Playing Catch

I've noticed a number of teams these days that treat that situation (well, down 1, anyway), like a last shot opportunity and it drives me insane. Blackwell screwed up. That's the only explanation for me. he wasted at least 10 seconds before shooting a horrendous shot. Just failure all around.

While this is simply an opinion piece, I believe this is an accurate portrayal of the frustration of mid-market and small-market teams. Competitive balance is something that the majority of teams will want. There has been lots of smoke on this front as well! Just as you are suggesting, the mid-market, and small-market players ALSO want some changes to how revenues are spent. Here are two links (about the same topic), from last April... Scott Boras calls out attempted 'coup' in MLB players union Inside the battle raging in the MLBPA -- and what's next - ESPN I think there's a universe where the next CBA is more peaceable than we expect, with 2nd division teams and 2nd division players teaming up to better share the wealth. This would be good for fans.

There were plenty of talking points from last night's game, and even though the officiating wasn't the worst home-coooking I've seen, that stretch of play from about the 10-minute mark to about the 5-minute mark featured several frustrating calls/non-calls all going UCLA's way. The Badgers were called for about 4 pushing fouls on defensive rebounds, and UCLA was not called for a lot of physical play on the other end. This corresponded with UCLA switching the score right before free throws were to determine the game. Cronin knew it at about the 7-minute mark with a 7+ point lead, and he started bleeding clock. Badgers were able to make a run, but alas... After the game, Cronin thought the officiating was fair, which tells you all you need to know.

Firstly, thank you for using a thread dedicated to this type of discussion rather than the Miscellaneous thread, or something. Secondly, I like the concept. I think something like this would make fans feel a little better about the current situation. I think there would be a lot of ways the league could go about this, too, beyond your clear-headed, feasible idea. If the league really wanted to get wild, how about some kind of expansion-draft style for the non-playoff participants. The ten worst teams could have a draft of prospects from the playoff teams' farm systems (some prospects would be protected, of course).

Not picking on you, or anyone else that doesn't read the Minor League forum, but if you are (rightfully) excited about Bitoni, just wait until you hear about the rest of the farm.

Firstly, I'm not sure how Forbes gets its data. I don't believe the public is privy to revenue totals. Secondly, having revenue numbers without cost numbers, waters down the intended effect. I already posted in the Brewers Payroll thread, but clearly this was the better spot to mention that having NFL-style parity is not at all interesting to me. I like having SOME disparity between the Evil Empire(s) and the underdogs. That is the root of all the drama! But make no mistake, the current competitive imbalance is unsustainable. Hypothetically, the Brewers beating the Mariners in the World Series doesn't compare with the Brewers beating the Yankees.

I think this is the crux of our collective opinions on competitive balance. I don't think ANYONE argues that the system is as fair as a 50/50 coin flip. I think everyone acknowledges that in the next 100 years, the Yankees and Dodgers will have a lot more World Series opportunities than the Brewers. I think the question is like that offered by MLB Trade Rumors last night. Do we fans WANT baseball to be as balanced competitively as the NFL? Do we WANT a hard salary cap? I've mentioned it before, but I like that baseball has the Yankees and, (now), the Dodgers. My problem is that the competitive imbalance is so far out of whack that we, of small-market fandom, have to parse out the statistical odds to openly justify our belief or non-belief that the Brewers can win a World Series in our lifetime. I don't know what it will look like, but I believe baseball will continue to increase revenue sharing, as well as implement a soft spending floor (so any shared revenue not spent on payroll goes back to the players somehow), in order for the current competitive imbalance to be more balanced --- if not perfectly balanced.

I wonder if now that some of those arbitration guys are signing, we'll see some movement (as in, teams know what they cost).

Just bumping my original questions post.

1) Fast Riser(s) - Blake Burke and Mike Boeve (Burke will get to AAA, and Boeve will be in MKE by June) 2) Out of Nowhere - Jorge Quintana 3) Rise to Top 100 - Braylon Payne 4) Comeback Player - Eric Brown Jr. 5) Disappointment - All the Biloxi hitters except Burke 6) Predictions - This goes with #5, but I think Cooper Pratt, Luis Lara, Jadher Areinamo, and Luke Adams all struggle in 2025.

It's hard for me to take this very seriously. I usually really like informal polls from anonymous "experts," but this one just looks like typical patting-the-small-market-on-the-head kind of piece. Like after reflexively answering, "The Dodgers," the exec says something like, "oh yeah, and that plucky Brewers club got Chourio, they must be good at signing Internationals". I mean, "Most Underrated Farm System??" C'mon.

I thought the reffing was okay. Rutgers clearly got the message to not foul, which allowed Wisconsin to shoot a lot of layups and open threes, instead of free throws. I didn't like both Blackwell and Klesmit twisting ankles. But having McGee and Janicki really makes one feel better about short-term injuries. Crowl was awesome tonight. Tonje was good. I agree that he seeks out contact to a fault, but percentage-wise, he's a good shooter anywhere on the floor. Having Harper basically out was huge. I wasn't impressed by Bailey. I mean, don't get me wrong, he's good, but he doesn't look "lottery" good to me. "Lottery" good players shouldn't get frustrated by Carter Gilmore.

Good signing.

As the Badgers are on the road at a tough venue and a decent B1G opponent, I expect they won't enjoy a lot of trips to the line, nor will they shoot well from deep. If they are to win, I think they will need to pound the glass on both ends, and really work hard to touch the post on offense. They'll need to rotate bodies on Harper, and make him work on defense, and as you mentioned have Gilmore frustrate Ace Bailey, while Crowl/Winter box out Sommerville. Grind them to a pulp. Can this Badger team do that?

Sorry to just now be reporting back, I've been largely indisposed the last couple of weeks. So my wife and I were invited by her brother and his wife. They had 4 tickets from a professional connection. Corporate perk sort-of-thing. On the glass. two seats away from the Utah bench. These seats came with free underground parking, all-you-can eat/drink buffet and beer in some sort of "club" that I forgot the name of. The food was good, the beer was good. Although, honestly, there were way too many 25-year olds in there (and frankly, all-ages) with their friends POUNDING beers. The drunk quotient was too high for my liking, and I feel like I have a pretty high tolerance. As I mentioned earlier, I am a huge sports fan, but have never had friends or family that taught me anything about hockey, so I never really learned the sport. The first thing I noticed, EVEN THOUGH this is what everyone says, was the speed. A few minutes before puck-drop, they do the whole drama-lighting, laser-show. But before announcing lineups, the refs get out there during the laser show. My god. Those refs were FLYING. I felt so jealous that I never learned to skate, because it looked amazing. I do think the proximity made a big difference here. Had we been 20 rows up (still great seats!) I don't think it would have been as impressive. But being inches away from the speed was dramatic. The game starts and I am immediately awed. Taking as many pictures of Kaprisov and Fleury as I could. I was really struck by the fact I could tell my grandchildren (I don't have any, but if I did) that I saw one of the greatest Goalies of all time. It reminds me of my first trip to Wrigley, and seeing Doc Gooden pitch for the Mets. Or my first trip to New Comisky and seeing a young Randy Johnson. I don't know if it was as cool as going to the MNUFC game where Ibrahimovic played, but it was still really cool. Despite getting outshot, 29-18, Utah prevailed 2-1. I was never really able to master understanding how line-changes work, or the broader strategic nuances, but loved it. I'm worried sitting on the glass may have hampered my ability to enjoy it any other way, because it was so awesome. I was a little surprised by the general atmosphere. Living in the Twin Cities, I've always had an impression that Wild fans that attend the games are typically well-off suburban hard-core hockey family types, and I think that is probably accurate. But I expected the fans to be a bit more "into" the game. I thought the environment would have been more raucous. But I thought it was pretty quiet, and that there were lots of fans that weren't even paying attention to the game. Just my impression. Anyway, the whole experience was a 10/10. Just a sports highlight for my lifetime, for sure.

I would. Iowa literally won't win another B1G game if they continue to play defense like that. It was one of the worst defensive displays I've ever seen in the B1G, and I don't think I'm being hyperbolic. The Badgers did well to take advantage, they scored 116, so they did awesome. But, no, that defensive effort from Iowa was beyond the pale pathetic.

This is certainly the hope. That all of the promise shown in the minors will begin to translate to the big leagues, and that he can find a role as a lefty 1B/LF/DH - pinch hitter/runner. That's a lot of little roles that his skillset works with. He may not be able to get 4 PAs a game, but he could consistently get 1-2 PAs a game.

I agree that the Brewers believe enough in random outcomes that they are always trying to "compete" for playoff opportunities, and that they may never have a "go for it" mentality (which I also agree with). But do you not believe that they see some seasons as having a stronger team than others? That in some seasons, they may sign a guy (say, Rhys Hoskins, 2024), whereas in other seasons that they would choose to just go with unproven youngsters? I guess I would push back on that. I think that there is enough nuance and flexibility that they would view opportunities differently from one season to the next, specifically in terms of how it could impact future rosters.

Obviously publicly, and to a certain extent, in the clubhouse, the Brewers brass are sure to be talking about another division title in 2025. And they should be! The Brewers are returning most of the talent on a division champ. Many of the players are young enough that expecting them to continue to improve is a fair expectation. This is a good team. But! In the deeper reaches of the front office. What are the conversations? Where are the Brewers on longer-term cycles? They are now completely in the post-Hader, Woodruff, Burnes, Williams era. They are now entering the expected decline years for the Yelich contract. Contreras is under team control through 2028(!) How is Matt Arnold viewing this season in relation to 2026 or 2027? I'm kinda feeling like the Brewers are going to use 2025 as a soft-launch for what they hope to be a really bright 2026-2029 window. I'm getting the feeling that they are going to continue to blood in a lot of rookies so that they can have a really strong foundation from which to build teams down the road.

This, and the other available options out there. It's possible the big spenders go somewhere else for 1st base, and Walker is left choosing between non-playoff teams and penny-pinchers.

Facts

Anyone else have an issue with his exaggerated leg kick? Just seems like a timing nightmare.

Those jerseys are all dynamite.

I do that all the time.😶

Thanks for your detailed points! Much appreciated! Coincidentally, I was invited to the Wild game on Friday. On the glass/ice! (I don't know what the equivalent of "courtside," is in hockey). I'm psyched! I love most sports due to the tactical battles. What sorts of things should I watch for? Your Utah Hockey Club at My adopted Minnesota Wild.