JoeDirt

Everything has changed since he has left.

I don't think it's time to panic. Look on the bright side, we do have a GM with a pretty good track record and a new owner who is willing to back the team. Not everything is bad but lately it's been seeming to be one bad thing or the other. Namely the pitching has been weaker than hoped but what could we honestly expect with the guys they had it all pinned on. I looked the World Series winners since the Wild Card was entered into play and the team with the highest team ERA to ever win it was the 2000 New York Yankees at 4.76. They won 87 games during the regular season. That team also hit 205 bombs and batted .277 as a team. Right now the crew are hitting .255 with 96 hr's in 83 games (on pace for 187). Their pitching staff's ERA is 4.48, which isn't terrible but is not very good. In 2008 the Brewers hit .253 and swatted 198 HR. Their staff ERA was 3.87. I am troubled that we haven't re-signed Prince yet. I really will hate to see him go off and become just a DH. I think he would stay here if we put the money on the table. I was thinking we could start up collections at the games, every dollar a fan donates Attanasio donates 2 or something. Don't just brush off trading Prince just like every other big name that's ever left Milwaukee. We have to make a stand and keep Braun and Fielder together. If we have those two guys to build around the pitching will come through the organization. Probably not this year but at least you know that it won't be the last time Fielder and Braun would play together on the crew. Hardy and Hart will be up and down this year. It's okay I don't think we should give up on these guys yet. We should figure out what to do with Gamel. Start him or send him down to play. I think we shouldn't have traded TG2 and we would have had our leadoff/4th outfielder type. I feel like the business side is coming out more now because the once fun-loving clubhouse is now made out to be like they are in utter chaos. We've seen some Power 50 casualties like Brad Nelson and TG2. I bet Escobar is amazing but Hardy is still the guy for me. He's young (26) and already has put up 20+ HR in a MLB season 2 times. Also I like the way he plays the game, isn't flashy but gets the job done and has a strong arm as well. If anything try to move Hardy to 2nd base but I think that would anger him. I don't know about Hart. He seems like he is still a good enough athlete and young enough to be worth a shot at keeping. He's a potential 20/20 guy... not bad for a 12th round pick. Then we get to the staff. Short on starters. When you have a 23 year old kid and a lefty with no long track record of success in the bigs (Parra) pinned as your hopes to make a run at the Division I think those goals are unrealistic. I think they can do it but they will need a lot of help. I don't see a bullpen with a Smith and Naverson or a rotation with McClung or Burns getting us into the post season again. Our offense will carry us at times but in the end it's going to come down to those big games where we'll need to shut them down on. Tonight was a perfect example of how Wainwright just outpitched our best pitcher and our offense couldn't bail us out. Mike Cameron getting hit by the ball in play from Kendall really ticked me off. I think he's a good enough athlete and that ball was not hit that hard for him to not be able to get out of the way. I think Macha needs to get with it. I mean he needs to realize how we did it last year and in the past when Ned Yost was by bringing those guys along as a group. I mean Hardy-Hart-Fielder-Braun and Weeks. Playing together in Beloit and Huntsville for those years really was a special thing. They won league titles on the rise. So keep em together and keep em happy. Now with the way that Gamel is being handeled it feels like it's more of a crapshoot out there with the younger guys. I don't think that they should be a shoo in but they have earned the playing time by performing in the past. We need to keep bringing along people when they are ready and let them compete for the spots and hopefully Macha and Melvin have a good plan in mind. All and all it's fun to watch the Crew in a pennant race. We probably won't land another CC but it wouldn't hurt to do something that wouldn't empty out our minors. Luckily the all-star break is coming up and they will have plenty of time to think about it. We just have to think WWJD (Jack Z).

20-21, 4.20 ERA, 274.1 IP, 216 H, 176 BB, 317 SO in 64 Games, 53 Starts. 10.4 Strikeouts per 9 Innings in his minor league career. Why does his era have to be 4.20? That's a bad omen.

Although I have my strong doubts that this list is real I think that Rich Aurilia is a name that jumped out at me. I always in the back of my mind suspected him because of his MONSTER 2001 when he hit 37 bombs. His previous career high was 22. He was also a teammate of Barry Bonds and when the rumors came out about him I immidiately made the link. He also had a sharp decline in power over the next 4 years with totals of 15, 13, 6 and 14. I have my suspicions about Albert Pujols, hate to say it.

Well, it happened... Gwynn is no longer hitting over .300. Now is the time to see what he is really made of. I got faith that he'll prove that he can contribute and do a lot of little things to stay in the big leagues for a long time. Striking while the iron is cold. Also Jody Gerut? He hasn't seen any playing time. I saw him in Cleveland and it seemed like he had one good year but then what else did he do? In 2003 he hit .279-22-75. Last year he hit a career high .296 for the Padres. It looks like he has some speed to offer in the low minors but that part of his game has withered a bit. He's 31 years old and has no role on the team. I hope they can figure out what to do with him because otherwise he's wasting a roster spot. Don't him and Catalanotto have the exact same role?

If he were in the Japanese League he'd be loved for his small-ball approach. 2-time defending WBC Champ. Japan. Sorry to see him go... as for the ego thing and being passed by so many other blue chippers I'm sure it had somewhat of an effect for him. Lets face it, what the Brewers did in the draft in the Early 2000's with Jack Z was pretty remarkable. We'll still see guys showing up in the big leagues years from now that were his picks. Gwynn wasn't pushed to the forefront of the guys but he didn't need to be. Making it to the majors at 24 or 25 whatever he was and spending a few years going up and down has happened a lot before. I don't know why they felt that Jody Gerut was the GUY? In closing I'll just say that there are certain guys who have the tendency to be in the right place at the right time (i.e. Craig Counsell-scoring the winning run in the World Series twice), and I truly believe Gwynn is one of those guys.

Yes indeed... however if Gwynn hits over .280... in my humble OPINION that qualifys him for playing for the Brewers and I reserve the right to be disappointed that they let him go.

Yeah, it's true... he probably won't keep it up... but I just wanted to comment while the iron was hot.

BTW totally off topic but am I the only one who thinks Bruce Seid sounds a little like Bill Murray on Caddyshack? Cinderella Story...

Heckathorn looks like a pitching machine. If he doesn't have any deception I bet that can account for the stats. A pitching machine that dials up to 97 but still I would love to hit off that guy. He cocks it back by his ear like a catcher and just chucks it. Looks straight too. Hopefully I'm wrong.

trwi7 wrote: Hitting .330 would be an amazing accomplishment since he's never done it and it would be higher than his OBP in AAA last year. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ After game on June 11th Gwynns stats with San Diego are.... .345-0-2... 2 sb-4 att... .441 OBP....889 OPS Not nearly as bad as you would be lead to believe on this website BY SOME. Quite good if I don't say so myself. He also hit .308 this year in AAA, leading me to believe he's turned the corner in his progression and last year was just a setback.

Andrew McCutcheon, OF Pittsburgh Pirates... Jason Jaramillo, C Pittsburgh Pirates (mostly just because he is from Racine, WI)... Nick Stavinoa, OF St. Louis is alright... if we're talking about blue chippers then I think it's pretty thin right now but I'm sure the next wave will hit some time in the next half year to year.

Surprised to see Jason Hooper on there and no Aaron Dott. Dott didn't have a spectacular season at Whitewater but he's big, left-handed and he's had a lot of success in the Northwoods League over the past few years. Hooper has good raw stuff but he is very unpolished. His curve is nasty but he has trouble locating it. He usually sits in the 86-91 range but the problem is he is always fluctuating so much that you must think it has to be something mechanically. Wondering about Carthage RHP Jordan Jahne-Llanas. He has good size and heard that he was hitting 91 mph towards the end of the season vs. UW-Whitewater when he eliminated them on 1 day rest. He's a 2006 Kenosha Bradford High School grad, who transferred to Carthage after 2 years at Wabash Valley CC.

An update on Lenski... he ended the year hitting .406. He has a tryout this weekend with an Independent League Team in Gary, Indiana. Best of luck!

Jason Berken got the win in his pro debut vs. the Blue Jays. In responding to the previous person about Kevin Tomasiewicz from UW-Whitewater, he started the 2008 year in high A and got released. He had played in AA in 2007 but only for 14 innings. He was picked up in the Independent Leagues with a team in Fargo-Moorhead and got traded to the team in Gary, Indiana. He then called it quits after seeing how it was in Gary.