H0FFY

Glad everyone is having a nice or family Sat evening. But that make me look up the scores myself! Indy lost 7-3. Jeff Farnsworth gave up 4 runs in the 9th. Adrian Hernandez struck out 10 guys with 1 walk and gave up 3 earned runs in 7 innings. Krynzel had two singles to raise his batting average to .311. Hart was 1 for 4. Hunstville won 6-4. Knoks and Weeks had one hit each, Alvarado 0, but everybody else had 2 hits. TGhe only home run was by Gann But the baserunning was fun. SB_A. Gwynn (25), J. Gann (2), J. Raburn (12). CS_R. Weeks, A. Gwynn, P. Fielder. Jason Shelley got the win in long relief. He gave up no hits or walks and struck out 5 in 2.2/3 innings. Giron could not close the game with a 4 run lead in the 9th giving up 2 runs, but Novinsky got the final out and the save. Helena lost 8-2. Into the 7th High Desert is up 3-1. Oops, they decided to give up 6 runs in the bottom of the 7th. So they are now down 7-3.

It is really true. We have made our bed, now we get to lie in it. And inside that bed with us is Pods and Jenks and Helms and Limps (Spivey) and the Two Headed Yost (Moeller and Bennett). In any way you look at it, there is nothing to do except see if the afformentioned guys decide to start playing baseball. If they just improve to near THEIR potential... not all star potential but THEIR potential, we have a decent offense. But I guess at the same time the pitching could fall back to earth. I think the first month our offense was so hot and pitching terrible, then for a couple of months the pitching has carried the team. I cannot see us trading for this year at all. But I still advocate taking on some teams dud contract of a good player. I mean it is like overpaying for a free agent or using a draft pick. In any case, we just need to watch these guys bat and grin (clench) and bear it.

he he he... I think the Cubs were the team in front of us for the wild card; this puts us one game out of the wild card I sure dont expect us to even get close to a playoff spot - even now. But if it makes Dougie do a trade that will help us out this year and next (I quote Dougie and me!), then that is great. I am tired of doing little. I want us to appear to manage our roster. Without any Wendy input.

My sportsline has Sammy Sosa pitching to Davey Lopes with Dave Stewart on first. That cant be right. rolllllll out the barrrrrrrellllll....

my cbs sportsline has clark ph and struck out then sosa ph for podsednick then clark ph for sosa and walked and then pods lineout cousell foul out and jenkins single (that is the sure sign something wrong)

Can we sign Maddux long term (I mean Mike)? Re how Maddux gets credit for Vic and also Kolb sings Maddux's praises. And that Davis guy has learned how to pitch. Man oh man, Mr M Maddux may be the most valuable commodity in baseball.

Well, it is funny how a millions sabremathamatarians will come out of the woods to explain how mental things do not enter in the world of sabrebaseball... clutch hitting, etc. But I have always argued that baseball players are human and mental issues do come into it. Let us look at Mr Fogg, era coming into today was 6.66. But that is pretty much how he has performed the last couple of years as a starter. And he walks a lot of guys and does not strike out many (about a 1.5k : 1bb) ratio. And he gives up lots of home runs. And way more hits that innings. But, of course, today... And the other time he faced us this year... gave up 1 run over 6 inns. And in 2003... 4.18 era against us with 19k and 2 bb

Well, one of two things will occur: 1) we are so darn good we can conceed every 5th game... that is, we dont need a decent fifth stater 2) once we have tanked the next two weeks, then Dougie will say 'see we dont need Hendrickson, we were never really gonna complete anyway' Thanks for giving us no change every fifth game Neddie and Dougie. We really appreciate it.

"no need to rush the young guy though...no reason" If you thought Lil' Ben's starts over Oby's would yield three extra wins between July and October, would that be a big enough reason. I dont know what Ben has more to prove at AAA. And Obermeuller has lots to prove and lots of work to get in. I just cannot see why a straight Obermeuller for Hendrickson swap should not be done. I agree with Davis (I think he said it) that if THIS team gets un into contention, like we are now, why change THIS team. You almost have to agree. But it is obvious that an Obermeuller for Hendrickson swap makes about the most sense as any in the world. How can it not be done? I can only think that Al's scenario can hurt (Ben gets hurt in Spring Training and spends 3 years on the DL chewing up service time, ala Neugebauer). And that cant happen. And speaking of Hart... (well, maybe not yet, maybe a couple of weeks...)

I hope are managment are putting two and two together. Great D can win you ball games PLUS it is cheap. It is lot cheaper than 40 home run guys who are defensive liabilities. My dream is for future Crew teams to concentrate on pitching and defense... and let the batting work itself out.

Interesting how Jack Z was said to have been following Rogers for years. So, how can the guys here find so many obvious flaws with the kid? I actually do believe you guys, by the way. To me it is a really odd pick, Mr Rogers. But, I am now wondering 'if we can fix up his 97 mph flawed mechanics, what sort of a horse will remain'. Will he be some steed that shoots them down at 102 mph? You all know how grumpy I was at a high school kid so high in the draft. So I calm myself with Capuano's 2 something era and Parra's sudden health and improvement. And, heck, maybe even this Josh Baker guy can be a Mark Mulder or Hudson. The fouth round is a good place to pick a good pitcher. (Does he come with a free Berkman?) But back to hoping Mark Rogers is hitting triple figures after we fix up his condition and mechanics.

BucE, in your list of our talent, I only think Manny Parra and/or Chris Capuano could develop into as good a pitcher as Weaver in as quick a time. There are a ton of names in that list that I think are on the way out. But I dont think we needed to throw one of them away. I think we could have fitted Weaver into the system. If you are correct about your opinion of Weaver, then you are more clever that most of the articles I have read. I cannot say yes or no to your feeling. I just think we should have gone down the college arm path. But, I appreciate your list. We are going to need to rely on somebody from that list filling the 2 or 3 spot in Milwaukee real soon. I would guess Davis is really a 3 guy and the other guys, including Hendrickson, are more 4 / 5 guys. And, of course, I like all of you, hope that Rogers kid will be here a long time and be real good. I have no doubt he was a 'talent filled' pick. But, not just at the first round 4 pick given our current state of staters in the minors.

Can somebody help out. How the heck can Kolb be an elite closer, but he cannot strike anybody out? (sorry, Mr Biggio, to end the game). What is Danny throwing. Just a simple 95 mph fastball that deviates about 1.5 inches - not enough to miss, but enough to only be hit for ground balls and fly balls. It that is true, he will be elite forever. Unless his movement descends into the .5 inch territory. But, until then... wow! Does he throw a change? That could be mighty useful for him. I want to declare this team GOOD. It seems when they lose a heartbreaker, they bounce back the next couple days. Today, down 3, to come back v Houston is super. Luck 'W' for Caps, but he will sure be happy. And does Brooks get a 'hold' for preserving the save for Kolb.

We must be getting really close to a straight swap of Hendrickson for Obermueller.

Oh, sorry Homer, it was not you that dissented. It was that luzinski guy. Good, Homer, good. Bad luzinski, bad.

Quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our #1 farm system looks like crap so far, plain and simple. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow! If I said that, I would need to look over my shoulder for a hit man hired by the insiders. Aren't you guys going to savage Homer so he never, never dare dissent again.

A few guys here have understood my inner psyche. So I think you will cut me some slack. Duluth dude, yes Superior was interesting. I did not know anywhere on earth ever got to more than 70 degrees until one day I drove to the top of the hill in Duluth and saw the sun for the first time. And in a town of 33,000 (at the time) there was only one black guy. We called him 'the black guy'. I thought the world was only full of Pols and Finns and one black guy. And then, horror for Brewerfanitis, I left Wisconsin in 1978. And there was no internet or Fox. So my beloved Brewers did not exist between 1978 and about 1992. So my Brewers are those of 1970 to 1978 and 1992 to now. Wo is me. And Reed understands I dont want to die before the Brewers play .600 ball (bugger .500, I want .600 one year). If I need to wait until 2011 or 2012 I will wait. But if we are not winning by then... I WILL BE REALLY, REALLY GRUMPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So let me get the logic right. I must find the college pitcher who will be a number 2 or 3 starter in 2 years. If I cannot name him, then my argument is wrong. I kind of think your counter-argument is not very well thought out. This Rogers kid seems really, really special. A high schooler who can throw 98 and he really is not even stretched out yet. That is pretty cool. But, but, but, I contend, if there was a college guy that projects as a number 2 or 3 starter in a couple of years, we should have gone down that path. I thought everyone said this Weaver guy was that good he could pitch in the majors tomorrow - but his ceiling was only a number 2 or 3.. I can only base my judgement on others observations an comments. But I can base my opinion of HS v College guys on simple facts. The college guy will help quicker. The college guy is less likely to be broken before he gets here. The college guy will be here 3 years of his life in his late 20s and not his mid 20s. I would always rather have a player here between 26 and 29 rather than 23 and 25. Can you argue against those facts. Now, it is possible that Rogers is so much better than any college guy around (at the number 5 pick) that you must pick him. But I really cannot agree. I cannot believe that in all the United States Colleges there was not a guy that can help in 2 years at our pick. It is not even up to me to name him. It is up to our drafters to PICK HIM. So the logic of 'name him, now', is just stupid. I firmly believe that we should have picked the BEST COLLEGE PITCHER available at our spot. It was a no brainer. re when the guys leave us; Sheets is a FA, according to this web site in 2 1/2 years; Ben is now 25, so we lose the college guy when he is 28. Actually, it will be interesting to see if Ben is traded because he becomes too expensive, even in his arby years. If Rogers is still our property when he is 28, it means he spent 4 years in the minors, then 6 years with us. I assume he will not be an Ace his first or second year. So, we are talking about Rogers being a big hope for us in years 2011 and 2012. Can I wait that long? Again, if our management is serious, then this must be their plan (if we dont want to Rogers early to arbitraion / free agency, we need to really slowly, slowly, slowly bring him along... hold him back in the minors as long as possible). Finally, if I agree with all you guys that the high school guys should be chosen; and they should not be brought up early; then it means we needs a number 2 or 3 starter from SOMEWHERE in the next year or two. Should we go out and find a tree and pick one?

"No sense in dwelling on an error" Strangely, standing around laughing about it for a few minutes actually IS DWELLING ON IT. But the dwell is sort of a pervese dwell. It tells me those guys are wanting to let everybody know just how much they dont care. I would simply ask the two idiots this: "at what stage will you actually begin to care?; at what stage will you NOT show this disdain for the fans who paid for you?; will it be next month?; will it be in AAA next year?; will it be when you are rookies in Milwaukee? Everybody knows if the gents in question behave like that now, it is just their modus opperandum. So we better get used to it. How many millions did we pay these guys. And they take the money then laugh in our faces. Real class guys, real class.

You guys give me so much ammo. But I am at work, so I dont have a lot of time to digest. To my Duluth friend (I grew up in Superior, by the way) - when you disagree with the logic of an argument, you will not be able to change the other persons opinion by saying 'that is the dumbest post I have ever read'. Did anyone talk about the fact that the high school pitcher will be GONE from Milwaukee when he is about 24. What good does that do us then? Neguebauer is a free agent soon. That was good value, hey! My logic is just so, so simple. We are not the Yankees, so we do not keep Mussinas and Browns long term. If Rogers becomes an Ace we will simply let him go (actually, we will trade him). C'mon, be truthful guys. What Ace pitcher have we gone after in the last 10 years. It is OK. I can wait the couple of years to say 'I told you so'. It took almost a year before you guys believed me about Neugebauer. Rememer. When management said 'all was OK'. And Reed and I said we smelled something fishy. You guys all told us to trust management, they would not cover anything up. I stand by my post. Our management could have drafted a guy that would help next year and/or the year after - when Sheets is here. They failed us. Where will we get the one piece we are missing? We are missing a 2/3 guy to go with Sheets. Where will we get that? In the draft the management actually PASSED on that. I am amazed at all the truisms you guys throw out. Is it true there is only one year development difference between a high school pitcher and a college pitcher in the minors. My only hope is this: The Crew sign Ben past his arbitration (wont happen). The Crew get there number 4 pick to be super good, quick (only pure luck) The Crew dont coach their young fireballers to throw with control around 90 (that is what they did with Nick, our coaches told him not to throw around 100 any more - good coaches hey) This Rogers kid makes to the majors in 3 year or so (that is his goal) and becomes an Ace immediately and/or signs long term for money the Crew can afford (ha ha ha ha ha ha) So, you see how grumpy I am. We could have taken a pick that would give us HOPE from the next couple of years. But, our management have pushed out the HOPE meter to 2008. Sh*t, I am gonna be dead eventually, so I cant keep waiting for the five year plan. The five year plan is OK, but when you get to year four, you cant just say 'aw, we changed, we are starting a NEW 5 year plan'. Geez

Shriv, we need a pitcher that will be here in a couple of years and then stick around for 4 years or so. What will happen with drafting all HS pitchers so high is this: 1) They will get hurt and never see Milwaukee. This is the most probable outcome. 2) If they actually see Milwaukee it will be in 4 years or so. So Ben will be long gone, and we will be back to square one. 3) If they actually see Milwaukee and become an Ace, we will see them for about 2 years, then they will be gone. You can see the big advantage of drafting a Sheets - a college guy. He actually was a solid number 3 type for a couple of years and now has become a true Ace. And we will have him for 2 or 3 more years. Drafting high school pitchers will never, never allow that scenario to happen. (Unless you suddenly believe our management will pay out big dollars to keep an Ace. In any case, it is better to have the player for cheap in his prime ages of 26-28. What good is it owning guys until they are 24, then seeing them go to some other team) Our management blew it big time. If they took the best college pitcher available, maybe we can have him throwing with Ben in the latter half of next year. Then we actually have a good rotation, good bullpen, and decent offence (Jenks will not slump for three years and the other guys are pulling their weight a little and the youngsters will start to appear (Hart, Hardy, etc). So, our managment actually drafted to be losers (or .500 at best for the forseeable future). Even if we are so lucky to get ONE Sheets from the HS guys, then he will be all alone carrying the team in 2008, and we will be lucky to be a .500 team up to then, and at then, and after then. So our managment was too scared to draft for success next year. They were plain old scared. It is scarey to manager a winner. It is much easier to sit back and do nothing. Our managment is good at doing that. I hope you are now enlightened.

Ben just 'gets it'. Quote: "this one was better (than the 18k game) because I didn't give up a run. There's no way possible to lose if you don't give up a run." Just think. We have the best pitcher in the majors on our team. Kinda cool.

Do you think it is possible that Geoff will play his way through the slump in this one game?

Well the game started at noon. So 4 1/2 hours later it is almost time for me to go home. Amazing. I had to go out for a while after the 9th. Is Sheets still in? Truthfully, it is great to be part of history. This team really is ok. Or should I say unusual. That is better than boring! I have not followed each at bat. But I sense we have had a couple of chances to score a run. Is that true?

This is the standard mojo on this board. If you say 'disaster' then, of course, all the thinkers here can find thousands of reasons you are an idiot, or strange, or whatever. But if you say 'fantastic' or 'could not be better', then, of course, you will get 100 replies saying you are clever and in tune. I completely disagree with us taking so, so many high schoolers. But this is my team so I will follow and trust in Jack. But just tell me when I am going to see Neugebauer or Jones zipping them down in Milwaukee. And just tell me that the Crew are going to fork out the money to keep a 25 year old ace. This draft is the draft of a team that thinks its management will behave like they really want to win. But, when push come to shove, the high picks will fail or if they succeed they will go to somebody else when they are 25.