pacopete4

Chase Anderson may be the best Stearns acquisition yet. Craziness how well he's pitching. Derek Johnson influence?

They've brought up relievers for 1 game at least once so far this year. And I'm pretty sure he didn't even pitch. So not a big deal then. Okay

No need to rush it. Either Garza will wake up Wednesday and feel okay or they'll call up Espino to spot start it again. [sarcasm]It is just too bad Tommy Milone wasn't around now.[/sarcasm] If they've already known they were going to be without Garza, they could have brought up another bench player or pen arm for today and tomorrow. They were pretty adamant that he isn't starting Thursday. Bring up a bench guy for one game? Not really a big deal to make the straight swap of a starting pitcher.

No need to rush it. Either Garza will wake up Wednesday and feel okay or they'll call up Espino to spot start it again. [sarcasm]It is just too bad Tommy Milone wasn't around now.[/sarcasm]

Why would Florida want to make this trade? Yelich has more value than that. Can send them a bucket of balls if you'd like.

Why would Florida want to make this trade? Yelich has more value than that. Can send them a bucket of balls if you'd like.

That works both ways, Brew. They picked up guys like Drake for a reason. What if you quit on him too quickly (such as Brandon Kintzler) and he goes on to have a very successful season elsewhere? Most won't. Few will. That's the life of bullpen roulette. Sacrificing your season because you think a 30 year old pitcher may figure it out is not the way to go IMO. Also nothing stopping Drake from going to AAA and getting better where it really doesn't matter record wise. Games count in the pros. The Brewers front office needs to start figuring that out.

Ok, but do you see the problem here? This is just change for the sake of change. You brought up a suggestion of Joba, who currently doesn't even have a job in baseball, and you're expecting improvement from that? You're pretty much just throwing a bunch more crap at the wall and seeing what sticks. They've already been doing that, just with Drake and Hughes and Scahill and Peralta instead of the guys you listed . There is nothing about the list you gave that inspires any confidence that they'll be better. We had this same problem last year with Blazek . If you want to bring up him and Wang, fine, but you can't just cut bait with these guys after 2 or 3 bad outings, cycle into the next batch, and expect things to get better. Internally I can think of about 2 or 3 guys that they could realistically promote to the pen and have high hopes that they may have an instant impact: Hader and Taylor Williams. Maybe Lopez if he ever gets his act together. So if you want to give these guys a shot in the MLB pen, I can get on board. Anything else is really just churning through the crap and hoping some of it will stick. If it's churning through crap what's the hold up? Bring em up, send em down, doesn't matter. Churn until something that resembles MLB pitching sticks. If none of these guys stick by seasons end, bingo cut em and go after other players. Why is there something wrong with that approach? We are not dealing with young prospects here. They're guys on their last chances. Cut em if they aren't doing their jobs. Doing nothing isn't getting it done. What happens if 3-4 of those guys I listed come up and do the job? I guess we'd never know with your thinking.

Broxton & Villar for Yelich.

Yeah you have to love relievers who strike out 4 in 16 innings. Pure dominance.

Problem is, none of those guys (with the exception of Feliz) has been as bad as people are saying. Not many bullpens where you feel really confident about 4 or 5 guys, much less 8. Each reliever has had a mix of mostly good appearances, but yes too many clunkers. It only makes sense to figure out which, if any, can be more consistent. I mean Ramsey, Espino, Archer, Barbosa? Do you really think they'll be able to come in night after night and handle the job? It's frustrating, I get it, but making a change just to make a change is usually not a good strategy. This will work itself out over the next few weeks. One or more of these guys will get better, maybe. One may just self-destruct. Then down in the minors, someone will rise to the top and called up. Bullpens are always a work in progress, and as fans we're rarely satisfied. Have you taken a look at their stat lines? Only Feliz has a WHIP of 1.3, the rest are 1.4 or much higher. They ar accountable for over half our losses. How anyone can defend these clowns is beyond me. Sure teams have usually a lousy guy at the very end of their pen. We have five of them. And I can't honestly tell you what those other minor leaguers I listed will produce but they have done well at the level they are at so why not give them a chance? Doing nothing will have us in fourth place in no time. I'm sure the full on rebuilders will all be celebrating that, but I'm tired of losing. Especially when this starting five and lineup are competent enough to compete now.

I gave you multiple examples of ways in which they've tried to improve the pen just since Spring Training. They signed Hughes, they traded for Drake. They had a short leash with Feliz and a short one with Marinez. They converted Peralta to a reliever. They called up Suter and Scahill at various points. All within a span of 2 months. How is this not trying? Just because what they've tried hasn't worked to this point doesn't mean they haven't tried. Again, what would your specific moves be right now that you think would improve the pen? Get rid of Drake, Scahill, Hughes and bring up any of the following: Tristan Archer, Andrew Barbosa, Wang, Aaron Wilkerson, Matt Ramsey, Espino, Blazek to name a few. Hell, go pick up Joba again. He can't be any worse. I would then tell Feliz and Torres that they are at their last chance. They either start getting outs or they to will be on the waiver wire. Enough is enough with accepting just plain crap from these so called major league players. Spin the cycle til you find some players who are worth a damn.

Fine, but rebuild the pen from AAA, not with trades that give away prospects before it's time to make a major move. As indicated above AAA arms like Hader, Wang, Blazek and even Cravy would likely be serious upgrades over Feliz, Hughes, and Drake. Improve from within; give the CS guys a shot and hang onto the big prospects. I don't care if they go and sign some Indy ball guys to come in and give it their all. Doing nothing is completely a joke at this point.

Just throwing up are hands and saying well what did you expect, it is what it is, is not acceptable. The guys we have are not doing their jobs well enough. Cut bait, bring in other guys. Be creative. I'm so sick of Brewers management not trying to win ball games. We have a pathetic history for a reason. Stop letting mediocre be the status quo in Milwaukee and maybe, just maybe we will actually win something this century.

I love to praise Stearns for his awesome work rebuilding the farm but he needs to be held accountable for doing absolutely nothing to help change the bullpen woes. The rest of the guys on the team deserve better.

This is just flat out wrong. I know you hate his bat but you should probably check stats before you assume. He's been slowly progressing this season and hitting pretty well for about a month now. Arcia getting days off is much like Domingo and Broxton last season. I trust CC to know what he's doing with these guys. Flat out wrong? I think not. Maybe he has done marginally better in the average department, but that means little to me in a small sample. That could simply be just having more balls poke through. He still has zero power. He had what...3 XBHs last month? To say he is playing well because when his OPS went from .650 to .690(year/last 14 days) is pretty generous. If you were expecting a bunch of power this year then you don't really get player progression. He's young. He hasn't even filled out yet. It'll come and he's learning on the fly and improving.

This is just flat out wrong. I know you hate his bat but you should probably check stats before you assume. He's been slowly progressing this season and hitting pretty well for about a month now. Arcia getting days off is much like Domingo and Broxton last season. I trust CC to know what he's doing with these guys.

I hope he becomes a regular just in general. Not sold on Broxton so I'd love if Phillips just swiped that job away even when Braun returns.

Hopefully Phillips rakes and pushes Broxton a bit.

None of us really know because we are not in the locker room with these guys. No matter who it is, the chemistry seems legit with this group. Lots of energy and they rebound very well together.

Again, no one was saying (I don't believe) that he shouldn't be our closer. He just needs to get the last three outs of the game at a higher rate. That is all. I mean it is his job. Hey I might be the one to say it. Look at the way the Indians are using Andrew Miller this year and how valuable he's been in that role despite having NO saves. Miller comes in in crucial situations to save the game with runners on before things get out of hand. It's been a real benefit for Cleveland and it's worked. There's no reason Corey couldn't have great success in that role too when he strikes out basically 2 batters per inning. Maybe that should be his role here with Barnes being the guy to get the last 3 outs. I don't know. I'm right there with ya. Closers role is overrated until you're losing games you had won in the 9th though.

Again, no one was saying (I don't believe) that he shouldn't be our closer. He just needs to get the last three outs of the game at a higher rate. That is all. I mean it is his job.

Ya know, if you would've told me Thursday that we'll win 1 of the 3 I would love taken it and been fine. But after watching all three and basically out playing them all three games, this series was still so frustrating. Either way, the Dodgers are very good and you tip your cap to some clutch hitting but they don't scare me. Brewers right there with them.

Fun stuff, right?!? He's coming into his own. His production and seeing Broxton and his swing and miss approach makes me hope someone gives up something good for Broxton come July.

There are no ties and there is no rule about a tie goes to the runner. If he was called safe on the field, chances are that call would've stood too. Yep. Didn't see it but 'tie goes to the runner' is a myth. Actually I believe by the letter of the law a theoretical 'tie' would go to the fielder as I think the rule says the runner needs to beat the ball. I'll have to look that up... No need. You are correct on that.