superfly

So essentially, DM and MA need to run out and sign Miggy Cabrera, Joey Bats, or Mike Trout (in a hypothetical world) and then you'll be happy that WE MADE A STATEMENT !!!!

Let me preface this by saying I don't feel our situation really merits a "complete rebuild" per se. The Milwaukee Brewers do not really have a nostalgic organization (blame the early years) with a ton of die hard fans. Just look at the past week in Miller Park before the Brewers started winning again what happened to the bleachers. We cannot really afford to as an organization go dark for 3-4 years...Attanasio would go bankrupt before he'd get results. (OK-not really, but he would lose a ton of money). We aren't the Cubs, Red Sox, etc who have thousands upon thousands of die hard fans who will blindly support through bad times. We must field a competitive team in order to keep the masses entertained. Miller Park isn't getting any younger either, we're approaching the 2nd half of its usefulness if not already in it. Everybody loves to talk about how the Cubs appear to have a bright future. I think what they are doing is nice, but it would not surprise me if a few of these elite prospects didn't pan out in the end. Baez namely can hit it a mile, but if he doesn't fix his plate discipline he is a 2B version of Mark Reynolds. Let's look at another team in the Midwest who always has "elite" prospects abound, but nothing ever seems to come from it...the Minnesota Twins. This organization needs to develop a policy of looking a year or two into the future at every position. We did not do this with Prince Fielder, instead we trusted a "good prospect" in Mat Gamel and we have had a black hole there ever since. We are doing it once again with Aramis Ramirez, and we are backed into a corner right now because of it. If we do not pick up an aging Ramirez's option for next year, we have yet another black hole with no immediate-mid term future. We ARE pretty set at OF if we keep Parra, I feel good about that part of our team. I would even suggest there is an opportunity to trade Gomez at his peak and start Parra everyday (I don't want to though). That will never happen however, as his deal is pretty cap friendly. I'm tired of hearing about Braun's deal too...it is a fair and pretty cap friendly contract for a very good player with elite upside if his thumb is healthy. Factoring in our situation, I think Melvin is doing a good job as GM. His strong suit is fleecing others in trades, but his downside is not fixing black holes in the batting order. I think a game changer for this organization would be hitting on one of these Cuban youngsters coming over, and it is downright depressing knowing how close we were to having Jose Abreu. However, by the evidence of our serious interest in him I think we are going to get one of them eventually. I hope we get in on Yasmani Tomas, we could then shift Braun to 1B for the duration of his career. 1) A clear #1 Starting Pitcher 2) We need more left handed bats. Having one (Gennett) does not cut it, and we're hamstrung anytime we face good RHP. 3) Take Ramirez's option, and IMMEDIATELY begin looking for a young replacement 4) Johnny Narron fired, employ a hitting coach who can teach fundamentals 5) Do not employ anymore 35 year old pitchers for big dollars (Lohse, Wolf, Suppan, Looper). 6) Take a shot on a foreign youngster as opposed to trading for minor league talent

Well said. I'm not one to blame individuals, but I've had these 2 prevailing thoughts for a while and tonight swirls 'em both together quite grandly: 1. Mark Reynolds should just clean out his locker now. 2. I think Johnny Narron needs to go. I just don't see any of our hitters really improving under him. A team slump is one thing, and the Brewers hitters certainly have their flaws, but the offense has been lousy for much of the 2nd half and only seems to be getting worse. A team slump is one thing, but since early July, why are many of our hitters' ABs getting progressively worse as the year moves on, and where are the adjustments? Why have veterans like Reynolds & Weeks gotten worse and worse as the season's worn on (okay, they just aren't MLB hitters anymore)? Clutch hitting is terrible. Where are the focus, in-AB adjustments like shortened-up swings w/ 2 strikes, subtle adjustments in approach overall? Why can't most of our hitters -- Gomez most glaringly -- get a bunt down? . . . Etc..... Gennett & Davis are exactly what they were in the minors. Braun, Lucroy, Ramirez, & Gomez were pretty much already were what they are before Narron's arrival. Who's gotten better? Short list if any names at all. Who's gotten worse? Long list... The issues go beyond Narron, surely (Braun's thumb only begins the list... and no, I don't think replacing Roenicke is a needed solution), but the deterioration of quite a capable offense is, to me, the most glaring issue and, on that count, IMO a change is needed. I think this is a great point. Disagree on Scooter, whom has hit for significantly more power and has been statistically better in the majors than in the minors. Having so many dropoffs from last year is concerning. The only jump up is Lucroy having a great year and ARam being slightly better. Segura going from .752 ops to .596? Davis from .949 to .746? Even Schafer managed to regress. Surprisingly we a statically better than last year - were in the top half in runs per game, and last year we were in the bottom half. The entire league has had a dropoff. But it feels significantly worse because the second half has been extremely brutal. I don't think firing Roenicke will do anything, but if they do, I hope we don't replace him with the opposite Gibson-type manager, because I don't think that's the answer either. Funny that fans would have absolutely LOST it had they traded Nelson away for Price and a couple months later Melvin should get fired for not making a deal. In June everyone was ready to take Roenicke's head off for not starting Nelson instead of Estrada, and now he's turned into a guy that is disappointing when he comes in as a long reliever. Don't count me in on that conversation about being mad if we traded for Price. I was all for it, was pretty disappointing to not see us get him.

Can we please be done with the "Jimmy Nelson is a great prospect" talk now? I've seen nothing from the kid to this point that suggests he will be a solid rotation starter, let alone bullpen. Things can definitely change, but if we really were offered David Price for Nelson + other stuff DM should be fired. The only reason you don't trade Nelson is if he has elite upside.

You have to get a run in for god sake.

Hey, a Braun single.

Season over...you can't leave a man on 3rd with 1 out in extras and the heart of your order batting.

I'm watching the Cards broadcast and they have no shame either...they ate that Braun call right up. Something to the likes of a "HOW ABOUT THAT, EVEN BETTER ON RYAN BRAUN!" They can all burn down there for all I am concerned.

Best win of the year.

Here comes Duke...it's all over boys.

Was hoping Clark would get a shot there...that sucks.

We run every other day, now we're skittish when we need to.

Anyone want to take a shot at what the #1 rated (and probably through the roof ratings) game will be this weekend? For all the outrage Vikings@Saints will kill it this weekend.

Not looking promising early...

Laugh if you wish, but I really enjoy my Blackberry Z10. I had the first few versions of the Iphone and got tired of the same old crap. I might reconsider now that they FINALLY listened to people and made a larger screen, but IDK. Being a "fan boy" isn't really my cup o tea.

So what of the disparity between what football has done with Rice and Peterson? Rice is out of the league, and Peterson is suiting up this weekend. Isn't that disparity on Goodell? That the Vikings are letting Peterson wear their uniform and appear on their team is absurd. Are they really that shortsighted? Do people really not care about the pictures of what Peterson did to his son? Do they just shrug it off and keep cheering for their guy? How could they sit in a room with their own sons and watch the Vikings play, cheering for a guy who admitted to leaving whip marks and drawing blood from his own? I'm sorry but I am going to opine here. By no means am I going to choose to discipline my children in such fashion, but I think people are being short sighted in judging how Adrian chose to discipline. Not only is this a cultural issue (we are NOT getting into that today), but THIS is how kids have been disciplined for eons. "Please stop" is only a recent occurrence in society, and judging by how today's children and 20 somethings act, it isn't working very well. Did the man go too far? I personally think he did. Does he realize he did? I believe now he does, and you can bet he won't be doing it again. To call discipline the same as a (likely drunk) Ray Rice knocking his fiance out in an elevator is wrong. They aren't even close to the same circumstance, it is merely a talking point. I think what people can't come to grips with is when you discipline a child, there are bruises, welts, scars, whatever else. I personally don't understand why that is considering so many of us received it when we were young...I for one learned after the first go-round from the belt buckle I better shape up and knock it off. I have friends who had to walk out in the backyard and choose THEIR OWN switch, and if they chose a bad one they'd receive twice the whooping. I'd personally rather not see this kind of behavior in society, but I am also a realist, and sparing the rod spoils the child. Adrian deserves a fair punishment once there is a conviction, but until that time he needs to be able to go to work just like any other job. As for Goodell, what exactly is he supposed to do? There are CBA rules to follow, not to mention the tens of millions of armchair QBs who sit back and critisize every move made. I'm sure i'll enrage some with my post, but that's OK, this is America and we all have our opinions and rights to agree or disagree. As for the Viking fans - I live over here and have spent the past 12 hours listening to local talk shows. It is very 50/50 and perhaps more on the side of releasing AP than it is happy he's playing. Keep in mind the media has a socially liberal bias however so it can be skewed.

I know one thing...Clark has a pretty swing.

As it should be from a competition view. Let's find out who is the best in the Central and who deserves it most. Hopefully in 2 weeks when the last day rolls around we can seal our spot with a walkoff Ryan Braun home run on the Cubbies :-)

This could be a dumpsterfire...for one Mr. Holmberg that is. Go Brewers!

Quit worrying about K-Rod lol, he's fine.

We've got ourselves a power LH bat folks! MOAR CLARK

WIIIIIIIIIIIIIN

CLARKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

At least the new guy in the pen is worth a nickel...Really dodged a bullet for once.

We MAY have a Brewers sighting way off in the distance finally!