The stache

LOL, I think we've determined that your instincts and gut feelings are pretty much worthless. Uh huh. I am still awed by the big time moves Doug Melvin made before the deadline.

Your feelings suck. Ya, he's also the same guy that said we'd be making some huge upgrades before the trade deadline. viewtopic.php?p=903054#p903054

A win is a win is a win. We won, the Cardinals lost, the Pirates are about to lose. All is well in the world tonight. Night all, sleep well!

Pretty sure it was Schroeder. Guesses as to what he could have been referring to? You're right. I listened to it again. It's Schroeder. I think he was referring to our never making it easy against the Cardinals.

Really? Please tell me you're joking. The last thing RR wanted to do was put in KRod. If Duke hadn't walked two, and nearly given up a 3 run HR, he wouldn't have had to.

Did you hear him as they were going to the post game show? Was that BA that said "Jesus, never fails?" LOL

Come on, Jesus H -----!

With two outs in the ninth and a 5 run lead, what are you walking a .190 hitter on 4 pitches for?

Talk to me a year from now. I think Taveras will be one of the best hitters in the National League, and I don't think it will take him very long to get there. Come on, Wily. Settle down, big guy. No more freebies.

My God, talk about flipping the table. Braun went from red hot with a 12 game hitting streak to not being able to buy a hit. What's that, 0-20 now?

While I don't think he was pulled out mid at bat, I do know that Joel Youngblood, on August 4, 1982, played two games in the same day--for different teams. He was a member of the New York Mets to start the day at the Chicago Cubs, and in the 3rd inning of that day game, he got a single off of Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins. He was 1-2 when he got pulled out of the lineup in the third inning. Mookie Wilson took over for him, and Joel was off to Philadelphia, where his new team, the Expos, were playing the Phillies. He got to the game, pinch hit in the seventh inning, and got a single off of Hall of Famer Steve Carlton. Pretty wild stuff.

Count me as one that really likes Nick Franklin's upside. I scouted him some last year at Tacoma, and I was impressed with his swing mechanics. There wasn't a lot of wasted movement with his swing. Once he gets moving, that bat of his just explodes through the strike zone. He has an open stance, and crouches a little. But he showed really good pitch recognition. I also watched some tape of him once he came up to Seattle, too. It looks like they closed up his stance a little once he got to the Majors. I don't like doing that. If a prospect has hit well throughout the minors, and isn't showing any real problems, I am not at all a fan of messing with swing mechanics. I know Safeco eats up home runs (ask Cano), but a lot of highly touted young hitters have gotten up to Seattle, and hit the wall-Jesus Montero, Nick Franklin, Dustin Ackley, Brad Miller. Even Zunino is only hitting .200, though he has 16 home runs. At some point you have to start questioning their development. So I think one of the best things that could have happened to Franklin did. He got out of Seattle.

Yikes, this means the Tigers are trotting out the last 3 American League Cy Young Award winners. The Tigers old owner, Mike Ilitch, really wants a ring before he shuffles off.

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This is exactly where I am at. I am happy we added an upgrade to our outfield. Parra can hit some, and he's stellar defensively. But I do not like giving Haniger up at all. I haven't seen the Price to Detroit deal. I've seen rumors, but nothing more. You have a link? Front page of ESPN.com.

This is exactly where I am at. I am happy we added an upgrade to our outfield. Parra can hit some, and he's stellar defensively. But I do not like giving Haniger up at all.

The point was made about a week ago (I forget by whom), but we don't ever seem to change our hitting approach. I think that's pretty dead on. In this series thus far, we have scored 2 runs on 6 hits. We have struck out 23 times. The assertion that this team struggles against good pitching is dead on. We don't make pitchers work to throw strikes because we will just go up there hacking, and get ourselves out.

Nine runs in the last five games. Ugly. Come on offense, wake up please.

I'm really hoping they meant long term, and not just for a night or two. Gomez, in my opinion, is one of those guys that needs to hit and field, and I think his energy builds off of both. If he makes a great catch in the outfield, robbing somebody of extra bases, or even a home run, I think that carries over to his at bats. If he were only a DH, Gomez would go up there, take his hacks, and go sit down for another half an hour. That is how I would interpret what they're saying, that Gomez's game would suffer if he weren't able to play outfield. Again, I'm hoping that's the underlying opinion.

I know that the league doesn't institute a salary cap. The cap I'd be referring to would be the self imposed one, ie what Mark Attanasio is willing to spend in a given year. I'd mentioned that addition of Gordon would basically be negated by Rickie Weeks not being on the roster next year. While we could spend $200 million like the Dodgers, that's not realistic. Mark A. has a dollar figure in his mind, and he's not likely going to exceed that unless something truly special is available.

It sounds like part of the PR campaign to get David Ortiz support for the Hall of Fame, which ESPN is happily jumping on. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11280604/mlb-david-ortiz-shaping-baseball-first-teflon-slugger ESPN makes me laugh. On Sportscenter, and on their website, they're quietly in David Ortiz' corner. Yet they had no issue jumping all over Ryan Braun. Nice double standard.

Yaz played a good part of his career in a pitching friendly era, and I think he was a better hitter than Ortiz. Now if you want to talk power, they are comparable. But Yaz, in his prime, was a better pure hitter.

Well, we could always keep Davis in left, and let Gordon play first. He's not going to hit as many home runs as your top tier first baseman, but I wouldn't be surprised if he hit 25 bombs a year. He's capable of it. Though I think we have more first base options in the minors, and practically nothing at third. Ramirez is getting up their in age now. Maybe keep Gordon at third base. He and Segura paired on the left side will help to cut down on the number of balls hit to Davis. Segura and Gordon both have cannons for arms. Kansas City is in need of pitching, and that's something that we have right now. Nelson is untouchable, but I wouldn't hesitate about offering Jungman. We'll see. I think Gordon would bring a lot of versatility to the team, something we don't have a lot of. It's an interesting notion, and if nothing more, it creates some fun dialogue.

Could Alex Gordon fit the bill in Milwaukee? http://imageshack.com/a/img538/8231/lUYyof.png Alex Gordon. Defensive stud. Extra base machine. One area I'm not well versed in is salary cap construction. I can see what a player is scheduled to make season by season, but I know if a player is traded, a player's old team can pay part of that salary. Now, I am going to base this discussion on the premise that we could conceivably get some help with Alex Gordon's projected $12 million salary for 2015. If not, Rickie Weeks would be off the books, and Gordon would make essentially the same amount Weeks did. Only, his value to the team would be far greater. Based on that premise, what would you all think of Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals being a possible trade target for next year, or possibly before the trade deadline this year? Now, he's making $10 million this season. Obviously there's no cap like there is in the NFL. If Rickie Weeks comes off the books next year, we could find a player with similar cost basis and really not take any additional hit to our annual salary. We know where Mark Attanasio is comfortable right now. Subtract Weeks, add Gordon, and there's not much of an increase to the bottom line. But our entire offense (and defense) is vastly improved. And I will explain my thinking in detail. Gordon is a player I have loved for a while. I remember when I bought my first Ryan Braun autographed rookie card. There he was with Brauny. I know he was billed as the next big thing in Kansas City, a city that has been looking for the successor to George Brett. While Gordon has not lived up to the lofty offensive projections that some scouts had, he's been a well above average offensive force, and he's really started coming into his own the last few years. Upper Deck paired Braun and Gordon together. Maybe that was a sign of things to come. http://imageshack.com/a/img708/2575/07exquisiterbraunagordo.png Could Braun and Gordon team up in Milwaukee? Gordon is attractive in so many ways, it's just amazing when you look at what we have, and how he perfectly compliments the Brewers. First, Milwaukee's offense, as it is constructed right now, is heavy with right handed hitters. Gordon is a left handed bat with power. The only left handed hitters the Brewers have is Scooter Gennett, Caleb Gindl (on the 40 man roster), Logan Schafer and Lyle Overbay. It's likely that Gennett and Gindl will be the only lefties on the roster next year. Gordon has good speed, and would run wild hitting in Miller Park. Gordon has good power, averaging 19 home runs per 162 games played for his career. But he brings an ability to become an extra base machine. Between 2011 and 2012, Alex Gordon collected 142 extra base hits. http://imageshack.com/a/img673/3701/g5UE4G.gif Between the 2011 and 2012 season, Gordon collected 96 doubles, 9 triples and 37 home runs. Only 4 men in Major League Baseball had more extra base hits in those two seasons: Robinson Cano, Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Braun and Albert Pujols. And he's been durable. In 2009, Gordon tore the labral cartilage of his right hip. Because of that injury, and the rehab that followed, Gordon only played in 123 games in 2009 and 2010. But since then, Gordon has played in 563 of his team's 587 games between 2011 and 2014. And he's produced. Between 2011 and 2014, his 162 game averages have been outstanding. http://imageshack.com/a/img538/1750/uMEyep.png Besides the 68 extra base hits Gordon has averaged per 162 games over the last four years, Gordon is also a talented defender. When you look at Gordon as the entire package, it's not hard to see why he's got the third highest WAR in the American League as I write this (4.2), behind only Mike Trout (5.8) and Josh Donaldson (5.0). He is slightly ahead of former Brewer prospect Michael Brantley, who also has a 4.2 WAR. Gordon has been an All Star now the last two seasons. And the last three seasons, he's won a Gold Glove. He's primarily a left fielder, but he's also played 329 games at third base, and another 40 at first base. So with a starting threesome of Davis, Gomez and Braun in the outfield, with Gordon backing them up, we have our 4th outfield. Gordon has very good speed, and excellent instincts, so I wouldn't be surprised if he could play center field in a pinch. When he's not playing in the outfield, he could play third or first base. He could platoon with Aramis Ramirez. I would also consider moving Khris Davis to first base, and putting Gordon in left. Then we'd have a pair of Gold Glove winners in left and center, and a Gold Glove finalist in right field. Davis projects offensively as a prototypical first baseman. His biggest issue defensively has always been his arm strength. His arm would be sufficiently strong to play first base. If we are going to make a move to improve this team, and make a serious run at the World Series, I think Alex Gordon would be a sensational addition to this team. Gordon's contract might need slight reworking, but if it is at all possible to bring him to Milwaukee, think of how much better he would make this team. As I mentioned before, he's an extra base machine, and he should post ridiculous numbers at Miller Park. I wouldn't be surprised to see him hit 40 + doubles, 5 triples and 20 home runs a season. He should also steal 10-15 bases, and play exceptional defense. Gordon would be the Ben Zobrist of the Brewers. And if he were not starting on a day off, he'd be a vast improvement over what we have on the bench now. What do you guys think?

Is Roenicke worse than Ned Yost?