danzig6767

I don't know about that. Thames hasn't played a lot in the outfield, but he hasn't looked very comfortable to me when he has. I highly question that Thames would look any better than Santana in RF if put out there on a regular basis.

And the Royals made it to the World Series in back to back years with a mediocre rotation, but a great bullpen. Boston won their last title on the back of a great offense, Lester, and a good bullpen. Cleveland last year was one game from a title with pretty much just Kluber and a very good pen in the playoffs. It's a different game today when it comes to the playoffs. Gotta have enough starting pitching to simply make the playoffs, but once there, a bullpen is as important or more to keep advancing. It does help though to have at least one really good starter to go with an upper tier pen. I think this is why so many teams are trying to load up on the bullpen. Given how hard it is to develop, sign, and/or trade for really good starters, many teams view trying to build a great bullpen as a different option. Try getting 3-4 hard throwing guys who can come out of the pen with a quality ERA/WHIP/K-BB ratio and let them take over after the 5th or 6th inning in the playoffs vs trying to have multiple starters go 7 innings or longer.

The thing is, if hypothetically Broxton or Thames were traded, they wouldn't have to be moved for young prospects. Given Brinson could be brought up to replace Broxton and in regards to Thames, either Aguliar could play first or Shaw could be moved there with Perez in at thirdbase, a trade involving either guy could be for say a pitcher in AAA ready to pitch now. That's the nice thing about the organizational depth which the team finally has, it would allow Stearns a variety of different avenues and options to choose from in regards to talking trades with other teams.

Which is why he might argue against selling at the deadline especially after a hot start, and especially if that means trading Braun which cuts into not only ticket sales but merchandise sales The Brewers have the lowest payroll in the league, about 40 million lower compared to it's peak of over 100 million. Attendance could hypothetically go below 2 million and Attanasio would still make a fortune this year with all of the other revenue streams also factored in besides just attendance. Trading Braun would drop the payroll even lower and money saved would far far eclipse the very tiny amount the Brewers might lose in Braun jersey sales. As for attendance, Braun doesn't draw more than a minuscule sliver. People in this city simply enjoy coming to the ballpark, especially on nice summer days/nights. Hell, last year the Brewers drew 2.3 million fans, 16th best in the league even though they only finished 73-89. At minimum the Brewers very likely will draw as well as last year, regardless if Braun were kept or traded and in turn Attanasio will rake in huge profit totals given the low payroll. The only thing which i could see causing him to balk at a move or moves which went against winning this year is his strong competitive nature, but i think he's grown as an owner and understands better now vs the past when he was more impulsive, as often is the case when a new pro sports owner takes over a team and they want to be heavily involved with their toy.

Agree. I just did a quick scan of SS with a minimum 75 PA, and Arcia ranks: 26th in OPS at .637 28th in OBP at .277 His defense is helping his overall value, but his hitting is pathetic. I think we have a number of options at SS who could provide as much or more value to the team right now than Arcia, and by having him on the team now (and half of last year) we are going to lose out on some of his prime years when he will be tremendously valuable. It won't happen, but I see no problem with sending Arcia to AAA to work on things. If they did send Arcia down, they could just play Perez at SS.

The two guys i'm confident in going forward are Shaw because he has such a pretty swing, i just wished he walked more and also Thames even though it was obvious his power numbers would come back to earth. I love his patience at the plate and bat speed which i think bodes well to being a productive hitter in general. When it comes to Beoxton i really only worry about his really high K rate. His walk rate is also down quite a bit from last year, but he isn't a total free swinger as some low walk guys are, so i expect the walk rate to get better as the year goes along.

Man thanks to the creators of the DVR. Went out to eat for Mother's Day this afternoon and was able to come home and not miss an epic win. What a game.

Maybe Willy would be a better reliever than starter, but i think he'd struggle in either role because his lack of command is a consistent issue. I could see using him as a long reliever, but not a guy regularly in high leverage close game situations given he walks to many hitters and gives up to many hits after getting behind in the count. He also struggles vs lefties because he can't command his slider enough and hanging sliders to are bad news in general, but especially vs left handed batters.

I watch about 90% of them, but i DVR every game so i can both watch the games whenever i want and can fast forward through all commercials/other stoppages of play which knocks about 45 minutes off each game. Without the DVR, i'd definitely be unable to watch as many games as i do because of time constraints and because i'm gone sometimes when the game is being played. Tonight was a prime example. I was gone and didn't get home until about 9pm, but since i taped the game i could watch it all and wiped about 45 minutes off the game time by skipping through all of the commercials.

Peralta already throws 95-98 as a starter and he doesn't have a formidable slider because his command of it is to erratic. Willy has the same problem Feliz has, a lack of command. Both have a history of walking to many batters and in relation to that, getting behind in the count to much which leads to problems for any pitcher in regards to hard hit balls. Watching Kimbrell compared to Feliz was so stark. For as much as Kimbrell is known for his high 90's fastball, he also has great command of his filthy slider. Both pitches combined are a nightmare for hitters. Feliz on the other hand has terrible command of his slider, so hitters don't really have to think of it and a 95-98mph fastball isn't exactly rare in today's baseball. He gets behind in the count and hitters sit dead red on his fastball because he can't command the slider enough to trust it down in the count.

Yea just watch Peralta pitch for a prime example of this. He has a million dollar arm and fifty dollar command.

Watching Feliz so far, his biggest problem seems to be a lack of ability to command his slider. To often he either hangs that pitch and it gets hit hard or it's off the plate so much that hitters easily take it for a ball, leaving him behind in the count and the batter sitting on a fastball. Yea he throws hard, but many big league hitters are used to even 95-97mph fastballs if they know it coming and in turn can hit the ball hard if it's over the middle of the plate. Look at Knebel in comparison. He has shown great command of his curve so far. This allows him to get ahead with it and throw it at various times in the count, leaving hitters guessing and thus much harder to sit waiting on his 95-97mph fastball.

How do third base coaches who do this for a living make such horrible decisions to where guys are thrown out at the plate by 5-10 feet? Man it's annoying.

Except he has been disciplined at the plate he has an OOZ% below league average. His problem is the same as Broxton's he is letting to many first pitch strikes go by. I wish batting coaches would stop telling leadoff hitters to take the first pitch. Weeks had this problem and now Villar and Broxton have this problem. If you are consistently letting the pitcher get ahead by throwing over a strike you are playing from behind as a hitters. Average, OBP and Slugging all go down after the pitcher gets ahead of a batter. Once at two strikes it is in the pitchers favor and a hitter normally will be an out at about 80% of the time. Yea Broxton drives me nuts with how many times he looks at pitches right down the middle and then ends up in two strike counts.

It's April, not the middle of July. Broxton has only 46 at bats so far. It's amazing to me that so many fans are considering a panic move based off such a tiny sample and even worse during a season where the Brewers are still in a rebuilding mode. Patience is the exact thing required with talented, but inexperienced major league players and the same with skilled kids in the minors for teams in a building situation as this team currently is.

Yea, look at the Cardinals for example. Dexter Fowler is only hitting .169 and a .547 OPS. Wong hitting .179. Grichuk .185. It's a long season and from month to month some guys will struggle, while others rake and then things reverse the next month.

That isn't really true. Players were told not to work out because everyone wanted lean muscle back in the 80s. The players are just bigger, it is true in every sport. Yeah guys use PEDs too but it isn't all of them. Yep Athletes are bigger in every sport as everything from weight training, diet, advances in medicine, etc has lead to athletes being bigger, stronger, and faster than athletes in the past, regardless of PED usage. There is so much money in pro sports today that team training staffs are always looking out for cutting edge ways to make their players better and many of these athletes also hire their own personal trainers, along with dietary specialists. Hell, even many golfers today are using weight training, diet, and science to allow them to drive and hit balls at distances which wasn't the case in the past. With so many millions available to athletes in every pro sport, for most of them who aren't naturally ultra super gifted, those who don't stay in tip top shape, they'll get left behind by those who do.

Outside of the Michigan-Ohio St college football game, USA vs Canada is my favorite sporting event between two specific teams to watch. I watch the World Juniors every year but there is really something special about a USA-Canada Olympic hockey game, especially when pros are playing. I love to watch every Olympics game which USA plays in with pros because many of the teams be it Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czechoslovakia, etc they also have quite a few pros on their rosters also and i'll even watch some non-USA games. I likely won't watch those non-USA games though if the pros are gone. It's so rare in any sport to have something close to All-Star rosters going against each other in games where the teams and players are actually trying their hardest to win, unlike the NBA/NFL/NHL All-Star games which are unwatchable.

Not me. The Olympics hockey with NHL players is my favorite hockey event outside of when the Badgers are in the NCAA Tournament. It's basically a series of All-Star games where the players actually care about winning and silly fighting doesn't take place. I'll probably still watch if college kids play instead, but it will take a big chunk of my excitement for the hockey event.

In other news, Scooter had 2 run HR in his first game as Red.The team moved Villar to 2B and acquired Shaw because in their minds that made them better right now. If they are trying to lose, why do that. They let Scooter go because they didn't want to pay a measly $2.5 million for a bench bat despite one of the lowest payrolls in the game. Gennett didn't have enough position flexibility and that's why i think he was let go. He doesn't have a strong enough arm to play thirdbase or range/arm for shortstop, so that left him as simply a backup at secondbase. With Perez around to back up all infield spots and the team deciding to carry 13 pitchers, there wasn't a spot for Scooter given Villar would be playing everyday at secondbase. As for Shaw, he wasn't acquired because Stearns thought Shaw would just make the team better right now. Stearns is hoping that Shaw with a chance to play everyday and entering his potential prime years can become a fixture at thirdbase for years to come, not only this season. Watching Shaw at the plate, he sure does have a pretty swing. Granted, that doesn't mean he's a lock for a breakout season, but i do think there is at least a chance for it. His body type and swing kinda reminds me of former Brewer Dave Nilsson.

I was totally for trading Lucroy, but you seriously underrate just how good Molina has been for quite awhile now. He's been one of the best defensive catchers in the game for a long time, an above average hitter at his position most of those years, and amazingly durable given how many games he catches each season. As for him being in decline, Molina had a .787 OPS last year while playing in a whopping 147 games for a catcher. Maybe age catches up to him this year or next season, who knows, but i don't see this as a massive overpay considering the amount of revenues in baseball today and it's only a three year deal.

Offense should be better, but the pitching staff could be ugly.

Yea, fabulous win last night. This run of playing well came right as Middleton came back into the fold. He's one of the more underrated players in the league. As for Brogdon, i liked the pick when the Bucks drafted him, but never thought he would be this good and as a rookie. His emergence has been huge because Delladova hasn't played as well as i think the Bucks hoped for.

All they do is replace them with more one and done players. Kansas, UNC, Kentucky and Duke are hardly being hurt from this rule. The big name basketball schools were getting the better recruits before this one and done situation and will keep getting them whether the rule stays in place or changes. It's not as if those programs sucked until the one and done kids turned them into powerhouses. As for Calipari, those recruits he gets are available to other coaches to land. He's just the best recruiter in the game. Similar to Saban in college football. Here is a list of all Final Four teams ever, nothing different about today vs the past. Prime time programs mixed in with other power 5 schools changing from year to year. http://www.allbrackets.com/ No it's not. It shows loud and clear the real main objective behind major college basketball and football at a significant number of schools, and it isn't about educating students who happen to also be good at sports. As for the NCAA, they aren't losing any sleep over this fact so long as those massive checks from the TV networks keep coming in. Exactly my point. Why bother with the facade of major college basketball and football being about student athletes at so many schools. A more fitting terminology would be athletes who are students in theory so we can keep them on the court and field and in turn make piles of cash off them. Granted that's a bit long compared to the tidy student athletes phrase that large numbers of schools and the NCAA uses, but it's more accurate.

I think it hurts college basketball in a sense that certain players are there not becuase they want to be but because they have to be. And I think the rule pretty much assures the best kids are going to the same 8-10 schools every year (Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, Michigan St, UCLA, etc) becuase there is such a high turnover at those schools each year and they are basically NBA factories. The best recruits have been going to the most popular and successful programs at the time forever. Today is nothing new. If anything, this one and done factor has hurt some of these upper tier programs because instead of the elite players staying multiple years, they leave after only one and then they have to play with a bunch of new freshman next season. Plus, outside of mainly Kentucky and Duke, the rest of the one and done kids tend to be spread out across the country. For all of Calipari's loaded recuriting classes, he has only one title at Kentucky. Same as Tubby Smith. Come on, this is far from a one and done issue. Your idealistic view of what college athletics should be when it comes to major conference football and basketball went out the window a long time ago when these sports became massive revenue streams. For decades many schools have been cheating when recruiting players. They recruit kids with criminal, including violent criminal records. Cover up criminal activity on campus of athletes. Have lowered academic standards to help admit elite recruits who aren't anywhere near prepared to handle a college curriculum. Pack those kids who aren't ready for college and don't care much about graduating into easy to pass classes solely to keep them eligible to play. Schools have been busted manipulating grades and/or having others do classwork of star athletes. And those were only schools who were caught. Etc etc to keep non-students eligible. Granted, not all schools behave this way, but a large amount do in both sports. So to get bothered by the fact that maybe 30 kids a year in an overall freshman class of basketball players don't care about class work because they intend to go pro after one year when the whole college athletics system at so many schools is a cesspool of proof that the athletes are athletes first second and third before students is something i don't get. Remove those 30-40 one and done kids a year and college basketball/football will remain the same cesspool of shady recruiting and a whole bunch of schools who care vastly more about what athletes can do on the court or field than their academic abilities or aspirations. FWIW, this is a big reason why i think players deserve more. If the vast majority of these schools actually treated basketball and football as student first endeavors and cared more about graduating athletes instead of treating them much more as athletic commodities to advance their athletic department budgets, i'd feel less harshly about the NCAA in this. Tell that to all of the schools who simply don't care as long as athletes help their team win games. They could demand any athlete enrolled has to be attending class. So could the NCAA. You know, the overseers these multi-billion dollar "amateur sports" where they claim the main objective is to educate kids who also happen to be talented athletes, but regularly show that's just word vomit..