Cool Hand Lucroy

Mona taking the extra base. Dodgers helping with some poor fielding.

Kind of figured we were going to have to score quite a bit today. Still plenty of time to do so, but about as much of a house money game as it gets, especially with every one of our close competitors losing and the bullpen having been pushed a bit the last two days.

Betting on seeing some DL Hall today.

So, if Sal is ready soon, we can replace Black with him, right? Would be him or Siegler? I know it's only a few games, but Perkins is a legit big-leaguer.

Anyone know what we are base runs wise? It really seems to my eyes like we crush base running. We score from first on doubles. Go from first to third wonderfully. Steal bases. Hit and run. Avoid making unnecessary outs (perhaps our biggest weakness is caught stealing, but that is at least somewhat the result of aggressiveness). On the other side, our infield and outfield range has to be elite. I'll bet we steal tons of outs. The Cubs fan talks about speed but doesn't really mention base running or defense, which feels to me like the key pieces or org philosophy that are statistically measurable.

Brewers Devil Magic!!!!!

There are other things you can pick up in, I guess. But it's one of those "impossible to disprove" conjectures. I think Freddy nibbled and threw some bad pitches the Dodgers punished. Did good to hear down for the final two outs. And Collins delivers!!

Well, new game.

I mean, a decent part of this is that the Dodgers can just hit...

Going to be a race. Cubs should be favorites given their schedule. Not too worried either way. That 5-game series at Wrigley in August is going to decide a lot, with a nice little appetizer next week.

I feel like it says a lot about baseball economics that the point of making a QO is to have it declined.

I am definitely in the Ortiz fan club. Turang is best at 2B, and Joey has shown he can hit MLB pitching, or at least he did in 2024. I am not ready to move on from him this year, let alone for the future. I keep coming back to him having to adjust to SS, and maybe that's impacting his offense. Let's at least give him the next home stand.

All in all, and aside from the NHL being able to do international tournaments during their ASB, MLB has the best all-star situation. Granted, a lot of that is just because there's not a lot else happening sports wise in mid-July. The NHL has it super great, though. Too bad that kind of thing wouldn't work for baseball.

This. Which by my count is...today. The Brewers have a history of this stuff it seems. Not a huge deal, but one very minor area where I disagree a bit with the team's approach. I suppose if Sal can PH by Saturday, it doesn't matter at all.

Kind of feel like this thread has derailed a bit. I suppose my takeaway is that a) the Brewers probably owe Woody significantly more than the other way around and b) the Brewers still did right by him--lots of teams would've done worse.

IIRC, many on this board thought the Woody contract was a really bad for a small market team to offer at the time. There were legit concerns, and I think it was a tough call for the FO. BUT plenty of us also felt that it was the right thing to do, even given the chance that Woody never fully recovered (and, hey we're only two MLB starts in). That determination was based on the idea that even a half year of good Woody might net enough WAR to justify the cost of the contract, even before you consider the added benefit of the goodwill and the team appreciating Woody's early-career, very economically advantage for the club, contributions. I think this is a situation where both sides should feel really good about what they did. I don't think anyone owes or should expect anything moving forward, but I will say this: I know Woody says he had multiple offers. I absolutely believe him. It's hard for me to see anyone paying THAT much more than 2yr/17.5, though, especially when you know one of those years is a total rehab year. I mean, maybe the Dodgers and Yankees can afford to spend 9 mil on zero production. But would they? In practice? I mean, why commit that much of your luxury tax space in a given year to a guy you are SURE will do nothing? Especially when you can just let some other team take a shot, see if he's good, and then offer him a boatload to take him away after you KNOW he's still got it? It doesn't make sense. And no smaller market is going to do that deal either, unless they have deep history with Woody. All of which is to say, I don't think Woody gave the Brewers a hometown discount. The team stepped up and gave him, in the immortal words of Will Wade, a "strong-[keister] offer." I disagree with Turning's idea that Woody was lucky to get as much as he did, but I certainly buy the point that the Brewers committed to the guy in a way that demonstrates real belief and loyalty. The team made a hard choice and the right ethical choice if you ask me. It may even end up being the smart baseball choice too. I just wouldn't want to see the Brewers' role here reduced to some kind of "pity pick." No one's saying that, exactly, but I think maybe the team's commitment here might be being underrated by some. I have no idea what a 32-year-old Big Woo is getting on the open market. Hard to imagine much more than a 3-4 yr deal. I'd absolutely pay the guy 3/70 and feel fine about it. You'd be betting on the guy to be worth about 7 WAR over those three years. The QO will probably be what? 22-23 mil? I'd do that.

1-3 weeks for a grade 1. Pretty much best case. I'd just IL the guy, but I am sure Sal only wants that as a last resort.

The Brewers did the right thing. I am sure it engendered some goodwill. Maybe it "pays off" (part of the argument for paying Woody to rehab is that it shows a commitment to the player and shows the organization cares), but I wouldn't say Woody "owes" anything.

Crickets. Sal posted something very banal (no mention of any injury) on Instagram Monday. I don't know. I would guess the MRI didn't find anything major but probably showed something. Would bet on an IL stint but imagine the team is waiting in order to a) see if things improve or b) see what internal/external option is best. Perkins is easy choice, obviously, but trade talks are probably hot, and maybe an OF is involved.

Yeah, no need to mess around. Seeming like an IL stint because what better time, when you can back date to today? We'll see how they handle it and what the MRI says. Hopefully nothing a couple of weeks can't fix, and then he's back in true Sal form before August gets too far along.

Yeah, nice to have Perkins ready for this kind of thing. Hopefully Sal only needs a week or two.

Didn't see it, how worried should we be?

I remember losing 8 in a row before the break in 2018. Maybe this can be (very close to) the inverse of that.

I generally think NHL expansion is a not great idea, given that 34 teams would be more than any other pro sport. Hard to believe hockey can sustain that level of commitment in that many places. The league is already pretty unstable. OTOH, it always seems to be thriving in the South and Southwest. Players love those markets much more than they seem to want to play on Quebec or Halifax or even Winnipeg or a genuinely great city like Vancouver. I'd much prefer a team in Halifax (which would make the NHL the only four time zone pro league if I am not mistaken), but I get that the money is elsewhere. I will be interested to see how this plays out. It is a unique, high-risk, high-reward business strategy. You expand to collect expansion fees and hope you own markets like Raleigh and SLC and Austin all winter. Maybe those teams go bust, or maybe you'll get a league with a massive map.

I didn't Ashby get hit. I hope it wasn't too bad?