SoCalBrewfan

Yes. Yes. There's still time to make the playoffs...maybe? Once before a midseason manager switch preceded a Brewer playoff berth...ok, let me dream here.

What should happen, preferably at home, is that ned should go out to make a pitching change, and while he's out there waiting for the new pitcher to come in from the pen, Melvin and / or Attanasio should walk out to the mound and take the ball from Ned. Maybe in Ned's next job he will come to understand the platoon advantage. I am not going to hold my breath though.

Ah, I think you missed my 'sac' up joke. Like a sac-rifice, you know. Or is it a pun? Just a very little joke, really. It's ok to miss it. I'm not hurt at all. Just please please don't boo. While I agree that major leaguers ought to have the mental toughness to overcome whatever challenges they face, hostile crowds included, I know that I'd get ticked off at the fans for the type of booing that has been described. It certainly does suggest that those who have observed that the team seems flat and tight are right on the mark. These guys are looking over their shoulder in a big way, and they aren't playing like themselves.

We need a hurricane, too, so Kendall can get some rest. Yeah, I'm still not sure why they didn't call him up...guess his star has dimmed somewhat in the eyes of the team. But even so I don't think Iribarren could catch, tho I could see using him to pinch run and play some defense at second now and again. I think he lacks the grit to be a catcher though.

Like the man said, "It's Big Boy Time" -- sac up. If the team would bunt more, the fans would be happier? I don't understand why anyone thinks booing is likely to improve the performance on the field...like it will motivate a player to do better. I think it's at least as likely to make the players think, to heck with these guys [to put it politely]...I'm getting paid, these fans don't deserve a winning team, why should I bust my butt for them. And not just the guy getting booed, either. Meanwhile, that moral superiority Brewers fans seem to want to claim over supposedly boorish and classless Cubs fans looks a bit more tenuous.

What might get lost in this is that a team like this one, a season like this one, particularly if they make the playoffs and do well, can and will excite new fans, youngsters and less young, who will turn into the hardcore fans of tomorrow. How many current Brewers fans got hooked in the early 80s by seeing that team in the postseason? (Raises hand.) I saw the same thing when I was living in Seattle. When the Ms had an epic pennant race with the Angels and won the division in 1995, the town turned almost overnight into a baseball town...add to that a postseason victory over the Yankees, some exciting marquee players, and you've got some lifelong Ms fans. But there were growing pains...the local papers ran stories with questions like, "Why is there an extra guy in addition to the first baseman, second baseman, and third baseman? He doesn't have a base?" I personally answered some questions that might have seemed silly. But that good feeling led to a new stadium, several years of near-3-million attendance, and birthed some brand new hardcore fans. Now of course it seems that Bavasi has done his level best to drive them away...but that's concern for another day. I sincerely hope there are ignorant kids in Wisconsin getting hooked on the Brewers, and casual fans that are just learning about baseball...that's the fan base of the future.

Piniella is very possibly worse with pitchers than Yost...that's my sense after watching him up close in Seattle. They finally got a pitching coach who could handle him at some point, but Lou's instincts about pitching changes are just abysmal. Those Seattle teams had some pretty special talent, and little to show for it...Woodward and Piniella each deserve their share of blame for that.

Yeah, it seems to me both sides are preparing for the worst. Brewers and Cubs fans are like two old timers arguing about who's got worse health problems. Ach! You think your knee is bad? You should see my prostate!

Wow, Sabathia is all kinds of wonderful, isn't he? And, for all the fantasy baseball players, there's still hope of a save situation for Torres, if we decide to go to Mota in the 9th.

Though I tend to stay away from them, there are a lot of good ones out here...In'N'Out, Tommy's, El Pollo Loco, Baja Fresh, Rubio's. When I lived in New Orleans, I was a fan of Popeye's and Rally's...nothing healthy about them, but that's not really the point, is it? Church's was like Popeye's, but even greasier, if that's even possible. Their biscuits were better than Popeye's but otherwise it was the inferior version to be sure. IMHO of course. Some of the best, though, are local places with one or two outlets. Dick's drive in in Seattle, for example, or any number of Mexican places down here. Mmmm.

Obviously Melvin has regretted trading Aurilia all these years...I think Melvin traded Aurilia and Dempster for John Burkett in two separate deals while he was with Texas. Looking at that whole sequence of trades, his current moves seem quite decisive. One of those Burkett deals also involving Rick Helling, whom Melvin reacquired after a year or two. I half expect to see Tatis and Darren Oliver on this team one of these days... I don't see the point in Aurilia, unless they have other plans for Hall and/or Dillon. Durham of course makes some sense, though I'd expect him to be expensive...could Hall go in a Durham deal, making Aurilia Branyan's platoon partner? Trading with Sabean might be the last great market inefficiency now that Seattle sacked Bavasi...

'll just point out that Brad has the 34th best OPS in the PCL and 51st best in AAA overall. While Nelson isn't a top prospect at this point, discussion of his stats in AAA should include acknowledgement that Nashville is on on a par with Tacoma and New Orleans as extreme pitcher's parks by PCL standards. (At least that has been the case in recent years.) It's not a reasonable comparison to look at his raw numbers vs. someone playing is Las Vegas or Salt Lake or Colorado Springs, which are huge hitters' parks. That may be part of the discrepancy in MLEs...seems like people look at the PCL and assume every park there is a bandbox. 26 year-old 1B with a MLE of 740 Despite this assertion, he's not 26 yet. (DOB 12/23/82) Of the guys ahead of him in terms of RC/G in the PCL, only four are under 25, and those guys are top tier prospects. One year of age might seem like it's quibbling, but age is very important for young players. Nelson would be probably be better than replacement level in the big leagues tomorrow, and still has a bit of room to grow as he hits his peak. Given his injury, it is very possible that his numbers this year are a better gauge of future value than his career numbers...that's not certain but a good guess. Still, I think that he's a better fit for a team like Seattle that is (or should be, at least) in the talent-gathering phase, rather than a team like Milwaukee who is contending. On the Brewers he's a bench player...on an AL team with weaknesses at 1b, dh, or LF, he's a potential starter, at least as a platoon player...there's not an overwhelming chance that he's an average hitter at those positions, but there is still a chance as he hits ages 26 - 28. For teams like that, Nelson would be a good pickup. I can't imagine that any contending team would have Nelson as their primary option at this point...he may yet have the opportunity to prove himself. Nelson to me is a bit like Lyle Overbay, though Lyle had the advantage of great hitter's parks in his minor league career, and was always old for his league. Despite his gaudy minor league numbers, Overbay didn't establish himself in the majors until he was traded to Milwaukee, a team desperate for talent at the time. Despite Nelson's rep as a power hitter, he's never hit a lot of HR, probably due to the wrist problem, but he could have a few years' career as a decent doubles guy with good average and OBP. While Errecart and Nelson are still worth watching, and could have some value to a team that needs bats, I think the Brewers are unlikely to go in that direction. Nelson could serve as a bench bat in September. Also, first base is on the left of the defensive spectrum, if we're feeling picky: http://www.baseball1.com/bb-data/bbd-bj1.html Though I did see someone list the spectrum vertically, which is even odder...

That also illustrates one of the pitfalls of holding your prospects, as both LA teams have...while they're rocking in the minors, people can dream of Gamel and Laporta being Matthews and Pujols, but at some point it might become clear that they're less than that.

The LA Times says the following: The Dodgers are alleged to be involved in Sabathia negotiations as well, but if Coletti is to be believed this is their top priority. Nomar played shortstop but that can't last, suggesting that Coletti might be honest here. One name that's come up is Jack Wilson. (If the Pirates get two prospects for Jack Wilson, I just don't know what to say.) I don't know what Coletti is thinking, but if I were him I'd be checking in with Milwaukee about Hall...and if they're really opening up the vaults for their core players, you might even talk about a Hardy deal. (I can't imagine Escobar would be on their radar, as they've had trouble with their own SS prospect Hu adjusting to big league pitching.) The Dodgers are now very close to the DBacks but with a huge hole in the infield, so they seem to be, as Melvin likes to say, motivated to make a deal.

I'm not convinced they should give up LaPorta or Gamel, much less one of their major league starters in addition. He's a two month rental! I don't think there's a chance in heck we get Sabathia without giving up one of these two guys plus other chips...just hope the other chips don't include another top 5 guy. If a Sabathia to Milwaukee deal goes through, people will scream to see how much we'll have to give up...it's going to be prospects that hurt, not just spare parts. Consider the Linebrink deal, then contemplate how much more valuable Sabathia is.

Like the shell of an egg, it can be easily "fractured" or shattered when confronted by a blunt or violent force. Why oh why did I click on that link? Shuddering --- can't --- stop --- shuddering.

the Indians have no choice but to accept the best offer they get, even if it's not very good. Cleveland GM Shapiro is not afraid of draft choices, so they could offer CCS arbitration and then get a 1S plus a first or second round pick if he signs elsewhere. If they don't get an offer better than that, they will hold onto Sabathia. Laporta is worth a lot more than a single draft choice, as he's so close to being ready to contribute, and looks virtually certain to be a big league hitter with a good shot at being an impact bat. But that backdrop should put to rest the notion that Cleveland would give up Sabathia for filler. (As noted elsewhere, draft choices are risky and expensive, but some teams do value them in a deal like this.) Current Brewers who could be trade bait are Villanueva and Hall, as noted...though both are probably at the lower end of their value right now; either would have been a lot more valuable in the offseason. I could see one of them used in a deal for sure, and I think they'd be at least as valuable to a trade partner as an A ball guy or a second or third tier prospect, but I could also see us holding them for now. Rotoherb posted a link to past trade deadlines, which is cool...thanks! Just browsing through, the closest comparable deal in recent memory might be Freddy Garcia from Seattle for Jeremy Reed, Miguel Olivo, and Mike Morse. Garcia was almost up for free agency, so he's at a similar point at Sabathia. But he then signed a three-year extension with the White Sox...if we could pull that off I'd be pretty excited, but I don't see it happening. Still...Reed was a good prospect at the time, who had crushed AA the year before to the tune of .400/.470/.590, but was only pretty good in AAA at the time of the deal. Still, I think he was roughly comparable to Gamel or Laporta. Maybe Kris Benson for Wigginton, Jose Bautista, and an arm is also comparable. But there just haven't been a lot of top-flight starters moved at this point in the last few years, perhaps because the return just isn't there and teams value draft picks more than they used to. I hope we don't emulate the other Mets trade that year, Zambrano for Kazmir.

LaPorta is the likeliest to be traded, in my opinion...he is the most redundant player in the system, and yet has sky-high value...he's someone that could help a trade partner very soon. Escobar is the least likely to be traded IMO...of the young players in Milwaukee, the middle infielders are the ones we can most easily imagine replacing, and Escobar has defensive value that very few of our prospects can offer. Gillespie and Gwynn are likely also available, along with a number of other complementary pieces. My gut feeling is that they hold on to Gamel and Jeffress as well as Escobar. Another says Huntsville has five legitimate starting major leaguers, and one other called Huntsville "the best prospect team our scout's ever seen." Funny given that the Brewers were ranked so low by BA this offseason. Jacksonville a few years back was probably better, but H'ville is pretty spectacular. Five major league starters...hm...that's Gamel, Laporta, Escobar, and then who? Brantley, probably, then Salome or Gillespie? I know we're all attached to the prospects, and anticipate unhappiness almost regardless of the deal, but one of the uses of a farm system is to acquire major league talent. If you look at the extended roster (majors + high minors), there's a lot of corner guys who can't play D, and a need for pitching...the talent is in serious need of realignment. The roster skews RH as well, and Gamel's lefty stick is almost unique at the higher levels. There's a coming need for some fixes in the infield as well, which is why I don't see Escobar and Gamel going anywhere unless there's an IF coming back. (I recognize that Gamel is not yet a major league 3B, but the team is sending signals that they think he can pull it off. Sounds familiar, of course, but if that's what they think they'll give him some more time to prove them right or wrong.)

What's tough is that Chris Errecart goes 4 for 5 and is having a solid year for that league, but goes largely unnoticed because he's 'only' hitting in the 280s.

As recently as 2002 a manager was 'traded.' Lou Piniella was managing Seattle and there was mutual interest between Lou and his hometown Devil Rays, so Seattle released him from his contract, and Tampa sent Seattle Randy Winn in exchange. (Antonio Perez was also involved, so it wasn't quite as straightforward as Tanner for Sanguillen.)

Perhaps Atlanta could send us a little something to entice the team to release Ned Yost from his obligations...a pitcher or two might do it. (There is precedent...Chuck Tanner and Lou Piniella were both 'traded' for players.) Because Ned has done such a stellar job here, let's start the bidding with Jair Jurrjens.

I can only hope that Tavarez will be a lot like Jim Abbott or Tony Fernandez...guys that had a career, then a brief stint with the Brewers at the end, one that quickly becomes recognized as a bad idea, one that nobody remembers a few years later, one that might even win you a bet in a bar a few years from now. But did anyone really think that Tavarez was a good signing? Could Luis Pena have possibly done worse? At least Ned might have recognized that Pena needed to be used carefully. Sigh.

That's a classic FSL game...1-0 until the Lucroy homer in the 6th. Jeffress...wow. In the good starts, 2 ER in 30 innings, just dominating. Then there's the other three...20 ER in 11 innings. Consistency eludes this young man, I guess. I don't know what to make of that. It's possible some of the slow start is because he had to give the rest of the league a few weeks' head-start after his suspension...two of the disaster starts were his first and third of the year.

I am having no luck with the MLB.com pages on Safari or Firefox as of now.

The one sure thing is that the Brewers have their own way of looking at things...they are predictably unpredictable, and I've long ago given up trying to outguess them.