It's what you would expect when 95% of baseball management are signed from within the industry. No outsiders, no new ideas. Basically the same reason the government is pretty much useless.
The Brewers already lead the league in "depth" of below average/AAAA first basemen. [sarcasm]They should be trading from this position of strength rather than adding to it.[/sarcasm]
Only the greatest of Brewers have worn #10: Luis Cruz http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Luis+Cruz+Milwaukee+Brewers+Photo+Day+hqA5cXEahAvl.jpg Corey Patterson http://admin.imbresources.org/photos/noImageFound.l.png Vinny Rotino http://www.jerseydatabase.com/jerseys/backs/15/5/15550.png Dave Krynzel http://www.sportsworldcards.com/ekmps/shops/sportsworld/images/milwaukee-brewers-dave-krynzel-t103-topps-traded-2004-mlb-first-year-baseball-trading-card-33060-p.jpg Royce Clayton http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/80/files/2012/07/clayton3_big.jpg Ronnie Belliard http://images.allposters.com/images/PHOTOFILE/AACN027.jpg
So many of my personal favorite Brewers wore 11. The Big O is already covered but how about these greats... http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/155033/rivera_2nd_hr_medium.jpg http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/000/720/249/2021390_display_image.jpg?1297633693 http://z.lee28.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/nomo-mil2.jpg.w300h341.jpg http://www.tradingcarddb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/421/421-46Fr.jpg http://www.halloffamememorabilia.com/images/products/p-165397-greg-vaughn-autographed-hand-signed-milwaukee-brewers-8x10-photo-rdm-gregvaughn8x10.jpg
With Burnett gone, the Pirates rotation is an unproven Cole and a bunch of guys coming off of career years. It certainly is possible that the Pirates' rotation has a better year than the Brewers, but they more than likely won't.
I don't think they would want Thornburg or Fiers. They would be a #7 or #8 starter for them. The Brewers could get a little outside the box and trade Estrada or Gallardo for Didi and play him at second. But that's not going to happen.
I think that's the biggest reason you do it. Braun would probably be a little angry about being asked to move again but when you point out that he might be able to add a year or two of being very productive to his career, I think he would accept.
Around the league first base has really become a weak position. I can't blame the Brewer for having such a bad situation at first because there really has been nothing they could do that wouldn't have cost a lot of money or talent. I think the best thing they could have done was moved Braun to first instead of RF.
Just wait till the Brewers are playing in the World Series and all FOX will talk about is Hank. There will be video packages, in-game interviews with him, unnecessary cuts to him...
If Melvin rolled the dice on Ike Davis and gave up Thornburg or another prospect of value and Ike failed, the board would be calling for Doug's head on a stake. Reynolds was the safest bet. He only cost very little money and didn't hurt the future of the franchise. Halton is not and should not be considered a viable option for starting at first base. He's a 4A player at best. Morris has done nothing to earn the spot. I think many people would have been upset if he was just handed the job.
The Marcum looks good too because Lawrie has not developed into the all star that everyone thought he would. He's certainly a major league caliber player and would probably be starting somewhere for the Brewers but he has no where lived up to his hype.
ESPN is entertainment, not journalism. No matter how much they like to pretend like they are, they are not. You can't really hold them to the same standards as "real journalists" (if there even is such a thing anymore anyway).
Off the top of my head, the only guy I can think of is Capuano. I'm sure there are others, but I just don't recall any at this time. Isn't Brian Wilson coming off his second?
I knew that. I just realized that I totally forgot to put the reason for the post. Mat and Ben could be identical twins. They're like 5 years apart but look exactly the same.
I saw the name Gamel in a Yankees box score and I was wondering if it was Mat. I clicked on the name and saw this picture. http://riverdogs.milbauctions.com/images/stores/48/300/Gamelheadshot_300.jpg I was surprised I hadn't heard that Mat had signed with the Yankees. I was even more surprised when I saw that it was Ben Gamel, Mat's brother.
I wonder how much Dusty Baker rubbed off on Bryan Price. Hamilton is going to steal 60+ bases but probably have an OBP about .300. Dusty would hit him leadoff 162 times, hopefully for the Reds sake Price is smarter than that.