Thurston Fluff

Something I think gets overlooked is the difference it makes taking over for a team that was generally run well vs one that wasn't. Melvin may not have succeeded in winning it all but he did manage to run the organization competently. As MrTPlush pointed out the cupboard wasn't bare when Stearns came in. Something Melvin wasn't given when he came in.

Map makers had to choose and chose wrong. Why do you say they chose wrong? Just curious. I know it’s somewhat arbitrary and probably reflects a Euro-centric world view. But wrong? When something has no right or wrong way why not connect it to something logical? Heat rises and it's warmer in the South. Thus up South? On a side note I've told this-for lack of a better word- joke many times though the years and have always had more pushback on it than the other thousand stupid comments I've made during that time. Not sure why this particular bit of stupid reasoning gets so much more flack than the others.

At the same time, though, that was EXPECTED to be a brutal/long rebuild at the time. Considering they found a way to basically be competitive 1.5 years later (missing the WC just one full season after Stearns was hired), I wouldn't be surprised if they end up with a Cardinals-like situation where they never really have to truly 'rebuild' (call it soft if you'd prefer, I suppose), while still being vaguely in the WC race, etc. That's what was promised to us when they hired Stearns. Now that he's halfway to making that a reality it'd be a shame to start over with someone new. That goes for both sides. Does Stearns want to start over when he's half way to a dynasty? It takes a decade or more to do that.

That assumes we have to rebuild after the current group leaves. With the likes of Ashby, Small and Williams being groomed to take over for Woodruff/Hader and company it may not be a one off build like the Braun/Fielder years. The ability to build a dynasty is something he knows he can do here considering he's half way there, he knows this is a quality organization and the owner and fans are behind him all the way. Those are not all guaranteed in NY.

Map makers had to choose and chose wrong.

Up and down are odd terms to use considering we live on a spherical planet in an infinite universe. But if we insist on using those terms I think we should say up South and down North in our hemisphere. After all heat rises and it's warmer the further South you go.

If they do IL Garcia, they will likely need to carefully navigate the fact that he is currently 10 PA away from converting the 2022 club option to a mutual option. While it would be consistent with the approach they have taken with other players and not rushing them back from injuries (i.e. Wong, Adames, Taylor, Vogelbach), the MLBPA and Garcia's agent might see things differently. If the goal is to get him ready for the post season then it stands to reason they'd have him back late in the season to get some ab's and knock off any rust. I don't know if post season ab's count but if they do then he's going to get way more than the necessary ab's anyway.

Well done, my friend. See I really wanted to find the #10 car passing the #11 but good luck finding a picture of Danica passing anyone. She passed on Rodgers.

I agree with most of what you said but is it fair to view Davies only year without adding the trade value he gave them to help acquiring Darvish? If they trade Grisham for someone even better than Lauer down the road how does that effect the value of our trade? That's the whole problem of judging trades. The piece don't stop moving long enough to make it an apples to apples comparison. It's easy to see a Yelich type trade where one team got an MVP and the other ended up with nothing but replacement level players. Not so easy to determine winners and losers when teams get viable major league talent for viable major league talent. Both teams got what they wanted and moved on successfully using the players they got. They did so either by trading or using them. Does it really matter if one got slightly more or less value out of the specific players?

I didn't say it was. I am just pointing out that in four games against them 1/4 starters we will actually see in the postseason and we lost to that one pitcher. Of course Bettinger won't go toe-to-toe with Urias, but that is my point. Those match ups won't even be close to what we will see in October. Fair enough. That was admittedly the weakest of my six points. I mainly put it in there because I was looking at all the reasons and it seemed to me beating a team that we have a winning record against shouldn't scare us as much as beating one we don't. It certainly isn't the reason I feel having the best record is better than the second best. It's just a minor part of a bigger picture. One that I probably should have left out upon further inspection.

I didn't say it was. I am just pointing out that in four games against them 1/4 starters we will actually see in the postseason and we lost to that one pitcher. Of course Bettinger won't go toe-to-toe with Urias, but that is my point. Those match ups won't even be close to what we will see in October. Fair enough. That was admittedly the weakest of my six points. I mainly put it in there because I was looking at all the reasons and it seemed to me beating a team that we have a winning record against shouldn't scare us as much as beating one we don't. It certainly isn't the reason I feel having the best record is better than the second best. It's just a minor part of a bigger picture. One that I probably should have left out upon further inspection.

Their starting pitchers were Trevor Bauer (won't be seeing him), Edwin Ucenta (not even on MLB roster any more, it was a bullpen game though), Dustin May (who we won't see as he got injured after 5 outs and then we barely won against their depleted bullpen), and Julio Urias. Urias we would see and that was the game we lost. On the flip side we threw Lauer, Peralta, Woodruff, Bettinger. Seems really silly when these won't be anywhere near the match ups we will see and faced the Dodgers waaaay back in April/May. How is not having to face Bauer worse for the Brewers? They'll also have to use someone in the play in game. They either use their best or risk losing without playing their best. That said yes, that is the least important reason to have the top seed. I think the other five reasons I outlined still stand.

I don't get the sentiment that it's better to have the number two seed. You don't win a World Series without beating the team playing the best at that time regardless of seed. We can also look at how the Brewers did against the probable opponents. The Brewers have as good of or better record against every NL West playoff hopeful than they do against the East. Hell the Brewers haven't beat the Phillies yet this season. While I'd rather the Brewers set their pitching up for the playoffs over using them to the max to get the top seed I still think being the top seed is preferable all things being equal. Well sure, all things being equal. But all things aren't equal. The Dodgers are clearly the most dangerous potential opponent and a team that many believe is the best in all of baseball. I would prefer a scenario where they have two chances to be eliminated before a matchup with the Brewers. Yes, obviously the Brewers still have to win in the NLDS and will have to beat good teams regardless, but it would be great if one of those teams wasn't the Dodgers. 1- The Brewers are 3-1 vs the Dodgers this season. They are 0-4 against the Phillies and 3-3 against Atlanta. Given the need is to win 3 or 4 games in the playoffs I'd rather face the team we actually won 3 or 4 games against during the season than one we didn't. 2- If a team beats the Dodgers or Giants before they get to us that probably means they're playing better at that time than the team they just beat. 3- One of the Dodgers or Giants will be in a one game playoff. It's much easier for a lesser team to win one game than 3 or 4. The only chance of getting the worst team in the second round is to have the best record. I will take the odds of us beating the Reds/Padres over the Braves or Phillies. 4- It's easier for the lesser team to win a five game series than it is a seven game series. Thus it makes sense to face the teams you think might be better than you in the second round. 5- Hoping we don't have to face either of the two best teams in the playoffs seems like a pipe dream to me. It doesn't make sense to me to want second place instead of first on the off chance the two best teams are eliminated before we face them. 6- I'd rather play a wild card team that had to use some of it's pitching to get to us than a team that got all it's pitchers lined up the way it wants.

I don't get the sentiment that it's better to have the number two seed. You don't win a World Series without beating the team playing the best at that time regardless of seed. We can also look at how the Brewers did against the probable opponents. The Brewers have as good of or better record against every NL West playoff hopeful than they do against the East. Hell the Brewers haven't beat the Phillies yet this season. While I'd rather the Brewers set their pitching up for the playoffs over using them to the max to get the top seed I still think being the top seed is preferable all things being equal.

This is an interesting take on the trade from the other side. https://sports.yahoo.com/yes-adames-looks-milwaukee-mvp-153000025.html

Led Zeppelin, The Who, Rush, The Rolling Stones, Megadeath, The Ramones are bands off the top of my head where the drummer died first. Spinal Tap was onto something.

Two words. Mark Kotsay.

Leaving Garcia walk doesn't mean we can't add others to the mix. I'm fine with keeping him but I also think there are other players who can be had for less that can help fill the void. It's not an either/or situation.

Doesn't replacement level imply that you can't really do a lot worse because that's what any next man up type guy from AAA should be giving you? I doubt there is anyone not replacement level to choose from. Thing is, not all replacement level players are replacement level for the same reason. Some can't hit for a lick, some can't field for squat and can't hit enough to compensate for it. Thus the choice is what deficiency is least harmful when used.

I don't think they go with a batter in September. The way they like to use pitchers in September combined with the need to keep from overworking the three young starters likely means two extra pitchers. As PeaveyFury said it's probably a handful of ab's or so for him. I just don't see the Brewers thinking that's more important than a handful of so innings of relief pitching in the stretch run. In the long run perhaps it's best he gets a shot somewhere else this season so he has a shot to catch on next. To be honest if I was Vogelbach I'd rather be with the Cubs right now than the Brewers. It might suck to be with a losing team playing out the string but at least he'd be playing. Not to mention it'd be with a team that might want him back as a starter next year. Vogelbach seems like the perfect fit for a team in year one of a rebuild. In a way he could be to the Cubs what Gamel is to the Pirates. Playing on a crappy team is better than unemployed or in AAA somewhere.

Summer of Soul was awesome. I loved some of the background stories and the music was second to none. Several times I felt like standing up and joining in.

Dutch and Spanish are both from Indo-European languages and written with Latin alphabets. Sooo, not totally unrelated.

Tipping is something I wish went away. I get why she wasn't thrilled though I don't blame you. Covid changed the dine in takeout ratio yet the minimum wages for servers hasn't changed to match the change.

If you Google WOAH SOLVDD the first four links are to BF.net.

I still have memories of Plesac entering games in my head.