danzig6767

I understand the frustration, but Weeks liner easily could have scored two runs while Pence got two RBI's for a very weakly it grounder that found the perfect spot on the infield.

How does that work? Does he get all 2 million guaranteed if he throws just a single pitch on the big league team?

Uggg, another seeing eye single

Uggg. Very frustrating. One flare in front of Braun and three seeing eye singles. That Scutoro single would have been an easy DP if Weeks isn't playing up the middle and the Pence single took about 5-6 hops to barely get out of the infield. I can't recall any hard hit balls by SF tonight except for the liner to Weeks early in the game.

Gomez would destroy Posey. I'm taking Gomez over any catcher just because he seems like he'd want it more. No doubt and the odd thing is he's not thin like most fast MLB players are. Often when i watch Carlos running around, i can't help but think he'd possibly be an outstanding cornerback or safety in football if he played football growing up. He has tons of speed, really strong, and very aggressive.

Yea, what an athlete. I can't remember the last Brewer who i went from really disliking to becoming one of my favorite players.

It's only been three starts so far though and Peralta pitched well after being called up last year. In those three starts he was ok vs Colorado, good vs the Cubs, and bad yesterday. FWIW, I share your concerns about Wily going forward and mainly because of one thing, that being he has almost always walked to many hitters since being signed as a teen. Unless a pitcher has absolutely dominating stuff, most will give up to many runs to be really good if they consistently are giving away free baserunners via walks. Yesterday was a prime example. He was given a 9-3 lead and then in the 5th inning, after an infield single he proceeded to walk two batters. Suddenly Peralta is in big trouble. To me, the by far the biggest issue which will decide if Wily can cut it in the bigs for years is if he can cut the walk numbers by at least a 1/3 and ideally roughly in half. Not an easy task, but not a really unlikely task either given he's only 23.

His command certainly is better than YO, as i posted above. Lohse is almost always ahead in the count and rarely leaves pitches over the heart of the plate, instead he owns the corners. I've been very impressed so far and can see why he was so good the last two years.

Watching Lohse pitch so far in his three starts, i can see why he had so much success the last two years with the Cardinals. He doesn't throw above 91-92, but his command really is fabulous. Almost every fastball/sinker is on the corners be it outside or inside, and he has a plus changeup which he also commands well. If Peralta had command like that, he'd win a CY Young award.

I was just stating that there was a reason for the posts regarding a possible Ramirez-to-the-Dodgers deal last season. Of course the Brewers weren't shopping him, but it was widely reported that the Dodgers wanted him and were willing to give up good talent to get him. This is hyperbole, but I would hope that if the Nationals called and said "we really like Lohse, we'll give you Strasberg for him," Attanasio wouldn't be so stupid as to turn it down simply because they just signed Lohse. If a team is willing to give you more than fair value for a player, take it. My only point was that whenever say a signing like Ramirez/Lohse happens or a socalled proactive trade doesn't happen involving a veteran, many here who were bothered by these things tend to lay all of their frustration at the feet of Melvin, while largely ignoring any influence which Attanasio may have on moves made or potentially not made. I don't think any of us here know just exactly how much influence Attanasio has had over the years on any number of things. My gut feeling is he doesn't micromanage moves to include small stuff like say signing Yuni vs bringing up Morris, but i do believe that Melvin has to first discuss and get final approval on any sizable moves, be it signings or trades. That Mark may also have taken the lead in some or even all of the Suppan, Wolf, Ramirez, and Loshe signings. Granted, i think that Melvin and Attanasio likely share fairly similar philosophies on trying to win now whenever they feel it's possible, but Mark just doesn't strike me as being like some owners who stay almost entirely out of baseball operations beyond setting a budget for a given season. He seems to enjoy being involved to at least some degree in how the team is constructed. This sure doesn't look to be a Packers like operation where Ted Thompson makes whatever moves he wants without any involvement from ownership.

If this rumor is true, it's not as if Fiers would be DFA and replaced in the rotation by some say fringe 32 year old veteran who was getting innings in AAA. Instead, it would be Hiram Burgos, a prospect in our minor league system and Fiers could go down to AAA to hopefully get his command back on track. Stuff like this happens all of the time through baseball. A decent/not great prospect struggles, gets sent down, and has to earn his way back up, while a different prospect gets his chance in the bigs.

By multiple accounts which i've read in the paper, it was Attanasio who handled the negotiations with Boras on the Lohse signing and at the very least he entertained Ramirez for dinner during those negotiations. Does that sound like an owner who would have been for his GM shopping Ramirez after the year he had with us last season and how Attanasio has mentioned that he'll generally side with a win now approach each given season unless the roster just looks really incapable of any chance to at least compete for a playoff berth?

The thing i've wondered about is why the Brewers for so long now have struggled to draft and develop more quality pitching, be it starters or bullpen arms? I don't doubt that there is some luck factor with injuries, but man, it's been a problem for a long time now. For all of the picks used on pitchers during Melvin's tenure, we've got better production in the bullpen out of scrap heap pickups like Kolb, Turnbow, Axford, Henderson, Wise, Shouse, Loe, etc than arms from the farm system. In the rotation it's pretty much been just Sheets and Gallardo over a decade plus. It would seem almost hard to draft so many pitchers over say the last 10 years and have so few make any sort of tangible impact.

Because Peralta has the kind of stuff to potentially be a number two caliber starter, so a team needs to be more patient with an arm like that. That's the type of arm and stuff which all teams need to have a quality rotation, assuming he can harness command at some point. Fiers on the other hand has a lesser ceiling and thus it makes more sense to send him down for say Burgos.

It's not judgmental enough. He had a .22. He's multi-millionaire with every means in the world to get home without driving, he is married with children. If all those things aren't enough to make the right decision then you deserve every ounce of criticism you get. No kidding IMO anyone who blows above .20 should get at minimum 3-6 months in jail, no exceptions and that includes first time offenders. People that drunk are a serious danger to everyone else on the road. I know someone who ended up being paralyzed from the neck down because of a very drunk driver. On top of that, his wife couldn't handle to burden of his injury and left him after awhile, along with their two kids. His life absolutely devastated. The drunk driving laws in Wisconsin are pathetic in just how lenient they are. This is a life and death issue which destroys innocent victims and families. I've lost respect for Yo to selfishly endanger the lives of others on the road last night, especially given his financial well being to call a cab.

I actually know a couple people that say they enjoy the on field instructors, so apparently there is an audience for it. Wow, those on field instructionals are painfully bad and can't imagine how anyone can actually watch them beyond the comedy factor of watching Davey Nelson stammer through forming sentences.

If the Brewers farm system can ever start drafting and developing more quality pitching, they'd be in a much better place, be it the pen and rotation. It's pretty amazing just how futile this franchise has been at drafting and developing pitching over a long time now, while so many other teams have been able to at much better rates. By just simple statistical odds it would seem almost hard to have developed so few quality pitchers over a long period of time when you consider all of the picks spent on pitchers. It's been a constant yearly situation of having to find both starters and relievers via trades, free agency, or off the scrap heap where guys like Kolb, Axford, Turnbow, Matt Wise, D. Davis, Estrada, etc pan out better than expected, at least for awhile. Besides the long time woeful drafting of pitching, since Seid has taken over, he's yet to draft a single guy that looks to be a potential really high end prospect. Granted, it's still pretty early in his tenure, some of his picks are very young, and he wasn't blessed to draft in the top 5-10 as Jack Z did, but it sure would be nice if at least a pick or two of his would start showing some wow factor. Very mediocre drafting will catch up with any small market franchise.

Most relief pitchers that throw 95-99 don't have movement on their fastballs either, it's instead a straight four seamer. Hell, lots of hard throwing starters also throw a very straight four seam fastball. Ben Sheets for example had a fine career throwing mostly just a straight four seam fastball and a great curve. The lack of movement on his fastball isn't his problem at all, Axford has in the past has been successful with his stuff. His current problem is only one thing, lack of command of both pitches. This has resulted in him getting behind in the count a lot and/or walking hitters, both being very dangerous things for any late inning relief pitcher trying to hold on to small leads. Just as bad, to often when even ahead in the count, he's leaving pitches right over the plate. A good number of big league hitters can catch up to a high heat fastball if they first know it's coming and then next the pitch catches a lot of the middle of the plate vs staying on the corners. Mix in that he's also lost the consistent command of his curveball compared to his great season two years ago, it's not hard to see why he's getting jacked around. What we can't know is to what degree this is in his head. Few athletes will admit in public that failures on the field have messed with their head and thus contributed to say their pitching mechanics getting messed up as nerves get to them. Closers could be extra prone to that as their failures are extra devastating to the team, especially when blowing multiple wins in a row over a pretty small stretch of time. It has to be crushing to these guys, even ones who are generally mentally strong to walk off that field after blowing multiple close games. They care way more than fans do and just think how devastated many baseball fans feel after a closer is imploding. It's gotta be a very very lonely feeling walking back into the clubhouse.

I would have preferred Badenhop simply because he can be counted on more to not walk guys, but your point is grounded in some truth. The whole bullpen has been bad and with Henderson/Gorzellany unavailable, Ronny was choosing between only a couple of unappealing options. It's to the point at least right now that non-roster invitee Figaro is becoming one of the best options in a close game and he's mostly just a one pitch pitcher. We finally get a loogy and now Gonzalez forgot how to get lefties out. Badenhop has been terrible. The only pitches Axford can get over the plate end up splitting the center of the plate. Granted, the sample sizes are small this early in the year, but man, between the injuries and nearly everyone in the bullpen struggling, the chances if digging a big hole early in the season is a real bummer.

Agreed 100%. While I would've liked to see Morris, I don't mind Lalli at all. And you're definitely right about people immediately turning it around on Melvin & Co. if Morris struggled. Same situation as when everyone was clamoring for Taylor Green. Seems almost like a lose, lose situation. Going with Lalli opens up Maldonado to play more 1B, and also gives Roenicke another LH option to use off the bench and at 1B some also. I'm not upset with the move at all. Maldonado showed today in the 9th inning that he's a catcher masquerading as a firstbaseman. His ugly error could have helped lead to a devastating loss had the wind not shifted to hold Castro's deep fly in the park. So while it's certainly possible that if Morris was called up that he could end up struggling at the plate, at least he'd be a natural firstbaseman defensively. Plus, it's not like he'd be replacing some really good hitter between the myriad of guys who may see time at first until Hart returns.

Or Geoff Jenkins and the numerous players in baseball who get hurt each year while sliding into a base or home plate. Obviously as any athletes get in their say mid-30, it can increase the odds of getting injuries as all of the games over the years take a toll on there bodies, but that injury to Ramirez i thought had far more to do with just a fluke bad slide than age did. In fact, when they showed the replay in slow motion, i thought he tore his ACL. Injuries outside the nagging strains and pulls types which can be more common in certain athletes who just seem more injury prone for whatever reason can often be flukey. We see it all of the time be it MLB, NFL, NBA, or the NHL where from year to year some teams suffer more significant injuries than other teams, but then the next year things are reversed. While in general there isn't as much contact in baseball compared to other pro sports, there still are so many ways that baseball players can suffer injuries which can't be planned for. Hell, Ramirez played in 150 games each of the last two years while Gamel in what should be his prime years physically, he's tore his ACL in back to back seasons. Rickie Weeks has also struggled to stay healthy all through his 20's while say Robin Yount managed to play between 130-160 games all through his 30's. There are many things professional sports teams can try to plan for in building a roster each year, but by far one of the biggest X-Factors in sports is injuries, especially to the better players. I remember Ted Thompson of the Packers once saying that the hardest factor he had in watching his team play was the dread he felt each time a player was laying on the field injured, even more so when it's happening regularly. That he almost wanted to rap his players up in bubble wrap.

Why did Tampa basically give us Badenhop for nothing? Was his 1.5 million dollar salary to much for them? He was impressive looking in camp and today. Looking at his stats, i like that he rarely walks anyone and doesn't serve up many home runs.

I am hoping and praying you are correct! I too doubt he gets 5 starts per week, but 2 or even 3 is not out of the question. Unless an injury hits, Yuni won't even get two starts a week. He'll almost never start for Weeks/Ramirez and Segura is going to show what a talent he is.

Man, it's amazing how many of these 8-10 year contracts at huge money are being handed out to position players and 5-7 years deals at huge money to pitchers. It's only a manner of when, not if that some of these contracts end up blowing up in the faces of teams whether via decline, injury, or both.

The Marcum for Lawrie trade is the one i still have strong reservations about.