pete

What makes you think it happened?

My opinion, mixing in bunts for hits good especially for Gomez. Segura seems to get enough nubbers and swinging bunts to largely fill his quota for me. Sac bunting at the top of the order like that, usually bad. I think even the standard of having pitchers always sac bunt with less than 2 outs is bad when you have guys like Gallardo on your team. Have them swing now and then. With the new contract in hand, i'd guess there will be more bunts by the team than last season. I don't expect the contact play to be used less either. Maybe there should be an alternative thread of prop style bets like how many times will Schroeder say Get 'em on, get 'em over, get 'em in! Hey quick tangent if its ok, does the MLB AtBat app radio broadcast sync up with the Fox broadcast? i'd like to get more Uecker while I still can and the time separation with broadcast radio is too jarring for me.

Did this happen? It sounds like the way history is written.

I think its crazy to dump Juan and not at least keep him on the bench. But setting that aside, the way it was handled just adds taint to Roenicke and Melvin, at least for me. They asked him to make changes and he did. They talked about how he was working hard and had made progress and then when they dump him, they trash him. The talk about defensive is hyperbolic. I realize they can't say they want these guys because its a chance to get some old guys and some relief from all the young players, but come up with different spin. I'd guess part of it is also because they talked about a competition and it pretty obvious there never was any. Reynolds especially was never in question outside of injury. It sure seems like the inevitable process of needing to be dishonest because of earlier dishonesty. It's also a regression especially from Melvin. He's gotten hugely better at accepting the reality that he can't compete with a team the way he wants - some big FAs, grizzled veterans and young superstars. He's the guy who said he didn't believe in having young players on the bench. He's the guy who said that a team with young players couldn't compete in the playoffs much less make the playoffs. After i post this I'll probably remember a half dozen more things like that he's said over the years. Now Melvin says all the right things. I take that as there being people in the org who are realistic and understanding of where the team and the business of the league are and Melvin grudgingly accepting it. Of course his actions don't always match. If you spliced every statement he made prior to the signings of Lohse and Garza and listened to them, you'd think there was little to no chance they would become Brewers. The old Melvin or perhaps what he is and can't change is someone who believes that good teams, successful teams, buy players at the trade deadline. Based on Attanasio's comments when he was being interviewed about the budget, they've allocated money for the trade deadline and reviewed prospects to trade. The team's "surplus inventory" as Melvin refers to them is largely outfielders. I can see him trying to get Crusty Methusalah for Kentrail Davis or D'vo Richardson, but the other team will hang on and get someone like Tyrone Taylor and maybe some pitching prospect who is underperforming. If Crusty has a WS ring it'll be mentioned in every statement along with descriptors like "he knows how to win" or "he knows what it takes" by the FO, the coaching staff, Bill Schroeder and the soft, cuddly media that covers the team. I'd take Melvin over a whole lot of other GMs and I'd take Roenicke over a whole lot of other managers, but I've gotten to the point where I rarely can watch or listen to interviews because its just PR and often not honest PR.

Don't believe the spin about defense. Neither Overbay nor Reynolds are anything special. Seriously, all I've ever heard from Roenicke about defense is the equivalent of "oh well" and we'll do some drills.

JB12, I don't disagree with anything you said, but I wonder if Melvin is just playing poker with Weeks and when he is moved, they plan to bring up Gindl. I'd also add that using Gennett as a PH late in games is a bad idea, at least at this stage of his career and considering all the melodrama over the position. I don't want to revive the debate, but as context I'd consider myself as someone who can't stand Weeks and I think that if they're going to regularly use him and consider him the "starter" as Schroeder refers to him, they should have stuck Gennett in AAA. Thornburg might not be so good as a reliever either. Both moves seems like clumsy ways of avoiding ill feelings by players who would normally feel that they had earned a promotion.

When Roenicke says he is or isn't considering ST stats it likely has nothing to do with the decision making process. He's providing an answer to satisfy the media. One consideration he cited was Overbay's "history." I don't have to go recheck the rules of the forum to know that the language I would use to describe that isn't allowed. The decision to keep him was likely largely made when Melvin called to say he had signed him. If he has 3 singles in his first 50 at bats and plays passable defense, Melvin will call the stat department into action and have some twist on the numbers that show how much better off the team is.

I know any sports team has a huge pool of fans and there are always a wide variety of opinions, but its weird to see the people on twitter that are excited about Overbay. I was reading one about how he doesn't strike out as he struck out. A notable one was Andy Tarnoff who runs OnMilwaukee.

Melvin depresses me. No wonder Roenicke looks so happy during the game. He gets old guys.

Hey JB12, if you want an old bromide, how about Schroeder's argument that Rickie can't lose the starting job due to injury? I don't think he comes up with that kind of stuff on his own. As grating as I personally find him, he seems like a good source to get a read on management. I hope the whole situation is just GM poker and Weeks is moved, but I don't think you can understate how much Melvin loves Weeks.

Here's a McCalvy tweet: #Brewers' decisions at first base should be clear today or tomorrow, Melvin said. What more could add clarity? Schroeder said look for a trade when the situation was discussed. No team is going to trade for Overbay or Reynolds. I don't think there was ever a competition for 1st. All there was, was an escape method in case someone was injured. Personally I think the stat guys will be challenged in finding a way for Melvin to spin this as positive by the time the team is 6 weeks or so into the season.

Hart isn't exactly succeeding at staying healthy and on the field. What will he cost if he is really cheap, 5 million or so? I don't have a lot of faith in him outperforming what you would have gotten from Gamel and not much of him staying healthy. Once he's signed though, they'll keep him regardless. If Gamel had a good Spring, and sputtered for a month and half or so they could just cut him especially if Morris or whoever is doing well.

Interesting to see someone other than the Sweetspot blog guy say they're something other than a doormat. But Scott Miller is a guy who ran what i would call a slime piece, basically calling Braun an obvious liar. He tainted his reputation as a journalist with by being brazen and defiant. Sorry, that's the best I can say about him as a human being because if I use the language that is appropriate and accurate, it would be deleted and you and other mods would boot me or at least send me a "hey buddy" message.

Does he like it here? Not the Pfister! I think my track record has been pretty much anti-Melvin and its hard to figure out how to criticize him for not selling high. It always works in hindsight. Fielder was shopped unsuccessfully. Hardy was shopped and IIRC he said all he got back were offers of a 5th starter - blah. Maybe he's not a great salesman - I dunno. Other than Andrew Friedman is there a GM who will sell contributing players in a season where there is a reasonable chance of contention? OBP - I find his humongous hacktastic swinging strike Ks painful too. But lets say he's a .300 OBP for his contract and he has a chance to be better. League OBP is .318. I don't want to figure it out, but what is that a single every 10 days or so? (sorry for being lazy) The BP report should be attributed to an author. Is it Goldstein? I like him, his podcast was mucho entertaining and he seems like an all around good guy. But he also thought Mike Fiers might have a chance to be a middle reliever and Maldonado was not a major league player - et cetera. BP also wrote one of the most glowing accounts of CG's tools early in his prospect days.

I guess it depends on how you define fluke, but i don't think his MLB performance was random, but I wonder if he's feeling pressure. Maybe he's got some Manny Parra in him. Do the Brewers need a hypnotist on retainer? Speaking of Manny, I keep hearing how stacked and deep the Reds are. Izturis is having a good Spring and might be the BU SS. Chapman had some odd quotes about preferring relieving. I wonder if he moves to the pen and they need a 6th starter if Cingrani gets the call.

In the comments for the list, I thought it was interesting that Sickels referred to peer pressure regarding the list. He also "loves" or dislikes players and that seems to stick to them to a degree. I know Keith Law gets me going sometimes and I get the impression that sometimes he's just being contrarian but its nice to see someone step outside of the consensus.

Hey, that's the "cheetah" taking second! Just kidding. Does Jason Rogers start in AA? It'll be interesting to see how his numbers change after he leaves the BC ballpark (and league).

I'll be surprised if Sale makes it through this season healthy.

I think he's great. I'm not sure how to express it well, but one thing he does is take some of the edge off of Bill. A lot of times he will subtly put in a counter argument. Where Bill will want to rant for a while, he just puts it out there and lets it go. He also keeps things light or maybe positive is the way to say it. I really became aware of it when BA did some other game and it was Bill and Coshun. I like Craig all right, but they came off like a couple cranky old guys. I also think its interesting that he doesn't have a signature HR call, yet its still spontaneous and exciting.

ESPN also reported that Braun's name appeared in notes that might have been written by Bosch and that on another list with no link to PEDs or proof of its origin for that matter reported that someone in the know says there was no reason to be on that list other than being a purchaser of PEDs. That's just a massive fail ethically. These are the same guys who think that a medical degree makes you an expert on chemistry.

I always welcome correction if I'm wrong. And without digging through all the stuff on my hard drive, I can't post links. I'm relatively certain that there is unannounced off-season testing. More importantly, I don't believe its necessary to fail a test to be suspended. The whole biogenesis thing was churning away and has gone silent. That would fit with either no more evidence being found or suspensions filed and appeals ongoing. Its worth noting that there was a reference to a computer printout that oddly was cited as evidence that Gio G. was innocent. I don't think there is any question that Rob Manfred wants to bring down Braun. Given what Selig said to Phil Rogers, that he believed that Braun used steroids during the playoff game to "amp up" and the Olympic testing labs history of zealotry I am personally worried not so much that he's guilty but that its irrelevant. I think there is a business opportunity for a 3rd party lab to collect daily urine samples of athletes and store them at the -80 centigrade that i believe is the lab standard.

ZG making me nervous with all that stretching.

Reds leading the Yanks and CC in the 8th... I'm surprised. And he's used Marshall - I wonder if Chapman is going to close.

Weeks isn't even fully healthy. I'd rather see more of Maysonet than Izturis.

I like BA. Rock's value is getting the company line, but other than that... let me think... well, in case I forget that sinkerballers need to be tired...