kramnoj

I just think Cameron ought to be hitting 25 points higher and getting on base 30 points better than he is. That's a difference of about 8 hits so far this year. You think him not getting an extra hit once every 10 games is killing the crew?

Let's hope he can finish strong and get on the radar for next season. I don't think I understand what you are saying. Which radar do you think he needs to be on, that he currently isn't? He's got to be on track to be the AAA catcher next year, right? Speaking of, what's the deal with Rottino this year? Has he been injured, just having a down year, or has he just peaked and is already declining?

Just use Draconian. It sounds much cooler anyway. I emailed TH late at night and asked how Cameron's time during the suspension would be handled. He included his information in the paper the next morning and emailed me later to make sure that I got the answer in case I didn't see his article. I thought that was incredibly nice of him. Too bad that he chooses to act differently in the public forums.

and Escobar doesn't play OF (and neither does Gamel). He isn't saying they should play OF. He clearly states that he isn't happy with Weeks and Counsell. Thanks for posting Gamel's OPS of late. I knew it was low, but didn't know it was that low.

How does Rollins solve the Brewers leadoff man problems? Rollins OBP, adjusted to park, is lower than Weeks this year, was lower last year, the year before, and was 1 point lower adjusted to park the year before that. Besides that, SS is the last position that the Brewers should be looking for in a trade. Even taking all that into account, it looks like Rollins may have peaked. He would probably provide value to some teams, but the Brewers aren't one of them.

Going down the stretch with the Counsel at third, Weeks at second, and guys like Nix getting any playing time really hurt our chances offensively. IMO, Melvin should take a chance with a Gamel or Brantley (.331 BA, .409 OB) or even Escobar. You would like to put Escobar at a position he has never played professionally? Gamel's stat line looks good, but it has come down a bit. If the Brewers really started struggling, I could see that as a possibility to try to save the season.

I find it slightly amusing that the Brewers lose and Counsell has a good game offensively. I don't know if I've said it here, but I suspected the only way that Counsell would stop seeing playing time was with him peforming badly in a loss or two. For some reason, I couldn't envision the Brewers losing with Sheets pitching a quality start and Counsell getting on base 3 times.

I have no problem with Cameron coming back next year, but definitely not for the $10M option. How about $5.5M? However, even this hinges on whether the Brewers seriously pursue CC or Sheets. If they do sign one, I'm not sure they can afford a half-priced Cameron. That's a risk the Brewers will have to judge. They can decline his option and then try to negotiate a lower deal, but then there is a chance that some other team will offer him more. Cameron was probably only available because of the suspension. He may be in more demand this offseason. They will have to do some intensive research to try and judge the market for CF this offseason. Otherwise CF next year may be some combination of Kapler, Nix and Gwynn. That would be cheap, but not likely to provide much production. I agree on the 2nd point as well. Based on the numbers I ran in the FA 2009 thread, I figure that the Brewers could probably afford one of Sheets/CC and be done (whether they take what is offered is a different story), or pick up Cameron and then have money for a mid level starter or a reliever or two.

I'd still like to see the leagues and divisions evened out. There's three ways to make this happen. Do it, but then you need to have an interleague game everyday. Interleague is a fun distraction during the middle of the season, but there would be some adamant opposition to having interleague games in the final deciding games of September. Expansion: This is possible, but probably won't happen for years. Contraction: Not going to happen.

Is it that hard to want good reporting and smart baseball discussion without condescension? That's my problem with TH, but honestly I'm not really as bothered as it might seem. It's just been a pet peeve of mine for some time. No, it's not hard at all to want that. The issue is that your idea of good reporting and smart baseball discussion is an ideal that is hard to provide when one person is trying to write to a very large audience. If there was a question on what an ideal game article would be, there would be quite a few different answers. Some would only want the most basic facts. Some would want the story of the game, but would like a little flavor added to a dry story. Some would want lots of quotes, because they like to read about the people that are on the team. Some might want an in-depth discussion of decisions made during the game, alternatives that were available, what the LI was, what the WPA was, etc. There is no way that one writer can satisfy all those desires. This is really the only Brewer site that I read. I see that another site links to fangraphs and boxscores after the game, but doesn't really write a game recap. Is there a Brewer Blogger that does any kind of game recap with their own analysis, with some of the things I discussed earlier? If there was enough of a market for it, surely some devoted fan could take the time to do it, and see what the response would be. Heck, if I was a student that wanted to be a sportswriter, that is exactly what I would do, and see if I could become Aaron Gleeman 2.0

You're comparing WI's major paper with the NY Post? The Post is way more tabloidish. You could use the Daily News, and again Feisand isn't as good as Kepner, but still yards ahead of TH. To me it isn't about readership, it's about being a good reporter who can communicate professionally with fans. Please point out where I compared the JS with the Post. I contrasted the readership of the Times with the readership of the Post. Do you really think that a writer doesn't tailor their style to their readership, or that a paper doesn't find writers that are capable of doing so? Do you think Kepner would write exactly the same way if he was writing for the Post? Here's an example that won't apply very well, but it's the first thing that comes to mind: when the Packers invoked "Crossing the Rubicon" to discuss the Favre discussions, some local talk radio had some fun with Rubic's Cubes and Horicon, etc etc. The hosts could have looked up the reference and discussed if it was relevant, but it was made fun of, because most of the audience was unfamiliar with the meaning, and it's easier to make of something than to learn about it. The hosts played to their audience, just as a writer should.

I agree that Tyler Kepner is very good at what he does, but I think that he represents what is possible when you have a niche audience. He isn't writing for the average fan, he's writing for the Times, so his audience is different than one that buys the Post.

He could probably play there if he was given enough practice. I don't think it's a good idea to throw him out there cold. Durham has played 15567 defensive innings in the majors. All but one has been spent at 2B, and he only played 2B in the minors. If there was a weird situation where both Hall and Counsell were injured in the game tonight, Durham would probably be the best option to play there, but I think Yost is happy right now with his CounsHall platoon.

I have decided it is time for me to start my first threat. I was intrigued to see where this was heading! Seriously, I am in favor of most choices that Selig has made. Playing chicken with the MLBPA and losing a WS over it didn't seem to accomplish much (anything?), and I think that alone has made him a villian to many fans. Other that than, speaking for Mrs. Lincoln, I enjoyed the play. The WC seems to have kept more markets interested in the baseball season for a longer period of time, which has increased attendance, which has increased revenue, which has made everybody in baseball richer (well, the owners and players anyway).

I'm not going to dig thru his blog, but I believe he said something like "Now I don't know if it's just Darren Ford going to the A's." Anyone that knows a bit about the minor leauge players should be able to figure out that Darren Ford wouldn't be enough to get any useful player, let alone Huston Street. I thought that if that was the only name he had heard, it probably means Ford was the centerpiece, which was half-right in the actual deal. Here is a link to the blog: http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/archive/2008/07.aspx?PageIndex=3 Now the title of "Did Brewers trade Ford for Street?" could certainly be confusing, but the actual blog only says that Ford may have been involved in a trade for Street. It certainly never uses the word centerpiece, and it doesn't even hint at it. TH just heard that Ford may have been involved and hadn't heard any other names yet. Anyone who thinks that TH hints that said that Ford was the main player in a deal for Street didn't read that correctly. In a later post, TH even writes "If Class A Brevard County centerfielder Darren Ford is the only player involved, it would be a minor deal for either a bench player (Ray Durham?) or a relief pitcher (Jack Taschner?)." He is clearly saying that Ford alone wouldn't bring much in return. I don't think Tom is seeing any additional money from the extra hits his blog receives from the controversy though, making his comments even more unneccessary. No, I don't think that Tom is given a bonus for extra hits his blog receives. But he may have been told that driving traffic to his blog is an expectation of his employment and he figures this is an easy way to make it happen. Again, if JS management thought his actions were improper, I don't see him continuing to act in this manner. Edit to respond to a later post: Why does Haudricourt continue to interject their personal opinion into game recaps, which should be nothing but the facts? How is this an acceptable form of journalism? TH isn't writing for academia and a higher goal of journalism. He is writing for a business. Some people prefer a little bit of spice in their morning. Cold facts are boring to some. They want to be entertained. TH needs to provide news, but he also needs to be compelling. But I don't want him gone as much as I want a better product. Your idea of a better product may not be shared by enough people to make that feasible. If enough people cancelled their subscription to the JS and cited TH's writing as a reason, I don't doubt that things would change.

Why should we have to settle for his mediocre content and shameful conduct? You don't have to settle for it. If you don't think he is useful to you, than you should stop reading him. The problem is that TH serves many audiences, and there is no way that he can be the perfect combination of reporter, critic and blogger for everybody. If TH provides some benefit to you more than other resources, it is best to take what you want from him and go elsewhere for the stuff he doesn't provide. It is unrealistic to think that he will be the perfect source that matches your tastes.

I think that is one of the reasons FSN hired her. Craig Coshun seems like a nice guy and does ok as a host, but interviewing is not a strength of his. It is possible that some players may be more willing to speak to Trenni because she is easy on the eyes and fun to talk to, but she asks decent questions. I believe she is an asset to Brewers broadcasts. The comfort level that players have with her provide better answers and give me a little more insight into the players than I would normally have, and I enjoy that.

It was reported that he would sign for the minimum and that even the money he does make would be donated back to a local charity that would bring kids to games (IIRC). At this point, he could be a better overall option than what Hart has been providing lately, but I don't think the team wants to bring Bonds into this clubhouse.

Do you really think that TH doesn't know that signs are a part of baseball? I don't think it's common for coaches to tell a player to bunt if the goal is not to advance a runner. I think the point is that if you aren't getting on base doing whatever it is that you are doing and if you have the speed that Weeks has, there will be occasions where the chance of reaching via bunt will be higher. And if the opposing team has to defend against the chance of you bunting, your chance of getting on base by a regular hit increases. Of course, by this point, that really shouldn't be the focus. Weeks has had success lately and the pop he does have is more valuable than the occasional bunt that may or may not work.

Given how good Cameron has done, he might well be back in '09. That was the speculation from TH on the D-List this morning. With Gwynn not showing that he is ready, the younger OF probably not quite ready for prime time and less than attractive talent available via FA, Cameron's option might be the best decision the Brewers can make.

But for the most part, the man just doesn't really understand the game (BA, HR, RBI), TH is speaking to an audience that understands triple crown stats, so he speaks to him in those terms. Now you can certainly hope that his job is to educate as well as inform, but there's a decent percentage of people that don't want to learn. Turning them away in the hopes of noble education doesn't make the JS money, which is their primary goal. or even have basic knowledge of the minor league affiliates (Yeah, Darren Ford is the centerpiece of a Huston Street trade ). Can you point to a single sentence where TH said that Darren Ford was the centerpiece of a trade? I don't think you can. He reported that he heard from his sources that Ford would be included in a trade, and then did some guesswork that turned out to be wrong. Again, the JS wants him to provide content to his blog, and it isn't intended to be news only. And now he's picking fights with a reader that disagrees with him? What a fool. How is that foolish? Look at how many comments are attached to that posting. Controversy drives traffic, which is the goal of his blog.

I don't think there is a chance that TH is doing this without knowledge of his superiors. They probably don't figure that there is much crossover between the people that read his stuff in the paper and the people that read his blogs and even another separation from people that will read the comments in his blogs. The JS wants traffic to its site, and one way to do that is engage its readership, even if it means insulting him. I mean, it's the Internet, that's expected. They probably figure that TH's behavior will turn off some people, but it isn't outweighed by the extra traffic they figure they are getting from logging on and seeing who TH is going to insult today. They are also probably figuring out that most of the people that are turned off won't be so stringent in their outrage that they won't check out TH's blog for any breaking news, trade rumors, etc. Sure, TH is a favorite punching bag around here, but there were plenty of people here checking JSOnline's page during the weekend of the CC trade waiting for TH's latest update. Nobody covered that better than him.

I thought that Gallardo being on the DL qualified him as being on the roster and eligible for the playoffs. It's theoretically possible that Gallardo could build up arm strength to go 5 IP or a little longer, but that probably wouldn't happen until the middle of September at the very earliest. There just wouldn't be many opportunities to give him to start games. IMO, the best option is to let him rehab at a comfortable pace. If he can join the team as a reliever with a couple of weeks to get into games and be an option as a reliever in October, that would just be great. I don't even think he needs live games to get ready. He can throw bullpen sessions to stretch out his arm and they can simulate games as teams sometimes do to get pitchers ready before rejoining the bigs.

Thanks for that excerpt in 21. It's interesting to compare her to a beat guy like Drew Olson. He followed the bad Brewers for so long and hung out with the no cheering in the press box writers that his fandom of the Brewers was pretty much stripped away. Trenni is obviously reporting on the team, but she is also promoting the team, so her objectives and approach are much different.

I think you're right on this. I guess I've heard enough times that "it doesn't matter and won't make a difference" that I thought the time didn't apply at all. If you plan on calling up a player to start the season in 2009 and expect them to be in the majors for the next 6 years, bringing them up in September won't matter at all. If you plan on doing the Rays-Longoria thing (or what some people claim the Brewers did with Braun) and bring them up 2 months into the season to avoid Super-2 status, then it would have an impact. what is needed is some form of 'official rules' type of article or link. I don't know why MLB isn't more fan-friendly when it comes to access to transactions rules. In general they're tough to locate. Cot's has the best transaction glossary that I've seen: http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2003/01/transactions-glossary.html It includes a link to the current CBA, for anyone who wants direct access to the info, but I think Cot's has a good summary of what most people would want to know.