JoeHova

Tom Gordon (assuming he looks to be healthy) and an ok-good pitching prospect (maybe Josh Outman to match Will Inman?) for Bush or Vargas and Graffanino works quite well for me. I like the idea of trading with the Phils. They have some gaping holes, but also an ok farm system and a few ML pieces they don't really need.

Tampa Bay does seem like a team that may be a match because of their OF surplus and lack of pitching, but I'm sure they want too much for Crawford. Maybe Jonny Gomes or Jorge Cantu for left field if the Brewers trade Jenkins somewhere. I could see one of those guys being had for cheap as the Rays have no room for them. The question is whether either will ever hit again. Still, I would give up Zach Jackson for one of them to find out. I could see Baldelli maybe, but would a team like the Brewers want to take a risk by trading for a guy that is so injury prone? As for SD, they have many relievers who are pitching quite well, but why would they deal any of them for Brewers trash? They're looking to win the WS this year and their dominant bullpen is a big part of that. Gagne has the same problem as Baldelli, a small-market team like the Brewers can't afford to give up talent for guys that are that injury prone. Chad Cordero would be a nice fit, but I'm sure Bowden would ask for Gallardo or Inman or Hall, which I wouldn't do. If they could get him for Jackson and Mench or something, go for it. Bush and/or Vargas and Jenkins for Dunn would be a dream. Would the Reds be interested? Maybe, but I don't know. They may be looking for higher ceiling guys. The White Sox will want the moon for Dye considering that he had an MVP caliber year last year. I'd rather get Gomes or Cantu for a fraction of the price. I don't see why LA would deal Broxton for anything the Brewers would be willing to give up. This is only his second year and he's a strikeout machine. I'm sure they see him as their future closer, they'd want Gallardo in return, which would be a terrible trade for the Brewers.

sorry.

That's a shame. I was curious about that, but I figured it was possible that they only drafted guys they knew they could sign.

My wife's uncle makes some really good oddly flavored brats (he owns a couple grocery stores). That said, I wouldn't want to try an aloe vera brat.

yeah, iirc, the book makes that more clear. It's been a long time since I either read or saw it though, so I'm not 100% certain.

Braun sitting while he has a 7 game hitting streak going is ridiculous. I'd love to know what Yost was thinking there. Maybe he'll break out the "well, Graffy was 1-3 in his career against him, so I liked the match-up".

I hope the Brewers redraft him. He's the guy I most wish they had signed of all their recent picks who got away. He had a down year this year, but scouts love his tools and he has great projectability. I think he has a good chance to end up being better than his older brother.

ESPN says LaPorta is signed. Hopefully they are right. link: sports.espn.go.com/mlb/transactions (June 12th)

ESPN has it that LaPorta signed. Who knows if it is accurate or not, but hopefully it is. link: sports.espn.go.com/mlb/transactions (June 12th)

The all-time ambiguous ending is Taxi Driver's. Is it a hallucination brought on by injuries? Bickle's version of heaven? Did his mind just snap completely? Or was it real (somehow?)?

I knew Paciorek's name sounded familiar. His dad and 2 uncles played in MLB and several of his cousins got drafted, though none made the majors.

I dunno, "Willy Louie" has kind of a ring to it.

Bernie may be reluctant to join any team other than NYY, but what makes him different than Willie Mays or Joe Namath or Christy Mathewson? Plenty of great players have tried to catch on for one more shot at glory. The longer the Yankees don't call him (actually, I think they are smart to not, because Torre plays him way too much), the more likely he'll go to some other team.

I see that you joined after the 2004 election, which may explain that. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Kevin Mench is (in theory) an important part of the team because Geoff Jenkins requires a platoon partner. Kevin has historically crushed lefty pitching, but he hasn't been doing it this year, which has led many people to hope that he is replaced ASAP. Meanwhile, a formerly great player is agitating to return to the majors and has posted a .900 OPS against lefties in his career, including a .938 OPS last season. He's a switchhitter but only effective from the right side of the plate these days. He used to be a Gold Glove CF, so he presumably would be servicable in left. He made only $1.5 million last season, so he would probably be cheaper than Mench. Also, because he is currently a free agent, the Brewers wouldn't have to give up any assets to obtain him. The only problem is that he has famously only played for one team in his 16 year career. However, it's possible that his former team's reluctance to resign him this year has embittered him and made him willing to catch on with another team. Also, a (possible) desire to upstage a couple more famous teammates in terms of number of WS rings could play a role in making him willing to sign with a new team as well. I'm speaking, of course, of Bernie Williams.

When I was in Milwaukee last weekend, I cleaned out a voting kiosk after a game and took home all the ballots. Then my dad, 14 year old brother and I voted a straight Brewer ticket on all the ballots (with the exception of a few votes for Bonds instead of Jenkins from my brother) and then I turned them in the next day.. I'd estimate there were 300-400 ballots, so we did our part. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif (It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would, but the porch did look like a ticker-tape parade had passed because of all the little punched out tabs. I didn't use a drill or other tool because they said they throw out machine punched ballots.) It would have been better if I had gotten the ballots at a different stadium because probably a lot of the votes at MP go to Brewers anyway, but still, every bit helps. I've also been voting online whenever I get the chance.

Manatees get a run in the 10th...

oh, I thought I heard that there were.

I would like to get Dunn as a LF. I would prefer Abreu or Burrell as I believe they would come a little cheaper for various reasons, but Dunn would be a nice fit. It doesn't look like Dunn will end up the all-time great that some people projected him to be, but he is a very good player. He would really help the Brewers OBP deficiency and has a little better power than Jenkins.

Yeah, sorry, that was an overstatement for effect. I just meant if Yost was starting him for Prince once a week or every two weeks (as I fear he may be tempted to do), I would be upset.

Jeez, that's terrible for the girl. I agree with Braun's boyfriend that the mother appears to be a knob. Unrelated to this, I remember the first (and only) time I tried IcyHot. I think it was my freshman or sophomore year before a soccer game. I had never used it (didn't suffer from muscle pain) but a couple guys did and they swore by it. I wanted to try it, so I rubbed some on my left arm. Nothing happened. I rubbed some more on. Still nothing. Even more. Still nothing. So then I just slathered it all over my arm. After about 30 seconds, my arm felt like it was being held in a vat of battery acid. It felt like my skin was being eaten away. It went away after a few minutes, but so did my desire to ever use it again. I'm sure that's happened to plenty of other people messing around with it too.

wow, that's crazy. It would be sort of like falling off of a building but surviving. Terrifying, but pretty cool afterwards. Also Russ, why would the wheelbearings fail? Even a 40 year old cheapo bicycle can go 30+ MPH with no trouble at all with the wheels. They can probably go even faster with no problems, it's just that regular people don't tend to be able to get their bikes going much faster than that (I should make clear that regular people also can't ride 30 mph on flat ground, I'm talking about down a hill). Unless the wheelchair companies are intentionally putting wheels that fail at some given speed on their chairs, I don't see why they would use technology worse than what a $100 bicycle uses.

I also wouldn't be surprised if they got a lefty (either to complement or replace Shouse). The question is whether it will be another guy like Shouse (ie, a guy who sucks, like JC Romero, who just got DFA'd by the Red Sox) or whether it will be a guy who is pretty good but maybe is signed to too big of a contract.

Wigginton is less of a lefty-killer than Mench (or Wes Helms). He can play 1st or 3rd, but who cares? If he plays either of those positions much for the Brewers, the season will be lost anyway because it will mean that Prince or Braun has gone down. Plus, Wigginton is the kind of guy who Yost would be tempted to play way too much. The first time I saw him starting for Prince would be the last day I watched the Brewers until Yost was axed. OTOH, if Weeks is out for awhile and Melvin makes it clear to Yost that Wigginton is not to ever start at 1st, 3rd or rightfield, I wouldn't mind him as a stopgap 2nd baseman if he can be had for a guy like Graffanino.