Thurston Fluff

Probably because Braun was a rookie. Not that it should matter all that much, hot dogging is hot dogging, but players seem to hate rookies acting the fool more than established players.

Better idea for sure but I think you still have a much better defense with Kapler on the field anywhere instead of Gross. I tend to like what I've seen of Kapler in center more than I liked Hart in cneter last year.

Playing time overall yes. On a particular night not so cut and dry. Every manager goes with the hot hand once in a while. There's nothing wrong with it. Especially with streaky hitters/ part time players who have drastically differant defensive abilties. Why not ride the superior defensive player's hot offensive steak and try to get the duel benefit?

If that's the reason they just wasted some money. Boras is not going to give a break for one client just because you signed another to a minor league deal. Quite frankly if my agent was swayed to make concessions in my deal because another client of his got favorable treatment he wouldn't be my agent very long. If I'm a player I'm not at all interested in making less money so my agent can help another of his clients. I'm quite sure Melvin knows this as well so this is an improve the baseball team deal not a help get Prince signed deal.

Everyone agrees that Villanueva got worn down near the end of the year last year. Why doesn't Turnbow get the same treatment? If you mean physically I don't agree Villy wore down. Guys who physically wear down don't come back in September and make several very good starts to finish the season. Villy, by his own admission, wore down mentally. Given that he was in his first year relieving and how young he is that is understandable. Turnbow's situation is not anything like Villy's. I think I'm with the camp that says that a guy who has a set of stipulations that have to be met before we can put him in a game isn't someone who should be making big money or really even taking up space on a roster. Buy that man a beer. Perfect illustration of what has been wrong with our pen for the past couple years. Too many guys who couldn't just take the ball when asked and be expected to succeed in any situation asked. They either couldn't go back to back days, or needed to have another pitcher warming up because they couldn't pitch with men on base, (which for a reliever is almost absurd) or they couldn't go more than one inning, or they just weren't good enough to pitch in anything other than a blowout or extreme emergency. One of the main reasons I felt Yost was unfairly critisized with his use of the pitching staff was because he was given such a dysfunctional staff to work with. You could combine all the skills of Cox, Weaver and LaRussa yet, with that toxic combination of misfits, they would have ended up with similar results. Obviously Melvin finally understood that and found some guys who can do what's asked of them. No matter what is asked of them.

I don't know if Braun's stike zone judgment will lead him to a Vlad Guerrero type career or an Estrada one. One I'd be fine with the other not so.

Has anyone else noticed the correlation to how icky a medicine tastes is directly proportional to how well it works? I have a cold and used Zicam which tastes like cherry flavored battery acid but it sure works well. One a related note why does fruit always get the nod for flavor additives in medicine? If it's going to taste bad anyway why make the tasta assosiation with something nice? I'm thinking about lobbying for Brussels sprouts flavor in all medicine.

I think most of the relievers threw a ton of pitches in the bullpen without getting into the game, because each reliever was used in just 1 specific role. I don't get this. Most teams have a setup man in the same role as Turnbow. I doubt he warmed up without getting into a game any more often than any other pitcher. If Turnbow's troubles only appeared in August or September then maybe it could be attributed to his workload. But he was erratic well before that point. To me the idea of his workload being the problem is less reality then the fact that he simply couldn't throw strikes all the time. The Angels gave up on him even though he had an upper 90's fastball. that only happens to a guy when he has control issues. Those same issues were to blame, not his workload IMO.

The real problem isn't the farm it came from as much as the meat processor if I'm not mistaken. The problem arises when the equipment used in the processing isn't cleaned properly and the bacteria starts to grow and the meat processed after that gets contaminated. I'm kind of picky when it comes to my meat and pretty much limit myself to local butchers for that very reason. The only time I eat meat from large processing plants is when I eat out. When it comes to cannibal sandwiches I grind my own. When I was in Hawaii I had raw tuna that was quite good.

The main problem with Turnbow last year was that he was overworked which caused him to collapse in September. He only worked 68 innings last year in 77 appearances. I don't think he was even in the top 15 in either innings or appearances last season. The whole he was overworked thing is just a myth. This year Ned has plenty of new toys to play with. Some of which are way cooler than the ones he had to play with last year. I'm not surprised he's using them. Mota, Riske, Torres = Buzz Lightyear

I'm fine with it. Pitchers like Villy start to decline at 75 pitches Hes' pitched a total of 179.1 innings and 14 starts in three years. It's a bit early to know this isn't it? The best indicator we have with regrad to his starting was in 06 when he had 6 starts and 4 relief appearances and 53.2 innings. Either he had some pretty long releif outings that year or he must have gone into the seventh in several of his starts that year. Ned has three young pitchers on his staff. It's not unheard of for managers to have to learn the limits of guys like that. Frank Kremblas certainly has the you don't know until you try philosophy and he's been touted as a better managerial option than Ned by many on this site.

Hey Prince I know you are against the cruelty to animals but that doesn't mean you don't have to use that leather glove once in a while. Maybe mix in a few deep knee bends or try Yoga or something then maybe you can get all the way to the ground with that glove of yours. The reason they make gloves out of leather is so you can hit the dirt once in a while wihtout destroying it. Try scooping a ball out of the dirt or maybe put it all the way to the ground when an easy grounder comes dribbeling up your way once in a while. Here's a thought you don't much care for your dad anyway so why not change your name from Prince Fielder to Duke Humus. That way when you sign your next contract and they tell you to initial here you'll have the proper initials for where you should be playing. Dude you got mad because you thought you should have made more money this year. Just how much should the fourth best 1st baseman in the division get paid? Perhaps the Brewers made a mistake with simmons as thier bench coach. They should have hired Miss Cleo. Yost would need a fortune teller to figure out this team. I can see it now. Ned- Miss Cleo throw the bones see if Prince will make this next play. Miss Cleo - No mon. It will go directly under hees glove mon. Ned sends signal to Hart to play directly behind Prince. Prince boots it and Hart scoops it up and runs it to the bag. Ned- Thanks Clee What would I do withoput you? Next batter Ned - Clee check the cards is Weeks going to throw this next one accuratley to first Cleo - No mon. He'll air mail it to the second deck. Ned signals the bat boy to run a butterfly net to prince. Prince after a near miss manages to tag the runner before he crossed the base. Ned - Clee wihtout you I'd be bagging groceries in a month. Thanks. Cleo - No problem mon. EEt's what I do best hon.

The pitchers lined up well for them. If Villy and Bush changed spots I think we win two of three. The one thing I think will hurt the Reds long term is their pen. They've got a couple guys who are decent but not much depth. They'll be better than in the past but I still like the Brewers and Cubs chances better.

I feel the same way Russ though I'm open to critisism if there is any. My two real problems are the mechanics of it, which an absetee ballot should help and him having his own voice not just be a parrot of mine.

I have a borther living with me that is mentally challegened. He understnads he isn't as sharp as others but really hates not being able to do things other people his age get to. Last Tuesday I voted and he asked me if he would get to vote. I see no reason why a 35 year old adult citizen of this country shouldn't be able to regardless of his intelligence so I'm leaning toward letting him. I'm just not sure how to make sure he understands teh machanics of how to or how I should go about helping him understand what/who he is voting for. I do not want him to just vote the way I do since, to me, that is like me getting two votes. I'm thinking of making a list of things that are improtant to him and helping him with who best represents his interests. Does that sound reasonable? The other aspect is how do I help him understand how to vote. He can read words but cannot comprehend sentences easily so I think he can figure out the name of the person he wants to vote for. Though as I've learned sometimes he will surprise you at how well he can screw up fairly simple things. Is it even legal to help him in the voting booth? Would it make sense to get an absentee ballot and help him that way? Or would it just be better to allow him to vote knowing he may not vote for the guy he wants to realizing the ability to vote is more improtant to him than one vote for someone he may not like? I hope this isn't to political since it has nothing to do with party or policy but if it is so be it. I can respect the decision to lock if necessary.

Because he was a much better pitcher in Miller park? I'll boo a bad guy or one who said bad things about my team but that's about it. I don't really care If Coco went for a small amount more than he could have made here since that small amount could be the differance between helping his distant cousin or friend vs just his immediate family and still maintain his lifestyle. More is more. As far as him not giving Melvin the chance to match the offer agents would lose a lot of bargaining power if the team they played for didn't have to bid agianst others. If I knew the agent would come to me with the best offer and all I had to do was wait to match I'd never offer my freeagents a contract. I'd simply wait until his best offer came in and decide if I wanted to match it. Not a very good way to get more for your client IMO. There has to be a fear of losing a player or there is no way to get a better deal. Nothing wrong with that.

If nothing changes in such a short amount of games why even bother having a new ranking? If the rankings have changed from the preseason then it stands to reason ealry season performance has to play into it somewhat. IF the Cubs losing two of three at home to the Brewers doesn't change the power rankings just what criteria should be used to determine the changes from preseason. How much more can a team do to change their power rankings than beat the team supposedly better than you?

Bush should be fine for a endof the rotation guy. His k:BB never meant much to me since both those totals always seem so low that they really only count for a small portion of the total. He may have a 2:1 total but that seems less important when you realize it actually was only 2 k's and 1 walk. He plays to contact and relies on his defense which should help him more this year than last (first game excluded). He's been durable and eats a decent amount of innings and gives the team a chance to win most of the days he's out there. As pitchers go he's pedestiran and boring. For a 4th or 5th guy that's preferable to hot and cold IMO.

Gopher I doubt you'll see a bigger Yost supporter on this site than I am so I certainly share some of your sentiment on the quickness to bash him or to blame him for things that are not his doing. That said there are things he does that I don't like. Batting the pitcher 8th for example. I think we can debate the merit of what he does and whether we like it or not separatly from whether we like him overall as a manager. Turnbow was scored on in 15 appearances which is actually 80.5% and not 85%. come on FTJ I got a 8 and a 5 in my equation as well. Isn't that close enough?http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif I obviously overstated myself. I guess the best way to put it would be that guys like Turnbow are not useless by any stretch of the imagination and if we would have had a few more of at least his talent level last year we would have won the division. This year he will still be usefull IMO but we do have better options.

A lot of this season hinges on whether Villy and Parra are hidden gems or diamonds in the rough. If they are as good as I think they will be head and shoulders above the Cubs rotation. The Cubs still have an advantage in the pen but a much smaller one than last year. We may actually have a little more depth in the pen than they do but Marmol makes them more dominant late. Pinnella had 125 differant lineup last season and has already started to tinker with it this year. That may have been ok in the honeymoon period of year one but may get old fairly quick this season. His history has seen his team improve the second year only once with Tampa. I think some of that is because emotional rah rah guys can wear on players a little. Especially veterans teams like he has now.

In the first game I heard some complain that Ned should have just let Mota finish the game since he was pitching so well. Today we see complaints about letting Riske in to finish the game. Sounds like a no win situation for some fan's favorite puching bag. The whole idea behind the number of veteran relievers was so they had the versatility to use them in differant ways. While Riske has been used twice the rest of the pen has remained fresh and ready to go. If we're all agreed here that Riske is a better option than Turnbow with the game on the line He might be better but he was in the game already and had played in both games so I think Ned knew he would not be using riske today under any circumstances. Given the circumstance why burn two pitchers instead of one? Trunbow was unscored upon in 85% of his appearances last year so it's not like he a bad option in a close game. If all our relievers hold the oppostion to zero runs 85% of the time we'll have a pretty solid core of late inning guys.

When people assess the Brewers they talk about when Sheets will go down. When they talk about the Mets they talk aobut how much better they will be with both a healthy Pedro and Santana in the rotation. Odd.

This was posted a week or so ago. It didn't get many responses. Somehow I get a feeling if it showed he was bad there would have been more.

If Gwynn is such a contact hitter why does he strike out so much? I don't think he struck out yesterday. Since I was referencing his lucky hits in that game I think what he did in that particular game is the appropropriate thing to look at. It was more about his hits being the luck variety but that luck only happens when you actually make contact. Going forward if Gwynn can't cut down his k's then he will not be a starting caliber player IMO. Some think he never will some think it's a little early to think he can't improve on that like other players can improve on their defense.

The two hits were lucky. You make your own luck to some degree though. He managed to get the bat on the ball which in turn leads to a better chance for luck to play it's part. Guys who can at least make contact will invaribly have better luck than guys who miss the ball completely. With a guy like Gwynn you know when he comes to bat no matter the situation he's not going to be swinging from his heals looking to hit a three run bomb. He will alway look to make contact , put the ball in play and take what he can get. That type of guy will always appear more lucky than high stikeout guys IMO.