knowitall

Yes - I think the Brewers pocket too much money - just blogged about it. $80 million is way too low for this year again.

Walks are just a stat - but they do show that a player has patience at the plate and is probably getting his pitch to hit. Low walk totals usually show impatience at the plate or a mechanical flaw by the hitter such as head or body movement, which usually means not seeing the ball as well and swinging at pitcher's pitches. Some players should take more walks because they are not great hitters and need to get on base. Other players need to be more aggressive because they are run producers with higher averages and slugging. As Harold Reynolds states, the situation should dictate a players approach.

I've always said that they should put monster blinds or something up there. The sun just blares in on the field and its annoying as heck. Very poor design.

Who might be drafted out of HS this year or college in the state of Wisconsin? Sounds like Kevin James from Whitefish Bay is coming out of nowhere to impress the scouts and might be a top five round pick. What about his teammate Charlie Markson, who is ranked high by PG. Any others on the short list?

1. 3 proven left handed bats? Why? How do you go about acquiring those bats. Too much is made of handedness... get the best bats available... plus there's some intriguing LH bats on the way up through the minors. 5. Cameron? Seriously? I'm surprised Ennder, TLB, or someone who fought this battle all winter hasn't chimed in yet... I can tolerate objective opinions, but there's no way he's below average. Hart's below average based on Aug and Sept last year? He was an all-star... not that it means anything but he's played at a high level in the past. Kendall is subpar offensively, but he has value, and I'm not going to argue defense and intangibles every day so I'll just say I disagree. To your final paragraph, how are the Brewers ever going to compete for the top FAs? You honestly expected them to shell out the money Teixeira and Sabathia got? How would they even attempt to make the payroll? Milwaukee is the smallest market in baseball, the community isn't big enough to generate a payroll much beyond where the Brewers are currently at, and the economy is in the tank. We are the smallest market, but have a mid market payroll... that's not something to be ashamed of, it's something to celebrate. The community has done very well supporting the team. I have a hard time telling people what they should believe, but I honestly have no idea how the team would adequately meet your expectations given their financial limitations. I'm not expecting them to sign CC and the other big boys - no small market teams do that - but the Crew needed one solid 1 or 2 starter and a couple more left handed bats this year and failed to deliver. You simply cannot have that many righties in the lineup -that's just common sense. There is a real statistical improvement in run production left vs. right and vice versa that cannot be ignored. To me its unfathomable the lack of balance, and I really don't see how the importance of that is even debatable with 2/3 of starters being righties. They went into the season unprepared again, and its no different than the last 20 years. I'm just pointing out the facts and not being an excuse maker for them about market size. They've sold enough tickets this and last year to make changes, and if they haven't pulled the trigger on improving their roster by now through free agency or trades, they'll never do it. That's too bad for the fans, who have had the wool pulled over their eyes again, but we seem to be satisfied with this. I know they are trying to improve through the draft, but the fact that they have only produced one decent left handed bat in their farm system (Fielder) since Jack Z and then are satisfied with the roster this year, shows a lack of understanding of the offensive game by the entire organization.

I know its a day late, and I hate to be negative, but I want to go on the record and predict a much worse season than last year. My guess is they will win about 70 games, and believe last year was somewhat of a fluke related to a horrible division and a miraculous performance by CC. This is still a team with a number glaring weaknesses: 1. Absolutely no balance in the lineup missing at least three decent left handed bats - a must in the big leagues. 2. No proven starting 1 or 2 pitcher, less CC, but some possibilities with younger pitchers and Looper. 3. A shaky bullpen to say the least without a closer. 4. An offensive team that strikes out way too much with a softball team swing for the fences approach, making one bad out after another with no end in sight. 5. Five sub-par regular starters such as Weeks, Cameron, Hall, Kendall, and Hart. Yes, I love the Brewers, but hate that for the 30th straight year or so we picked up no top name free agents, especially after a profitable year and great 2009 ticket sales, in a free agent friendly environment for ball clubs. If ever there was a year to load up, this was it. We have been duked again in the off season, and the smoke and mirrors continues in Brew City. Sorry for the bad news. GO CREW though! - if you believe me.

I was at the grand opening of the new Hitters Baseball Academy on Friday night. This place is unbelievable. I would best this is one of the largest indoor baseball facilities in the Midwest with weight room, hitting, fielding, pitching, etc.. I hope it does well, but it should because the Brewers strength and conditioning guy has an office there.

I fear: 1. Having Weeks, Cameron, and Hall as regular starters again - but maybe we'll deal Cameron at least for the switch hitting CF from the Yanks 2. Having no left handed hitting other than Prince in the lineup - inexcusable last year. 3. Paying for a second tier FA pitcher and passing him off as our "new No. 2 starter" 4. The same smoke and mirrors pitch we've gotten for the last 35 years resulting in not signing one top notch FA

I think 100M is a lowball offer, not because it isn't a ton of money, but because it won't get him signed. CC will get more in a few days by at least two or three teams. I think the Brewers make token offers to simply appease the fan base so they can "wash their hands" and say they tried. It's more political than anything. Lets face it, the Brewers have not signed a top free agent in his prime - maybe ever. I don't know why we would expect that to change. We have done a few nice contract extensions, but not much with free agents. We just can't - or won't - not to go negative on them, because that can be said for tons of small market teams. We have to build from within and supplement with F/A role players. I would love to re-sign him, but we are what we are, and history usually repeats itself.

I'm not sure where you are getting this from, but it is not accurate at all. The infield gets stepped on a lot. Especially the real problem areas, like between the mound and the plate will get walked on after every single pitch as the pitcher goes to receive the throw from the catcher. You have a right to your opinion, but if you think that 15-20 games is going to hurt the infield, I just wonder why the infield always looks so good when MLB clubs abuse it in BP way more than a couple of college teams would. I think you're wrong about that every single pitch stepping on the grass as well. That just doesn't happen. If that happened, the infield would look terrible, and it doesn't. Also, if the walkway from the mound to home is such a big issue with teams now, why aren't they making it a dirt strip like some ballparks do? It seems to me that people would just as soon keep UW-M off the field moreso because they don't think that program is worthy of mighty Miller Park rather than trying to promote D1 baseball in this state. These are the same excuses that the Brewers use, and they just don't stand to reason. But they certainly don't mind charging two high school teams $16,000 to play a game, then all of a sudden wear and tear is no longer an issue - hmmm. . . You could have a diamond in the rough develop with that program if it could get Miller Park as its home field and get pretty decent entertainment for a reasonable price as well in a good environment. Its not like its some rinky dink DIII team in the NAC, this is actually D1 baseball, and the Brewers have drafted some of their kids in the past. I think it would be pretty cool to finally get a legitimate power conference D1 program thats not too far away come to Milwaukee and play a game during the midweek for a change - maybe like Missouri, Creighton, Louisville, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan - because those kinds of teams have never played here before. I play golf courses that get a steady stream of golfers walking up and down the fairways all day. The courses are kept in great shape and there is a ton more of land to take care of than what you have on a baseball field. I can't believe it would cost that much money to add a little extra care to the field after some college games and/or season ticket "play catch" promotions. Oh yes - tons of money, about 10k per game for all of that extra infield raking, grass mowing, and batters box liminghttp://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/eyes.gif.

On the Brewers, I believe the hitting coach was important and could have really helped last year. There were a number of regular players - Weeks, Hall, Cameron, and Hart - all of whom were pulling off the ball and it seemed like they just kept getting worse. It killed the Brewers at times, but mostly in September and the playoffs. There are tricks to staying on the ball with your set up, hand position, and balance that I don't think were properly taught to these guys. I don't completely blame the hitting coach because you have to make adjustments as a hitter when you fail and experiment with things, but I truly believe a good hitting coach can have an impact and think he failed last year. In regards to understanding situational hitting, it was simply non-existent throughout the entire season and I think that was fairly obvious. I don't care if your a home run team or not, you can't just go up there like its a softball game, which is really what happened. I agree completely that a smart baseball approach should be taught, but don't know if Sveum is the guy. I do believe that some of the best teachers are guys that struggled and had to make adjustments throughout their careers rather than "naturals". The MLB hitting instructor might be the most difficult coaching position to fill on a staff.

Did you see what Weeks did to AAA pitching? The fact you think a young player who has been slightly below average in his career should never have made the big leagues means your basis of comparison is way off. Weeks could never field at an acceptable big league level because he doesn't have the soft hands - and hitting AAA pitching should not be the only measuring stick, especially for a middle infielder. You can't tell me that he wasn't rushed to the big leagues defensively and they just hoped he would make progress like Braun and hoped he could hit. I think the jury is no longer out on this pick, but again, there wasn't much out there in 2003. As it was posted elsewhere in this thread, here's the rest of the NL Central: Cubs: 1 Cards: 0 Pirates: 2 Reds: 1 Astros: 1 So even Jack Z's 4 of 9 success rate with 1st round picks (by your standards of not including Jeffress) blow the rest of the division out of the water. I haven't looked at this info , but if its right, that IS horrible. Sounds about right by looking at it. But, what about the rest of MLB? If he is right around the benchmark at 50%, give or take, then he's pretty much and average GM. We need better than average as a small market team, but we made progress in the last eight years, that's for sure.

The cost and the wear and tear of the grass in the wet, soggy months of April & May.... The stadium is there to generate revenue... In regards to wear and tear - there is virtually none with decent grass. The infield is hardly stepped on and the outfield is a non-issue. In regards to revenue. The Brewers get all the revenue for sub-leasing, not the stadium district. There is nothing in it for the taxpayers to gouge teams for field usage. (pared back quote --1992)

I guess my question is how you can say he "missed on first round picks five of nine years". My misses are Kryzel, Jones, Rogers, Weeks, and Jeffress. I include Weeks because I don't think he would have ever made the bigs if he weren't picked so high (2 overall) and was pretty much rushed up because of it, but that whole 2003 draft was not great anyway, so maybe I'm too harsh on him there. I'm not sold on Jeffress and have my doubts that he will ever get into the rotation consistantly, in spite of the high rankings on him. I think LaPorta and Lawrie will be decent big leaguers. If I had to guess, I'd think it's quite likely that if you actually look around the league, very few teams would be able to surpass that success rate. Seriously, I would love to see something like that to see really if teams to better than that. You're probably right. I think 50% success ratio on first round picks getting to the big leagues is the benchmark.

I'll take a stab at Jack's guys: Weeks Hart Hardy Braun Fielder Gwynn Escobar Villaneuva? not sure Stetter

who do you think is better? Not what teams, but which scouting directors specifically have done a better job than Zduriencik during a similar time frame? I have no idea - I'm much better at criticizing someone when they screw up than predicting if they will do a good job or not - thats your job. LOL

I'm not trying to bury Jack Z, but I just don't see all the hype either. I'd say he was average at best - not terrible or even bad. My point is that you can't afford to miss on your first round picks five of nine years because that's where your big leaguers come from, and that's what he did. That said, scouting is HARD - no other way to say it and even the best out there miss. Finding a good replacement will not be easy, so I get your point where we don't want to go back to days where we stunk at drafting It sounds like Melvin is set on one of his cross-checkers. Knowing the importance of scouting in a small market, this decision is probably more important that having a good GM. The GM can have an impact, and Melvin has, but we will never get any impact free agents here so you have to build through the draft. Heck, we can't even keep the guys in our own uniform. The Brewers would be better off paying the best scouting director out there and keep building through the draft. Hopefully that's one of our cross-checkers already.

We just had someone just like that - Jack Z. In seven years this is what he did -Impact big leaguers: Prince and Brauner Solid big leaguers: Hardy Unproven big leaguers: Gallardo, Parra, Gwynn, Stetter Marginal big leaguers or notable busts: Hart (yes Jon Hart), [Weeks, Jones, Krynzel, Rogers, Jeffress - all rd 1] . . . . and on and on and on and on and on. Up and Coming prospects: Lawrie, LaPorta (gone), Gamel, Salome, Escobar I'm sure I missed a couple, and it wasn't completely terrible, and the Brewers have great minor leagues, but this isn't exactly the Sistine Chapel with big leaguers. His legacy may live on in what the Brewers do on the next few years, because it appears his later years might be a little better than the early. I just hope that the peak of his work isn't a team that barely made the playoffs for the first time in 25 years in a weak National League that would have been about .500 again had it not been for selling our soul with CC.

I would say 2010 at the earliest anyway becasue the 2009 schedule is out, so the field would have taken for a year already. I doubt that you will need many workers for a UWM game, hardly any in fact. Plus, there is no wear and tear to worry about anyway because nobody really is on the infield grass anyway during a game or even in warm ups or bp, just the outfield grass, which is basically just light running around.

I heard Macha kind of slip up an say something like he was in similar situation in Oakland when they "lost two pitchers", but then quickly said "might lose two pitchers". I would love CC back too, but I'm pretty sure he wants to go to a big market and the Brewers know its really just a token offer so that the fans won't turn on them. I hope I'm wrong.

What do the Brewers owe UWM? As for the grass, they typically don't take the tarps off the field until mid March. So you think they should play 15-20 games in a 25 day period?Lets put it this way - the Stadium district, which is run by a board that is supposed to be looking out for the taxpayers of the five surrounding counties in it, leases the stadium to the Brewers. The Brewers have been open to allowing high school baseball teams and UW-M use the facility for a fee. There are two issues in the past that have prevented UW-M from using it more. 1. The Brewers gouge teams big time for rental of the field - $10,000 per game is just way too much when the Metrodome only costs less than $1000 (not 100% sure on these numbers). 2. The grass was crappy and wears down, thus the complete resodding with new and improved turf this fall. Now that the grass is supposedly more durable, there is no reason anymore to keep a baseball team off of the field in spring. So the next point is having the Brewers charge a reasonable fee for usage, which to me would be about $1000 per game - cripes even $2000 a game. You only need lights, bathrooms, and some field prep and a few other things, it just can't cost that much. My point is that I think the Brewers owe a public D1 university in its same hometown the opportunity to lease the field at a reasonable price when most of the kids and families at the university helped pay for the field they are using. Its just being a good citizen I suppose and helping out one of the "baseball fraternity brothers" if you will. This happens frequently in minor league towns where the city and a college team share a publicly owned stadium, and a good example would be the Metrodome, even though the Gophers play some games on campus when the weather warms up. As far as 20 games, UW-M plays all of its February and March games on the road, but returns home for the conference schedule in April and May. They play 55 games, and at least half of them are played during April and May. Thats when they would really need the ballpark, and its already being used by the Brewers then. So I just don't see this as being a big deal and everyone wins - even the Brewers from a PR standpoint. This isn't going to hurt the field.

All points are valid, but UW-M does not play baseball to make money. For lack of a better description, collegiate athletic departments have a mission on non-revenue sports to provide them for the betterment of student athletes in the state, the student body, and the community. Every single sport other than mens basketball and football lose money from a budget perspective but thats part of the deal. I will give you that fall is off limits because of maintenance, but you could get 20 games there in spring and some practices without wearing out the field. The grass is still dormant yet until April, and by then the Brewers are on it already. I just don't buy that it is inconvenient or excessive wear and tear, but sounds like I'm the only one out there!!! The Brewers could give back a little - don't you think???

The point is that UW-M should be able to rent the field now, and pay for it from its athletic budget or booster club. Just don't see the objection because there is no "undue wear and tear" as the stadium district board calls it. Heck, the Brewers are trying to bring in extra revenue by renting the place out - why not baseball?

I know that the Brewers should come first, but I don't think its unreasonable to play 15-20 games at Miller Park seeing as though the stadium was paid for by tax payers of the stadium district. And since about 29,000 of their children attend the university, I think they deserve a decent place to watch and game. I just don't see this as being interference or causing undue wear and tear, and don't think it should be about how big the place is or how empty it might look. Its a perfect place to play up here in the north.

Here are links to an articles from JSOnline regarding the new infield grass used in the 2nd half of the season, and now the outfield will also be redone with the same type for the 2009 season. Apparently this stuff is "like a pool table" and is pretty strong. My question is will the grass be firm enough so that the field can be used by UWM? I talked to Vanden Berg very briefly a couple of years ago and he stated that they don't want UWM on the field too much because the old grass was simply not strong enough for that much use. It is an absolute shame that UWM cannot use the park in fall for workouts and in spring for practice. Also, there is more than enough open time at Miller Park in April and May for UWM to schedule home games around the Brewers schedule. As far as I'm concerned, even though the Brewers have the right to control the facility, but with the stadium tax and UWM being public, it seems like accomodations should be made by them for the best interest of the university. Hopefully the new AD at UWM will be pro baseball and try to work something out.