Madtown343

Bowtie usually does a pretty good job.

Carrol almost has a confidence about him that he is going to be the one that changes the public opinion with his article... I sure hope so.

Anyone know when carrol will have it? Or why he only has this...

If this is true, I wonder how the vote was 2-1 and not 3-0 That's how bad MLB wanted to protect their "integrity". That worked out well.

If carrol has this info, I think we all will be able to hear it eventually. Which will make Espn and MLB net running with their fed ex versions even more comical.

And I'll take his opinion all day over Karl at Espn, or kruk...

“@injuryexpert: Repeatable result showed exactly how Braun's single test showed positive. Arbitrator agreed. Simple, isn't it?” “@injuryexpert: The Braun decision was based on HOW the sample was corrupted. Panel was shown exactly what happened, why result was invalid.”

If you don't follow will carrol on twitter. Check out his recent posts. He seems to have more info than the masses.

I think Mat was laid back, constantly got hurt in spring which was attributed to poor conditioning, and really never inspired much with his attitude. That being said I have never heard a thing about being lazy in season, a bad clubhouse guy or anything like that. Sounds like he might have been a bit immature, blew some opportunities and now might be playing with past in is rear view mirror. This is his last shot with the Brewers, he knows that. His attitude should be at its best in his career, and his talent is obviously there. Put those two together and I think he is going to surprise those who gave up on him after 180 PA or whatever he has had in the majors.

Thing is everyone likes Casey as a person. As a utility if position he does not really fit that. He does not play defense well at any position, and he does not run well so that is two the bench aspects that are nice to have. I guess at times in his career he has shown the ability to make contact and work pitchers, but he is not much of an OBP guy. I think his value in a bench role is pretty limited.

I was really hoping Monday after the Super Bowl would be the last day we would have to discuss the what ifs on this...

I agree with all of those comments, but I guess my thought was what if Peralta is pitching so well that he might be the better option over say Wolf in 2012 and be a substantial financial saving that might allow us to take on salary at the deadline in another manner. I guess this is stemming from me thinking Peralta is going to put his incredible ground ball rate from 2 years ago, with his greatly improved K rate from last year, and really develop into a top of the rotation starter at some point this season. Not and ace, but actually giving the team a better chance to win then possibly Wolf, Narvy, or even Marcum if eh shows any signs of wearing down again. That is when I wonder if taking the risk on the rookie could actually benefit the team in multiple ways. Most likely just wishful thinking, and we will allow him to pitch at AAA, make spot starts when needed and have him groomed for hopefully the 3rd spot in the rotation for 2013 behing Yo and ZG.

If Peralta is tearing it up by June, I wonder if salary relief would give the Brewers the thought of seeing if they can move Wolf or Marcum in the last year of their deals to a team who has lost some SP to injuries...

Why do people think Gamel is going to be bad defensively at 1B? He had good feet, very good range, and soft hands. He is more athletic than Fielder as well. All of those attributes should make for a pretty good defensive first baseman. His only knock would be experience and improving on some of the nuances that come with the position. (picking throws, holding runners, etc.) I think he will actually be above average both offensively and defensively, but like many have said only if he is given the reigns and allowed to play through some possible early struggles. Hart, Weeks, Hardy, and many other high prospect hitters were off to starts as bad as Gamel or worse. He is reportedly in great shape, lost the surfer look, and is motivated to take control of his first real chance. Health and opportunity are all he can ask for the rest is up to him.

Patterson is not relevant. I think the more we discuss this the more I think people are right when they say we really dont have "that Guy" this season. I think Gonzo is going to frustrate people offensively with the high K numbers, but if his D is stellar people will his role on the team. Likewise I think Aramis will struggle in the field with wild throws and Gamel's inexperience will not help cover up his liabilities. However, offensively he can hide those problems by hitting well with runners in scoring position and being a clutch performer. I will go with the guys I think are under the most pressure to start the season, especially from the casual fan. Lineup: It has to be Gamel. The casual fan already has traded him for "a bag of balls" countless times by now, and if he gets off to a slow start it will turn into an I told you he couldnt hit major league hitting. I think he can and will prove them wrong, I just hope he really is in excellent shape and ready to seize his first real chance at a big league spot. Rotation: I am going to go Marcum. The guy was awesome, maybe our best pitcher for the entire regular season. However, if we go back to his first start against the Reds where he struggled with command and the message boards were flooded with we traded Lawrie for Suppan #2!!! Well all of those posters hibernated til the playoffs and Marcum laid 3 consecutive stinkers and looked just as beaten mentally as he did physically. If he were to get off to a slow start in the regular season I could see people riding their recent memory of the post season and really trying to put emphasis on how Lawrie would really look good on this team Bullpen: The obvious is Loe because everyone already thinks he had a horrible 2011. (Despite the reality that he was effective more often than not, and especially when used versus righties) However, I actually think the guy who could be ridden this year could be Parra who people are sick of hearing about his potential or Krod if he cant find ways to wiggle out of jams quite so consistently this season. I think it is a good thing that we have to look so hard to find who we think might be a weak link. Is it report date yet?

Wolf has been as good as advertised, and has pretty much been exactly what we signed. A guy who will keep you in most of the games he pitches and take the ball every single time his name is called. I know in the end it was a moot point, but his win in STL to even the series and guarantee that it would return home was one of the biggest moments of the season.

I think Gallardo, Grienke, and Peralta could be a pretty nice 1-2-3 of power arms to go with a 4,5 of reasonably priced arms for the next 4+ years.

Its Yo. April 6th can not come fast enough. That series is going to be insane in my opinion. No Prince and no Albert. Who improved more Ramirez, Gonzo, Gamel or Beltran, Furcal. Potential pitching match ups of Yo vs Carp, Grienke vs Wainwright, Marcum vs Oswalt? Gallardo has proven to be our best big game pitcher and opening day at MP versus your biggest division rival and the team that ousted you in the Champ round? That is a very big game.

Stevo - That line was funny, and he made another comment that unintentionally was a blow at the rest of the bullpen. He said something like losing Hawk and Saito is a big hit to the bullpen, but I guess we will just have to make sure we pitch 7 strong innings this year rather than 6. Makes me think when he says he likes Milw, likes the team, the management, etc. He is not sugar coating anything. I would pounce on this extension talk while he does not have an agent. Come right out an ask what he thinks is enough to keep him happy pitching somewhere he likes for the next 4-5 years. I would bet Zach would actually suggest a number not to far off of what he deserves.

The higher the pick the better, but in reality there are long lists of hits and misses at every pick in the first round... and for that matter the whole draft. That being said, since he almost with certainty wont be a Brewer I would like the highest possible pick (16) so have the ability to draft a player we think belongs at that slot. If Washington with Stras, Zimm, Zimm, Morse, Werth, Fielder, and Harper turn into a National league power house.... So be it. I would love to see the NL East being battled for by Wash and Fla and see Philly and NY struggling to keep up.

I would agree that Grienke and Gallardo are due for improvements, only I think they have a chance on being significant. If Yo gets off to a better start and pitches more like the guy down the stretch he would be a Cy Young candidate. As for Zach I feel like his ERA has to start being reflective of his insanely good peripheral stats, why not this season... and he will hopefully stay of the bball court in spring. I would agree Marcum could see a slight regression, and Wolf almost has to see some regression. Narveson I think is what he is, he will likely perform similar and for a 5th starter that is fine by me. The aspect that I think we are overlooking is that if a minor injury to a top arm, or a significant injury to a bottom of the rotation arm occurs, I think the team has two options in Peralta, and Fiers that will be major league ready this year. I actually thought the team should have possibly tried to shop Wolf or Marcum in an attempt to clear 6-10M and allow Peralta a shot to beat out Estrada in camp, and if not in camp after a few more starts at AAA. The Reds have proven that going with the young arm can prove to be effective if the prospect can handle it. I believe that after we considered Peralta as a possibility in 2011 and he went out and had the season he did, how can he not be considered a possibility if he blows us away this spring? In other words I think it could be significantly improved by better IF and OF defense. (Aoki>Kotsay, Gomez healthy) Grienke and Gallardo improving, Marcum and Wolf still posting ERA's at or below 4, and Narveson, Peralta, Fiers, and in a sense Estrada providing us with pretty decent depth if a pitcher does miss some time.

Briggs... You point on fielding percentage as the lone statistic for why Gamel wont be an upgrade over Fielder. That is really not nearly as important as if Gamel saves other players errors with added athleticism and has far better range based on that athleticism. Gamel had excellent hands as a 3B and very good range. His arm cost him at times, but Prince's throwing was down right awful. I would think Gamel will walk in and be better than Fielder overall if you use a metric other than fielding % and he will only improve with time. Ramirez and Casey... Not really much defense their for either player. I know from watching the Cubs play Aramis seemed to make wild throws that D-Lee usually bailed him out on, but will Gamel have the ability to help him like his previous 1B did? I think this may be one of the biggest questions, but Prince would not have been much better if at all. You then say Gonzo will be better, but his impact will be negated by Gonzo's higher K rates, but that runner on 3rd and less than two outs doesnt score if the batter swings at the first pitch and puts it into play for a double play. As we grew so accustomed to with Yuni. A strikeout is a wasted AB, but I would take that, and Lucroy with AB with two outs over the first pitch DP that Yuni seemed highly prone to. (Gonzo did actually ground into more DP 19 than Yuni 16, but it was one outlining season) I think a healthy Weeks also is a bonus at 2B over the unhealthy version we had down the stretch run of games and into the playoffs as well. He spins a DP as well as anyone other than maybe Robbie Cano. Overall I think IF defense will be noticeably improved and that will allow pitchers like Gallardo, and Grienke to have confidence in throwing strikes down in the zone to induce ground balls and keep pitch counts in control. Just my observation.

Its a boring Monday though, and I will take good news over bad news anyday...

Articles like Buster Onley's "He should just give away his MVP even if he intends to plead innocence" are part of the problem. We are two weeks from finally knowing some of the truth's and finding out if MLB thinks he was negligent, cheated, etc. and this fool cant wait until that is finished to spew this garbage. Why would he give up the MVP if he thinks he is innocent? Is that not the most damning thing he could do? Why write this article and point fingers when the truth has not been uncoverd and it is your network was the one that ran with the story prematurely in the first place. The average fan picks up bits and pieces along the way, and when sports writers are jumping to conclusions why wouldnt they? Just annoyed.

I think Hart is largely negligible in this discussion. Hart is still in the lineup regardless so the choice is more between Gamel, Aoki, or a possible vet RH OF bat. This also is not thinking that Aoki will maybe be spending time in LF with Braun out. So versus a tough lefty, Aoki would help the D by moving Hart out of the outfield to 1B. Hart might be an improvement over Gamel versus the lefty, but will Aoki be an upgrade over Gamel? Enough of a defensive upgrade if Gamel is the better offensive player of the two? Those are the questions this makes me think of.