SoCalBrewfan

Hard to say for sure what the first comment meant, but I think there are scouts who distrust bigger guys at short almost as a matter of principle. Not that 6'0, 195 is huge, but he's not an Escobar-style rail...and even if he's fine there now, I suspect part of the question is whether he'll grow out of the middle infield in time. Apparently the young man moves pretty well though...and the second Goldstein comment sounds very nice indeed. I admit that I have wondered plenty whether the Brewers would maintain their draft mojo in the post-Z world, with some key people moving west this offseason. For that reason in particular I love the early returns on the class of 09...

Cam Garfield Origins...the legend begins.

The Brewers are in the bottom half of the league in both pitching ERA and batting average. The most glaring problem is starting pitching, but their inconsistent offense is right behind but there isn't much to do with it. Pitching / defense is right at the league average: 4.62 r/g allowed vs league average of 4.57. Our offense is fourth in the league with 4.77 r/g. While we're this close to the race, I would be astonished to see them sell off key players for minor leaguers. I could see a 'reconfiguration' trade, though...that's more Melvin's style anyway.

Any updates? Frank Francisco is still alive.

I haven't seen him in person, but what I have read makes me think he's sort of the mirror image of some young pitchers...good movement, great changeup and breaking stuff, but not the pure velocity that some guys have. But...as a lefty, he can probably get with with less velocity if need be...and if he adds some to the fastball, as many pitchers that age do, he could have a very good repertoire. As far as results go, he pitched well at a tender age in Helena, given that it's a pretty hostile environment for pitchers, and a league populated with a number of college draft choices. That said, he's had a rough first half...I wouldn't be stunned to see him moved back to Helena as their season starts, especially with an influx of draft choices including some high round college pitchers.

I'd try Small Dog Electronics...I haven't bought a used mac from them, but I've bought other stuff and have nothing but good experiences...indie outfit in Vermont, the kind of guys that I personally like to support and recommend. From what I've seen the used inventory will ebb and flow: http://www.smalldog.com/ I've heard of people getting good deals on refurbs from Apple, particularly as new models are introduced. (Probably will be good deals on laptops now, for example, with MB/MBP updates announced yesterday.)

From the JS blog: That jives with some of the observations above, indeed, like 44Fishy. Sounds like Parra's been asked to make a change but that it's got his mechanics out of whack with runners on base?

Poreda and Richard, both LHP, were the #2 and 3 prospects in the Sox system according to BA. Poreda has a bigtime fastball, working on the rest...has looked good at AA this year and could pitch in the majors this year...could be a top of the rotation guy, or a power reliever, or of course a complete bust. Richard is sort of the opposite...sinkerballer who tops out around 90, is probably a middle to back of the rotation guy. Poreda's in AA, Richard has a lot of major league time. That's where the Brewers don't match up, sadly...we don't have pitchers who are that advanced, which is apparently what SD has been looking for in a Peavy deal. Still, that package doesn't seem huge if Beckham is not in there. I think I'd rather have a premium bat in there rather than four uncertain pitchers, were I SD...Peavy is an incredibly valuable pitcher. His money doesn't seem excessive to me, but we may be seeing a phase of highly conservative payroll decisions while the economy is so sour.

jaguars once lived in the swamps of Florida SoCal. But now all you see down there are Lexuses and Infinitis, and the occasional Range Rover. I thought as twri7 did, that jaguars were restricted to the SW (as well as points further south), and that the Florida Panther was the historical swamp cat of choice. New Orleans Hurricanes would once have been a nice double-meaning name (either the storm or the drink could knock you silly), but I think that might be too sore a point now. The University of New Orleans has the name 'Privateers' which recognizes the historical presence of what some less-enlightened characters might now call pirates...I think the city had a Pirates or Buccaneers franchise at one point as well. The PCL Zephyrs kept the name of the Denver team displaced by the Rockies...that gentle breeze seems an odd choice now to be sure.

For whatever reason, Utah has taken the Jazz nickname to heart, so that subsequent sports teams there often also end (or ended) in z or zz, like the former WNBA Starzz or the minor league Orem Owlz. Their PCL team used to be the Buzz, but changed to the Bees a few years ago, going to an older name and dropping the zz for some reason I don't recall. Our onetime farm team the Ogden Raptors kind of bucked the trend I guess. St. Louis Blues - Maybe they should switch this team name with Nashville's. Though there's some history for Nashville Blues, and a song by that name, that would be less pleasing to me...nowadays as well as historically, it's more Memphis blues and Nashville for country in that state. Actually, I think St. Louis Blues is a great name, one of the cooler ones in sports, referencing a famous old song associated with names like WC Handy (who wrote it), Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith...though perhaps even those names are lost on most who hear them these days? The Columbus Blue Jackets is odd, but it's a reference to the US Civil War, I think. Reminds me of the minor league Augusta Green Jackets, named for the Masters. (Minor league baseball names can be pretty cool...always loved the Lubbock Crickets.) As I recall, Carolina Panthers has something to do with sightings of black mountain lions in the Carolinas. That's a bit odd to me as I think of Florida Panthers, which are a slightly different critter from the swamplands down there...very much endangered for that matter. I guess there's a hockey team bearing that name, or used to be? To me, Jacksonville Jaguars makes less sense than any of them, except for the alliteration...I don't think the historical range of Jaguars went anywhere near Florida. The Washington Wizards of course changed their name from Bullets...at least they have alliteration going for them now. I like Washington Nationals, honestly...don't see the complaint there. Senators would have had its merits, maybe, but the other two Senators franchises still exist, in the AL to boot, and Nationals fits the new league assignment and has some history as well.

Boy that series sits better after a split...could have been a lot better, but could have been a lot worse.

OK, fair enough...I just tuned in and saw the results. I partially retract my complaint. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Would someone please leave a memo in the manager's office that Bush can kind of lose it all at once? That if he gives up back to back dingers, it might be a good time to make a move? Signed, Ned.

While the media and government may be blowing it out of proportion, it's probably better to be over-vigilant when it comes to this stuff, rather than just ignoring it and then wondering where things went wrong if tons of people start dying from it. I would argue that while the media deserve some criticism, and individual people are reacting in ways that are absolutely silly in my opinion, criticism of the government response at this point is misplaced. It is one of the purposes of government, at all levels, to be prepared for situations like this, and they are doing their job by making preparations and passing on information as it becomes known. They must prepare, be proactive rather than reactive, be vigilant and follow up on potential leads, and be ready for the worst. That's why we have the CDC, and why we participate in international organizations like the WHO. As noted, the consequences of not being prepared are potentially very bad, and there is inevitably a time period when no one can know how bad a particular outbreak might be. If you wait until things get bad, it might already be too late.

40-50 million dead seems much higher than 7-8%. Well, multiply the death toll by the inverse of the rate, and you get 500+ million people infected. Sounds like a lot, but that's one reason why that flu was so deadly...I have seen estimates that almost half the people in the world at that time were infected when all was said and done. So a flu that spreads widely can be very dangerous even if it's not terribly lethal in terms of the fraction of people who die. The second reason for concern, and an early reason to draw parallels to 1918, is the death of young adults in Mexico. There are theories about how that happened in 1918, involving a specific reaction of the immune system. Such a 'feature' in this virus, along with the apparently rapid spread and the increasing amount of world travel, could well have led to a really bad thing. Somebody who claimed to be knowledgeable said to me that the WHO pandemic warning stages are somewhat like the tornado watch / warning thing that Midwesterners know all too well. (And though I've been away for a while, that's still how I think of myself.) For someone who is not familiar, even a tornado watch sounds scary, but we know it's a signal to be vigilant and award. A tornado warning means you should take certain steps and be ready if the real thing comes. Most tornado warnings are non-events, but if you're smart you take them seriously. Similarly, while this flu might be a minor one, there are enough warning signs that governments need to take steps, making sure their plans, inventories, etc are up to date. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

I kinda had the sense that Yost didn't have much in the way of positive rapport with some of the players, Weeks and Hall among them. I don't know if I can back it up, but Yost seemed to get those guys tense, maybe even looking over their shoulder a bit, which to me is exactly the opposite of what Weeks in particular needed. I don't have the same ability to watch the games as some of you, so maybe others can comment on whether they have that impression as well. Who knows, it might be that Weeks has responded positively to some combination of Randolph, Macha, and Sveum, or it could just be an illusion.

Nelson and Duffy should have been well aware that they are much worse than the players they are backing up, so if they are going to complain or something, I hope they get cut ASAP. I haven't seen any quotes suggesting either guy is complaining; have you? Roster-wise, Nelson is out of options, so he cannot be sent to the minors without first clearing waivers. Another team could claim him for their roster, but they would in turn have to expose him to waivers to send him to AAA. A DFA is not the same as being placed on waivers...DFAing a player immediately removes him from the 40-man roster. The team has something like ten days to make a subsequent move with a DFAed player...that move might be a trade, a release, or an outright assignment to the minors, which would also require that the player clear waivers. That move would also require that the player be re-added to the 40-man roster before joining the major league team again. Though some fans might have written Nelson off, I don't see evidence that the Brewers have. Therefore, if a move is made, which would be done only reluctantly on the Brewers' part I imagine, I'd expect that they'd put him on waivers with the intent of getting him to Nashville. A DFA would very likely mean he is out of the organization. That day may yet come, of course, but it's premature at this point to suggest it. Honestly, neither Duffy nor Nelson is a young guy, so it's not like they have developing to do in the minors. If they really can't produce in the majors, the team will move on at some point. It does suggest that making decisions based on spring training performance has its limitations, though. Based on ST you'd think that Hardy would be an MVP candidate, for that matter...

Chris Denove grounds out, pitcher Chris Cody to second baseman Shane Justis to first baseman Chris Errecart. What a weird play, why go to second? Was he making a play to his left and just flip the ball to Justis for an easier throw/force? Being a lefty myself it's pretty easy to make throws going left... I hope the play gets described in the post game story. From what I've seen, usually that scoring means the ball (typically a hard hit ball) went off the pitcher's glove or something, then was fielded by the 2b in time to make the play. Pitcher gets an assist though in many cases he doesn't do much but react...

Perhaps the third Wes will be the charm for the Brewers. Gotta think big picture here...go back a bit further and you have a pretty useful Wes: http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/covinwe01.shtml And Del Crandall's middle name was Wesley, too... Back on topic, it sounds like Morlan's stock has fallen about as far as it can right now...doesn't seem that long ago that he was a big time arm in the Minnesota system. Now nobody thinks enough of him to spend a roster spot on the guy. Littleton doesn't have a lot of time to make an impression, but he's had his moments.

I'd say through their first 3 years they are pretty even when compare to his peers.. I don't disagree with that on the face of it, but the age difference is huge making Prince's accomplishments much more impressive. Prince was a major league regular at 21 (opening day '06), hit 50 HR his age-23 year with OPS+ of 156. His prime years should still be ahead of him. Cecil wasn't a regular until 26, and his age-26 year where he hit 51 HR was quite a bit better than any other season he had. (OPS+ 167 at 26, next-best full seasons were 133 and 124.) It's likely that Cecil could have been a decent regular earlier, of course, had he not been trapped behind Fred McGriff, but there's very little reason to believe he was as accomplished a hitter as Prince at the same age. It remains to be seen how Prince develops and ages, of course, but it would be a major disappointment if Prince didn't have a much, much better career when all is said and done.

It's fair to say that the Brewers lost some talent and didn't get a lot of immediate return. Still, it's silly to get worked up about this. These are always completely superficial analyses, and frequently have little to do with the subsequent season. And we'll quickly forget once there's something more substantial to talk about. Remember when the Tigers were coming off a 88-win season and had added Cabrera and Willis in a megadeal, picked up J Jones from the Cubs, resigned key pitchers Rogers and T Jones, etc? Unstoppable! The Brewers have a lot of young players in key roles...while some of them are established now, they are still at the age when most players improve. The offense could be a lot better, though the run prevention is likely to be worse. (Even if Sabathia returned, he would be hard-pressed to repeat that second half.) They've rebuilt the pitching depth, so could withstand the loss of some second-tier pitchers, but if one of their top starters goes down for a long period of time, or struggles for whatever reason, it could be ugly. If you expanded the offseason transactions to include the firing of Ned Yost, we'd have to be top 5, though.

Stevens is the best of the three pitchers in the Derosa deal I think...he is an interesting relief prospect, lots of Ks and apparently good stuff, but he's 25 and hasn't yet pitched in the big leagues...and relief prospects aren't usually the most valuable commodities around. (He's a former Loyola Marymount teammate of Steve Kahn, for those who follow Brewers drafts.) This looks like a salary dump more than anything, though it's possible that SD likes a minor league reliever..they seem to have an eye for these guys. I'm not sure I'd get bent out of shape about seeing our rivals replacing DeRosa with Miles, though it's a lefty bat and they've been looking to add lefties. (As have the Brewers, apparently.) That's a step backwards, IMO. Bradley is of course hugely talented, a great hitter when he's healthy. The questions about his durability and personality can't be overlooked, though...perhaps he and Zambrano will serve as calming influences on one another. Between Derosa and Marquis the Cubs have cleared a bunch of salary...

I thought this was about Gabe Gross. Sigh.

Colby, welcome to the Gillespie is a reserve/platoon guy bandwagon. It's been lonely for me. Wait a minute here, Al...it seems to me that you're taking credit for a position that several people have articulated numerous times in the past. We've talked about Gillespie a lot, and the perspective that he's a second-tier prospect, or a potential 4th of / platoon guy is hardly unique. How else does one interpret the Matt Murton comparison? Or, as someone wrote a few posts above, Gabe Gross? (Though Gross has two advantages over Gillespie in his defense and his handedness.)

With all the FAs on the major league this year, they ought to have plenty of room to protect minor leaguers if they want....Sheets, Sabathia, Mota, Shouse, Gagne, Durham, Kapler (?) will all be off the 40-man roster, at least momentarily...though it may be arby offered and accepted and/or early contracts will re-add a couple of those names before the Rule 5 draft. In any event, that's plenty of open 40-man roster slots to add Cain, Aguilar, Periard, possibly even Welch...and as all have at least sniffed AA and are likely spring training invites, it wouldn't be outrageous to start using options on any of those guys. Aguilar is indeed the prototype Rule 5 choice, a fireballing reliever who could be used as a mopup guy...him or a lefty like Welch or Miller who could be a second loogy or something.