy who deserves first shot at McClung spot is Villanueva. He's no worse than the 4th best starter they have. He was removed after 9 starts where his ERA exceeded 6. His previous 12 major league starts he posted a 3.01 ERA. His true ability is probably halfway between the 6 and 3 or 4.50. McClung went into this season with 37 career starts and career ERA as a starter above 6. Even if he improves, it's a stretch to see him with an ERA below 5 over any significant time.
  11. JohnBriggs12
    Woodward is basically Craig Counsell insurance. If the Brewers had Kansas City or Seattle's record right now, they'd be less concerned about bringing in an experienced guy. But they have to think this way. Prior to this move and since Abraham Nunez' release, your backups to Counsell were Ozzie Chavez, Callix Crabbe, and Adam Heether, with nearly zero big league experience. Woodward shouldn't see Milwaukee unless Craig goes down, but he's virtually guaranteed to do so if Craig does. Nice move, actually... Except he can't hit either (not unlike Counsell in that regard) and he's righthanded. I'd take my chances with Crabbe who's less experienced but lefthanded and provides versatility that helps in a bench player. Not a terrible move to add some depth, but doesn't excite me in the least as he's bascially replacing Sollman, not Nunez. I think you are also forgetting about Escobar, who if they needed a regular SS for a few weeks is certainly capable defensively and improving daily offensively.
  12. JohnBriggs12
    It's June 1st. Any discussion of post season awards is about 3 months early. As for Sheets, let him make 30+ starts before even mentioning his name with any award.
  13. JohnBriggs12
    Apparently this young team can't take these noon start games. They've now lost 3 in a row and have scored a total of 4 runs. How long can they continue with a leadoff hitter batting .204? On May 29th, that is no longer a slump, it's a trend.
  14. JohnBriggs12
    Hopefully, Ned's curiosity over McClung as a starter has been quelched. It's one thing have some good multiple inning stints in mopup duty and even have a decent 5 inning start here and there, but once teams have plenty of tape to look at, it becomes a little more difficult getting major league hitters out. That is one ugly line.
  15. JohnBriggs12
    I would think that Gagne's first game or two back will be a non-save situation. It will depend on how he throws when and if he gets put back in the closer's role. You can bet if he throws well, he'll get another chance. Once Gagne comes back, Yost should have no excuse for overusing guys. In the long run, if they are going to have any chance to overtake the Cubs, a big part is going to be the Cubs overusing Marmol who's on pace for 100 relief innings even with Cub starters overachieving so far, and Wood who's history of arm troubles is legendary. If Yost can manage to keep his veteran bunch fresh, it bodes well.
  16. JohnBriggs12
    "I actually think Turnbow might retire after this year." I don't think it's going to be his choice. Yeah it's tough for a guy who could once do it to no longer be able to, but in the big scheme of things, it just brings Turnbow back to the level of people like us who can't pitch professionally either. Turnbow was lucky in that it happened after he signed a hefty contract. It happens to other guys before they ever get to the big leagues. It's not like it hasn't happened before. I urge all of you (if you never read it), to pick up a book by Pat Jordan, a phenom pitcher in the Milwaukee Braves organization circa 1960, called "A False Spring". Jordan was a hard throwing guy who completely lost the ability to throw strikes while in the minor leagues. It documents what he went through mentally and how he was able to handle it and go on to a new career in writing (he ended up writing for Sports Illustrated at one time).
  17. JohnBriggs12
    I don't think it was either a massive success or a horrendous failure. The runs scored evidence suggests it was more of a failure than a success. I don't think it was the success because baseball players for the most part are better off not thinking, and once you make a change from the norm and get them out of a routine, it gets them thinking. Batting in front of the pitcher got inside Hardy's head, even more I think batting 7th, than it would batting 8th because he was more often in an RBI spot hitting 7th than 8th and therefore more conscious of the conflict between aggression and patience. It did prevent Kendall from hitting into a few double plays. What effect it had on Weeks I don't know.
  18. JohnBriggs12
    42 years ago this summer, a golfer and a caddy (who was my age and who I was acquainted with) were killed instantly by the same bolt on the South Hills Country Club course in Fond du Lac. Any time I'm on a golf course or even outside with lightning in the area the thought of that incident comes to mind as if it were yesterday. Believe me it can happen.
  19. JohnBriggs12
    The problem with trading Prince is that he's the only legit lefthanded bat in the lineup at least until Gamel establishes himself as an every day major leaguer.
  20. JohnBriggs12
    I'd be willing to wager that Stetter is back up and DiFelice will be back down by the end of this week. Stetter's gone 3 straight outings with no walks (and no runs). I'm sure the plan all along was that once Stetter started finding the zone again, he'd be back up.
  21. JohnBriggs12
    No, I would stick with Bush. It isn't like Villy should be expected to be better than Bush so replacing Bush with Villy would make very little sense. Why shouldn't Villy be expected to be better than Bush? Or even vice versa. Or better than McClung for that matter. They aren't tied at the hip. You can't base everything on what these guys have done this season. That each has struggled this year doesn't preclude either from turning it around. Coming into this season Villanueva as a starter in 12 starts was 3-4 with a 3.01 ERA. He's got a good home split as a starter this year, 2-1 3.56 ERA. Both Bush and Villanueva have been hurt by the long ball but mainly by power laden teams that are very capable doing it in very HR friendly parks. Villanueva is 4 years younger than Bush. Nobody can say with certainty he's reached his ceiling. On the other hand it's quite likely the 28 year old Bush has shown us the best he has. That Villanueva has been effective out of the pen shouldn't preclude him from starting again.
  22. JohnBriggs12
    Brian, if I were convinced Branyan had value, then I'd move Hall to SS and get Hardy out of there. Branyan is a favorable matchup only against some righthanded pitching. Many good righthanders have him for lunch. Hardy has batted with 60 runners in scoring position this season. He's knocked in 6 of them. To me that is a much more astounding stat than Hall's splits. That is the kind of production you'd expect out of a pitcher not an every day player.
  23. JohnBriggs12
    2008 vs. RHP OPS (AAA): 1.265 (110 AB) 2007 vs. RHP OPS: .762 (144 AB) 2006 vs. RHP OPS .822 (200 AB) 2005 vs. RHP OPS: .943 (182 AB) Hall's 2007 vs RHP OPS: .713 (304 AB) So, by my calculations, it's been 7 weeks plus a YEAR of non-performance vs RHP by Billy.... How longer do we need to let him continue to damage the team vs RHP? You're stats still don't impress me Brian. Branyan only played when he had favorable matchups. Hall's been in there against all the top righthanders in the league. Stats against AAA pitching are to be discounted completely in my book for a veteran like Branyan. Hall would hit .375 in AAA with a ton of HR too. Hall's hitting .409/.490/.705 vs. lefthanders this season. He likely won't keep that up any more than he'll end the season hitting .158 vs. righthanders but he sure won't by only playing once or twice a week. His splits this year are a statistical anomoly to this point. As for damaging the team, nobody's damaging the team more offensively than Hardy and his .146 BA and .146 slugging with RISP.
  24. JohnBriggs12
    It's not a "who deserves to be benched issue". Hall's splits vs. RHP have been miserable ... So you bring up the platoon guy who's splits historically vs. RHP have been very good. What am I missing here? I'll tell you what you are missing here Brian. You are wrong about Branyan. His lifetime splits vs. righthanders aren't all that good: .231/.332/.481 with 1 K every 2.54 AB, despite playing mostly when it's a favorable matchup and they aren't really any better than Hall's lifetime splits (prior to this season) of .262/.310/.461. Yes, Hall's splits (in 7 weeks of a 26 week season) vs. righthanders aren't good, but he still has 6 HR. But what you are also missing is that Hall is signed through at least 2010 and has earned a little more than 7 weeks of splits before being benched for a career bust like Branyan.
  25. JohnBriggs12
    Physically Dillard reminds me of Bob Howry. I've often wondered as Brewer opponents year after year trot out hard throwiing relievers that seem to come out of nowhere, why can't the Brewers develop such guys. Maybe Dillard will be one of those and heck why not think Villanueva could be a closer with a changeup as an out pitch ala Doug Jones or Trevor Hoffman.
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