SoCal Brew Crew Fan

Trading Lucroy and Gomez is probably the only way they can really shorten the rebuild window. Trading the other pieces will only get them filler. I guess they could move Peralta or Nelson, but they could still be controlled while they are on the upswing if they take their medicine now. With what they have in AA & below, a higher draft position for a few years and a kings ransom for those two, things could be looking up in a few years. We'll see as they get closer to the deadline. I could see them moving Gomez this year along with the vets, then try for an off season blockbuster with Lucroy.

Just another reason he needs to be traded for prospects

Seems like a cycle with managers...have a players manager, they get soft, bring in hard ass, players revolt, bring in players manager...wash, rinse, repeat...

Yes, but did you fire Ned Yost with 2 weeks left in the season?

Aside from thinking this doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, I can think of 2 potential positives in hiring Counsell. 1) The casual fan will like it, and the team needs them to stay interested. 2) My hope is having worked with the front office they can be on the same page when it comes to rebuilding the club. Probably wishful thinking, but I keep thinking the front office knows what's ahead of them and it's MA who's struggling to get on board.

2011 Flashback...wow that was pretty

They have traceable pieces. I'd trade everything they can. If the player potentially can be a sustained part of the team in 2019 and beyond, then keep him. Otherwise I'd get that AA and below as loaded up as possible. The value of their trade pieces will be like melting ice cubes...they will need to get going. The goal should be for fans to be excited about what they see at Biloxi and Brevard.

Jericho's point about baseball IQ rings very true. I think it's tougher as a softball coach versus baseball, but a big problem we find is kids just don't watch as much baseball. I would watch every Brewers game I could (and still do) as a kid. Today's kids just don't watch as much. If they aren't watching it, it takes them longer to pick up those IQ aspects of the game. For softball you really have to have a parent that searches it out. We'll record Wisconsin games on BTN or UCLA games. My daughter would never sit down and watch one on her own.

I can't speak to the minority aspect, but being involved in Little League has given me some perspective on youth participation in baseball. We get huge turnout in T-ball and Coach Pitch at younger ages. Most of the Moms or Dads had played and want their kids to try. As they age, they usually go from 3-4 activities to 1-2. In suburbia, soccer is taking many of the best athletes. Maybe it's basketball in the urban ones. Baseball and softball in our area see much greater drop-offs in participation than soccer. The biggest difference I see in kids that stick around with baseball and those that move on is parental involvement. Baseball is a harder skill to develop than soccer at younger ages. At 8, in soccer it's just go run around and kick the ball...with AYSO there is also more of an outlet for the average player. In baseball, someone needs to spend time with the kid to learn how to throw, catch and hit. When we were kids, we hopped on a bike and played 500 or pickle with our buddies. No longer. Parents either need to get them to practice, lessons or play with them in the backyard. If the parent isn't involved, the kid won't stick. Baseball is also a tougher game to watch at a younger age. Soccer takes an hour and even if they stink they can hide and get some exercise. Baseball puts all the kids in the spotlight and can take forever. Too many kids drop off if they aren't good early even if they are decent athletes. I love baseball. I'm an involved parent and my youngest daughter has taken to softball. We spend a ton of time practicing together. It's a great bonding experience for the two of us. She likes it, but if I didn't spend the time with her on it she wouldn't be doing it. We do lessons occasionally and I am amazed the lengths that parents will endure to get their kids to the place she takes lessons. There are kids of all races and backgrounds there and they all have one thing in common...a parent(s) who's willing to sacrifice either time or money to get them there. For the more competitive kids who do travel ball, etc...the parents have to take it up even more.

I just can't understand why everyone is so bent out of shape and headhunting. This is the same group that had a huge unsustainable hot streak last year and now they have an unsustainable cold one going. It would have been nice to just keep the .500 pace through the end of last season and get into the playoffs, but the bad streak was truly that bad. I think it's just setting in it's the end of the window. If it is, they did what was rational this off season. Keep the core and add a couple things without trading prospects to maximize the year. Trade some depth for prospects then see how it plays out. Now that it's clear they are toast, wait for the deadline and clean house. They have options. You just can't do much on April 23rd. Mark tried to maximize the window. He gave DM orders and he did his best to execute. The drafting and develop hit a dry spell, but seems to have more promise the last couple years. We are where we are. Blood letting and running the team like talk radio is just venting. They just need to figure out if DM is the right guy to guide them through the rebuild. I could care less about the manager. Unless there is a tangible financial benefit to bring in someone else, or just showing the fans they can do something without wreaking havoc on the clubhouse, who cares. RR didn't matter much when they were good and he certainly doesn't now that they stink. He's pretty much like most of them with a better demeanor. Doesn't stray much from conventional wisdom, won't embarrass you in the press and seems to have respect of his players. Unless they really want to go with an outside the box innovator, why waste the money on a new manager. We could be stuck with a knob like the guy in Cincy. No thanks.

As we look back philosophically, I'm not sure this crummy start really tells us anything. There have been views by some (articulately and consistently by TheCrew) that we shouldn't trade prospects and try and extend out the competitiveness. Others are in the "maximize the window" camp. The Brewers fit more in the latter. Was an '08 appearance and an 11 NLCS enough? Who knows. I certainly enjoyed it. It was a reasonable approach IMO, but there is a cost to it. Maybe if we pursued the former, we win 83-85 games a year and never sniff the playoffs. Perhaps we do just as well or even better with the Odirizzis and Escobars of days gone by and the future looks brighter. We'll never know. All I think we can reasonably say is if you make the trades and go for "higher highs" (and maybe 11 was that higher high), you should expect "lower lows" at some point. This has always been looked at as an end of the window year. The poor start has made it more obvious. I'm more philosophical about it. For the most part they've been competitive and exciting for 8 prior years. After 15 hopeless ones before that, I really enjoyed it. It's time to regroup. Time to make tougher decisions. I hope they draft well. I hope they trade everything that isn't nailed down or won't help the team in 3-5 years. I'll still be a Brewers fan while they're doing it and I hope they do it well so I can enjoy them more in my retirement. They way they did it may not have been everyone's cup of tea, but I don't think it was unreasonable. It's just time to pay the piper.

I'm in. Y'know der hey. I LOVE Augie.

"Good, aggressive baseball" If he hangs on to it he's out.

Regardless of how this season works out, at this moment there are thousands of miserable, drunk Cardinal fans going home unhappy right now...I take some pleasure in that.

I can't really argue with any projection I see on the Brewers. I could see them keeping it together and piling up runs with a good rotation and pen...making the playoffs, perhaps more of a wild card. I could also see some subpar performances and a meltdown culminating in a mid-season fire sale. I'm not going to worry about it and enjoy the season. This may be the last season they actually have a chance for a few years to legitimately compete at the MLB level. Even with a low probability of a playoff chance, it isn't hopeless. That's enough for me.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/282644711.html Hats off to Jonathan Lucroy for a well deserved 4th place finish in the MVP voting. He was on 28 of 30 ballots, as high as second by Dave Cameron, but most were in the 4 range. Probably were he should have been with the seasons that Kershaw, Cutch & Stanton had. Of course that wasn't the opinion of Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Mel Antonen of SI.com who left him off of their ballots. It would be funny if it wasn't so predictable and pathetic.

2011 was a special year. Wish they would have gone a little farther, but it's just another ok year without Grienke. I'm glad those guys they traded are doing well. I'm also glad they reversed course the following year and traded him away when they were out of it. Maybe Segura will figure it out and provide plenty of WAR going forward to balance out the trade. The Royals certainly did better on their end compared to the Indians with the CC trade.

If the problem with Sedar was his 3B coaching, they can move him back to 1B and still utilize his work with field positioning, etc. My guess is he was under orders to be aggressive at third, so the question may really go to RR and DM what they want in that coaches box in 2015.

I had a chance to talk with a few of the Brewers coaches a few years ago. Everyone one of them said at the time it wasn't Prince or Braun's team, it was Rickie's. Quiet leader in the clubhouse that everyone respected. To have a controlled, thoughtful team leader among a bunch of young guys learning their way into the game really stood out to me. I always loved watching him play. He's on my personal Mount Rushmore of favorite all time Brewers. He may not be in everyone's Hall of Fame, but he's in mine. I'm still a little miffed Roenicke didn't play him that last game. A leader has to be more aware of the situation and not get swayed even when Rickie said he didn't want to do it just to get an AB or whatever. I'm sure there were a number of people that were watching just to see Rickie one last time. I know there was at least one Rickie fan in LA who sat through that torture just to get one last glimpse of his favorite Brewer. Good luck next year Rickie!

A one year deal is not a big risk. Even if you think it's an 11mm pitcher and you are paying him 13mm. You can't get that without at least a 3 year deal on the open market. At that price, you can keep him, trade him, make a qualifying offer at year end...there are plenty of options. Unless he gets hurt, he's not going to fall off a cliff at that age in one year. Picking up the option is an absolute no brainer.

No Weeks today? Seriously, goodbye Ron.

Sounds like Vernon Williams will be the most critical player regarding the 2015 Brewers. Freeze like a champion Vernon...we need ya.

Interesting comments from Mark A. It's probably good to show the fans he's got some fire, since selling tickets to the average fan is going to be a tougher road next year. For a team that is far more dependent on ticket sales than other teams, even making some cosmetic moves isn't crazy. Makes me think RR shouldn't renew his lease on his house. I don't know if that's the answer, but someone is going to have to fall on the sword for this one. Also sounded like there is some clubhouse friction. Natural given the collapse, but a couple players must have packed it in. Could be a bigger trade brewing of a key player they aren't happy with. Maybe it's just some stiff like Reynolds. Who knows. Last piece was the crossroads comment. I view it the same way. I know there are calls to rebuild by many on the site. For me, they head into next year similar to this year. With a bunch of guys in the last year of their deal and not much behind it in the upper minors this may be the last year they can legitimately try for a playoff spot. I'd probably try and fill a couple holes and try to get a couple more wins, then take a much harder look at mid-year. 2016 seems like a clear rebuilding year.

First thing I've ever seen LaRussa do that I applaud. Of course he'll probably replace the Cro-magnon Gibson with some other Neanderthal. That Lucroy homer was special...good memory, especially given how rotten the last month has been.

$13mm is the going rate, so it's really not an overpay. The fact they are only on the hook for 1 year instead of a 3-4 year at that rate makes this an easy decision to pick up.