jerichoholicninja

So Guerra...he's doin' ok so far. I think he was the first guy Stearns acquired and many here were confused by it but there were a few other posters who said he was a guy to watch out for. It's still early for him but how could every team pass on him for so long?

It's a shame Nick Shaw never even got a crack at AAA. He was a guy I was really rooting for. Even without average or power, OBP skills are very valuable, especially off the bench.

I know HanRam is supposed to be the anointed DH after Ortiz retires but could Boston be an option in the offseason for Braun? Ramirez I guess hasn't been a disater defensively at 1B but his bat is pretty much gone. I think it's a guarantee they sign one of Bautitsa or Encarnacion so it probably won't matter anyway.

My wife has to hold my hand just about everywhere we go. Even in situations like the one you described. I'm trying to be courteous to the people around us and let go and get behind her so we're not in peoples' way but then I get looks from her. So there's no way for me to win.

Because the umpires would just deny it? I get it, they normally don't when you ask past the 7th and are out of challenges but they'd catch on pretty quick if a manager tried to do what you're suggesting. I'd do it just to make a mockery of an already sham system. And if they deny my request on a close play I'd just claim they were doing so out of spite.

The Cardinals have spent money to resign guys like Pujols, Carpenter, Wainwright, and Holiday but also let them walk when they weren't worth it like Pujols and Heyward. I can't remember them signing a big money free agent. Jhonny Peralta is probably the biggest. That's really not any different then what the Brewers have done.

So if you don't officially have any challenges after the 7th why not ask the umps to review every play. Why wait for someone to actually watch it first.

I didn't see the play so I don't know the exact situation but for a runner on second that is not forced to go, you're generally going to go on a ball hit to your left. The shortstop is most likely moving to his left making a play where he has to throw the ball in the opposite direction he's going quite difficult. Now if the shortstop was position right behind the bag that's an easy play for him but that's not where the shortstop usually plays.

The original story was that he was told he was going to the bullpen and refused. Then it was that he was given the option of pitching out of the bullpen or being shut down. I'm more inclined to believe the latter because management is smart enough to know that no one gains anything from him pitching in relief. Tanking plays and "insubordination" as you call it are not the same league. If Garza "deserted" the team there's no way the Brewers just say OK and let him get away with it. He would have been suspended and fined. I've also yet to hear any player from any team say anything negative about Garza and the situation.

Baseball is an individual sport not much team about it. The team can't help a batter hit and a team can't help a pitcher pitch either. Baseball is jut not a team sport like basketball, football, hockey or soccer. Baseball has more in common with singles tennis than it does with other team sports. When a player is playing for themselves in baseball that is a duh statement to me and rather pointless. Baseball is a team sport. It isn't tennis. The organization's philosophy, the atmosphere in the clubhouse, the spot in the order, the manager's decisions of where and when to play, teammate support, and the coaches' side sessions do help a batter hit. A good team defense can make a pitcher look good instead of bad. A good team offense gives Garza a win even when he doesn't pitch great. Here's the issue... Garza pitched badly last year. Counsell gave him more than enough time at the major league level to get right, which didn't happen. He arguably pitched worse than Lohse, who was moved to the pen at season's end. When he finally was told that his starting spot was being given to someone else, he had a very public temper tantrum, complained about the decision, didn't want to pitch in the bullpen, and ultimately walked away from the team for the month of September..... And he took his full 12 million dollar contract with him, still getting paid every last cent.... No apologies. He left bitter, loathing Melving. Time away maybe would help, right? Nope. He comes into spring training with more crazy talk of pitching for self. To me, he was pitching for self from the beginning. He better be, but he better not be ONLY pitching for himself. How about doing what is best for the team? Go to the pen. Help the team there. Mentor a youngster call-up in September. Do what the team asks you to do. When you struggle or Greatly struggle AND obviously hurt the team every 5 days in starts, the average starter realizes the writing is on the wall and changes need to be made to the staff! He somehow felt that the organization owed it to him to let him pitch whenever he wanted, regardless of results, regardless of how well other pitchers were doing, regardless of the Brewers place in standings and wanting to see young guys like Lopez and Davies pitch. I put his attitude in the same category as Sheffield and Sterling Sharpe. He wanted his way regardless of what was obviously best for the team. I hope Garza does well in the coming months. He is a Brewer. I hope he has become a better pitcher. If he has or hasn't, I hope he has learned from his incredibly selfish mistakes. The details of that story are murky at best. The original report was full of personal conjecture from the reporter. Putting him in the bullpen would do nothing to help him. He's never pitched out of it before and it would have been pointless to make him do so during a lost season. Lohse went to the bullpen to try and salvage his career. Totally different situation. And your comparison to Sheffield is ridiculous. Gary tanked plays and claimed racism to get traded. Garza just sucked.

Thanks for missing ball 4 there. Not even close either.

I guess I'm not super familiar with Moncada. Is he the 19 or so year old that was a big time Cuban free agent in 14-15? Why is he so untouchable? Nothing about his minor league numbers screams Harper/Trout level prospect.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/06/cafardos-latest-brewers-teheran-kemp-hudson.html Now this I do not buy one bit. Executives from Detroit and Seattle have said Stearns' was nothing but reasonable when it came to negotiations, and publicly praised DS after the trades of both Lind and K-Rod. It's probably someone trying to gain leverage in any possible way to swing a deal in their favor. Also they're probably upset they didn't take advantage of our previous regime. Usually I take whatever "unknown executives" say with a grain of salt, but this irked me. Nothing in his history shows that he's unrealistic with his expectations or player values. Just because DS has a firm asking price doesn't mean he is being unrealistic. There's a big difference between trading an oft-injured platoon first baseman/end of his career closer and the top player in the game at his position who's youngish and cheap with team control. I think there is a lot of truth to that rumor. Stearns should be asking for the moon, unfortunately, I just don't see any team with the combination of need and prospects to get that deal done right now.

I'm kind of sick of seeing stuff like this about pitchers pitching there. They've had a team for over 50 years. This isn't some new thing. Everybody knows that your pitching stats are going to take a hit there but that doesn't mean you can't get better there. Learn to keep the ball down, hit the corners, change speeds and you'll be fine. Throw bad pitchers and you'll get rocked. That's how pitching works in every ballpark, at every level, everywhere.

I hope he's "pitching for himself" because he's pitching for a job for the rest of the season and to save his career.

Garza's a question mark for this season. Wily's been trash this season. Seems pretty obvious to me.

You could have said that about a dozen games last year too. Hey, I'm not a strikeout hater but you can't say they don't matter when there are plenty of situations where simply putting the bat on the ball wins the game.

How was that poor fundamentals? He slid in to the bag and the fielder pushed his hand off. He was too wide and slid too late - went past the bag a bit too far. I can't fault a guy for sliding too hard or to avoid a tag.

The Brewers could have an argument that a runner that was put out was acting as a live runner. You can't do that. But it's pretty obvious no one knows the rules tonight.

Good lord. What the hell.

How was that poor fundamentals? He slid in to the bag and the fielder pushed his hand off.

Well, that's just great.

Different players, same can't score runs in easy run scoring situations as last year.

How often does a player lose? Pretty much never.

Corey clearly doesn't have it but we're going to let him out there after loading the bases on three straight batters? Sure, why not?