Thurston Fluff

This happens a lot in Chicago now. I use two separate crosswalks (no traffic light, just crosswalk and Pedestrian sign) on my way to work and I would say the stoppage rate is like 85%. There's another one by our apartment that is the same. I think it took drivers a while to figure out that's what they were supposed to do and also the city made some small safety improvements to make the crosswalks more evident. It may also help that there are so many Uber/Lyft drivers that are in their cars all day that know the rules. That's a really good point. I drive a lot for work and I know it's helped make me more cognizant of things like that.

Diaz has had a phenomenal season in AAA so far. He deserves it. He's well on his way to being a top 100 again. At least Brinson is floundering. You don't want the team you traded with to go 4 for 4. compare Diaz's 2019 in AAA to Saladino's, and you'll soon realize a TON of minor leaguers are having a phenomenal 2019. Including Diaz in that trade meant the Brewers were committed to Hiura at 2B instead of Diaz since their development timeframes were essentially identical - I'll make that same decision every single time. Until all these prospects actually become productive everyday MLB players, it's way too early to heap praise on them. In fact I'd say the odds are still stacked towards only one or possibly 2 of these four prospects developing into an MLB starter that has a career that reaches through the 1st 6 years of team control and into unrestricted free agency. That pretty much means the Brewers robbed the Marlins of one of the top 5 players in the entire world through his prime, who is making less than most veteran #5 starters. I don't think that means the Brewers robbed them at all. I doubt any team trades for that many minor leaguers thinking all of them are going to pan out. They get that many so they have a better chance of getting any of them to pan out. Then there is the issue of timing. If one pans out during a span where the Marlins have other young talent hitting their stride that one player will do far more towards them actually winning something than Yelich was going to do over the life of his contract when there was little else on the team to help them win. The timing of a prospect's arrival I think plays at least as important a role as overall productivity.

I walk about 2.5 miles per day in the summer months, and this happens to me frequently. I forgot to add on Wisconsin avenue. In residential neighborhoods it happens quite frequently.

I was waiting to cross the street at a crosswalk and a car stopped and let me cross. In the 30ish years I lived in Appleton that's the first time.

He was dependable and filled his role as well as any bench player could be expected but it was always obvious that's all he was ever going to be. Earlier in his time here he has some offensive production to go along with his sound defense and versatility. It would have been very hard to find anyone cheaper to fill his role any better than he was until this season. Sadly, about the time he started to get more expensive his offensive production declined which made this move necessary. I always pull for guys like him and hope he finds a job in the majors for at least a few more years.

By that old pitching coach form ATL I assume you mean Leo Mazzone. He was hired by Baltimore where he took a nothing staff and made them, well, nothing. He lasted two years then was fired with a year left on his contract. While I agree pitching coaches matter I don't think any of them are miracle workers. The circumstances they're in appears to matter almost as much as the person themselves. That said I haven't seen anything that makes me think Hook is adding anything to the staff.

I'm by no means an expert but I'm not sure velocity is all the relative to stress on the arm. Even with perfect mechanics I could throw at maximum effort and it isn't coming anywhere near 80 mph. Yet I'm pretty sure I'd put as much stress on my arm as someone who threw 100. The motions are the same even if the velocity isn't.

There is a pretty big downside to going to AAA for his future. It would be a lot harder to convince the Brewers to keep him on the 40 man roster if sucks as bad in AAA as he does in the majors. It would no doubt also limit interest from other teams if the Brewers do release him. If he stays in the majors and sucks there would still be doubt but not nearly as much as if he sucks in the minors. Anyway this is where we're at with him now. For everyne's sake I'm hoping he finds a productive role in the pen.

I expect Hiura to be called up before the next series, and if so then there is just no question that it was all about Super 2 status. But if the unexpected happens, and Hiura is still in AAA on July 1, then it's questionable if it was about Super 2 status or something else (defense), because Super 2 status really doesn't play into the equation at all once we get into very late June/early July. It's one thing to be conscious of Super 2 status, it's quite another to mess with a lineup on a contending team that's clicking with Hiura as a key member. As we now are seeing, once a team loses it's mojo, getting it back is a big problem. They could have always waited for Hiura to go through a bit of a slump, but they sent him down when he was on fire to bring up a guy who's been lost since day one. The season can be lost in June. They lost 5 straight games to the freaking Pirates last season and it didn't seem to hard to get there mojo back. This team is a lot more resilient than this stretch can obliterate. While I agree a season can be lost in June the Brewers are quite a ways away from that happening. That said, I think it's about time some of the players start to produce. It's no longer early and the sample size is getting large enough to matter.

Lets see. Build a new stadium in two cities that never really supported their teams, even when they were winning, at a time when attendance is down across baseball. Sounds like a great idea. At some point if baseball wants to actually grow they might want to invest in places like Mexico where there is genuine interest in the game and hasn't shown itself to be totally disinterested in going to games. It might mean baseball or the owners actually (gasp) have to pay for the stadium but it might help the declining attendance. Somewhere along the line MLB is going to have to invest it's own money into the league to grow it. I can't think of a better way than opening new markets in places where it could actually grow over time. One would think they'd think about the long term health of the league and stop putting teams where nobody cares and expect them to suddenly care.

Didn't Yelich specifically say he wasn't going to tinker with his swing? From an article on Brew crew ball I read he actually hasn't changed his swing as much as the timing of his swing. That could just be coincidence or it could be something the Brewers do that spotted it that Miami doesn't. I do think though that there has to be something to all this new stuff the Brewers are doing that changed from what they used to do. Or what other teams who aren't having as much success do.

That would be me. I don't mind picking up the slack but if you want to contribute financially for eating your share I'm ok with that.

This is something I've thought about for a while now. How much credit/blame goes to the new club for that change? Miami might just not have the same level of scouting, coaching or analytics the Brewers have so the players involved might not perform the same as if they had been with the original club. Would Brinson have struggled the same here as he has there for example? That to me is the one thing we can't know when assessing the success of a trade. Obviously Miami has had success in developing top talent players but how much success has the Jeter era really had?

I don't think he'd do it but if the choice is bullpen for the remainder of the season and perhaps forever or go down to AAA see if the stamina problems can be worked through then be a starter again he might opt for the latter. A lot of it depends on how he feels about a move to the pen and how long they expect him to stay there.

That's what I don't get. At the time I assumed the results were more due to him working on certain things regardless of the outcome and they saw enough of what they wanted him to work on to think he was ready. Now it's pretty obvious that wasn't the case, so why not leave him there? Or they totally misread what they thought they saw.

Am I right in thinking he can be optioned but he has to agree to it? If so I wonder if he might consider it if he continues to struggle.

Even if they don't it's still doesn't mean it was a mistake to trade Yelich for them. Yelich's only value to them was as trade bait. He was not going to help them win anything. So if they get any positive value down the road when they have a chance to win was better to get the lesser total talent than to keep the greater overall talent at a time it couldn't help them.

The Marlins are far better off with some young talent because Yelich wasn't going to matter a hill of beans for their playoff hopes in the next couple seasons. The Brewers had a lot of young talent that could have helped build a good solid core down the road but weren't going to be the bona fide all star they needed now. Each team gave what they had but couldn't use for what they needed but didn't have. How is that a loss for either team?

Shaw seems to get into occasional long streaks of ineptitude every couple years. He was in one in Boston which was part of why we got him. That is probably what he's going to always be. The real question to me is can we live with someone who sucks rocks for half a season for the production we get the rest of those two years?

There is a difference between win now mode and will now at all cost mode. I really don't want them to go all in on a one or two year window then have another five years of crap. As far as who on this team is going to be productive two years from now I can see far more than two. Our pitching staff overall has some guys who should be very productive for at least four or five more years. We just sent down a young second baseman with all star potential who will likely be productive for us for another six years. With Braun's contract coming off the books soon we also have free agency to fill some holes. We also seem to have a front office that finds good talent for a reasonable price and finally seems capable of findings and developing pitching.

That part really doesn't bother me. I can make up my own mind if they're right if given accurate information. He does that pretty well.

That was a great show. At a time when nice family sitcoms ruled it was nice to see something different. In Living Color and Married With Children were certainly refreshing.

IIRC he was grinding it out on a bad knee or ankle during the playoffs and really shouldn't have been out there to begin with. He certainly was a big part of them getting that far. Not only did he get unfairly ridiculed for that play but it wiped out how much he really contributed to getting that far. Rest in peace sir. You were one of the good ones.

That's what I was thinking. If he was going to be the bottom of the pen here he has to be more valuable than the several pitchers we can swap out at will.

Today they had a procession for the firefighter that was shot and killed in the line of duty. The street was lined with a lot of people showing their respect. One of the people stopped by the shop saying he was waiting for the precession then asked if I knew where he got snapped. How can anyone ask that question in such a disrespectful way in that situation?