HiAndTight

Man, this is a HUUUUUGE whinny pet peeve of mine. "Nobody is even saying good job to our team because they hate us," crap. The Brewers have gotten a TON of time in the National Spotlight, even while three teams finished with 100+wins, including the defending WS champs.

Our light highting SS goes 4-4? Well....maybe that just made the DVD box set with director cuts!

"Shattered" may be a BIIIIT of an overstatement.... Still....this was a lost year IMO. Yellich looked like a good move until the last day of the year when he blew it. All he needed was another HR and a few lousy RBI and he couldn't get it done. Yellich=Not Clutch.......(I don't really even need blue for this, right?)

I think the Astros would disagree. As good as the Brewers are, the core they have is absolutely incredible and should be around for several years and may contain a few young HOF'ers. I'm certainly not taking credit away from Stearns, but Yelich is as much a credit to Stearns as it is a black mark on Jeter's personal moves. Aguilar was a great hit, but he was one of the many guys we were just taking a shot at(an idea I wholeheartedly embrace by the way, the 20 moves that didn't work out were more than worth it for a middle of the order bat under control for several years). But lets wait and see if we can develop and or use our system to trade for talent like Correa, Altuve, Springer, Cole, Verlander, Bergman and several others. The Cubs have given away some of the best young talent in the game for a good, not great young lefty in Quintana and 3 months of Chapman or I'd place them in that same group with the Astro's. Either way, point is, it's a bit early to say we've perfected rebuilding. For all the success, Stearns really hasn't gotten that much out of his draft picks just yet, much less his international signings.

I didn't say the Brewers are the favorites, and there's nothing that says multiple teams can't be equipped to win it at the same time, I'm saying this Brewers team is built to win in the postseason, and to win the World Series. I stand by that. Plus, you look at how daunting the AL looks, but it's not like we're gonna have to go through 3 of those teams on the way. Just one. And while all those teams great and it's been a historic year in the AL....stuff happens in a 7 game series. A great pen, a balanced lineup. I don't really even care. My standard as a fan is I want to be rooting for a playoff team....a team with a chance, OR a rebuilding team, one that's not stuck in sports purgatory. I've got that. Anything beyond that and it's really just gravy. Taking off today to watch game 163 with my Dad. Game 163 vs the Cubs for the title. I remember watching the Brewers at the end of the year vs the A's in '92 like it was yesterday. Wasn't born just yet in '82, but I've heard stories about how crazy it was. That said, I WOULD put this team above that '92 team. I don't think you can really compare them with the 82 team or even a few teams before them. Those offenses were just so potent and you have a 10+ War SS and one of the greatest pure hitters atop your lineup..so even our biggest strength, Cain and Yelly(wanna feel like one of the guys there)….the 82 team has this one beat. But again, so what? That was one injury away from winning the WS.

If there's one player that will want to treat tomorrow like it's game 7 it's yadi. If there's one player on that clubhouse you don't want to piss off, it's yadi. At least that's the straw I'm grasping at. If the Packers were eliminated from playoff contention in week 17 & played the Bears, who were playing for qualifying/seeding, would the Packers run out a crap lineup? I think the Cards will be plenty motivated for tomorrow. They probably wouldn't start Rodgers or other stars....but that's a totally different scenario. Football is far more violent and you could lose a star for the following season far more likely in one play than you could in baseball.

This is a race right now like my gimpy rear end is a race lining up next to Usain Bolt on the starting block....It's not officially over...but...it's over.

Chacin? He's targeted to start the WC game as of now...not sure if this will change things for them or not. It will be interesting to see who gets the call. I'd go with Chacin in one of them and then go with a BP game in the other. Start whoever, lean on Burnes for 3-4 innings and then piece it together after that....

I'm hoping for a jolt to the rotation...more than a tweak. I'm all in on Corbin. A TOR lefty. This is our window to be able to pay for one so long as the market doesn't get crazy. 5/125 maybe. We can swing that. But there's still too much this year for me to care all that much about next season.

Chacin?

The guy who's 2-for-4 with a run and a big RBI tonight? I would rather have Villar but there must have been some kind of clubhouse issue with him, I don't know. I really dont understand the Schoop hate..he has come up with some very big hits lately, and its obvious how he was pressing right after the trade. I think he will have a very nice season for us next year if he gets to play every day. I'm pretty excited about the prospect of having Schoop play a full year at 2nd next season...but even with the few big hits and his 2-4 night, he has not looked good for us this year.

Carlos Beltran from the 'Stros in...like '06 or whenever comes to mind. And then of course a few Ortiz playoff performances. Definitely in rarefied air however....

Well...he is more exciting......

Exactly, time to get it done NOW...don't let the Tigers get late with the chance to beat us... AND YELICH...AS I TYPED THIS!!!!!!! MV-FRIGGIN-P!!!!!!!! There is a real shot Yelich could capture the Triple Crown yet this year. Leading the league in BA, now tied in HR and just two down in RBI's.

Exactly, time to get it done NOW...don't let the Tigers get late with the chance to beat us... AND YELICH...AS I TYPED THIS!!!!!!! MV-FRIGGIN-P!!!!!!!!

This is exactly my thinking. Evolaldi as the low risk/high reward type pitcher...I've thought his movement was really good since he was a 22 year old(or however old) with the Marlins and could still be a guy who breaks out. Then again, I really wanted Tyler Chatwood last year and thought the same of him.... But what did Stearns say? He wanted to add someone better than anyone currently in their rotation. The Brewers have money and while they're gonna have to pay some guys, they have some time. Go after Corbin and run out Corbin, a healthy(hopefully) Nelson, Burnes, and then fill in with about a dozen potential options. We've got a helluva pen for the foreseeable future, good young arms to compliment those starters when we need someone to fill in...and not a lot of questions among our position players. Shaw, Arcia, Schoop-then Hiura and Aguilar around the horn. OF of Yelich/Cain/Santana/Braun...and then maybe make a run at Realmuto again. That's a legitimate, elite contender.

I openly want to see Corbin get the start in one of these games. We don't need him to go 7...just 3-4 innings and I think he's more than capable of going through the lineup once and shutting them down. One of the few confusing decisions by the Brewers this year was to go with Peralta over Burnes...I get it was his spot the first time up, so he didn't have to miss a beat, but Burnes is gonna end up with far fewer innings than last year. He's got TOR stuff and is ready.

Seems like a showcase month to flip him this offseason before the orioles injure him. There was no way Ortiz would have reached milwaukee for 2+ years. That said, I actually hope he does well! He's an advanced pitcher who was pitching at the top levels of our minor league system, not a 19 year old in Helena. Not a clue what his future holds, but he's not some arm who was years away from being ready. I don't have a huge problem moving him for a guy with the upside of Schoop, but this seems to be the "now that we traded him, he was never gonna help us" type logic most fans seem to have after most trades.

He has an OPS+ of 69 as a Brewer and Villar is at 117 for the Orioles. How is Schoop an upgrade? I really hate what Stearns did at the deadline. I think he was referring to what those players had done for the Brewers, not what they'd done playing for a team on pace to lose 110 games and playing without any pressure. Schoop was a 5+ WAR guy last year. Villar had fallen out of favor in Milwaukee. I like that move, especially with him going into a contract year next year and Keston likely being ready after that. As a whole, I wasn't a huge fan of the trades myself. I liked adding Schoop as I think he's extremely talented and could have a big year for us next year and down the stretch...but I don't like moving Shaw to 2nd or playing Schoop at SS. And if you're gonna move Shaw, Arcia has to play. We're getting by with middle of the rotation starters and a really good pen. We can't give away runs. And it's not that I don't like Moose, it's just...he seems redundant with Shaw and as I said, I don't like Shaw playing 2nd.

I actually wonder what the chance are we would have been aggressive in re-signing him. With the young, controllable talent...I could see Mark A willing to pay the going rate over a 6 year deal. I just have no idea what the market is going to be like. It seemed more cut and dry before last off-season. Not that there was anyone of his caliber+age(or Harpers for that matter). Just wonder if the owners next step is not giving out the Pujols, Cano, Arod type 10 year deals. Heck, two years(?) into Stanton's deal the Marlins were looking to deal him. I think it's possible the next fight in free agency is the length of the deals that are given out and teams holding more firm. Anyway, I'd rather have had Machado obviously, but I do like that we have Schoop for another year, and I think it's early to give up on Arcia. And elite defender who was coming off a .270 year in which he popped almost 20...I wanna hold onto him and see if he can get it going(as he has to some degree) and if he struggles again next year, we do have an in house option in Dubon...provided his knee heals.

I don't think you can mess with the type of success you've gotten from Hader...he's changed the way the Brewers play. But I'm still curious what he could do as a starter. He's only been a reliever for a year and a half....but man, what a year and a half it's been. This year has been a blast and I'm not looking past it, but man, a rotation with Nelson, Burnes, Chacin, maybe a resurgent Chase(Peralta, Davies, Woodruff..etc...etc..) with all the young arms we have in the pen...we could have a dominant staff without having the 'Stros like 1-5 and protect the young arms and their innings.

The offense has been fine, they just have struggled to get the big hit other than the Schoop grand slam. If they keep producing the way they have the last few weeks and just don't get as much bad luck with RISP they will score plenty. That is just part of what makes MLB so streaky. This has to be the most frustrating part of talking baseball with people who don't really understand the game. I'm definitely NOT talking about anyone on here, but rather thinking about people I work with. I try explaining that Braun's hit the ball really well this year and all I hear is how much he sucks. I try not to get too far in the weeds with the advanced metrics, but the guy is hitting the ball as hard as Yelich(close anyway) yet his luck has been awful(.277 BABIP vs Yelich who has had great luck with a .369 BABIP). Braun's hit the ball hard as often as just about anytime in his MLB career. He's just gotten incredibly unlucky results. But you have so many BA/HR/RBI fans who don't care about anything else you can't convince them...we need Braun's bat in the lineup.

I can't even see the Yankees claiming Garza and taking on the rest of his contract. There are almost certainly going to be better, cheaper options for them to fill out their rotation with than Garza given the financial implications. Sure, they like to spend money, and while some of their moves end up looking like they're throwing money away, they at least make sense at the time. This just doesn't. Lohse at least only has one year left, but if the Brewers could rid themselves of either pitcher at this point, I think they'd be happy to do so and wouldn't even bother asking for anything in return.

Those who think I've irrationally overreacted. This ^ is the post that sent me over the edge. It's a selective, ridiculous citing of specific moves (putting words in my mouth) and ignoring my overall point. My overall point: There is no discernible direction for this organization. I think Melvin is handicapped by Attanasio's year-to-year, maybe even month-to-month, reactionary vision for the franchise. There is no organizational philosophy (outside of maybe emphasizing groundball pitchers and advocating shifts) like the Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Indians, or a handful of other teams have. The Brewers are in the worst possible position they can be in--they're indecisive. Edit: Actually (or technically), they may be decisive. Attanasio's apparent decision looks to be contend every year. They appear to be scared to swing for the fences because Attanasio is deathly afraid of what happens when they swing & miss and are terrible, which is ironic because that's what they've backed into this year. At least when you swing & miss, you wind up with a top of the draft pick & hope on the horizon. Until they moved Gomez, there wasn't a lot of hope on the horizon. Personally, I wanna play for the World Series. Boom or bust. I'm never going to be an advocate of just trying to stay competitive. Maybe that makes the most financial sense, and it's easy to take a boom or bust approach when you're not the one signing the checks. That said, if there was an actual plan, one that was adhered to, I think the fanbase would support the team. But, when you so obviously take a cheapskate approach, like they did during the 2013 off-season when they hoped they'd sign a starter below market value & wound up paying for Lohse, fans can't support that. Which then becomes a vicious cycle where Attanasio can turn around and say he can't spend on this team because the fans don't support it. Which might be the case because unless the Brewers are in the playoffs does anyone give them a second thought past "Who's the Packers' nickel DB?" (I'm seriously asking. I don't know what the typical Wisconsin sports fan pays attention to... like is anyone taking notice of what the Bucks are doing?)... The current approach is still very poor. Even under Attanasio's financial restrictions, they could be taking an approach more likely to land this team in the post-season with starting pitching that would allow them to contend for a title. I really don't get the "Brewers are afraid to swing for the fences," line of thinking. Just the trade that netted us Gomez was a "swing for the fence," type of move. The CC, Greinke trades, Marcum, swing for the fence type of moves. I wouldn't be disagreeing with you so much if you were using a legitimate player as your example. But we're talking about Mitch Haniger. Mitch Haniger does NOT equate to depleting our farm system and given the talent we have in our OF, if he was going to become a 10 year starter for us, given his limited ability, that means that things would have to go very bad for the current OF'ers we have(not to mention some of the young IF'ers we have who likely won't stick at their respective positions, ie, Lara being one obvious candidate). You started this entire discussion based on your opinion on Haniger from what you admit were 19 ST'oing at bats you were impressed with. Do you see why some may have trouble with this logic? The farm system is clearly better this year than it was last year, so you also can't continue to say that we depleted our farm system for Parra.

The highest babip was .363? According to what source? I'm quite certain that's NOT the case and some of the "facts," you've thrown in I think have gotten lost amongst the pure absurdity of the larger discussion that they're going unnoticed. That's the only thing I'm going to point out here, because I'm just going to get a headache if I have to get into a deeper "depleting the farm system by trading away Mich ---ing Haniger" type conversation, a guy who almost certainly wouldn't rank in our type 15 prospects right now and was ONE PLAYER.