danzig6767

Even if that is Roenicke's reasoning, Morgan is probably a more reliable bunter and very close to being as fast as Gomez. Nyger would then also offer much better on base skills for when Roenicke didn't want a bunt. Plus, Roenicke strikes me as a type who wants guys who make contact and Gomez strikes out more than Morgan does. So even if Roenicke isn't heavy into stats and wants his two hole hitter to have speed, be able to bunt, and make contact, Morgan qualifies on all three on top of being able to get on base. All the more reason to make this baffling.

I wouldn't go that far. Even when Roenicke has been smart enough to start both of Gomez and Morgan, his brain locks up and he bats Gomez in the two hole instead of Morgan. Batting Gomez 2nd is more about getting him more fastballs between Weeks and Braun,What do you base this belief on that pitchers will pitch to Gomez any differently than if he's batting 2nd in the order or 8th? Gomez doesn't take walks or show any patience at the plate regardless of where he's batting in the lineup, so if i was a pitcher i'd pitch to him the exact same way regardless if he was batting in the two hole or 8th. My only objective in either situation would be to get Gomez out and the best way to accomplish that is by not throwing him many strikes because he's proven over and over again that he'll swing at lots of garbage outside of the strike zone. Thus, just because he's batting 2nd in the order, there would be no reason to throw him more fastballs in the strike zone because he has no plate discipline regardless of where he is in the lineup. As much as I would rather see Morgan at #1 or #2, I would be loathe to see that trio come up consecutively in an inning. Yea, it would suck having a trio of Gomez, Betancourt, and Nieves batting one after another at the bottom of the order, but our 3/4/5 hitters clearly are the best hitters in the lineup outside of Weeks. For guys like Braun and Fielder to drive in runs, they need players on base to do so and Gomez spends way to much time in the dugout after making an out. Plus, Lucroy is back, so even if Nieves is kept, he shouldn't be playing much. There simply are no logical reasons for batting Gomez second, that's why it's so baffling and frustrating for Brewers fans to see Roenicke continue doing it.

I'm fine with giving him another year given the Bucks are nowhere close to being a good team, but i'd also have no problem with the Bucks drafting a PG with their first round pick. My concerns with Jennings are. 1. Even though he's only 21, this is back to back years of him shooting below 40 percent from the field. That's abysmal and even if he improves some, it's hard to envision him ever shooting a good percentage. 2. For as bad of a shooter he is, Brandon seems oblivious to that fact and has averaged nearly 15 shots per game in both seasons. 3. His best skill as a player is his quickness. Yet, that quickness is largely wasted because while Brandon can often beat his man off the dribble if he wants to and get into the paint, he's terrible at finishing around the rim and he rarely ever passes to a teammate after he gets into the paint for an easy shot. Unlike other quality point guards who use dribble penetration as much for a chance to pass to open teammates as help defense converges as they do to shoot themselves, Jennings either lacks the court vision to pass out of dribble penetration or he's selfish by wanting to score. My guess is it's more the lack of court vision. 4. I'm all for wanting players to have confidence in themselves and early last year i loved his swagger, but as it's become clear that Jennings isn't anywhere near as good as i hoped he'd be after that great start to his career, Brandon sure seems to still believe he's close to being an All-Star caliber player. That fabulous first 15-20 games of his rookie year seems to have made him think he's better than he really is because outside of those first 15-20 games, he's spent the rest of the time as a very inefficient point guard.

I wouldn't go that far. Even when Roenicke has been smart enough to start both of Gomez and Morgan, his brain locks up and he bats Gomez in the two hole instead of Morgan.

There is a pretty big difference with Saito for me though. Unlike Riske and Hawkins, Doug only gave Saito a one year deal and at a moderate salary. So even if worst case Saito is injury prone all year, i won't say anything bad about Melvin signing Saito. I thought it was a great signing at the time, unlike the Riske and Hawkins signings which were for multiple years at a higher salary.

I'd love to hear it also because i can't envision an explanation that makes logical sense. If we were a rebuilding team like say the Pirates, i guess Roenicke could come up with something about wanting to give a still young Gomez confidence, even if i wouldn't think it makes sense. The Brewers this year though hope to contend for a division title that could end up being decided by a single game or two, him not only batting Gomez 2nd, but also batting him 2nd with a righthander on the mound while Morgan sits it's so annoying. Hell, if he wants to keep Gomez in the lineup for his defense, then start Morgan in RF instead of Kotsay and bat Nyger second. I'd be perfectly fine with that because it gives us great speed in CF/RF defense wise and i like Morgan in the two hole vs RH starters. What about this seems to fly right over the head of Roenicke? Is he still having fantasies that Gomez can bat over .300 like he did in spring? It really is baffling.

Melvin doesn't seem heavily into sabermetrics, but at the same time he doesn't seem to ignore them either. He has a full time stats guy on the payroll. He has multiple scouts. So even though Kotsay is roughly the 23rd-24th-25th man on the roster and thus will be limited in the impact he can have positive or negative, he can impact some games where he does play. It simply makes me wonder what Doug saw in making him not only invite Kotsay to camp, but also guarantee money which pretty much guaranteed a roster spot? I'm seriously at a loss to figure that out? There had to be something beyond Kotsay just being a veteran because he wasn't the only veteran looking for guaranteed money and it's not like we were desperate for another lefthanded bench bat. So what could Doug have saw in Kotsay that made him say, we really need to guarantee Mark some money so we get him?

Starting to think Boggs was a better choice? Reed is a proven commodity at being garbage, but he makes the team because of some meaningless spring training hits.

Why didn't Roenicke put in Green to face Baker? He had Green warmed up. A guy is on third. Baker has been lighting up Wolf. And then he pinch hits for Wolf anyways.

I know this is about DVD rentals, but last week i told my dad that i'd treat him to any movie he wanted to see. Well, unfortunately he picked Battle: Los Angeles. I expected it to be bad after seeing commercials for it, but since that's what my dad wanted to see, that's what we went and saw. To say it was terrible would be a massive understatement. About 20 minutes at most into the movie, i knew pretty much exactly how it would end. About 45 minutes into the movie, i was wishing i was an hour and a half in so that it would be ending sooner. Just a flat out terrible movie and i don't understand why movies like this have to almost always follow the same old tired plot line? Aliens with evil intentions come to earth and a small group of heroes save the day even though they should have been killed about 25 times prior to saving the country or world.

Rollins numbers have gone down for two straight years Furcal has been injury prone for awhile Reyes would be intriguing, but given he isn't old, if he has a quality season this year without any significant injuries, he'll get a big contract.

I listened to quite a few Blackstar songs, just didn't resonate with me, same with Aesop. What's with the Gladiator mask M.F. Doom has on in videos on youtube? Brother Ali i listened to a bunch of songs and actually like the overall sound of some of them, but the whole oppression, America, and whites are so evil theme to most of the songs i tried got to be to much for me after awhile. I've been listening to Atmosphere over the last half hour or so, i like some of it and will go back and listen more. Surprisingly, i kinda dig the Gangstagrass stuff Baldkin linked. Oh well, i sincerely appreciate the time spent by everyone offering suggestions. Like i said previously, i'm pretty damn fussy when it comes to rap and can't really explain why i like certain rap artists or especially why i like certain songs and not others. Take Tupac. I'm a pretty big fan of him, but around half of his songs i love and half i don't like at all. I guess it just simply comes down to listening to a song/songs and for whatever reason, some just resonate with me and i start swerving in my seat. The Beastie Boys for example are one of the few rap artists where i can listen to a CD like Check your Head or Paul's Boutique start to finish without skipping a 1/3 to half of the songs. The Chronic by Dre and Snoop is another. Even though i asked about the rap/rock collaboration angle, that isn't the main reason i liked a lot of the Blakroc album. So even though i'm a Black Keys fan, i didn't know they were involved when i first heard a few songs of it in my friend's car. I just liked the sound of it and asked my buddy who it was. Most of the rap i like/listen to isn't a collaboration between rock and rap artists, i just asked about that angle because i liked the Blakroc stuff and have liked some rock/rap collaborations in the past. Plus, while i'm not generally a fan of the popular bling rap over the last 5-10 years, there are some guilty pleasure songs i dig even if the subject of the songs are far from deep thinking/song writing. Now i'm rambling so i'll stop and say that if anyone wants to still offer more suggestions, feel free and i'll check them out. I'm always open to trying music i never listened to before.

Why will the Dodgers trade Furcal? Sure it's possible that they'll be way out of a playoff race come the trade deadline, but i don't see any likely 95 win team in the NL West to the point that LA will be buried come late July unless they simply stink and are quite a few games under .500.

I agree that was a very lucky triple and should have been caught, but at least when Morgan is in the game instead of Kotsay, i feel like we have a guy in there who can make some plays, via offensively or defensively. While Hart is out, i have a seriously hard time wrapping my brain around why Roenike seems to think that Kotsay's corpse should play more than Morgan? How does that happen? Roenike strikes me as not being a huge stats type of guy, but even his eyes should clearly see that Nyger is much superior defensively, and Kotsay looks every bit as washed up at the plate as his numbers showed last season. So how does it happen that Roenike could view Kotsay as his first option in RF with Hart out? What would be the rational in his head as he's choosing this? Even the gritty veteran excuse doesn't really have any standing here given that Morgan has 1250 at bats under his belt, he's no Brad Nelson type of rookie.

You can fish around for the quotes but the last couple of years, Counsell hasn't been scared to admit he can't play everyday. Seems like even a straight platoon would be pushing it but who knows.I'd agree that it's very unlikely that Counsell could handle a strict RH/LH platoon to where he'd start 100 plus games, but maybe something like out of every 10 games, Craig plays 4-5 of those games with all coming vs a RH starter. He should be able to handle starting around 75-80 games, especially if few to none are back to back.

I understand that Morgan certainly has his share of flaws as a player, but when i watch him play compared to Gomez, it's just so obvious to me that Morgan simply has better overall baseball instincts. I remember that someone compared Gomez to Dan Gadzuric the former Bucks basketball player and there is something to it. Gadzuric also was a very good athlete for a center, but he had no instincts and his brain just couldn't keep up with his body movements to the point that if Gadzuric wasn't such a good athlete, he made not have even been able to make a college team. Same with Gomez, he doesn't seem to think much at all when he plays and thus, it will always prevent him from becoming much more than the player he is now.

I know it's super early in the year, but after that disaster in the bottom of the 8th inning, had Atlanta rallied again in the 9th to steal that game, i can't imagine how it wouldn't really affect the players mentally.

I'm already a fan of Lupe Fiasco and The Roots. For whatever reason i've never given Talib Kweli a lot of listening, same with Mos Def. Never heard any of the other four you listed. I didn't completely give up on more current rap, i just stopped eagerly searching out stuff like i did when rap blew up in the mid-late 80's and 90's. Not sure why either because generally i'm always on the look out for new artists pleasing to the ears. Part of it might be that i'm very fussy when it comes to rap, more so than other music genres. There aren't a bunch rap artists where i can put on a CD of theirs and listen to the whole thing front to back as i can with so many other music artists i like/love. A rap song has to have a very particular sound to it that i can't really put into words or else i just won't listen to it again. I'll know 30 seconds to a minute into a rap song as to whether i want to keep listening, where as with some other types of music i can find myself thinking, i think i like this, but i need to give it a few more times listening. As i'm sitting on the computer the next few days, i'll head to youtube and give those artists you mentioned a try. Second the Judgement Night soundtrack, very good. I bought that when it first came out roughly 15 years ago, but i don't even know if i still have it because i haven't even thought of listening to it for ages.

I'd agree with that. Give Gomez a month or so to prove he isn't up for the job, and by that point, i expect Morgan will get the majority of the starts. What has Gomez shown in spring and the first four games to deserve a month to prove himself to be any different than years prior? He didn't take walks at all in spring and he's looked exactly like the same old Gomez the first four games. Constantly hacking at bad pitches while swinging for the fences. Baseball history has shown that except in rare cases, very free swinging hackers stay very free swinging hackers. It's who they are and how they'll always approached at bats. Plus, lets face it, Gomez may be a nice guy who plays hard, but he doesn't exactly come off as a cerebral enough player to ever make a dramatic change in his approach at the plate. Every game is important and for now Morgan should be the regular RF until Hart gets back, but once that time comes, Gomez should only ever start in CF when a lefty is on the mound.

Yea, the only way the Brewers are better without Prince is if the 15 million paid to him is spent in a very productive manner elsewhere while his replacement isn't a massive downgrade at the plate. He is not only a huge power threat in the cleanup spot, he draws 100 plus walks a year on a team not exactly loaded with a bunch of patient hitters besides Weeks.

Gomez will probably start on Tuesday even though he doesn't match up well with Derek Lowe. Also, how does Kotsay match up well with Lowe? He throws a sinker and Kotsay is a specialist at grounding out weakly, so yeah I guess that is a solid matchup...for the Braves. I cringe when i hear managers say that kind of stuff except in select instances. It's certainly possible that Kotsay could end up getting a hit or two vs Lowe, but i don't think it will have anything to do with it being because he "matches up well against Derek Lowe." As you said, Kotsay has looked every bit his age in his 7 at bats besides the one line drive to center. Morgan is vastly superior defensively. Morgan has more speed on the bases. So even though Morgan is far from a great player, i simply can't grasp how Roenicke can in his mind feel that Kotsay should not only get the majority of starts over Morgan, he would also keep batting Gomez 2nd in any game, much less one where Nyger started and has a career .345 OBP vs .293 for Gomez. It head scratching thinking.

Prince Fielder hit 50 home runs in 2007, the most in his career and had a 1.013 OPS with guys like Estrada, Mench, and Hall hitting after him much of the season. In 2008 with Hart batting 5th all year, Prince had only 36 homers and a .879 OPS. Albert Pujols has had a fabulous year with very little deviation each season in the bigs, regardless if the guy batting after him was really good or just mediocre. In the vast majority of at bats, a pitcher doesn't decide to throw more of certain pitches to a batter depending on who is up next. A pitcher throws what pitches he thinks makes it most likely to get the guy out at the plate. Sure, maybe a great hitter will receive a few more intentional walks in a season with a mediocre hitter batting after him, but in those same 2007/2008 seasons, Prince drew 86 walks in 2007 with mediocre at best guys batting after him most of the year and 90 in 2008 with Hart batting 5th. Four more walks and much worse overall production. If Weeks were hitting in the two spot instead of leadoff, i don't see any reason that he'd be pitched differently. In either spot, the pitcher will badly want to get Rickie out two simple reasons. First, just to get one more of the 27 outs needed to win a game. Next, to keep Rickie off base for Braun and potential Fielder.

I'll go on youtube later tonight and check out some songs from that album. I've listened to some Mos Def over the years, but often in collaborations with other rap artists, not sure why i haven't given his solo work more in depth listening. I listen to rap a fairly decent amount of the time even though it's not my main music genre for listening to. Part of the reason why is i just got somewhat disenchanted with rap over the last 5-6 years or so as kinda mindless bling rap had seemed to have taken over that music form. I know some like that stuff, but i can only listen to so many artists rap about what kind of rims are on their car or what kind of chain they are sporting before i pretty much tuned it out. Granted though most music genres go through times where style takes over substance kinda like how say brutal hair metal took over rock in the mid-80's. While terrible music is taking over in popularity, there often is still good music being made if you take effort to look for it regardless if it doesn't get much attention and i had somewhat stopped looking for quality rap. I was stuck mostly just listening to rap from the 80's and 90's like Tupac, Biggie, Beasties, Wu Tang Clan, Geto Boys, NWA, Public Enemy, Snoop, etc except for many more recent random rap songs here and there which i liked, but i wasn't buying full CD's of any artists. Plus, i don't like much faster type of rap by any artists, the slow mellow beats and raps are what i enjoy. For example, a guy like DMX does nothing for me. Mos Def strikes me as a a guy more my style, so i'll have to give him some heavier listening. I never heard of them before and just listened to a few songs from the album you linked. Wow, that's definitely different and interesting. I think i like it, but i'll have to give it some more play before i'm sure. I'm always happy to find or be turned on to artists/bands that i have never listened much to or at all, but i end up really liking. I love music so much and finding a new band/artist that sounds really great to my ears is kinda like for me being a little kid and getting a new toy. Ever since i got turned on to that Blakroc CD recently, i've been jamming to it a lot like a kid getting a new video game. FWIW, anyone living in the Milwaukee area should know all to well what a wasteland that local radio is in this area, but for anyone who may not have heard of 88.9 Radio Milwaukee, it's well worth giving a try. You'll at least hear tons of new music that you wouldn't hear anywhere else in this radio market.

I'm a pretty big fan of the Black Keys, but for whatever reason, i never checked out the Blakroc stuff that they did with various rap artists in 2009. Well, about a little over a week ago i was with friend i see once in awhile that i share very similar tastes in music and he had a few Blakroc songs on a CD in his car. I really liked it and picked up the CD, it has some songs i thought were outstanding. Anyways, it got me to thinking and noticing that after a stretch some years ago where quite a few rock bands got together with various rappers to make music, these sort of collaborations have seemed to die down in frequency. Granted, a lot of those type of collaborations by like say Limp Bizkit sucked, at least in my opinion they did. I'm not talking about white rock type of bands who incorporated rap simply into how they performed songs in the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Rage Against the Machine. So i was wondering if anyone here knows of some good collaborations between a rock band and rap artists that is good listening, but maybe weren't exactly high profile enough to get air play or attention? I'd prefer stuff not in the super loud metal/rap mix that had it's time for a few years. For anyone interested, here are a few songs from that Blakroc CD which i was interested in hearing stuff at least somewhat similar in style.

I don't think so. If my memory is correct, 2 million of the 4 million Betancourt will be paid this year is being covered by Seattle, so i have a hard time believing that who KC was willing to trade their ace for hinged on us taking back Betancourt so they could save two million dollars. Plus, i seem to recall Doug being asked if Betancourt being included was required by KC and he said no, that Doug wanted Yuni included in the trade. In fact, i just did a quick Google search and McCalvy did a story not long after the trade. Here is a quote "Getting Betancourt back was key," Melvin said the day Greinke checked in at Miller Park. "I know that stat guys hate the guy. I don't know how they can say he's the worst player in baseball."