sheethead

Yes. It was fuzzy for a while, but the record became very clear after Attanasio's comments last week.

Someone mentioned wins when looking at Melvin's results the last five years. After this year the results are going to look below average, rather than just average.

There are 28 other teams, and the Pirates.

Tough break for Salome. If not for his "issues," he would be getting at a significant look at the Show.

I'm not sure what to expect anymore. Who knows how this roster is going to shake out in the next two weeks. But I would think they can play .500 ball the rest of the way and get to 76-78 wins. It all depends on whether management goes with strength or with cost.

Things are going to change, I can feel it. How does the rest of that song go?

Why is everyone's opinion considered, "not being honest" in here? I'm rather nautious, and I'm being totally honest. Sooooooo... any big changes coming?

Win dagnabbit!

Nice post EdgarDiaz, I agree that it wasn't all Freidman who built the current Rays team.

[strawbossevil] called your assertions that a good-GM would have traded them for that type of pitcher ridiculous and unrealistic. So you actually admit to violating this forums policy? Not only were they not my assertions, but you say they were and then call them ridiculous and unrealistic? "decent starter" You quote this like its what I said. And you ask me if I am disingenuous? Much further back in the conversation? Its back one page. Don't have to go too far, and it was said smack in the middle of all my posts. So since it makes your argument weaker, we have to pretend it either didn't happen or it was so much further back in the conversation that it doesn't matter? So a top/middle of the rotation starter cannot be inferred as a #1/#2 with you? I'm done here.

Funny, I never even brought up the idea of #1/#2 starter. So what did this imply? Ah yes, he should just trade for a young guy who will be a top/middle of the rotation starter. How can Melvin not understand this? It's so simple!

Most people disagree with you that Melvin is merely average, including nearly every MLB expert who has commented on the subject. Good for most people. Those same "most people" barely follow the Brewers, so I am not sure how much Ethos most people have on the subject, regardless of whether or not they are paid to have an opinion. Peter King was paid to print his opinion that the Bears were going to be in the Super Bowl this last season. I form my own opinions, rather than rely on most people who get paid to print theirs to form it for me. You can't possibly say that about team flexibility with any certainty... This is pure guesswork on your part. Not really, there are many sources that say the Brewers are pretty much maxed out on payroll. Funny how that has been a common refrain when responding to you in this thread about your expectations..unrealistic, unrealistic, unrealistic, naive, naive, naive...) You sir put words in my mouth over and over again. I am not clamoring for a trade to net a #1 or #2 starter like you keep saying I am. Decent pitching is what it is. Chances for MLB players. I never said trade those vets for front-line can't miss prospects. Those are the words you keep putting in everyone's mouth.

Fielder = Melvin type GM, Pujols = Freidman type GM This still makes no sense to me, and I have tried numerous contexts. Are you comparing quality of player to GM? You think Melvin is the second or third best GM in the NL? This smells like a strawman argument. My point is he is not above average, he is just average (and this does not mean I'm saying he is the worst). He has not maintained a good amount of financial flexibility. There was no room last year or this year to bring in an impact player via trade, because he has maxed out the payroll on Jason Kendall, Doug Davis, Jeff Suppan, Trevor Hoffman, etc. type players. I don't see how wanting a great GM for my favorite team is setting me up for disappointment. I just would like some decent pitching, and a great GM would have explored the possibility of trading Hoffman, Counsell, Cameron, etc. last year in an effort to get some. Some of these decisions may be affected by ownership, and I can acknowledge this. But Melvin's job is to work with the owner to make him realize what the best course of action is at a given point in time. The team was going nowhere last year, and likewise that is exactly what Melvin did... nothing. Two good years in Tampa and Freidman's the golden child. I don't think its stretching to say he will have three good years in a row after this year. Not just good, but very good.

In my mind it is like releasing Prince Fielder in the hopes that the next 1b we sign is going to play like Albert Pujols. How does this relate to trading for pitching? None of the really bad deals are likely to hamstring the franchise after this year I hope we are not saying the same thing next year.

I forgive you.More like you're welcome! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif He settled in nicely with Lucroy after the second inning, no doubt. They needed that. And Coffey looked like he may have found something toward the end there.

I didn't realize Texas put Cruz on waivers, and could have been had by any team for $20K.

Wolf seems like he drank his suck juice again tonight. Can any Brewer pitcher throw strikes? This is freaking ridiculous. Its not Lucroy's fault Randy, you've been sucking for some time now.

I would consider Mike Cameron a big money signing (and an older player). And last I checked, he did a pretty solid job for us in CF for two seasons. I love how you dismiss any player that goes against your preconceived notion. There's one. Show me where I dismissed Mike Cameron. You're argument is not meshing well with mine. I don't do stuff like this. That is why your expectations will never be met no matter what GM runs the team because they simply are not realistic. Your expectations are too soft. If they lead to you never being disappointed, then great. Other GM's are having success that meets my expectations, with less spending. Forgive me for wanting a Brewer GM to do the same. To say that is somehow a failure is just flat out wrong. Again, just like the other poster, show me where I said Melvin is a failure overall as a GM. He's average. C student I might say. Just because he has more wins than the Pirates, Reds, and Astros does not mean he is a success. So the Brewers have the 7th most wins of any NL team over the past 5 years Heh, average, right? To say I said Melvin is a failure of a GM is flat out wrong.

The question also remains, would you have spent the money it took to get Hoffman for 2009? No. $6 million for a 41 year-old closer is not wise to me unless that player is still touching 96mph and named Mariano Rivera. Even then I might flinch. Sure it worked out in 2009, but now I really wish he would have been terrible last year. Who knew Melvin would give him even MORE this year? Really, Melvin hasn't been nearly as bad at FAs as you like to state. The big money ones, yes. He has been very bad. The plugs and stop gaps, who really notices a Greg Zaun? Where is he? Edmonds? Kolb was a good closer for a minute. Being a small market club means we have to temper our expectations. You can temper your expectations, I don't have a problem with that. But do NOT expect me to temper my expectations, or even tell me I have to. I won't do it.

Maybe I can't get over the fact that I have always thought Doug Davis was a bad pitcher. He walks too many batters, and walks too many hitters for me to think he is good, let alone deserving of $5 million at his age. Its commendable what he has done in MLB given his skill set, but why roll the dice on no upside, and only downside? Yes, I'd rather bring a bunch of guys to ST and have some unknown take that spot than roll the dice and $5 million on Doug Davis. As for Bush, I was on the fence at the time, so I can't for sure say I would have non-tendered him. But Narveson has looked way better than him this year, and looked good last September as well. Bigger arm, better control, and doesn't seem to blow up the way Bush does. So yeah, I would have done this at $10 million less, and saved the flexibility for a later time. Yovanni Wolf Parra Narveson Estrada/X Pitcher Does anyone honestly believe that Doug Davis is a playoff caliber starting pitcher? Really? Now if we only make the playoffs once over the next 4-6 years when our 2nd crop of minor leaguers come up, then I'll start to take issue. With Mevlin at the helm, I will be ecstatic if the Brewers reach the playoffs just one more time. I don't see it happening.

I guess by looking at these numbers, I don't understand how you could expect the brewers pitching staff to not improve by adding Davis and Wolf to the fold. Looking at their ages, and the fact that they were just okay in their prime to begin with, I don't understand how anyone would be amazed by under-performance from any of them.

.520 Winning % from 2007-2009. 1 playoff appearance when our #1b pitcher got hurt. Lost to the eventual WS champs. More playoff victories than the cubs since 2004. If that is what satisfies us, I feel bad for us.

this team was still a very low payroll team for the first 5 years of his tenure. I'll give you three years, but after that I have a hard time seeing Melvin's payroll as very low. Just because most people think the signings were fine doesn't make them good signings. I hated most of them. Doug Davis $5.25 million Dave Bush $4.2 million Hawkins $7.5 million Hoffman $8 million ($2 million more than in 2009 - and another year older!!!) Claudio Vargas $1 million Add in Suppan's $12.5 million I hated from day one, and that is nearly $38.5 million I would have spent elsewhere, or not at all and started saving for a big sign down the road. I was OK with Zaun because we needed a one year stop gap, and I liked the Riske and Bill Hall signs. But the money above is money I would not have spent, and Melvin had cheaper, more serviceable options available (granted not proven, but Axford/Narveson were up last year and looked to be fine). You simply cannot continue to count on the Doug Davis' and Trevor Hoffman's to keep on keeping-on their whole life. The tough decisions need to be made in a more aggressive manner. Simply giving X player $5 million because he was good last year is a terrible way to go about building a team, especially when we are talking about 37 year-old bullpen arms. This management team needs to get smarter and be more aggressive, otherwise we will be watching garbage baseball for the next 5 years (or however many empty seats and losing seasons Mark Attanasio can stomach). Melvin has done a horrible job in Free Agency (outside of Counsell), and personally, he should just stay away from past their prime vets.

When did the Brewers have a good 2-3 year run? Zero division titles, zero NLCS appearances, zero World Series Appearances, zero championships. I see a 3 month run on the back of Sabathia, but other than that I don't see the results. And now I see big-time falloff. He can only be considered a successful GM if you have lowered standards of what success entails, meaning 15 years of losing skewed where the measuring stick belongs.

Win dagnabbit!