xisxisxis

The Brewers are an investment to Attaturk. He'll continue to run with the same outfit that gives him hefty returns on his investment and don't cost much. Yost will still come cheap and if he want's more than Mark is willing to give then it's Nedly's choice to leave. As long as the Brinks trucks are pulling away from Miller Park full of cash in route to AttaBank then don't expect any changes.

I hate Miguel Cairo.......

I hate Jim Edmonds....that is all.

The brewers winning % since Jun 24th is 0.393 in 56 games. Prior to Jun 24 the team was winning at a .581 % in 74 games. The worst record in the major leagues for 2007 belongs to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at 0.389. For approximately 43% of the season.(56/130) the Brewers have played as bad as the worst team in baseball. Is 56 games or roughly 2 months simply a "bad streak"? You can break the numbers up to look worse or better than they really are. If you break the season into fifths we are 12 games over, 8 games under, 8 games over, 10 games under and just entering the last 1/5 of the season. From June 24th to July 27th we went 14-14 so I find it unreasonable to put that in your bad streak list. From July 28th to August 27th we have gone 8-19. What you are really talking about here is not two months of bad streak, its one miserable month which pretty closely resembles the miserable month we had back in May/June. The most useful sample of games you can get is the largest one, we are .500 and thats all that really matters. Trying to break the season down and judge the team by part of the season is just not very useful. It's important when slicing and dicing the numbers to put them into perspective. I chose June 24th as the cutoff because since that time the brewers have played equal to the worst team in baseball. So for 56 games the brewers have been at the bottom. Yes there are trends within those 56 games that make them look better, but it can't be spun positively that this team has been close to the worst team in baseball over that period. I don't call that bad, I call that bottom of the barrel. Maybe we're just talking semantics. Maybe it's glass half full/half empty, but it's still not pretty.

The brewers winning % since Jun 24th is 0.393 in 56 games. Prior to Jun 24 the team was winning at a .581 % in 74 games. The worst record in the major leagues for 2007 belongs to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at 0.389. For approximately 43% of the season.(56/130) the Brewers have played as bad as the worst team in baseball. Is 56 games or roughly 2 months simply a "bad streak"?

The administration from this nursing home actually calls family member's before their loved ones die, because this cat can tell within 4 hours when people are going to die. Maybe the administration should ask the aide with the syringe who accompanies the cat what the cocktail is? There are dogs that can 'smell' cancer in patients sometimes weeks before it can be detected by traditional methods. I hear if you throw a dog or cat into a pool that if they float they are witches and if they sink they aren't.

And given how a large portion of those contracts have backfired, GMs are probably getting a little wiser about shelling out such cash. Offering outlandish contracts is like crack to GM's. I haven't seen more than a short-term response to any bad signings. GMs come back to the well time and time again with little inclination at being a little wiser.

Do you make that trade because it helps us now, even though it almost certainly hurts us in two years? Before I respond, you need to show me how Inman (a AA pitcher) and Linebrink are similar in any way to Howard and Fielder, otherwise I'm argueing over a straw-man.

Since there seem to be a lot of numbers that support both sides, how about we put away the hatchets and let the guy join the team and prove himself as either a good or bad pickup? Well if we simply look at record, the Brewers are 0-1 since they acquired Linebrink.....What A MISTAKE!!!!! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

I still think Linebrink has very little to do with whether or not the Brewers make the playoffs. I think the players have nothing to do with whether the Brewers make the playoffs. Obviously it's just Karma and luck. How could players ever have a role when the cosmos determines every outcome....

Even during his last "awesome" year (2005) Linebrink's peripherals were starting to regress towards "league norms." VORP 2005-2007: Turnbow: 22.8 Wise: 31.4 Linebrink: 54.8 That includes his "horrible" 2007 and 2006. He also was better than the combined Wisebow last year when Linebrink was just average.

David, this is something that has been bothering me from the moment DM mentioned "Type A FA." Two words can sum up my counter-argument to this: Tony Graffanino. When we offer Linebrink arbitration and if he accepts then we have another season to like this trade. Given some of the outlandish contracts given to middle relievers in the past I don't see any way Linebrink turns down a multiyear deal to take arbitration from the Brewers. Comp picks are a safer lock than Inman in the majors in 2008. As a general question, how can so many people be upset about trading Inman while pretty much guaranteeing we will get 2 comp picks to replace Linebrink if he leaves? I think if Jack Z has shown anything it's that he knows what he's doing. Yeah there's no guarantee we will get a prospect as good as Inman with the 2 comp picks, but it seems odd to have so little faith in Jack Z while everyone seems to accept anything DM does because he's DM. Whose more valuable to the teams current success and prospects?

I guess I don't see Linebrink as an upgrade to either Wise or Tbow -- perhaps he is incrementally better, FTJ you are way too smart to make such a poor statement as that. By any metric you want Linbebrink's been one of the top setup men in baseball the last several years. Wise and Turnbow or anyone else on the Brewers staff don't even come close.

On the point that a lot of people have made, that we wouldn't have had room for Inman anyway Well I'm not going to defend that sentiment because it truely is silly to be worrying about room on a pitching staff in 3 years when 100 of things can happen to change the makeup of the 2010 rotation, but.... Remember, we're on the hook to Suppan for a ton of money; we have to resign Sheets; Cappy is about to get expensive; Bush will get expensive soon; and Parra hasn't shown yet that he can start (although I'm optimistic). Maybe Inman doesn't make it, but if he does, there's no way he's blocked here. And we were treated to numerous reports and articles about how much Attanasio was involved with the Suppan signing. If Suppan is a deadweight in a short time (next start by my money), then Mark can write the checks to Suppan from his private account because I can't imagine even the most pro-organization brewers apologist wouldn't hold Attanasio responsible for the Soupcan mess. He's a command/makeup monster with decent stuff who had moved quickly through the system and, with the exception of his first couple of AA starts, pitched like a Yo clone. He's a season away from being ready. A guy like that is a lot more valuable than getting to roll the dice on a comp pick. But greg it's about making the playoffs now, not worrying about the rotation in 2009/2010. We've seen that the pieces are in place for an excellent offense made up of young guys and the nucleus of a pitching staff to make a 4-5 year run is in place. As the Brewers teams of the early 80's showed, a rotation with a bunch of less than optimal starters can work very well with a great offense. At this point we can afford to gamble a bit on Inman not walking through the minors, the majors and to the Hall of fame while the Brewers are contenders for a few years. Yes the price was steep, but the goal (playoffs) is worth the risk. I just wish we could have thrown in Nedly and got Bud Black in return.

I read about half of this thread last night and was pleasantly surprised to see the sun come up today considering the general panic yesterday. Scott Linebrink is one of the top middle relievers in baseball and we got him for a bunch of prospects with promise who may never have near the success of Linebrink. If the Brewers long term success is tied to Will Inman than this organization is in much deeper trouble than I or the Chief Cynic ever could imagine. As pointed out, even if we lose Linebrink we still get 2 comp picks that are higher than the draft position of the 3 prospects combined. We've already lost 2 games from a throw-away AAAA pitcher in Balfour. If Linebrink keeps the relief losses to a minimum and we edge out the cubbies or make the wild-card then this was a deal well worth making. As already stated, playoffs can make a huge difference in $ revenue and will definitely help with ticket sales next season allowing Attanasieo to increase the budget. Win Win people. If we're going to follow the Twins' model, as has been suggested, shouldn't we either stand pat or make a really minor move at the deadline? To me, this move signifies a desire to win as much or more than anything the Twins have ever done at the deadline. But the part of the Twins model that's always been so attractive to the organization is still very much in tact - make boatloads of money for the owner. The key to following a model is that you need to realize when your organization differs from the models and you adjust your circumstances to those differences. Now if Linebrink could only play corner OF on days he doesn't pitch we might have enough offense to beat the frickin Reds.

There won't be any talk of expansion in baseball until Selig extorts a free stadium out of So. Florida or another area. Once that's settled I wouldn't be surprised if the talk turns from "contraction" to expansion. I would add 2 teams to the AL and have a 5-5-6 division lineup with the same playoff structure as now.

First of all, it's great to see the always-entertaining xisxisxisxisxis return to BF.net! Stick around more often this time, m'friend, we need you! Right back at you my friend! I've been sick for months and it got progressively worse the last 2 months to the point of a major crisis last week. Fortunately, I think we finally figured out the problem. I've been on a modified regimen the last 6 days and am finally feeling close to normal (my normal!). No law would prevent Yost from saying "Estrada is banged up, but he's going to try to play through it", or "Johnny needs to sit a few days with an injury". I'm no expert on HIPAA (I just passed the online training class), but I do recall that it's amazing the level of "protection" you have to go to protecting patient and employee information. Generalities may work, but I wouldn't be suprised if ANY discussion is against the law now.

Yeah, I'm sure kids of color in urban areas were holding a baseball in one hand, and a basketball or a football in the other, and thinking to themselves "If Sabathia starts the All-Star Game, then baseball it is!!" Lol. Not to hijack the thread, but I am so sick of MLB pandering to the "racial" balance of baseball. When was the last time the NBA was concerned about bringing baseball to the white suburban kids to increase the racial balance of baseketball.

I agree with greg for the reasons Geno stated. I simply don't see how the Brewers can risk trying out unknown quantities in key situations in the middle of a pennant race. Doug needs to spend some time upgrading the bullpen in the next few days and someone needs to stop slapping Nedly with the stupid stick so that he can figure out that when you just call up someone from the minors, you don't put him into key win/loss situations in the middle of a pennant race as if you were managing the 2004 Brewers.

Remember, just like with injuries, Ned Yost owes the fans nothing in terms of what's going on with his team. Ned's job is part managerial and part public relations. The Brewers exist because they generate a significant amount of their revenue from the purchasing activity of their customers (tickets, concessions, caps, t-shirts, etc.). Part of Ned's job is to respond to concerns by customers and to help diffuse issues. Ned seems to understand his role. I knew someone would come after me on that angle, and I figured it might be you. Not really surprised that you would pull that kind of angle out of what I posted. But Bruce, Ned likes Milwaukee and he's positive. Who needs winning when you've got the "best" manager in baseball. I don't have a problem with Ned not saying anything about Estrada's injury 2 weeks ago. New laws make it harder for employers to discuss employees health in public. It also could prevent some manager from running on Estrada to take advantage of his injury, not that any manager would need an excuse to send runners on Johnny. If he's going to keep it quiet then keep it quiet, if it happens that the injury makes Estrada look bad under certain circumstances then that's on Nedly and Johnny. They made their bed, they can lie in it. Coming out now and saying he was injured 2 weeks ago seems a bit of wanting their cake and eating it too.

He's saying ERA is useless for projecting future performance, especially over half a season. I'm glad that's what you think he's saying, but Ennder stated emphatically that "Using ERA to judge a pitcher over a months time is completely useless. " Don't see any future performance in that statement/post or in this one "Yes it is completely useless, you can pitch great for a month and have a 7 ERA, you can pitch horribly for a month and have a 2 ERA." I really am perplexed at the argument that a month of 7 ERA could possibly be a great month. I'll agree that a month of 7 ERA does nothing for predicting future performance, but it's been stated as a fact and I've yet to see any fact that supports that conclusion. It's a lot more entertaining to simply take snippets of people's posts and distort their message. Well I do come to brewerfan.net for entertainment. Unfortunately, for a long time i've been told what to think about "facts" more than I've been entertained around here. It's fine when it's simply pointed out, but when it's a constant lecture from a people who think they are intellectually superior because they know how to use a spreadsheet then it gets on my tit.

Didn't Sickels predict great numbers for Rickie Weeks and ok numbers for Prince? That predictions turning out to be pretty WRONG!

Suppan wasn't signed for his ERA, he was signed for his health, so I fail to see what the point is. Nobody thought he'd have an elite ERA. Of course he wasn't signed for his ERA, he was signed for his BB/9IP , K/9IP, and OPS against stats..... Was Suppan the wrong choice? Depends if his salary will make it impossible for the Brewers to retain really good players who deserve that kind of money. If Attanasio is willing to take the loss on Suppan's salary in a few years then there's no problem and the Suppan signing is fine, if not then bend over and grab your ankles brewers fans. You always have to wonder why the Cradinals, in this case, didn't think he was worth all the extra dollars. The Cardinals also thought a rotation of Chris Carpenter, Kip Wells, Anthony Reyes, Adam Wainright, and Braden Looper with the return of Mark Mulder near mid-season was befiting a World Series Champion defending their crown. So the Cards make their share of mistakes. Maybe Duncan was just tired of watching Soupcan pitch. Jeff has to be one of the few pitchers who can have a no-hitter after 3 innings and pitch like crap.

What a wonderfull thread! Endder: Kat: Ennder: JoeHova: Ennder: I'm glad Endder cleared that one up for me. I was unaware that MLB had changed their rules and made the penultimate stats BB , K and OPS against determine game outcome instead of runs scored and runs allowed. I always liked just skimming the scoreboard to see what's going on in a game, but I can see now how a pitcher could give up a bunch of runs and still be pitching an elite game as long as he doesn't walk anyone and has a sufficient number of K's. Once again another visitor to brewerfan.net learned something here that no other baseball related site knows about. Keep pushing those frontiers.... But the real coup de grace was my vote for post of the year: brewerphandog: Priceless....great job brewerphandog!

Not trying to speak for him, but I think Ennder just used those examples because it seemed no one was grasping other stats showing 'unluckiness' like LOB% which he points out many times early on in this thread. I don't understand why it has to simply be a case of "unluckiness". What if there is an actual non-random cause for his performance. I think where the divide on this issue lies is that those who believe his current performance is mostly due to random variation and those who believe that it's mostly due to non-random issues that might not be fixed simply by more innings and regression to the mean.