Brewer Fever

Article explaining a change in Wade Miley's repertoire made last year that has yielded positive results. Derek Johnson has been a proponent of this particular change (specifically a pitch) and could shed light on why there was interest on the Brewers' end... https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2018/08/16/cut-fastball-has-helped-give-brewers-wade-miley-new-life/994324002/?from=new-cookie

Thank you! A little disheartening to see the Cubs score higher. I've been under the impression that even after thinning our crop this past year that the Brewers were still well ahead of the Cubs. This, much like MadThinker88's composite rankings, will be interesting to follow going forward.

Please share your evaluations of more MLB players please. It's clear that you are a valuable resource for player evaluation. I know this because I couldn't find one ranking of Ramos in the top 10 of all MLB catchers much less the top 5. That's not to say there aren't any rankings out there with Ramos in the top 10. It's just clearly not as cut and dry as you so kindly declare for us right here. What a valuable resource you are. Anyway here's just a sample of clearly misguided rankings where Ramos isn't top 10.... https://www.mlb.com/news/buster-posey-remains-atop-2018-top-10-catchers/c-265337230 https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2757515-mlb-position-power-rankings-2018-brs-top-30-catchers#slide0 https://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles/mlb_39s_top_10_catchers_for_2018/s1_13132_25710683 https://www.lifestylesports101.com/mlb-ranking-the-top-10-catchers-heading-into-2018/ https://calltothepen.com/2018/02/02/top-10-catchers-2018-mlb-season/ They're obviously all wrong. It's as simple as you put it - Wilson Ramos is a top 5 player at his position.

I appreciate you taking the time to compile these and I'd be interested in the average rankings going forward. Please share the composite the next time you do this.

I'm 100% convinced of this. It's really, really sad.

Hammer meets nail on the head. We really never have full knowledge of anything that transpires. That's why all we can really do is add up the hits and misses of what the Brewers DO ACTUALLY DO. The minimum we can ask as fans is they be right more than they're wrong. And to take it one step further, our market size requires the "hits" to significantly outweigh the "misses". And Stearns and Co. are the first to admit that. Let's make this real simple... Who here thinks the Brewers should fire Stearns and take the chance on finding someone better? My answer is: God help you, if you think the odds of finding someone better are high enough to take that risk. And if turns out that every single member of this forum thinks Stearns is who we want making these decisions, then why the heck are there all these wasted keystrokes expecting perfection from a human being? Because that ain't ever happening. I actually believe there are some here who think the Brewers should fire Stearns and get someone else. And I'm 100% sure there will be even more if the Brewers miss the playoffs. I think those people should be bold enough to go on record.

Agreed. He just hasn't shown anything to indicate he'd be effective in the majors right now.

Ummm, the Brewers ARE contending this season. As a matter of fact, as of today, they would be in the playoffs. AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. No amount of words can change the fact that no one expected the Brewers to be a contender in 2018 when the rebuild began. No level of impatience or immaturity can now justify whining and complaining if the Brewers do ultimately miss the playoffs in 2018 when no one set the bar as such when the process began. Especially directed at the person who put the Brewers in this position ahead of schedule. If the Brewers do ultimately fall short, it will be a let-down no doubt. But those of you who would blame the guy who exceeded everyone's expectations to get the Brewers in this position need to grow the heck up. It's a repeat of the same childish behavior a handful expressed here when their favored free agent targets weren't signed this past offseason. And those people were proven very wrong. Need we re-visit the Cobb, Darvish, Chacin, Miley transaction threads, etc? If all these know-it-alls were in charge, the Brewers would not only NOT be contenders in 2018, the Brewers chances going forward would be greatly diminished.

Is Wilson Ramos better than Pina with a pitching staff? Will the Phillies realize a net gain even if Ramos bats .300 with them? Will their pitchers pitch better or worse with Ramos behind the plate? What is the calibur of the PTBNL? Do you people even ask yourselves these questions? Is there a point having this discussion with people who don't ask these questions? Is this real? What is the meaning of life? Are any of us real people or are we all just robots typing words? What was it that I ate this morning that has me so gassy?

This thread serves to expose those who in no way expected the Brewers to contend this soon, (who in the event the Brewers now miss the playoffs) will turn around and blame the man responsible for contending this soon. There are many not so kind names for people like that. I'll use a safe one - illogical. But oh, the temptation is definitely there to use much harsher terms.

What a ridiculously unintelligent conversation this has turned into. Also known as the norm. Not one person could be called wrong on this topic given the way things have unfolded. The team has actually been very open and honest on what transpired. Let's try and follow along... - Nelson suffers a shoulder tear but not from throwing a baseball giving rise to the hope that the typical recovery time might be shorter - Nelson has surgery which confirms the wear and tear normally found during the procedure was not nearly as bad as when the injury occurs from throwing a baseball. Further hope that the recovery time might be lessened - Nelson's rehab is ahead of schedule from the get-go and he begins throwing a baseball well ahead of the schedule. A 3rd point in the process where there is boosted hope of a shortened recovery window - Spring Training begins and Nelson gets stuck throwing at a distance of 150 feet. This is the first time in the recovery process where Nelson has to pump the brakes a little bit. Up until that point Nelson was on track to potentially throw off a mound by the end of ST. Nonetheless Nelson is still well ahead of schedule - Nelson is re-examined and told to stop throwing for a period of time - From that point on, Nelson progresses to throwing at further distances and eventually makes his way to the mound. By this time Nelson's recovery has fallen back in line with the typical timeline for a pitcher undergoing shoulder surgery Those first 3 points in the timeline are plenty enough for a reasonable person to conclude Nelson could be back in 2018. The last 3 points describe how Nelson hit roadblocks on his road to recovery which led to where we are today. If Nelson's shoulder doesn't start barking at 150 feet, he's probably back by now. Unless your Nostradamus, I don't recall anyone predicting Nelson would hit that roadblock. And I also don't remember anyone (even up until that first hurdle) saying Nelson could be counted on to be any more than a bonus to the pitching staff in 2018. There was reason for hope well into the season that Nelson could pitch for the Milwaukee Brewers in some capacity at some point in 2018. To claim those who held that hope were wrong and those who said "no way" were right is like claiming victory for being right about a coin flip.

Well, you've said he's no good and he's average. Which is it? I think people would gladly take average and aren't willing to write him off as "no good" like you have. Please post better.

He wasn't good in Baltimore either. Yeah, that AL player of the week award he had just won when the trade was made was definitely no reason to think he'd produce here. Nor the monster season he had last year. Nor the fact his bat was heating up after a slow start many blamed on injuries. So many people here who have all the answers. I'm in awe of the knowledge here.

It's awesome that you can see the future and knew it would be a waste to have Jeffress fresh and ready to go today. Cesspool It's awesome that the majority of your posts are just condescending remarks to other posters. Are you about to go on another one of your raging tirades again? I complimented you on your clairvoyance. Not sure what's wrong with that? Afterall, you clearly know ahead of time which games are best to use the Brewers top relievers. You should be the manager.

It's awesome that you can see the future and knew it would be a waste to have Jeffress fresh and ready to go today. Cesspool

It's almost as if the organization is higher on Peralta than Woodruff or something.

That's really neat that you have inside knowledge of their plan for this guy. Care to share?

Sticking with my call that one of deGrom, Thor, Matz, Wheeler, Bundy, Gausman, or Cashner is acquired from the Mets or O's. The upside of simply going from a team that is terrible at saving runs to the very best is just too good to ignore. 7 options to find a price that's fair enough to stomach. I imagine Stearns has the price on all 7 and we'll work to the deadline to find the deal that best matches price and upside.

This tells me two things, you don't understand the value of defense nor the concept of selling low.

Somehow while the Brewers had Arcia down in AAA and were trotting out the likes of Miller, Orf, Sogard, Perez and Saladino at 2B and SS, they maintained their firm grasp on the MLB lead in defensive runs saved. It's surely not because those guys weren't committing errors or have amazing range like Arcia has. It's all grounded in the defensive shifting and positioning program the Brewers have in place. There's no other explanation other than the Brewers simply have the best defensive advance scouting operation in baseball right now. That's what gives them the confidence to put Shaw at 2B. They'll have him lined up in the right places just like they had with that collection of mediocre middle infielders they've been trotting out there. Simply put, the Brewers aren't expecting Shaw to have amazing range at 2B. They haven't been getting that prior to this move. They're putting the onus on their own defensive advance scouting to continue to put their 2B where the ball is hit.

The goal of alternating L/R/L is what lead to Thames batting leadoff. Now with Moustaskas' left hand bat added, they can achieve the same balance without having to bat Thames at the top. Thank goodness! Thames looks much nicer in the 6 hole than the 1 spot.

I count 7 viable options from the Mets and O's who would benefit from the change in scenery as explained via defensive runs saved elsewhere here. With 7 different options at varying costs, it's hard not to imagine Stearns finding a deal he's comfortable with on one of them. The only hesitation I'd have is the fact that its the Mets and O's management we're talking about.

Combining O's and Mets starters who could dramatically benefit from throwing the exact same pitches in Milwaukee as opposed to their current locale without changing a thing other than uniform - that's 7 options for Stearns to pick the one that combines best stuff with acquisition cost. And that's without accounting for what Derek Johnson could potentially tweak with any one of them. With so many scenarios to pick from, I have to guess one of those 7 is a Brewer soon. I would imagine it would be one of them who won't require emptying the farm (cough, cough deGrom) but you never know.

It's very clear why Baltimore and NY Mets pitchers have broad appeal to the Brewers. Going into play today, The Brewers rank 1st in defensive runs saved at +85. The Orioles rank dead last at -83 and the Mets rank 28th at -70. That's a 168 run swing for O's pitchers if they had pitched with the Brewers defense behind them and a 155 run swing for Mets' pitchers. Good enough for shaving about 1.50 off any pitcher's ERA. I would guess there is varying level of interest depending on price, medicals, and scouting reports from the Brewers in Wheeler, deGrom, Matz, Syndergaard, Bundy, Gausman, and Cashner.

Adam McCalvy on Twitter... Let's do this.