bjkrautk
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Everything posted by bjkrautk
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There are only a handful of MLB teams that have the revenue streams necessary to buy enough major league talent to compete year-in and year-out. If that's what you're really looking for...the Yankees and Red Sox are that way (::points East:: ). While that may be a bit harsh, the reality is that even making the big acquisitions in the off-season doesn't always translate to winning (see the Miami Marlins), and even the high-salary teams go through their highs and lows. As a fan, the most you can hope for is that the team you're a fan of does everything they can to sustain the peaks and minimize the down years. Most of my childhood encompassed the bad years. I remember hating to see Molitor leave as a kid (although I was ultimately happy for him when he won a ring in Toronto....much like I will be if Prince or Zach accomplishes as much this year). Unlike my childhood, I honestly believe that the current ownership and management of the team are willing to make the moves necessary to rebuild this team without a quarter-century between trips to the post-season. P.S. If you want to blame anyone for the Brewers not signing Prince to a home-town deal, blame the Hall of Famer who stole his rookie signing bonus. -
Without a farm system, you don't get star players without breaking the bank. For a team like the Brewers to compete, they need to make good decisions. Trading for Greinke was a good decision, as it helped them make the playoffs. Trading Grienke away for 3 of the Angels' top 10 prospects is also a good decision, since Zach's final 10 starts in 2012 were meaningless here in Milwaukee. The Brewers weren't going to the postseason with Greinke, despite how well he has pitched. It just wasn't coming together this year. The Brewers are building up a core of players in AA that they feel will give them a chance to win in the future. The last time they had this many quality prospects at that level, they turned into Fielder, Weeks, Hart, etc. -- much of the core of the current roster. I'm sure we'll all miss Zach (and hope that the Brewers try to bring him back next in free agency). This move puts the team in a better position to be competitive in the future than where they would have been if Greinke had pitched out the string and signed somewhere else, giving the team a single draft pick in return. It's about looking to the future.
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I care, inasmuch as I hate to see the team give away games they could win, even if a post-season spot isn't really at issue (and even while I know that losing would mean a better draft position). Your list hits the high-points of what to watch for in the next few months, but I'll add a few of my own. * Replacement-Level relievers: Can we find any? * Thornburg: Unless he moves into a setup role, I'd expect a few more spot starts in his future. * Peralta, Schaffer: Do they come up before the rosters expand? Will either one have an opportunity to put themselves into the teams' plans for 2013?
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Meet the new closer, same as the old closer.
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Without providing legal advice myself, that is one of the first places I would look. Re: Tenant Resources Center, just be warned that Dane County has a variety of pro-tenant ordinances that would not apply in other counties. If you do live there, it's a great resource. Necessary disclaimer: unless you have a written fee agreement with my name on it, I'm not your lawyer.
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1) Deal K-Rod for prospects (I'd love to get a ML-ready LOOGY, but any team trading for K-Rod isn't about to give up someone with that profile). Need to move that salary, since no team is going to sign him for more than he can get via arbitration. 2) Trade Greinke to anyone with a cost-controlled SS for the next 3-5+ years, plus a decent (AA or better, #3 starter projecting) pitching prospect. Thornburg joins the rotation if / when Zach is traded. 3) Hold Marcum (not much of a choice, since he's not pitching), and try to get a 2-3 year deal done in the off-season. 4) Take offers on Hart, Wolf, Ramirez, Parra, Estrada, Kottaras, Gomez, and Morgan. I wouldn't trade all of them, but if I liked the return on any 1-3 of them, pull the trigger. I'd be willing to listen to offers for Weeks, but I'd rather give him another year than find myself selling low. Try to find a way to get Schafer up before September call-ups. Rotation would be in decent shape going forward (Yo, Wolf, Marcum, Fiers, Narveson; Thornburg either in AAA or working out of the bullpen w/ Estrada). Use Free Agency to bring in 1-2 decent, hard-throwing relievers, and address any issues we have with the infield in the 2nd half of the 2012 season (Green plays most of the time at 3B if A-Ram is dealt, to see how he'd handle an everyday role). I'd like to keep Hart at 1b if he's still with the team.
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I don't see the point of giving Ax the vote of no confidence now, only so he can be put back into the closer role 2 weeks from now (when K-Rod gets the heave-ho). Just to put it out there, I suspect a lot of the problems with our bullpen depth stem from K-Rod accepting arbitration....that sucked up a lot of budget dollars. It doesn't excuse underperformance across-the-board from the players we have, but it does put some of the struggles into context.
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Greinke scratched Wednesday
bjkrautk replied to Marc Newfield of Dreams's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
RR "We're just trying to get him back in his routine." via Haudricourt on Twitter. ...what part of getting back into a routine involves not pitching 5 days after his last start? I get that making an unexpected start the day after his scheduled start could have been draining for a starting pitcher, but Sunday-to-Friday is as close to regular rest as could be accomplished with the AS break in the middle. The only thing that makes sense to me would be if a trade were imminent, with the Brewers doing their best to make sure that Grienke will be ready to pitch ASAP with his new team. Anything else makes for a head-scratcher. -
Lest we forget, Sheets pitched 9 shutout innings against the Angels, and the Brewers still lost the game in extra innings. http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=240608103 I'd love for Sheeter's career to have a 2nd act; especially since he hurt himself trying to match CC outing-for-outing back in '08.
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Jim Caple, professional Internet troll. (Knew there was a reason why I stopped reading his stuff in the first place.)
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Crew signs Livan Hernandez
bjkrautk replied to Marc Newfield of Dreams's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
For anyone wondering, Livan last pitched 6/10 for the Braves. Atlanta DFA'd him 6/15. http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/transactions/_/name/atl/atlanta-braves From my understanding, either his release hasn't hit the waiver wire, or we're looking at a trade (since he's still within the 10-day window after the DFA). Even if it is a trade, I doubt they gave up anyone of note for a "37"-year old reliever. For a change of scenery / lightning in a bottle -type pickup, I wouldn't have a problem with it. More concerned about what this means for Marcum / Estrada returning to the rotation. -
Nyjer Morgan - Is it Time to Move On?
bjkrautk replied to wibadgers23's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
Schafer isn't performing at near the level he did in AAA last year, and Morgan is finally bringing his numbers closer to his career stat lines. Even if one were to off-load Morgan and called up Schafer, he'd still be in Nyjer's role as the 4th man fighting for 2.5 spots in the everyday lineup (since Corey will be back to sharing duties at 1b when Ishikawa comes off the DL). He wouldn't play regularly, and if Schafer struggles, all we'd hear about is how he's not getting a fair shot. If the Brewers are out of contention in September, I'm all for calling him up when the rosters expand and letting him play nearly full-time. Even if we are in contention, Aoki is probably going to need more down-time, given the difference between MLB and Japanese seasons. I'd entertain the idea of calling him up if Schafer starts lighting things up (or if there's an injury to one of their outfielders), but I don't see a need to speed up his service time when he'd end up sitting on the bench more often than not. -
Aoki is quickly becoming one of my favorite Brewers.
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It does need to be pointed out, that is one situation where the sacrifice bunt helped the Brewers out in the 8th inning. Aoki doesn't score on a GR Double. (That's assuming he doesn't advance to second if Gomez strikes out / puts the ball in play, of course.)
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Certainly beats my extra experience....seated somewhere in the background of "Mr. 3000" when a run scores.
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Didn't someone (Richie Sexson, maybe) miss a game due to a strained neck after trying on a ball cap that was too small? Not only do I think it was Sexson, but if memory serves, he was putting on a cap in order to take the team photo during spring training. I would still vote for salad tongs as my favorite non-baseball injury.
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It also wouldn't be the first time the Brewers have brought up a player for a very short stint in the bullpen. The day after calling up McClendon (after placing Narveson on the DL), they called up Peralta for all of 3-4 games (4/21-4/24) while Loe was away on bereavement.
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http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/153619655.html For what it's worth, Estrada is only expected to miss 3-4 starts. My gut says Fiers, barring a blow-up tonight in AAA. (He's already in an option year, since he's on the 40-man. Plus, as a soon-to-be 27-year-old without minimal service time, he'd be in his 30s before the club is out of options, and in his mid 30s before he hits free agency.)
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Where the ending is concerned, a lot will depend on the next showrunner. Paul Lieberstein (Toby) is stepping down from running the day-to-day production of the show, and is believed to be working on an Office spin-off centered around Dwight. The show only received a 13 episode order (as was the case with virtually everything else that aired on NBC thursdays), and Mindy Kaling (Kelly) will not be returning, as she's starring in a new sitcom that will air on Fox this fall. While most everyone else will be back (and I suspect Lieberstein will make time for the limited number of appearances Toby would be expected to have on a 13 episode run), the short order puts the future of the show in the same position as everything else on the network -- they can't cancel everything.
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Do we honestly not have someone in AAA capable of outperforming Chulk? His ERA is now into the double digits.
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Over a full season, an MLB team averages 50-60 HBP's. The Brewers have on their roster one everyday player who averages nearly 20 HBP's over 162 games (98 HBP, 794 games played). It's less about protection, and more about Rickie Weeks' willingness to take one for the team.
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Considering the Bernie promotion was damaged (if memory serves) by hoarders getting there early and following around the people designated to hide the figures, the logistics of the event are more difficult to pull off if the distribution is done during daylight. (I'm also guessing that the people responsible for enforcing the one-per-person limit were the people hiding the statues, meaning they can't do both at the same time.) As someone who lives in out-state Wisconsin, and who sleeps through the 5 am hour, I'm just willing to accept that these promotions aren't meant for me. Seems as though they managed to avoid most of the pitfalls of last year's campaign, so give them credit for that.
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I bought Diablo 3 directly from Blizzard yesterday (Monday). The 8 GB download for the game resulted in my cable modem traffic being throttled down well below 1MB/sec. I'm just hoping the game will be downloaded fully by the time I get home in a few hours.
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Will Braun ever learn to take his Walks?
bjkrautk replied to 3and2Fastball's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
Braun has put himself into the territory wherein I suspect he may not have a choice in taking more walks. Because he does not have Prince behind him, I think we will see teams start pitching around him - particularly late in games, when he's unlikely to get an extra AB from it. Because he's hit in front of Prince up until this year, Braun has only been intentionally walked 9 times in his career, and none thusfar in 2012. I would not be surprised if he draws 5-10 ibb's this year alone. -
It's starting to penetrate pop culture now, but my first listens to "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye stuck in my head due to its earworm-y-ness. (Note: for Full effect, listen to the album / music video; my local FM station has some horrible dance mix radio edit of the song.)
