NievesNoNO

Axford?? I still think FL thinks pretty highly of him so I think he'll be tough to pry away.

Yeah,, there really is no reason to panic about the division. But, this team is flat out boring. The Brewers are driving towards only their 2nd division title in FORTY years and they're basically unwatchable right now. Miller Park sounded like the public library last night. It probably would have been a good place to study for an exam.It's just like 2008. All along I had a good feeling they would make the Playoffs but they became so boring to watch and everything seemed so predictable down the stretch. Why does that have to happen again? It should be the opposite of boring. I think McGehee and Betancourt back to back every day has taken away all the fun.Wow, boring is leading the division down the stretch? I guess I have a different definition of boring/unwatchable or a different tolerance level for less than stellar play. It only takes one series to get going in the right direction again. Even if they "back into" the playoffs they only need to get hot during the playoffs. I'm not buying into the players looking towards the off-season or there being some sort of change in the locker room all of a sudden. The pitching has still been strong and the bats have fallen a sleep lately, that's it. The defense hasn't been strong the whole year so nothing has really changed.

He was asked a question and answered it honestly. I don't think that's casue for being a distraction. Non-story is my book. As long as he chooses not to play in the NL Central next season I'll wish him well. If he's a Cub next season I will have lost some respect for him

JohnBriggs12 wrote:He's a rental. His happiness in a role he'll have for another month is so far down the pay no mind list, it's ridiculous. It's in his interest to pitch well now. It's in the Brewers' interest he pitch well now. Nothing else really matters. You two summed it up. It's in his best interest to pitch well, happy or not. I don't think there will be an issue with performance going forward. The save stat is the most worthless stat ever created. As good as you might be K-Rod you are a reliever because you are not good enough to start. As soon as managers start using their relievers without regard to a stupid stat and using them as the game dictates using them we'll start to see a shift in thinking. Some manager has got to have the gonads/smarts to do this....Right?? If the Brewers indeed did lie to him, then that's a problem. Everyone understands why the trade happened and I don't really think anyone expected K-Rod to be happy about his role, but if the Brewers promised to let him close out some games then that's an issue. Who knows what they told him, but it's obvious Axford is this team's closer and they only needed to tell him that his role is the setup guy barring some change in circumstance: "Hey, KRod it's great to have you on board. We're hoping all our moves will get us to the World Series. We both know why this trade happened. We have an established closer so you're going to be our setup man. The best setup guy in the league I might add. If Ax for some reason isn't getting the job done you're the next guy in line. Any questions?" Would that have been so hard? I'm not saying that didn't happen but I do remember reading that the Brewers comment was they would share closing duties or something to that affect.

Marcum is poorly conditioned according to who? I doubt he can bring back a young ML ready arm by himself as what would be the point of a team searching for pitching to give up theirs. He could probably fetch a highly touted MLB ready position player depending on the team and whether or not they believe they can resign Marcum. If it's just for a 1 year rental I don't see any team giving back a great deal as teams are hoarding prospects like gold. Some of you are grossly undervaluing Marcum's ability and his value to this team. He might not be an ace in the likes of CC or Wainwright but at least a 1A type and he's the best pitcher on the Brewers staff right now. He's pitched better than Greinke the last two seasons and he's flat out better than Gallardo. I'm not saying don't trade him at any cost, but I think the return would likely be less than what his value is. If they're looking to lessen the blow of losing Fielder to me the best bet is to keep their rotation in tact and hopefully work out an extension with Greinke or Marcum and when the other leaves they might have one of their prospects ready to step in.

Lawrie certainly appears to be the real deal. I hope he does well with Toronto. There seem to a few negative reports regarding his attitude, but there have been plenty of players who border on cockiness/arrogance and have done just fine. If you can play attitude will be secondary. Sometimes people forget the age of these players as well and how much others have basically bowed down to them their whole life because of their athletic ability. I still like the trade from both sides. Without Marcum the Brewers are not where they are right now and probably would have a very slim chance at a playoff series win. With him, I think they can match every team except the Phillies. Even against the Phillies I'd give them a punchers chance with Greinke, Marcum, and Yo.

I'll agree there's always room to improve and I've seen Roenicke make some gradual changes as the season has progressed which I think separates him from some of the more recent Brewer managers. Yes, Yuni and McGehee should be dropped in the order. I'm looking forward to the Phillies series as it should be a fair indication of where we stand against the best. I'm actually slightly less concerned about the final results given our large division lead and more interested how each game plays out. Too many times in recent memory in a big series against a big opponent the team has appeared to fold under the pressure (or maybe they were just that much inferior). Anyway, different topic I guess.

I agree. I'm not sure what people want, the Brewers do have the 4th best record in baseball, so I guess I'll take an incompetent manager all the time. Roenicke didn't become a big league manager by some stroke of luck and by being an idiot as some would believe. People can say all they want about not putting the team in the best position to win but there isn't really any proof that he isn't putting them in the best position to win, is there? At this point in the season if you're going to make some changes on the field you better make sure that those changes result in an improvement of the bottom line..Wins. Even if statistically and talent wise they should improve the team, if the team doesn't play better as a whole because of those changes I think Roenicke would face some criticism from the team. I'm O.K. with taking some time integrating Green into the lineup. I'm also just fine with the way Roenicke uses bunting, base running, etc. Perhaps they've built something of an identity with Roenicke's style of play.

The offense has been less than what I expected this season, but certainly not in trouble. It's only in trouble if they're not capable of scoring more than the pitchers are giving up, which hasn't been the case lately.... also facing Kershaw isn't that easy of a task. They've actually had a reasonable amount of opportunity against him today.

Didn't want to burn through one of our bunting specialists should another opportunity for the squeeze arise.

At least they're making Kershaw work a bit. If Estrada can weasel his way through six and keep it a one run game I can't help but think we'll come back.

That has to be put on the third base coach. If the batter doesn't acknowledge the call he has to tell the runner. Maybe in the majors they don't do the whole sign to acknowledge you got the sign thing?

I feel the same; kinda how I feel about Gallardo. Both are quite good just not great. Here's to us getting to a good pitcher 1st... and last! I feel like this team can do no wrong right now. Keep it going boys!

I really thought when they loaded the bases with the heart of the order up and didn't score that they were going to lose it. This is game the would've lost last year and even the year before. Say what you will about Roenicke's decision making but this team is starting to look special under his leadership. I know a few game losing streak and they'll seem mortal again but this is a nice little run they're on. That's a bigger loss for St. Louis than win for the Brewers. I'm getting greedy now; man I'd love a sweep. The back end of the pen is really top notch. You'd be hard pressed to find a better group in the league. It's nice knowing as long as our starters can gut out a decent 6 innings when they don't have their best stuff that we have the guys to lock it down and at least keep us in the game and/or seal the victory. No doubt they'll blow some games sooner than later but I'm confident we have a playoff caliber bullpen now.

1-2 is my expectation. As others have said, it really could be a statement series. I expect some very entertaining games. Give St. Louis credit for hanging in there on the road and keeping pace or this series could've been even bigger for them. I'm still a bit bitter about La Russa's antics last series so while taking the series would be a clear statement I'd still like to see a little extra from the Crew, whether it's an extra hard slide into a base or maybe just a simple glance after a home run. La Russa and the Cards game revolves a bit around intimidation and a false feeling of superiority. It'd be nice to just say, we know what you're trying to do and it isn't working.... in fact if you want to try and take another cheap shot we have a counter for you.

Series win would be HUGE today! Maybe bigger for us fans, considering all that has happened last night. I'd love to see them get out to a big lead and bring in Estrada to stick one between somebody's shoulder blades late in the game. I'm not really a big "gotta retaliate" type as I think a win would do the most damage, but I'm sick of LaRussa walking around like he's king of the baseball world and doing and saying whatever he pleases. Saito's pitch was obviously unintentional and then he has his guy purposely throw at Braun.. and admits it in the post game interview!! Didn't Weaver just get suspended for a week for throwing at somebody and nothing comes EVEN when the manager admits what they did? The crappy part is for either pitcher today if somebody comes inside and accidentally hits a batter he's likely being tossed. ..actually it wouldn't suprise me at all if LaRussa had his guys digging in extra close in the opening inning today just for that fact.

We must find who really is responsible for drafting Braun and Fielder and who passed on all the stud pitchers so that we can finally know who should be GM of the Brewers. Melvin is obviously incompetent. I also think the Morgan trade has been great. I think his best deals were for Carlos Lee, Sabathia, and Greinke. The Sabathia deal was huge for the franchise and city. I have a gut feeling that Greinke proves his worth by being clutch down the stretch and in the playoffs and decides to sign long term with the Brewers.

You pretty much echoed my thoughts exactly. How did we not land Furcal, Jimenez, Pence, and ARam!!?? Seriously, I just don't know that we have the firepower in the minors to land much more than who we aquired. I will say I was somewhat disappointed the Cards got Furcal, but it remains to be seen whether he's truly healthy or not. I wasn't expecting some monster deal by the Brewers to go down. All in all, Hairiston, K-Rod, and Lopez are nice acquisitions that will definitely help going forward.

I just don't see the Sox selling on all those guys together. Each one alone could bring back some nice pieces. If Danks were available he'd be the best pitcher out there behind Ubaldo and command probably 2 of Narveson/Gamel/Heckathorn. I don't think you'd even touch Ramirez alone with those three. I get maybe wanting to unload the Rios contract, but not to the extent of just throwing in guys that could bring back substantial returns.

We have Wigginton all ready, he's playing 3rd for us right now.

I'm all for being buyers at this point, but I don't understand their pursuit of Beltran if the reports are true. I don't see how he really fits and makes the Brewers a better team. If they get him, he's going to play and the only logical choice would seem to be in center. Why remove Morgan from a starting role? Maybe they're considering moving Braun to third?? Seems like a horrible idea, but i don't see why you remove Nyjer or Hart from everyday duty. Braun back to third might take some stress off his sore leg as well. I don't know but the speculation is at least entertaining.

Yeah, I doubt he would've reached Rose either, however had he been healthy and been close at the end of his career he may also have chosen to try and hang on a few more years. A lot of "ifs" but it's fun to speculate. On a side note, had Ichiro played in the US for his whole career we might be talking about him challenging Rose. I just love watching pure hitters, not necessarily power guys. There are a lot of great hitters in the game now, but not many in the Molitor, Rose, or Ichiro type mold.

Nice read. I too thought the bit about him maybe surpassing Rose was interesting. Easily my favorite Brewer of all time. One of my worst memories as a young fan was him signing with the Jays and leaving the Brewers. What a classic swing, no wasted movement and just exploded into the ball.

Both players are in the minors right now for the A's so I don't think it would cost much to acquire them. Not blockbuster names or production for sure, but Kouzmanoff is basically McGehee with the bat and can actually play some defense. Rosales looks passable at SS, according to the numbers at Fangraphs, and can give some versatility. Probably not much of an offensive upgrade over Yuni but not any worse. Without throwing names out I think a couple AA players with some moderate upside might get it done. Thoughts?

I like the idea but don't really know what it might cost either. I do think that if the Brewers are going to try and upgrade both SS and 3B that it will come in the same deal and not separate moves.