JosephC

I think Franco likely only gets a 1-year deal, and if I'm the Brewers I would only sign him to a 1-year deal with the idea of looking for an upgrade next off-season. He was better in 2020, but is just short of having 6 years of MLB service time and has been a 2.5 bWAR player and a 4.8 fWAR player. Pretty likely that the vast majority of MLB teams likely project him similar to the ZiPS projection that sveumrules posted above (0.5 WAR).

Just add two teams and do a 32 team playoff so we won't have to waste time with pesky regular season games anymore!

Lots of speculation with Leonard when he had interviewed for the Florida State defensive coordinator job. Word around Madison is that Leonard would be unlikely to leave Madison for any other defensive coordinator job unless crazy money became involved (like LSU), but on the flip side Leonard wants to be a head coach and would be likely to leave Wisconsin for almost any Division 1 head coaching job. If that Illinois job came calling and no better head coaching jobs were offered, I think there is a really strong possibility he would take that job. Arkansas is a tough place to win, but old big mouth showed that he didn't have what it takes when The Emperor was out of the picture. I'd love to see him go to Illinois and watch him get trucked by Bucky every year. The one guy that I don't want to see go to Illinois is Lance Leipold.

I think the obvious hire for Illinois would be Bret Bielema. At least it would give this crappy season a real silver lining.

I think Crawford has a pretty decent chance of making the 26-man roster in 2021. They currently only have 4 LHP in the 40-man roster. Lauer bombed last year and Perdomo is a boom-or-bust pitcher (by guess is bust but hopefully I am wrong on this). My gut feeling is that the Brewers will want to go with Lauer as the #5 starter to open 2021, but if he falters then they are looking at a situation where they only have 2 LHP on a 13 man pitching staff (one stuck in the relatively inflexible closer role). If the Brewers decide Suter goes into the rotation, what candidates are do they have that would definitely be better than Crawford to backfill Suter's spot in the bullpen? Not crazy to think that there may be an opportunity for a Leo Crawford, Ethan Small or Aaron Ashby...and Crawford looks to be just a tick ahead of the other guys in terms of development. There are times when grabbing a lottery ticket rookie-baller is the best option, but when looking at Crawford and the current composition of pitching on the 40-man roster....not a bit surprised that Stearns went for Crawford and he looks to be a pretty decent pickup.

LOL, these two sentences are hilarious.

Looks like I will be movie watching the night of the Big 10 Championship Game. I was looking forward to an Indiana/Northwestern Championship Game with just as much anticipation as a Badger game, but have zero interest in watching a Northwestern/Ohio State game.

At least until they deal it. That pick may not last the week LOL. Time to deal the pick for another middling reliever with an 85 mph fastball I'd make the prediction that they'd trade the pick for Brent Suter but they already have Brent Suter.

Make a Big 10 All-Star team from all the teams excluding Ohio State....put the All-Star team in Michigan uniforms...and have an Ohio State/Michigan Big 10 Championship Game.

What is the saying? Rules for thee but not for me. Do all these public figures, politicians, health experts, etc. really grasp what they're doing when they warn and condemn people for going to a restaurant or gathering with their families but then go and do the same thing themselves? Is it that they're oblivious, that they think they're above the rules, or that they don't believe a word of what they're preaching? I don't think they believe a word of what they are preaching. If they considered this to be a true risk to the health of them and their families, they would abide by their own orders. Since they don't, there is no reason to believe that they really consider this to be any significant risk to them. But this has been pretty obvious from day one in Wisconsin and hammered home even further with the mask order- https://evers.wi.gov/Documents/COVID19/EmO01-SeptFaceCoverings.pdf See #4 on page 3. For the record, my family did not have a Thanksgiving get-together and have already cancelled all Christmas plans. However, I drive past 2 steakhouses when going home from work. When it gets to Thursday/Friday night, those parking lots are jammed. It's pretty infuriating that "the powers that be" work as hard as they can to destroy all family events, but yet seemingly have no problems with "mass gatherings" that benefit BUSINESS. Is there really a greater chance of me catching COVID-19 and passing it along to others when sitting in a room with 15 relatives versus sitting in a steakhouse with 150 strangers? I consider holiday events to be far more "essential" than a night out at the steakhouse, but apparently "the powers that be" completely disagree with that. The American public sure has been duped from day one on this one. Government operations rule #1 - Never let a good crisis go to waste!

Might be best to save the Stearns bashing until we have a better idea exactly what budget he's been given to work with. The problem may be a bit higher up the ladder.

I totally get that thought process, but my big concern is where he gets drafted. I’m not sure he’s good enough to do this coming off a year with 2 games to show anything. Seems like a solid senior season on a good team would have boosted the draft stock. Now, with not much on film and an injury on top of it, how high in the draft can he actually go??? All that doesn't matter. Despite 32 teams getting up there and talking about "film" and "taking the best player," it's safe to say that 90% of the teams pour millions of dollars into that stuff and in the end just ignore it and pick players based on the 40-yard dash, vertical jump and 3-cone drill. If Wildgoose knows he can run a 4.40 40-yard dash and can vertical jump 39 inches, then he made the right decision. If he runs a 4.60 40-yard dash and has a 35 inch vertical jump, then he should have stayed in school. These days I just laugh when I see any mock draft done before the combine. Talk about a total waste of time.

Really starting to wonder if Tom Allen at Indiana might be the real deal. Even if a guy like Fleck ends up proving that he's a really good coach at the Power 5 level, you know a big-mouth self-promoter like that will bail on Minnesota the first chance he gets. Allen is giving off the vibe that he knows what he's doing and might be at Indiana for awhile. I'm pretty glad he's in the other division.

They talk about Mertz's confidence but, wow, he was rolling and then completely fell apart after the first tipped-ball interception. Then came interception #2 and he was completely worthless after that. Maybe that's why Wisconsin coaches tend to love guys like Coan and Stave who are definitely several steps down in terms of raw talent. If something bad happens those guys just shake it right off, the entire offense just shakes it right off, but that obviously didn't happen yesterday. Really disappointing because I thought the defense came out and played the third quarter with more intensity than I've seen out of a Badger defense in a long time. It's like they knew they had to take their game up a couple of notches to get the win and they did exactly that, but you could see the life kind of getting sucked out of them too once it got into the fourth quarter. Oh well, I was worried that the Badgers would be excluded from the Big 10 championship game if another game needs to be cancelled and they wouldn't have the necessary 6 games played. Don't really have to think about that anymore. And I would agree with anyone who states that the Big 10 should be ashamed with the officiating in the first half of that game.

Bigger news is always who wasn't added. Someone has to help me out (please) as I have not been paying attention. Who were some of the more notable guys the Brewers did not place on the 40-man roster? This is one of those points where it really sucks that there wasn't any minor league games last year (note that I am NOT saying there should have been MiLB games played last year).

B&N is also running a 50% off sale on Arrow Video titles. I think the general consensus among blu-ray buyers is that Arrow currently does a better job on their releases than Criterion with the exception of the bonus content (transfer quality of film, bit-rate of disks better with Arrow, amount and quality of bonus material better with Criterion). Arrow has also jumped into the 4k waters (I think only 6 or 7 titles so far) where Criterion hasn't done so. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/50-off-arrow-video/_/N-2uz4

I'm really unhappy that Barnes and Noble is not giving the extra 10% off for B&N members during this sale. The Criterion sales are the only reason I'm a member (only buy about 3 books a year), and my membership just renewed a couple months ago. There is no way I will get my money back on the membership this year, and if the same policy is in effect for the usual June/July sale in 2021 there is no way I will renew my membership. As I am still practicing early COVID-19 recommendations, I still have not gone to B&N during this sale. However, I am planning on going in on the 24th as that is the release date for the Fellini box set. Sure hope that their stock is not in spider-web security devices, which crease the outer-packaging and makes it an immediate "no buy." Might end up wasting a trip going on, only to leave empty-handed and going home and ordering it through the B&N or Amazon website.

I would disagree with you but we might not be on the same wavelength in terms of government versus media. I agree that the government has been fairly consistent with stating that facemasks are just part of the equation, but I think more and more the isolation part of that message has been buried in the fine print. The thing that is still particular damning in relation to the government is when the state Department of Health completely removed the statement that many feel that masks could actually be counter-productive because it may encourage people to congregate more which could actually make the masks counter-productive. You look at what has happened in Wisconsin and that statement looks like it was right on the money. And picking this as the example is not to single out Evers. I'm sure if I could go back in time and look at DOH websites in states with Republican governors I'd see the exact same modification of the message. But, that said, I would agree that for the most part the government has been consistent with distancing + facemasks + handwashing. But the media on the other hand. I can't tell you how many times, once it got into the summer months, I'd be sitting there watching CNN and there would be a reporter on the street and the camera would pan over to a group of 20-somethings sitting around without masks and the reporter would just go into the lecture about how they weren't wearing masks. It was easy to see the danger in this. Not wearing a mask is uncool...which morphs into wearing a mask is cool...which morphs into young people thinking they have the license to do anything if they have a mask on because it's cool. I think there was a TON of that from a big percentage of the media over the summer months. Maybe I'm wrong, obviously we all have different personal experiences. All I can say is that I'm in Madison and work with a bunch of 20-somethings and in the spring those people weren't running around like 20-somethings normally do, and by the fall that completely flipped to hearing the conversations of person 1 going to the brewery this weekend, person 2 hitting this bar on Friday night and that restaurant the following night, person 3 going to a party on Friday night, etc, etc, etc. Some folks, not knowing these people personally, could think they are correct in just saying that we are dealing with 20 year old's and they are simply too restless to stay home for 6 months in a row. But knowing these people, and knowing they are probably a really good representation of young college grads across the state, I feel pretty safe in flat out stating that the attitude is definitely more along the lines of "if I'm wearing a mask I am cool and following the rules and; therefore, anything that I decide to do is a good idea." And yeah, maybe not so much government but definitely the media has a lot to do with that IMO. And a quick comment about homer's viral load post. That is a key part of the science that I think has been largely ignored or under-reported. I know that if people went back and looked at all my posts they would see what they think is a lot of flip-flopping. In this post I am critical of masks and argue that people need to keep distance, and in earlier posts I was very critical of the stay-at-home order (although not so much the concept, but the selective implementation of business one being essential by business two being non-essential). But the best way to explain it...I really don't have any concerns about catching COVID if I go to the grocery store because it's a big area and, for the most part, I keep moving which gives me a decent amount of confidence that if I am exposed that the exposure will be so limited that my immune system will be able to defeat what limited amount of virus that I am exposed to. But when I drive home from work on Friday night and go past a bunch of sit-down restaurants and those parking lots are just packed (two steakhouses where people will be in and won't be out for at least 90 minutes)...I look at that and just shake my head and just wonder what good any facemask mandate will do.

Government acts like they will save population. Government tells people that masks will do no good. People stay home. Government sees tax revenue drop and freaks out. Government comes up with plan to get tax revenue back up, just lie to people and give them a false sense of security. Wearing mask will help "stop the spread." Sure, a mask can help if it's common that you have people cough, sneeze or spit directly in your face. So when looking at the big picture, the masks are helpful in that regard. But when looking at the other half of the big picture, how many people go out and do unnecessary things (can be as seemingly insignificant as standing right next to someone when having a conversation) because now they have a mask on a a mask will help stop the spread? Numbers in Wisconsin were roughly 1000 positive cases per day pre-mask mandate, now over 7000. Looking at all of the USA, about 60,000 per day during the timeframe when states started issuing mask mandates, that number has now gone up to about 170,000. Those numbers, along with the simple SCIENCE of knowing that a 50 Angstrom sized droplet of moisture containing COVID-19 will get sucked right through a cloth mask considering the vacuum cleaner that's right behind it, pretty much demonstrates that the entire mask thing is a complete bust and very likely another government lie right from the start. I would never, never, never, never be foolish enough to think my life was more important to the government than my tax dollars.

Braves give Drew Smyly a 1 year, 11 million dollar deal. Doesn't look like they are going to go "cheap" this off-season. 11 million dollars for Drew Smyly. Over the last five years (missed 2017 and 2018), Smyly has thrown 315 2/3 innings with a 5.25 ERA, 82 ERA+, 1.37 WHIP and 4.92 FIP. A pretty big chunk of money for 26 1/3 really good innings in 2020 (note that the home park was in San Francisco, generally thought to be MLB's best environment for left-handed pitchers). I guess it's safe to say that COVID-19 has not crippled the Braves finances.

Government/Science face-mask strategy continues to work just great! Any thought of the Department of Health putting the following back on the website? However, face coverings may increase risk if users reduce their use of strong defenses, such as physical distancing and frequent hand washing, when using cloth face coverings.

Interesting that you spend any time on this site if you are now anti-brewers. I wouldn't use the term anti-Brewer. If I were a Dodgers fan, I wouldn't be buying Dodger products. If I were a Marlins fan, I wouldn't be buying Marlins products. A better description would be anti-MLB after the events of the past couple of days. I just don't like hypocrites, and it's very hard to swallow that MLB gets on their platform about doing the right thing and have no problem firing no-names for saying the wrong thing and grandstanding about it, but at the same time welcomes someone like Steve Cohen in their ranks. I never, ever thought I would side with Jerry Reinsdorf on anything, but he's one of the few who got it right here (probably for all the wrong reasons, but he still got it right). The Diamondbacks, Angels and Reds were the other 3 teams that were a no vote on Cohen.

LOL, the bad look of this does not hold a candle to who the owners just approved as the newest owner. I didn't watch any MLB this season, really just due to the shortened messed up nature of the season. I haven't watched any NFL this year as I have just lost interest in the on-the-field product. Have to admit to not really missing either one. The Steve Cohen factor probably just ended my days of being an MLB customer. Had been looking at buying some new t-shirts and a jacket, it definitely will not be Brewer products now. And for the record, Attanasio approved the Mets sale. I would hope that someone in the local media will bring up Cohen's past and reputation in general and really grill Attanasio about it, but since the sports media is pretty much crap it's unlikely that will happen.

I have to admit my number one goal would be to trade Yelich. I've been looking through the mega-deal type contacts given out in the post-steroid era, and basically all of them have been a bust. I like the Mike Trout deal for the Angels, but as good as Yelich is, he is not Mike Trout. The deal that really kills me is the Nolan Arenado deal. Lots of the experts thought this was fairly safe for the Rockies. Even a slight offensive dip could probably be masked by the home park (to some extent). Even if his offense does fall off, he's a plus-plus guy with the glove so at least you'd probably get superior defense out of him. This one has taken all of two years before people are looking at this contract as a terrible, albatross type contract for the Rockies. I also have to wonder if Stearns gave out this deal thinking that the payroll would be 120+ million for the next few years...even in a virus free world Attanasio chopped the payroll back to ~100 million and claimed the club was at an operating loss in 2019 which is a pretty decent sign that the payroll is not going to be running in the 130-140 million region anytime in the near future. And then there is always Yelich's 2020 season. Personally, I think the offensive aspect was somewhat fluke-ish and I am expecting a big bounceback next year. But, what if that knee injury at the end of 2019 was a factor and will remain a factor? I've already seen a bunch of mentions already on this board that Yelich should be moved to 1B ASAP, so the defensive aspect of his game has already slipped and is an early, significant red flag. Again, I'm expecting a big bounce back year with the bat in 2021. If Yelich would be dealt I think the GM would look like a complete idiot during the first couple of seasons but that would soon swing, and by the end of the deal, people will end up saying that the Brewers probably traded him a couple years to early but they probably still did the right thing by moving him when they did because the last four years of the deal were awful, completely awful. Basically an .820 OPS guy that contributed minus-minus defense and was eating up 26 million dollars for a team that was running a payroll of 112 million dollars. How much do I want to deal Yelich: "How about you give me a couple spare parts for Yelich...what's that you say....you want Hader too....DONE DEAL!" Hopefully there are plenty of big markets that Yelich would love to play in because the no-trade part of that deal could be a real kick in the nuts for the Brewers.

I don't think that MLB owners have voted on Cohen yet. The media will likely just ignore it, but IMO it's a real black eye for MLB if he is approved. I just hope that if Cohen is approved, that the individual owner's votes are made public. That way, when any owner that voted yes decides to fire some low-level nobody employee to demonstrate that his organization "always does the right thing," then I will know beyond any shadow of a doubt that the particular owner is two-faced and completely full of crap. https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2013-129 https://www.ft.com/content/efda2ca2-ec69-11e6-930f-061b01e23655