Thurston Fluff

I doubt there's an actual reason being a DH makes him a poorer hitter than when he plays left field other than luck and small sample size variance. I guess so but add in the others who occasionally need a break and three off days in the next two weeks and it's down to 3 or 4 games a week. That changes in August and there's less of a problem keeping him on the roster if he's not the best option for regular playing time for whatever reason.

I doubt they want to stop playing Yelich and Contreras at DH so anyone who only DH's is not going to be an everyday player. If I were to guess, and it's only a guess, is they don't want to bring Hiura up to be a part time player.

I think history has shown any team that makes the playoffs has a chance to win the World Series. I'm not against them making a few moves but I don't think any of the options available are going to change the odds of winning it all by much. We got here with pitching and defense and are going to have to win it with pitching and defense.

Given they're leading the division with this lineup I think maybe you're wrong.

If you're asking if I thought he should have been the answer is no for the reasons I mentioned.

I just started watching Ted Lasso and it's fantastic. It's got a feel good vibe combined with good humor. Hard to beat. One that I've found better than expected is Halo. I was leery of shows based off video games but I must say I'm warming up to them.

I was going to say the exact same thing.

I never understood why someone who wasn't coming back form injury or other type of absence can be a comeback player. It'd be one thing if someone sucked so bad they were out of baseball but to be playing but just not up to their standards and be a comeback player? Not so much.

From what I've seen teams tend to use the closer at home in a tie game in the 9th inning for a long time. With the Ghost runner in extra innings does that make sense now? It seems like giving a lesser pitcher a clean inning vs a runner at second is better. Last night was a perfect example. Williams comes in and shuts the door stranding the runner. That only happened because the Brewers were behind going into the bottom of the 9th. Would standing the runner in the 10th been as likely if the Brewers had been tied going into the 9th and Williams pitched the 9th?

Low fastball spin rate = low chase rate = high walk rate?

Apples and oranges. In the NFL there's a salary cap and revenue sharing so the only way to outspend other teams is through the front office and coaches. In college sports players don't get a salary at all so again the only way to outspend is on coaches. In baseball why spend a ridiculous amount of money on scouts and other front office personnel when you can just buy the players already developed and ready to go? It doesn't take a mastermind to target Corbin Burnes as the best pitcher and pay him more than anyone else.

But we can predict that going for it works? I think we all get you don't care about watching a craptastic team for the next five years as long as the team goes for it now. That has been well established. What I think many of us are trying to get across to you is how little major trades change the odds of winning now.

This times ten. Where is the evidence that going for it gets us any closer to winning it all than being consistently good? I'm trying to think when the last time a team went for it and won the trade deadline or off season and also won the World Series. Essentially it's trading years of good baseball for one year of hype and a 90% chance if disappointment in the end. Frankly, I think most of the people who like the go for it mentality like the hype at the time instead of at the end of the season.

If you're going to look at our history and ignore who's making the trades then lets talk about how great the Francisco Rodriguez and Jeremy Jeffress trades were. They have about as much to do with Arnold as Stearns trades do.

I'm guessing Mark A will be the one who says they can't.

There are far too many examples of flawed teams making the playoffs and making a deep run to say minor fixes don't change the course of the season. It also matters what the team acquires in how much of a boost it gives them. A team like the Reds won't get the same boost from acquiring a league average bat just like the Brewers won't get the same boost as the Reds by acquiring a league average starting pitcher. The Brewers may not have made a weakness a strength but they did take a weakness and made it average. Given the weakness was never supposed to be a strength average is good enough to make a run.

I'd argue these moves show it is a team with a direction. One stated many times over. They're going to ride pitching and defense while getting enough offense to win games and make deadline moves that help the current team without hurting the future. Suddenly picking up a bunch of terrible fielding, good hitting players, giving up a boatload of prospects in the process would have indicated a team without direction. I get that some don't like the approach but that doesn't mean it isn't a planned approach that they're staying with.

But going all in an giving up top farm talent for a "needle mover" is a guaranteed certainty to win us a World Series?

How they do in a mid season series against the Braves proves nothing. I seriously doubt the Brewers would send out Teheran, Rea and Hauser as their starters in a playoff series. They just got done playing six series against winning teams and won four of them. The fact they have a winning record, and have had one all season long, is because they've been good enough to be the playoff contender they have been so far. I also don't get the "If it wasn't for the division they play in they'd be sellers" comment. I'm not directing it at you personally since it's been a standard comment all over. If the division is so inept why do they have the same number of teams who'd make the playoffs if the season ended today as the other two divisions? Why do they have the same number of teams with a winning record as the other two if it's so much worse than the others? Obviously that can't be blamed on an unbalanced schedule. While it may not be the best division, it's not so far behind that it's a lock only one team will advance. Given the fact the Brewers are the number two wild card team today kind of shows maybe there's more than one route to the playoffs for the NL Central division teams. Or perhaps it shows there aren't a whole lot of great teams in any division. Either way the Brewers position as a playoff contender is far from simply being in a weak division. All that said, I agree we shouldn't trade the farm for a one season run. Not because they don't stand a chance in the playoffs but because there's enough in the system and what trades would give us in return to think this team can be a contender for the foreseeable future. I'm not a fan of the all in mantra.

Considering this is the first time Arnold has been in charge I'm not sure how relevant what they've done in the past is.

Getting Justin Wilson and Woodruff back is like getting an all star starter and veteran lefty reliever for free which means less need to overspend on offense. Speaking of offense, there are several players who've under performed but have enough of a track record to think they'll turn it around. Most notably Urias and Adames. I wouldn't mind at all if they keep the farm intact. I really don't really want them to trade anyone of note just for a stop gap player.

If cable tv viewership dries up the advantage is gone.

More evenly split tv money would result in smaller market teams being able to compete for free agents. If a team has a good fan base like Milwaukee the ability to put out good teams will draw more fans. It's an easier sell for local governments to build new stadiums for a team that fill stadiums than one that doesn't. The threat of relocation may not go away but the incentives for cities to maintain good facilities would be greater.

Who knew all we needed was to play against better teams?

There is a far better chance the Brewers get on a hot streak than the Cards. The Brewers have been the most injury riddled team in the division, are still above .500 and are starting to get healthy. Not only did they ride the injury wave and play better baseball than the Cards during that time but they're returning players are going to be fresh during the dog days of August. As far as the prospect capital to greatly improve their roster goes: if they had that much prospect capital why haven't they used it to improve the team before it got this bad? If their close to the majors talent was any good they'd be on the roster. If their best players are further away it'd take more players to get anyone decent and they'd be trading their future on the hopes a hot streak and four teams collapsing ahead of them. I don't see that happening. If it does all the better as it's probably going to be too little too late either way.