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JohnBriggs12

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Everything posted by JohnBriggs12

  1. JohnBriggs12
    Between Tomlin and Matt Albers, Brewers will have 2 guys in camp that allowed 35 HR in 105 innings combined in 2018. I can see hitters fighting to take BP off these two in Arizona.
  2. JohnBriggs12
    I've been on Shields as a good value for some time. He was tied for third in the AL in IP. Part of the reason for that is because as the lone veteran starter on the Sox, which also had a weak pen, they needed him to go 7 innings every time out. That being said, on a better team he's still a solid bet to give you 6 innings most every start and log 180 innings, something the Brewers could use. Shields has always been prone to allowing the long ball, but Guaranteed Rate Field is just as much a launching pad as Miller Park and going from AL to NL should help. What's not seen in the numbers is that Shields has a reputation as a great influence on young pitchers and with a new pitching coach it might be a benefit to have a mentor on the staff.
  3. JohnBriggs12
    I'm split. I love to see pitchers that take seriously helping themselves with the bat. Brent Suter is a prime example of a guy that can be a tough out. Chacin is another guy who's a threat. In the history of the game, there's been some really good hitters who were pitchers. Best of all time might have been Wes Ferrell who put up a career line of .280/.351/.446 in over 1,300 PA. Ferrell belongs in the HOF too. He won 20+ 6 times and drove in 208 runs. He had a career 49.4 WAR as a pitcher and an 11.7 career WAR as a hitter. Another great hitting pitcher was Don Newcombe. In 1955, big Don hit a cool .359/.395/.632 in 125 PA. All that being said, regular hitters struggle to put the ball in play these days so to get more offense and action in the game, it's probably time.
  4. JohnBriggs12
    Shaw got a shade under what Kris Davis got his first year as arby eligible. Figure if he keeps up his rate of production the next two seasons, he'll get something like $23-24 million over 2020-2021. There's no way he's giving up $10 million or so over that time to secure a few more years, none of which top $10 million. My gosh, he's a 4 WAR player. Those guys don't come cheap. He's already signed for this year so would take at least 4 years and $75-80 million for his age 30-33 years. I think the Brewers would like to use that money to help extend Yelich to 2024 or 2025 and are praying Erceg or someone else emerges as a viable replacement for Shaw.
  5. JohnBriggs12
    Shields probably doesn't belong on a rebound list. He was 3rd in the AL in innings pitched last year. He had his best WHIP since 2014, allowed less hits (190) than innings pitched (204 2/3), and posted a 1.4 WAR (B-R). He's always been prone to giving up the long ball, but going from Guaranteed Rate Field to Miller Park is a lateral move. He was pretty good against NL opponents too, going 0-2 with a 3.51 ERA and a 1.130 WHIP (and that was all against NL Central). With a team like the Brewers that possesses a strong bullpen especially compared to one of the worst ever in Chicago last year, he wouldn't be asked to go 7 innings every game and be as exposed in the 3rd and 4th times through as he was in Chicago but if needed to eat innings, he can do that.
  6. JohnBriggs12
    Stearns may know this, but does Counsell? In his career vs. RH starters Perez has hit .252/.286/.373. Vs. LH starters he's hit .262/.282/.411. That's not a huge difference.
  7. JohnBriggs12
    No they don't need two but they could use a lefty. I would suspect they'd deal Anderson or Davies near the end of ST. Some team out there is going to have a pitcher or two come up with a ST injury. i could see them trying Anderson in relief too. He might be able to ramp up is fastball to 96-97 going an inning.
  8. JohnBriggs12
    I don't get the hate for Perez. I get to see out of town telecasts of every Brewer game. Out of town guys in the booth particularly within the division who see him a lot, often sing his praises for doing a lot of the little things that win games. He's a terrific baserunner. He makes heads up plays all over the diamond. He's not just versatile, he's good wherever he plays and he's a smart player. The one criticism is valid is that at times he tries to do too much at the plate and goes up there with a swing mentality. Every guy does that from time to time, but Perez tends to do too much. I think he presses because even though he's a total team guy, like every player, deep down he feels he's an everyday player and wants to contribute to stay in the lineup. If he gets more AB's I think he'll relax more and his ability as a hitter will come through.
  9. JohnBriggs12
    Brewers 92 Cardinals 90 Reds 88 Cubs 85 Pirates 73
  10. JohnBriggs12
    Braun has always used a heavy long bat. He gets great plate coverage and has learned to shoot balls to the right side, but he's always had trouble with hard stuff inside. Since he doesn't turn on the fastballs like he once did, I've always wondered why he didn't go to a lighter bat. No indication that that's part of the plan but realizing he's 35, maybe he should consider a lighter bat?
  11. JohnBriggs12
    The Reds lineup is already scary. I like their pitching additions too. Roark, Gray and Wood are tested veterans. Yeah it's not a great rotation but if they add Realmuto, they are going to be on the positive side of a lot more slugfests than they have in recent years. Realmuto, Suarez, Votto, Kemp, Puig, Winker, Scooter, Peraza etc? Might be the best lineup in the NL.
  12. JohnBriggs12
    It will have been 18 months since his surgery by opening day. They've said since the season ended that he was ready for normal offseason work I don't think it's overly optimistic to expect him to be able to pitch on opening day. I'm doubt that he'd be publicly talking about being the opening day starter if he wasn't throwing like he was over the winters before the injury. The question will be if he can ramp it up for the season. Nobody throws mid 90's stuff in January workouts. It's a process.
  13. JohnBriggs12
    Brachs on the wrong side of 30 (a few days shy of 33 on opening day), had his best season at age 29 and has been getting worse each year. Typical Cubs buy of an aging reliever that has low upside, but high floor. Is he better than Matt Albers? Absolutely. Is he better than anyone else in the Brewers bullpen? nope. Given that the Cubs can't afford anything else, it's probably their best option. I think you guys are underestimating Brach a bit. He's pitched in the AL east and in a very hitter friendly park the last 4 years. Career ERA 3.08 with more than a K per inning. Down the stretch for Atlanta he rocked a sub 2 in a pennant race. I would argue that Brach is a better pitcher than Jeffress, only behind Hader and Knebel in our bullpen. He's 33 and allowed 72 Hits in 62 2/3 innings. He had a WHIP of 1.596 for the year. Jeffress' WHIP was 0.991 last year. Brach was better in Atlanta but not as good as his ERA. He allowed a hit an inning and walked 9 in 23 innings. That's not to say he won't bounce back and be solid as relievers are known to, but it explains why his price tag wasn't very high.
  14. JohnBriggs12
    Does it though? Sure in the short run it puts more money in the Brewer coffers, but this is being done after the most successful Brewer season in almost 35 years. But as they go through the inevitable series of rebuilds, and going to games is more of just a summertime tradition to pass a few pleasant hours on a nice summer day, doesn't the sound of "hey, let's go to Miller Park and see a game, sound better than, hey let's go to American Family Field or whatever? At that point the team struggling and having sold it's naming rights for a few extra bucks becomes sort of like when the politicians promised money from the lottery would keep taxes down. If you can't see and feel the benefits as a fan, they don't really exist. All you remember is ownership got more money and the iconic fitting name Miller Park is history.
  15. JohnBriggs12
    For me it's: First Wisconsin Building Marquette Warriors Marc Plaza Don't forget the MECCA Arena. For an oldtimer like me it's simply the Arena. I saw my first game at the Milwuakee Arena in 1967 when George Thompson led the Marquette Warriors over Lefty Driesel's Davidson team. At the time a few miles away County Stadium was sitting idle. As a high school basketball player at the time, the dream was to get to the Arena to play for a WISAA championship. Warrriors, County Stadium, Arena, and WISAA are in the trash bin of history now. While I get the Brewers' ownership going for the higher bid, I think in the long run the tie in to an iconic beer brand that dates back to the 1800's in Milwaukee is better for the Brewer brand than tying it to one of dozens of insurance companies that insure Wisconsin residents just because that one happens to have it's headquarters in the state. I'm no longer a Wisconsin resident, but I don't pick the insurance company I insure my home and car with based on where it's located or if they outbid a brewing company for naming rights of the stadium of my favorite team. It's a lot easier to grab a 12 pack of Miller Lite or MGD over say Bud or Bud Lite. In fact with all respect to the American Family employees, I'm less likely now to become an American Family customer because I prefer the Brewers play in an appropriately named Miller Park.
  16. JohnBriggs12
    The White Sox are going to make a bigger splash than Gio Gonzalez. They aren't looking for flip candidates and Reinsdorf is ready to open the wallet.. They are serious about a .500 team in 2019 and contending in 2020 not adding to their already well stocked farm system. They added one solid vet already in Ivan Nova to go with their young starting core. Dylan Cease will be a TOR starter in the not too distant future, and Eloy Jimenez is a future superstar. I still think they are favorites to get Machado and their backup plan is Moustakas but don't be surprised if they're in on Marwin Gonzalez too.
  17. JohnBriggs12
    Instead of forking over a lot to get a redundant Moustakas, why not just sign Matt Davidson who has a career .804 OPS vs. LHP to use against LHP? Yeah he strikes out a lot, but he has power, and his K rate vs. lefties is lower than it is vs. RHP. His OBP went from .260 in 2017 to a respectable .319 last year. Davidson might even be had on a minor league deal despite a decent WAR in 2018 of 1.2.
  18. JohnBriggs12
    It is clear that the Brewers having been working over the FA 2B market very hard this offseason. If Keston is the plan it's Plan Z. If they were working the 2B position hard, they would have signed one. I think they are fine with Perez and Spangenberg sharing the position to start the year. If those two aren't producing and Hiura gets off to a hot start in SA, there will be pressure to bring him up. But Perez and Spangenberg are solid major league players who combined should hit 20 HR and hit .260.
  19. JohnBriggs12
    Actually, it IS their money and they can spend it however they want. They got the money from you and me and everyone who pays premiums. Insurance revenue should be going largely to the insured who suffer losses. But Geico, Progressive, Farmers, State Farm, etc. etc. etc. end up helping the television networks with their billions in ad spending more than they do their insured.
  20. JohnBriggs12
    When you think about it, this make sense. Used to be a lot of both car ads and beer ads. Now, virtually every ad is an insurance company and their nemesis, the trial lawyers. Guess it's the natural progression from cars and beer to insurance and lawyers. That's not their money their spending either. it's yours and mine. Wonder if Badger Mutual will still advertise on game broadcasts?
  21. JohnBriggs12
    So the franchise will now be called the Milwaukee Underwriters? The team is the Brewers and Miller Park made sense.
  22. JohnBriggs12
    Crosby and Cobb need to be cuts 1 and 1A. Neither is worth their price. Crosby cost them 2 1/2 wins (Lions, Cardinals, Vikings), and almost cost them the Jets game with his poor kickoffs. He's responsible for a fair share of special teams awfulness. His defenders forget it's not just this season when he's been shaky. Cobb's simply to frail.
  23. JohnBriggs12
    Dealing for Castro is the last remaining move that would bring a significant RH hitting upgrade over what Brewers have already. Much like Grandal, he's a pricey one year investment but he'll come off the books after this season. Marlins might be reluctant to make another deal with Brewers, but they'll lose him anyway after this season.
  24. JohnBriggs12
    I suspect the Brewers have a lot more leadership than you are aware of. There's player with tons of respect in their clubhouse, and not necessarily the guys you'd expect. Perez is one for certain. So is Aguilar and Cain is off the charts. Yelich? Certainly and he has the hardware to command respect.
  25. JohnBriggs12
    He's still doesn't turn 24 until April, so they still are hoping he's a future number one catcher but they need to see more than 178 AB of decent AAA production after he hit just .209 in AA in 2017. This is a key year for Nottingham. He needs to hit and hit with power and cut down his strikeouts in AAA this season or he could be passed up by Payton Henry as catcher of the future.
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