don1481

Jamie, shouldn't this be in blue? But yeah - with the departure of the glorious Peter Brown, Bill Michaels has taken over as the head idiot in town.

Seems like the problem's been... "fixed." I was able to vote. We're now down by a substantial margin... come on BF.Net-ters!

1. Barry "Why does everyone hate me?" Bonds 1a. Gary "This world is so unfair to me" Sheffield 1b. Mark "I'm not here to discuss the past" McGwire 1c. Rafael "I will point my finger at these congressmen and then fail a drug test" Palmeiro - oh the hypocrisy 1d. Sammy "What? Steroids? No hablo ingles!" Sosa Honorable mentions go to: 1. Carlos Zambrano 2. Alfonso Soriano (for being a Cub, obviously) 3. Any of the middling starting pitchers that commanded around $10M last offseason on the FA market. Way to make Sheets all the more expensive and see also #4 below... Among the Brewers: 1. Estrada - it's starting to become painfully clear why he's gone through the Braves, Phillies, Diamondbacks, and now Brewers in relatively short order... 2. Counsell - while a good guy and most likely a good "clubhouse presence," his stance makes me cringe. 3. Varga... zzz... oh, what was I talking about? 4. Suppan - anyone who makes that much cash and serves up a .300+ BAA should be charged with highway robbery 5. Pick any of the "Designated Bullpen Stooges," including Ball-four, Dessens, or Spurling. I think I just threw up a little in my mouth typing that...

Did it to me as well. BtA, did you send them an email/message asking them what's going on?

Well that depends on the Pie. Are we talking about Felix Pie the Cub? Now everyone go wish the Automator a happy birthday over on the Off-Topic board and take our minds off of the trainwreck that was the Brewers in Cincyhttp://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Since I haven't seen a thread anywhere else on this one, I'd like to extend a BF.Net "Happy Birthday" to the one and only Brian the Automator! Happy 30th! Only 20 years to go before you get your AARP cardhttp://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Mmm... cake. Well what about a twinkie shake too? You only turn 30 once! Can I vent about how I made the mistake of eating Taco Bell for lunch after weeks of quasi-healthy food? My body's not so young and forgiving anymore!

Yeah, you'd almost think Junior Spivey was in on the deal. Agreed, Brian... I guess we'll see after this season when Linebrink hits the FA market.

Yeah, as I said to you before, your hopes of getting a long-term deal from the Brewers just went down the tubeshttp://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif But the Giants could still come knocking...

However, as expressed by myself, BSCR, and a few others, the caveat to this is that Linebrink does *not* accept arby from the Brewers. Again, see also: Graffanino, Tony as to what happens when the player accepts arby (for whatever reason) and the team does not get those comp picks. Given Linebrink's 2006 and 2007 seasons, I'm just concerned that the Brewers acquired a reliever that's regressing rather than one that is "hot." I hope the trade helps him get back towards his awesome years, which would also improve the odds he gets a nice offer elsewhere http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Wow, Brewers. Way to give the Automator a nice birthday present. *sigh* I guess CoCo is entitled to an "off" game every once in awhile, right...?

Out of sheer morbid curiousity, I wonder what the Yankees were willing to give up...

Exactly, BSCR, which was my point in comparing this to the Graffy situation last year. Hence us acquiring "Meh Scott" versus "Awesome Scott." If this is the going rate for an arm like Linebrink, I shudder at the actual cost for a top-end reliever...

What? David? Where's this optimism coming from? Between you and Geno, I thought for sure there was going to be enough angst and cynicism about how we're "mortgaging the future" to fill up several Cure albums. But that said, again - look at Linebrink's recent history. We acquired "Meh Scott," not "Awesome Scott." Top setup man he is not as of now. He hasn't been a "top" setup man in the past two seasons, either. It's not like when we acquired Cordero, who had lost his closer spot *that* season and was pitching effectively as a setup man. Now, I know I'm going to draw the wrath of Russ for this one, but I'm going to "small sample size" and look at Linebrink's past month. I mean... if we're acquiring a reliever to help us down the stretch, it'd be nice if he was on a roll, right? Well... with that delicious 9+ ERA this month, Linebrink's almost as hittable as Grant Ball-Four. Mmm. Tasty meatball. And given how a large portion of those contracts have backfired, GMs are probably getting a little wiser about shelling out such cash. This discussion is not at all about what Jack Z would do with the comp picks so much as whether or not said comp picks will come to fruition in the first place. But since you bring it up... I do trust Jack Z to replenish the farm system with comp picks (if that happens).

Oh, David... I wouldn't call FTJ's statement "poor" at all. Even during his last "awesome" year (2005) Linebrink's peripherals were starting to regress towards "league norms." And by the end of last season, the following trends were pretty apparent: H/9 were trending up. K/9 was trending down. WHIP was going up. If Linebrink has as good of "Stuff" as we're told, how come he's had a relatively pedestrian last couple of seasons?

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. Now, some of you reading this may be asking "Don, what relevance does our RH half of the Counsellino platoon have to do with Linebrink?" Well... last year, part of the reasoning for acquiring Graffy, in addition to covering for an injured Rickie Weeks, was to get DM's hands on some comp picks. Other teams were well aware of Graffy costing them picks and so Tony wound up accepting arby with the Brewers and... *sigh*. Graffy obviously will not be landing the Brewers any comp picks this offseason. Now... with Linebrink, let's say he doesn't sign elsewhere and accepts our arby for the same reasons that Graffy was forced to. What could we wind up with next season? If we look at Linebrink's numbers over the years, we see a Tale of Two Scotts. You have Awesome Scott, who was awesome in San Diego between 2003 and 2005... and you have Meh Scott, who's been well, meh, for San Diego this year and last. Since he's not getting younger, it's reasonable to think that he could keep up with his current pattern of regressing towards league average. Yes, he could go back to Awesome Scott, but again, given his age and his past couple of years... I'm not thinking it's terribly likely. While (as of now) the bullpen for next year consists of Turnbow, Turnbow, and well, Turnbow, having another arm in there, especially one that isn't the relief equivalent of a Designated Rotation Stooge, isn't a terrible thing. But since Melvin did make it quite clear that one of the reasons why he made this trade was to get comp picks, the fact that the Brewers wouldn't get comp picks means that we gave up Inman plus two others for a middling middle reliever would mean that this trade's upside has taken a severe hit.

How is this thread NOT stickied by now? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Mmm... Centanni on a Wednesday - $5 martinis. Yum. That is all.

Exactly, TC. That's what I've been saying here ever since the decision to put Gallardo into the rotation for Sheets was made: Gallardo will be of more value down the stretch than he will be right now. Look at how Verlander wore down towards the end of last season. Could that happen to Gallardo? You betcha... if not worse. I know we all want to "win now" but we sometimes seem to lose the fact that this team could keep winning for several years. And a hurt Gallardo (from over-use and increasing his innings too quickly) could slightly damage those plans. Remember: "Win now" does not mean "win at all costs."

Agreed, although the only "mistake" he really had was his 3 1/2 stars for The Social down in the Third Ward. The words "absolutely putrid" come to mind to describe that place. At least he was man enough to own up to it in his chats.

In a word... wow. I'm surprised and quite disappointed. Is there any chance of Salmone making the bigs while Turnbow's a Brewer? Would that make for the first "official" battery that dabbled in the realm of performance enhancing drugs? In all seriousness, though, are LuCroy and Fryer now going to leapfrog him on the prospect charts?

To echo Peavey, who cares? As much of a fan as I was of calling up Balfour to see what he's got, it's evident that right now is not exactly his time. Sad, because I was really rooting for the guy. At least he was able to come all the way back from all those arm problems to pitch again in the bigs. For that alone I give him a ton of kudos.

The article Point is talking about. At least the NFL is starting to take steps. Obviously they can't take his pay yet but... here's to hoping that, if these allegations are as much of an open and shut case as it seems, he spends a long time in jail.

http://www.cubbiesbaseball.com/images/cubfan1.jpg http://justin.turnthecrank.com/graphics/cubs_fan_interferes_nlcsgame6_standsview_large.jpg

And, honestly, that's too bad. Stern should make it very clear that a player cannot hold a team hostage simply because he does not want to play for that team if that team drafts him. Here's my dream scenario if Yi opts to sit out: 1. Yi is declared ineligible to re-enter the draft and therefore ineligible to be signed by any other team. If the Bucks choose to relinquish his rights, he may re-enter the draft only at that time. 2. The Bucks are awarded a "compensatory" first round pick (#6A) in the 2008 draft. 3. Stern sets up consequences for players who refuse to sign their contract with the drafting team including making #1 above official: Any player drafted in the first round that refuses to sign with that team and re-enter the draft by sitting out a year is still considered to be under the jurisdiction of the team that drafted him ad infinitium.

What, grousing about how lousy the team is has been a fundamental component of BF.net since Day One! But in all seriousness, maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves here in general. Rather than taking a Yankees "If we're not ten games up on our evil rivals, we're not doing a good enough job" mindset, we need to just sit back and enjoy what this team has given and (hopefully) will continue to give us fans this year, and hopefully for years to come. While this should be the first year of a long run of success, we can't act like it's going to be the ONLY year. 25 years of not being in the playoffs has jaded the fan base; heck, I was 21 months old when the Brewers were last in the World Series... and my brother was BORN during the World Series. My parents still haven't forgiven him for this (I kid, I kid). Yet we all still believe that at some point, we will see our beloved Brewers in the playoffs. I still believe. Come join me and enjoy the ridehttp://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif