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It sounded to me like he was being overly protective of his teammate. That is nothing I would look down on.

"Jeffress' agent just tweeted that he is indeed the PTBNL. " This means that we still have Mark Rodgers. I'm officially giddy.

Legitimate barfly here. I'm not sure there are things a bar should have beyond what was initially listed. This is what I see everywhere and bars that only have those things are generally afterthoughts. So it's not surprising that this is also a restaurant. If you're looking to make the place stand out as a bar it's going to need an angle. The bars that I see around town usually do this with some mix of value (rail specials and cheap PBR/Blatz/Schlitz) and premium beers either micro/import. There's also the growing trend of offering premium beers at a discount. I like a bar that has the option of a 2$ Blatz and a 4+$ German/Czech lager (or Guinness) on tap. I see a lot of micros, but rarely do I see the best one: Sprecher. In my opinion your taps should be reserved for these and leave the common stuff in the bottles (maybe one tap for Miller Lite). On the booze side I guess you go with whatever is most profitable on the rail and then mix in a few different conversation-topics with the rest of the premiums like the local distillery or an oddball liqueur. P.S. If I drink top shelf I go Absolute or Jameson. P.S.S. What I really would like to see in more bars are the pickled eggs/pigs-feet of my rural youth.

I really agree with this. Even though I know this is not a realistic goal of Boras, I find myself almost instantly free to let go of Prince now that the maneuvering has begun. The contract won't be close to 200, but it's going to be too much for the Brewers, whatever it is. I would think it has the same affect on ownership and management as well. Offer him the best the team can afford and then trade him ASAP for the pieces this team really needs to win: pitching, pitching, pitching and move on. Seriously, we should feel lucky to keep Braun for as long as we will.

That's the first thing that came to my mind. But, I will defer my skepticism until there is more information.

I think that the Brewers window is Prince Fielder. They either get some top pitching talent here this winter to make a run at the playoff's in 2010 or they they should ship him off for the mother-load. I don't think it makes a lot of sense to talk about trading Gamel for prospects that won't hit the Majors until late 2010, he's either a trading piece or Fielder's replacement. It makes me a little sick, but unless Mark A or Fielder loses their mind, the best thing the team can do is deal Fielder's two years and Hardy this winter and build around Yo, Braun, Escobar, MeGehee, Gamel, Weeks (fingers crossed) and whatever youth can be brought in.

Find someplace to research what you'd like to invest in. I like Morningstar; as I understand it they're analysts who are not also investment bankers, meaning they don't have much organized motive to give misleading advice. Personal maybe, but you shouldn't believe wholeheartedly anything (anywhere). It cost money to subscribe to such things though. Another piece of advice from me and I'm very cynical, is to look at the stock market for what it really is--(and it can be argued with-in reason to be) a giant ponzi scheme. You have to be the one who gets in low and gets out before everybody else realizes they don't want to be in it either. And frankly, I wouldn't trust myself to pick a stock now. The bottom was between November and March. I have to agree with the others (and most other market observers out there) that the prices now are over-inflated on wishful thinking (fueled as noted above by false earnings). You have bailed out banks who claim to have a billion or so in profit, but they lost 3 billion in operations, but sold a part of the company for 4-5 bil and then claim profit for the quarter. They can only sell off parts of the company for so long and with every piece sold, they have one unit less possibly contributing to their profitablity in the future.

I think the money perspective has been examined very well in the above posts. I had not thought about all such angles and enjoyed reading them. I thought I would add that there is also the small-market conundrum. Prince probably wants to be on a competitive team. He also wants a big payday as shown by his choice of agent. These two things cannot really go together in Milwaukee or any other small market/payroll city. This is primarily why I think the Brewers never had a real chance to sign CC. The player knows that if they sign a special deal with a team like the Brewers they will effectively be 20-25% of the payroll and will almost certainly prevent that team from going out and making other acquisitions to stay competitive. It can't be just a desire to win, think of the stress involved in being that kind of presence on a losing ball club. The down years would be hellish if the player has any sort of pathos. Look at the treatment Suppan gets on this site and his deal is petty compared to what the real big boys make. In a large market, you also get a small piece of mind that it ALL can't be blamed on you. If Prince is looking to take care of himself and his family, I have to believe this will also play a role. I am kind of ignoring the big market media pressure, but I think that is a slightly different thing.

Parra, if my memory serves, was from the last year of draft-and-follow signings. He was drafted the year before in the 26th round, did not sign but went on to put up very good numbers the following season and decided to sign with the Brewers instead of re-enter the draft where he would have gone in the first round. I remember them playing it off as if they got two first rounders that year. They say lefties take longer to develop, so don't be surprised if he continues to get chances to develop in the Crew's rotation for a few more years. I've thought he looked rough from the beginning and won't be surprised when he pitches his way off the team and ends up a solid contributor elsewhere. Tis the Brewers fate.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4353256

He's struggling, but I wonder how long it takes for the coaching staff to get on Braun for swinging at the first pitch. He's seen maybe 20 pitches in his last 10-12 ab's and it seems a good time for them to draw his attention to it--but do they? As Schroeder said on the tellicast, you don't mind guys like Braun swinging at the first pitch. I do. I have to wonder at what point does the super-star treatment by the coaches and himself start having a negative effect on his ability to adjust (be self reflective).

If I remember correctly, they did the same with Frank Thomas last year. Fairly consistent behavior for Canada.

The more the market for a starter develops with injuries, the more I want to look back to Sheets as an option. I have no idea what his progress is at the moment, but if he's serious about making some money next year, the best thing he can do is to perform for a play-off team. Texas maybe a play-off team, but but they are in hitters' park in the DH league. Milwaukee provides familiar territory and opponents with a park that plays even (though the parks in the rest of the division work against my argument here). I can't comment on his personal issues with Milwaukee, but I'm sure the practical value of playing out the season with the Brewers should be worth overlooking any personal slights he or the team have. I can't imagine he demands more than Martinez and a 2-4m bigger deficit in this years' books seems worth the price of keeping prospects.

I don't think anybody has mentioned it yet, but could Hart's "mental break" today also be a chance to see if Cat can be productive in his absence?

Did anybody else lose their feed from the game on Timewarner in Milwaukee? I can switch to the Bucks game, but even it is a little sketchy.