Bombers

I agree, flexibility is a good thing. However, why are we not trying Braun at 1B? I don't think Parra will be head and shoulders better than Braun at 1B. But Parra is better than Braun in RF. So if they are equal at 1B, then shouldn't Braun be getting some reps at 1B? And in the end, Braun is headed to 1B at some point anyhow. With his injury issues, he is going to end up playing it at some point in his career.

It's gold and can catch balls anywhere. If it were me I would put him at 3rd. Forget the gold, he has a canon. Let's have the only LH throwing 3rd baseman in the league. In the voice of Marty Riggs in leathal weapon (Mel Gibson): You want to get nuts, come on let's get nuts

At first I thought it was a joke. Parra is at 1B taking grounders. I am sure all guys do weird things in Spring / goofing around. Then the tweets came later in the day: @AdamMcCalvy: Gerardo Parra wasn't just messing around at 1B in drills this morning. RR says he could play there in a game soon. @Todd_Rosiak: Roenicke on Parra: “He looks really good over there. He played there before he signed. We’ve been talking about it." Label me confused. I mean unless Lind and Clark are both hurt I just don't see how yet another lefty would ever play there. Much less one who has never played there in the Pro's

Ya, I just don't get this thread. While I will be the first to bash RRR for inserting Kotsay over Gomez in the NLCS, I certainly can't bash him for "unleashing" Gomez. A career under achiever who was ran out of town in not only New York, but in a small market like Minnesota (who would at least keep him on for his D) was completely brought to life by RRR in Milwaukee. You may be frustrated by his all out approach, but he isn't the first good (nor the last good one) to irk his coach/fans. I know it's a different sport but Favre irked Holmgren all the time and the fans with his boneheaded plays, but I wouldn't have traded him for anyone. I am pretty high on GoGo too. He isn't the reason this team fails. I actually like his passion and intensity. Something many fans have complained of (Brewers lack of fire) over the years really shines through with him. Many criticized Hart, Weeks, Hardy for not showing much "passion" - but now we are going to throw one of the top CF's in baseball under the bus because he plays to hard and makes a few mistakes? .... I am really baffled at this one. Keep doing what you do GoGo.

Record:81-81 - while I want them to do better and make the playoffs. I always think they can make it and they rarely do. I guess time to reset my expectations. .500 is probably just about right. Playoffs: Nope. Another wasted season. While in years past I would have said, "Yes! Playoffs" ... I am going to go with a more modest guess. Mvp: Peralta. I really think he is going to be a very good pitcher for quite some time. I just like his stuff. Surprise: Gennett gets 575 AB's - doesn't see much of any platoon and hits .320. Disappointment: K-rod. This is just too easy for me. He is trending the wrong direction, I just hope RRR has the stones to pull him from the spot if/when he falters. All stars: Lucroy - That's it. The rest mostly hover in mediocrity for the year. Bold prediction: Ramirez goes down for the year. Not really bold but a possible reality.

@JesseSanchezMLB: Yu Darvish update: MRI on right triceps muscle showed sprained of UCL in right elbow. Discussing Tommy John surgery. Disappointing for the Rangers. The risk of giving pitchers, even the best ones large contracts is just so risky

No problem. I have taken the red line every time I have attended a game at Wrigley and I think it is great. Such a different experience than driving in and parking like we do at Miller Park. So I kind of like it, as it just gives you the local feel of the many others who attend Cubs games on a regular basis. I may not like it when the Cubs come to Miller Park, but attending a game down in Wrigley is a blast. If you have never taken the train down in Chicago, here are some tips: 1. Some stations port multiple "lines" so be sure you are getting on the red line. (Ask someone if you are unsure - I have always been given friendly advice) 2. Be sure you are taking the red line the right direction. Outside of the northern most and southern most point of the line, the stations have boarding for both directions. So be sure to board on the correct train.

For instance - there are a ton of hotels near Northwestern University (Just a tick south east of Wrigley) and the red line has the station called "Chicago" on the corner of Chicago & State. If It were me, I would be looking at something like that. Close enough to hop on the redline, but far enough away to avoid the 2 night minimum.

I can't recommend a hotel but I have gone to about 7 games or so at Wrigley. The station by Wrigley is Addison Station. You can pretty much stay at any hotel near the redline and it will be a straight shot. (No switching trains) http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/redline_schedules/Addison.pdf

Jericho - I thought of that too but I wasn't sure if he was or wasn't. And scrolling through his 2014 game log I noticed him hitting .212/.239/.388 on May 11th. If that happens this year RRR won't give him the time of day to get out of the slump.

What I always find funny is the thought of sitting vs the best pitching is the best option. Brew4U, this isn't a shot at you at all - please don't take it that way. I am just saying that this is the most common response and to me it is amusing. (When I am guilty of saying it too) - Lets just sit him vs the best. When the response should be we will start Parra when the opposing pitcher really struggles with non power hitting left handed hitters. When I look at a Kershaw, Hernandez, Bumgarner, etc. I would guess it doesn't matter which side of the plate you hit from. They are pretty amazing no matter who is at the plate. Sitting someone vs the best in the league I would assume has a pretty minimal impact. I wish they would focus more on the pitcher himself and if that pitcher does have a high split then maybe do it. I would doubt any of those 3 have a huge split and I would assume most "stud pitchers" don't. In addition, I would expect that sitting vs the top pitching in baseball has the largest negative affect on a hitter. If you are consistently facing top pitching and then you get to face a "lessor" pitcher you would think that lessor pitcher would be easier to see. And if you never get to face those top pitchers you are missing out on a great opportunity. But anyhow, as the Brewers are clearly in it to win it (and not that I am against that) - allowing Davis to "improve" at the detriment to the team is clearly going to be passed on.

I agree and would stick with Davis as well but this quote has me worried: "....Parra is a starter," Roenicke said. "So I consider him a guy that, if the matchups are good for him, he's going to be in the game. I'm not waiting for somebody to be tired and has to have a day off. It's going to be different with him." That doesn't sound like a guy getting only 1 maybe 2 spot starts a week. (roughly 27 - 52 starts for the year) It sounds like he wants the low-end to be 2 starts a week and probably averaging out to 2-3 starts per week (52-81 games started) ... In September last year Parra had 18 starts vs Davis 10 starts. So RRR has already shown to favor Parra.

In regards to the idea of platooning Davis/Parra and after reading this article on Brewers.com http://m.brewers.mlb.com/news/article/110921084/gerardo-parra-fine-with-reserve-role-in-brewers-crowded-outfield-mix ... here are some highlights of the RRR comments and trying to read between the lines: 1. "In my mind, if I had got him 200 at-bats this year, he'd be disappointed. He's a better player than that and we need to get him out there." 2. "....Parra is a starter," Roenicke said. "So I consider him a guy that, if the matchups are good for him, he's going to be in the game. I'm not waiting for somebody to be tired and has to have a day off. It's going to be different with him." As I have said, seeing RRR implement some sort of "platoon" in LF wouldn't be all that shocking to me. I just don't see Gomez / Braun getting many days off. Maybe Braun is off once every 2-3 and Gomez once every 2-3 weeks but I just don't see Parra getting many starts over those 2. So the unfortunate part for Davis is being the odd man out. He may have good power numbers, but RRR will look past it, we all know it. In 2014 vs RHP Davis batted .239 / .298 / 451 / 749 Parra hit .273 / 309 / 396 / 704 So what does everyone else think? Are we heading towards a platoon in LF even though Davis has the clearly better power numbers? Am I over-reacting? I am good with the defensive replacement as yes Parra is drastically better in the field but I would think Davis has a lot of value with his bat.

I think our bullpen is fine. However, I do not think it is fine with RRR. As I have said, I am a fan of using statistics on my side. And that includes the 8th and 9th innings. Krod's splits vs hitters 3 - 6 do not shout lockdown closer. (240 / 298 / 529 / 827 and 11 of his 14 HR's.) K-rod is a great piece. But he doesn't do well vs power hitters. Broxton is an awesome piece and I am unsure why some are down on him. Especially in a combo 8 / 9 spot. Broxton vs the 3 - 6 hitters is 180 / .239 / .320 / .559 and 4 of his 4 HR's. Jeffress hos potential future closer written on him. Kintzler I am not a fan of. Sorry I am just not. Papelbon would have been significantly greater than K-rod but I wasn't on board with giving up any prospects worth much. So we can see why those talks stalled out. Will Smith and Neal Cotts should be able to tag team lefties extremely well. With Broxton / Krod handling the 8/9 (in hopefully a combo type way) Will Smith, Cotts, Jeffress, Henderson, Thornburg to fill in the 6, 7th and sometimes 8th is a great spot to be in. I think our bullpen is awesome. I just wish K-rod wouldn't face 3-6 hitters.

Mods - can we close this thread and send the Bullpen related comments to the 2015 bullpen thread? Probably better suited there. (Maybe move some of the recent posts?)

Which to me, I would stay away from K-rod facing 3-6. I think Broxton / Jeffress would be a better fit facing that spot. I know Jeffress with no closer experience [sarcasm](Oh my!)[/sarcasm] ... I know it would never happen. But if the 8th inning rolls around and the 8, 9 and 1 hitter are due up, I would trot out K-rod. Then let Broxton face 2, 3, 4. It is hilarious how baseball is so keen on statistics and playing matchups but when it comes to the 8 / 9 inning - it's thrown completely out the window.

It's pretty easy, everyone is focused in on that bad stretch when things went bad in late August to early September stretch. During that time: he gave up runs in 4 of his 6 appearances over that stretch. (I know, bad timing, many people contributed to the collapse, but that stood out to me.) If you look at his batters faced from Aug 9th through Sept 10th he faced the minimum 3 hitters only twice. (10 appearances) And as Danzig said, he is very nerve racking to watch when a power hitter steps to the plate. Which means my confidence in him retiring the side when middle are due up is low. His numbers vs the middle vs 3 - 227 / 292 / 500 / 792 - 2 HRs vs 4 - 276 / 344 / 690 / 1.033- 4 HRs vs 5 - 229 / 270 / 371 / 642- 1 HRs vs 6 - 229 / 289 / 571 / 861- 4 HRs which combines to a batters 3 - 6 as 240 / 298 / 529 / 827 and 11 of his 14 HR's. As opposed to a Greg Holland - 163 / 248 / 240 / 488 - 2 HR's (I know Holland is amazing but that is quite a discrepancy) So combining him struggling vs the middle of the order and failing down the stretch, I can see why many are not excited about him.

I agree with this - Davis isn't going anywhere. But I also do not want a "5th" outfielder. That is just a wasted spot. Gomez and Braun start every day of the week and a 5th OF is a complete waste. Especially since Parra can play all 3 OF spots. So I would rather see Clark who can spot start in the corner OF and play 1B. The only down side for Clark is, he won't ever take starts from Lind so maybe that is why you send him down. Which would mean Rogers or Jimenez would stay up. And with Jimenez out of options, if he has a hot spring - my vote would be to keep him up. I also think Sardinas will be a great asset. I got a feeling that he will win the spot over Hector and Hector will be sent down. I don't think Hector will be swiped away by another team.

His HR/9 the last 3 years is 1, 1.4, and 1.9. I highly doubt it will all of a sudden be under 1. Be prepared to watch HR's

I would only be excited if Krod would be used as a relief pitcher and not as the closer. But we all know RRR will let him close games all year long. #Fail

I have never heard that Dontrelle Willis wants to be a "Lifer" in baseball. As Adam M has said he does seem very excited http://m.mlb.com/mil/video/topic/26668332/v38611383/?c_id=mil Edited as my wonderful corrective typing changed Dontrelle to Donatello

I agree. The current method is horrible and creates a competitive disadvantage as only (at most) 50% of the teams have any realistic shot of signing these guys. In my opinion it's completely idiotic to, for a lack of a better word, punish athletes for being born in the US. MLB is a mostly US league, but yet we pay more to those born outside our own borders. Sillyness.

Depth is important. But I also feel that a teams ability to react is equally important. Many, many times, guys fail and fail and fail and management doesn't have the foresight to make a change. Or guts to make it because sometimes it may be "unpopular" but beneficial for the team. Instead teams say oh "he is a gamer" or "he is a crafty vet" and will "get it figured out," or "he has been there before." And then you let this subpar vet take starts away from a completely better player.

Good point tmwiese and I agree, he didn't take over a good position when he took over in 9-2002. No one was expecting him to flip it around in 1 year. I think he was on track when they went 81-81 in 2005. Had a great young core, a great owner. But 2006, 2007 came and went with nothing. 2008 brought us back to the post season (finally) ... so I would agree with you about looking at the last 6-7 years. 2009, 2010 came and went and once again we didn't do anything. Then in 2011 he spent the farm, had a large salary and crapped out in game 6 of the NLCS. 2012 was disappointing with Yo and Greinke sitting the top of the rotation, we did nothing. 2013 was horrible despite a $89 million salary. and now in 2014 they fell apart after a great start. So to me, he is on a very hot seat. I just don't see MA saying, that's ok Doug. You are trying your best out there. Keep at it kid. I think it is quite simple, if they are under .500 he is gone. If he is over .500 and they fail to make the playoffs, maybe he is back.

I am not going to get into the "we shouldn't expect World Series wins." It boils my blood. I guess we shouldn't ever expect to win one. Not after drafting in the top 10 for an eternity, not after having a great core, just never. We should just accept that we can never win the World Series. Then why do we even play the games, one would wonder? We have no chance, shouldn't expect to win, then why even try and build a team to win one? Frankly, if that is what the league SHOULD be, then this league is lost. Rant over. My argument was post season series wins. Not world series wins. I am just saying hey Doug, can we win a post season series again? That would be nice. It's not like he isn't being given the funds. A $100 million team salary is a healthy amount to spend and be competitive. Here is a table that shows how many series wins teams have since Doug took over as GM of the Brewers. You will see 15 teams have more series wins than us. We are in grouping B, with 1 post season series win. (7 teams join us) ... there are then 8 teams with no post season series wins. (I wonder if any of those 8 teams have the same GM since 2003?) Heck, I wonder if the teams in grouping B even have the same GM as they did in 2003. [pre]Team Total Cardinals 13 Red Sox.. 11 Giants .. 9 Yankee's. 8 Phillies. 6 Tigers .. 6 Rangers.. 4 Astro's.. 3 Dodgers.. 3 Marlins.. 3 White Sox 3 Angels .. 2 Rays .. . 2 Rockies.. 2 Royals .. 2 A's .. .. 1 Cubs .. . 1 Dbacks .. 1 Indians.. 1 Mets .. . 1 Orioles.. 1 Brewers.. 1[/pre]