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JohnBriggs12

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Everything posted by JohnBriggs12

  1. JohnBriggs12
    I'm certainly not worried that Attanasio is spending too much of his money. This is a small market but Attanasio isn't a low end owner. His net worth in 2012 was estimated to be $700 million. I suspect it's more like several billion these days. Revenues in the game rose significantly while Brewers were frugal for a few years. They can't be reckless with huge long term deals but in the short term they can push the envelope well beyond what most thought possible and not damage them down the road.
  2. JohnBriggs12
    Just returned from Arizona where I saw Scooter Gennett go down with his serious groin injury that will cost him 8-12 weeks. Tough blow for him heading into his walk year. By the way, most of the Reds players showed up less than 10 minutes prior to first pitch that day, probably due the effects of construction traffic on I-10, and most were still stretching and warming up as Brewers took the field for the first inning. I don't think Scooter got in much if any stretching prior to that game. One other note from last week, played a round of golf behind a group that included 75 year old one time Brewer Syd O'Brien. O'Brien spent a couple months with the Brewers in 1972 after stints with the Red Sox, White Sox, and Angels. Hats off to the starter who pointed him out.
  3. JohnBriggs12
    Guaranteed Rate Field is just as HR friendly as Miller Park.
  4. JohnBriggs12
    The question is can they get through innings 6-8 on days when Hader isn't available with 4 or 5 of the following who are fighting for spots: Claudio, Albers, Barnes, Houser, Williams, Guerra, Petricka. Almost all of those guys have some questions. Claudio seems to be the lone lock in the group. Will they stick Tomlin or another starter in the pen? Is this the good Albers or the guy we saw after the first month last year? Lots of uncertainty.
  5. JohnBriggs12
    Well...if those intentional walks don't score, that is. This change does not sit well with me. A reliever comes in at the start of the game, walks the 1st batter on four pitches and clearly does not have it...now you are forced to leave him in there for 2 more batters?? That is too big of a change to the basic rules of the game in my opinion. If they allow for pitchers to be removed because of injury, I can see managers/trainers "pretending" they are seeing an injury related issue and removing wild pitchers for "precautionary" reasons. Since when is walking a guy on four pitches a sign that a pitcher "clearly doesn't have it"? I can't count the times a guy has walked his first batter on four pitches well outside the zone and then come back to strike out the side. Yes it's a change to the basic rules, but those rules have been exploited in a way that the commissioner and many others don't think is good for the game. A manager can list a RH starter for a game to entice the opposing manager to fill his lineup with LH bats, and then take the guy out after one hitter and bring in a LH pitcher. The other manager can't counter that move because rules prohibit players from returning to games once they've been taken out. I think it might be a better alternative to limit teams to a 12 man staff rather than even 13, because that would put some of a damper on endless pitching changes.
  6. JohnBriggs12
    MLB.com top 100: 8 Yelich 28 Cain 51 Hader 62 Aguilar 94 Shaw 96 Grandal That's a better list but I don't understand how Knebel isn't in the top 100 somewhere with back to back seasons of 14+ strikeouts per 9 innings and Whips of 1.158 in 17 and 1.084 in 18. I think Chacin has a case too based on his last two seasons and stellar work in the postseason.
  7. JohnBriggs12
    I saw Hiura last spring and I'm looking forward to seeing him again when I'm down there in another week. It doesn't take detailed analytics or a lifetime of scouting or watching hundreds of his ABs (although I've seen literally hundreds of guys come and go with the Brewers over the years) to realize that he's a special talent. Some very few are a cut above and you know it when you see it.
  8. JohnBriggs12
    umm, this is a little ridiculous. It's early in spring training. Everyone is allowed a couple spring mulligans. My view on spring training has evolved into I celebrate when guys thrive, I shrug my shoulders when they don't. I don't declare people done or a star based on a few innings or at bats. Tomlin is here on a look see basis. His leash is shorter than the guys he's competing against. He can't afford any more stumbles like his last start or he'll end up like Gallardo did last spring.
  9. JohnBriggs12
    Gosh, Gonzalez is one year removed from a sub 3 ERA and 200 inning season. That followed a season when he posted a 4.57 ERA. You pitch long enough and you're going to have some up and down seasons. Look at the guys the Cubs are counting on. Lester posted years of 4.82 in 2012, and 4.33 in 2017. Hamels had a 4.72 ERA in Texas before he turned it around in Chicago. Gio's not been quite in their class for his career but he's been a quality lefty over an extended period and he's younger than either of those two. I think the young guys would benefit from having a veteran lefty in the rotation. The Brewers already have a surplus of starters and they'll have some work to do to get down to 5 or 6, but adding Gio at a reasonable price makes sense to me.
  10. JohnBriggs12
    I thought that was the best proposal out there from a fan's perspective.
  11. JohnBriggs12
    Wow, I can't believe the number of shoulder experts on this board. I don't think it's overly optimistic to believe that some 17 months after his surgery that he's pain free and able to do the work all of the other pitchers in camp are doing. Will he be as effective in 2019 as he was in 2017? Since that was by all measures the best year of his career, it's a tall order even if he had never injured his shoulder but had sat out an entire year. His numbers in 2017 were close to the elite category. But it's also foolish to doubt that he can't be an effective pitcher in 2019. The braintrust of the Brewers have a lot of work to do in setting up the rotation to start the year. There's more viable candidates than there are positions. They don't have to throw Nelson into the fray right away. But there's nothing so far to indicate that he isn't up to it. There's still over 3 weeks till the opener and plenty of ways for a pitcher in camp to get his work in, whether it's on the back fields in morning B games or in front of a paying crowd.
  12. JohnBriggs12
    Perez' slugging was down from the prior two seasons. Personally, I think if healthy he's fully capable of at least replicating his 2016 line: .272/.302/.428 (91 OPS+) if not better. Should Arcia get off to another slow start, I think we'll see Perez getting early work at SS in addition to facing lefties in a rotation with Shaw and Moose. I fully expect another 300+ ABs from him. Counsell is right about Perez doing the little things that don't get noticed. I hear this all the time watching telecasts from divisional rivals who have great respect for the heads up way he plays.
  13. JohnBriggs12
    The kind of year Mikolas had last year in most years puts you in the top 3 in Cy Young voting. He was easily the best starter in the NL Central last year. As sveumrules points out he hasn't used a lot of bullets for a guy 30 years old, and he seems to be the type that will hold up well. I don't buy that he was lucky by any stretch. We saw him enough to realize it was hard to square up balls against him, he never walks guys, and he has a commanding presence on the mound. Good deal for him and Cardinals.
  14. JohnBriggs12
    Being able to fill in here and there is one thing, but being competent to the point where a guy can play regularly at a position for an extended period, nobody comes close to Perez.
  15. JohnBriggs12
    Was mentioned during the broadcast that Perez played all last year with a sore wrist and that it's 100% now. Apparently it is. So there you go Cub fans. Yeah Bryant might be healthy now but so is Perez!
  16. JohnBriggs12
    False. Baseball as a game is bigger than any individual player. Players come and go all the time. Just look at the minors where players for the most part are anonymous to most of the fans that attend games. There's always going to be players skilled enough to interest fans who will willingly fill major league rosters. The players don't have a viable alternative. MLB is entrenched with stadium deals etc. Where are those players going to go? Players have always been disposable. I'm sure they'll reach an agreement that allows players, particularly those that reach the big leagues in their mid 20's and later will get a slightly faster route to FA. All the furor is fake news.
  17. JohnBriggs12
    Had the Sox invested the money they were allocating to Machado, they could have made some other significant moves. Eloy Jimenez is the real deal, and so is Dylan Cease but now they need another offseason to flesh out their roster. Nothing to lose adding Santana. If he is healthy and shows anything close to his 2017 form, they can flip him. The key guy is Moncada. He was a top prospect and was awful last year. For their rebuild to come to fruition, he has to turn it around and soon.
  18. JohnBriggs12
    The game has changed since the Brewers were in the AL. As for the Brewers not being able to afford a DH? Heck if they had the DH, they'd have a role for Thames or they could bring up Hiura, move Shaw or Moose to 1B and use Aguilar at DH. Or they could keep 3 catchers and use Grandal there. Brewers are well suited to stock the position. There's still DH types that can't find a job out there.
  19. JohnBriggs12
    Phoenix has a Lou Malnati's Pizzeria if you want authentic Chicago deep dish pizza. Suggest wearing Brewer gear there to annoy the many Cub fans. I'd never go to Arizona without my golf clubs. Plenty of options at different price levels. Last year my brother and I teed off shortly after about 4 foursomes of Dodgers who were playing on their day off at a course in Buckeye. Saw Kershaw, Turner, Taylor and Pederson among others up close and personal, the day after I saw Kershaw and his teammates against the Brewers in Glendale. By the way, the guy at the desk there told me former Brewer Jim Slaton lives off the 10th fairway of that course and plays nearly every day. I was bummed I missed him.
  20. JohnBriggs12
    I think Brewers will move Thames to a rebuilding team like the Orioles who would hope they can parlay a hot first half into a deadline deal. Brewers will have to eat about half his salary and won't get much back in return. With benches being so short, having multi-positional guy like Perez beats less versatile guy like Thames.
  21. JohnBriggs12
    There was no way the game could continue to sustain player's salaries growing at rates well above inflation. Eventually you reach a point where the owners can't match the salary increases by growing revenue. Ticket prices are at their limit. The idea that some baseball site can calculate a player's worth is and always has been nonsense. Players are worth what the market says they're worth. No more, no less. Compared to 10, 15 years ago, players skills are declining faster for a couple reasons. In 2009, skills showed drop offs at age 35-37. Now that's more like 32-33. So what's the solution? I think there should be a tier system based on the age a player's rookie status expired. Let's say that any player who's rookie status expires before he reaches 24, would still be bound by the current 6 years to FA rule. Players who's status expires from age 24 to his 26th birthday, could be controlled just 5 years, and anyone 26 or over would only be subject to team control for 4 years.
  22. JohnBriggs12
    Agree. Just finding a buyer for Thames is hard. No contending team would take Thames but a rebuilding team might and hope he has a hot half so they can flip him. Of course the Brewers would have to eat at least half of his remaining salary.
  23. JohnBriggs12
    For almost a decade from the mid 50's to the mid 60's the NL All Star outfield featured Aaron, Mays and Robinson, perhaps the greatest ever. Then after Robinson was dealt to Orioles, he was replaced by Clemente. I saw Robinson play when I was young kid in 1961 for the Reds against the Braves, then later when he was player/manager in his final year for the Indians in 1976. Truly one of the all time greats.
  24. JohnBriggs12
    I can't imagine what they'll do with Thames if they bring back Moustakas. My guess is they'd eat $5 million and send him off to a rebuilding team who'd try and see if they can flip him in July.
  25. JohnBriggs12
    Even if Lawrie returned to his previous form, he's not much of an upgrade over Perez who's the ultimate team guy too. But there's nothing to lose.
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