tmwiese55

This is the biggest point to be made right here. You'd have to forfeit a bench offensive player and in the NL you just can't do it. in the AL it could probably be done though since they don't really need their bench.

I think 6:30 is a good time on weeknights. Should be enough time that locals getting off at 5 can make. And for out of towners with a commute, well they're already leaving work early to make it by 7, so 30 mins shouldn't be a big deal to them. I actually think times like 4 or 5 on Saturdays could be good for people actually attending the games too, just not sure if it fits with what TV wants

That Cardinals home opener was on a Friday and I believe a 3pm first pitch. What a perfect time to do opening day, later in the day so you're not having to get going super early and on a Friday so you don't have to work the next day. I get that we will almost always be on the true Monday opening day due to having a roof but that Friday was a great time. In spite of getting blown out by STL like usual.

Every one of these scenarios always ends up at the point that if they won't give back legit prospects then just keep him since we don't need to clear salary. If we're taking back a huge chunk of money in Puig/Mccarthy who are basically of no use to us right now, then it comes down to what you should get for a really really good hitter like Braun who is controlled for several more years. And yes, you should get something legit. If not, they're trying to screw you on the trade so just keep him. LOL at calling Braun overrated. I actually did laugh.

With another offseason of development focused on disciplining his plate selection we might be really onto something more than a super utility. That's really all that's missing, moving his OBP up 25-30 points by adding walks. Obviously more would be nice but a solid improvement like that is very do-able.

Good point, it can't be addressed directly to the public until Carter is traded, let go, or misses time with an injury.

And like I said early on it wasn't an issue and in hindsight I probably could've used a better word like athletic/quick instead of fast. Due to his height and long stride it helped in a pure straight ahead speed thing like that race or stealing a surprising amount of bases. But again, as he aged and put on weight he just got slower and slower. Santana is already there. I think this is really a no-brainer thing to try if it hasn't been already. However, there has to be a reason he's played all OF in the minors. Maybe he's always just been terrible at fielding grounders his whole life or it was tried in the offseason before and they ruled it out. Or maybe Houston viewed him as blocked by Carter (jk) or some other prospects at first. I just hope management is asked and they answer the question at some point so we don't have to speculate anymore.

And why was that? Oh, he was 6'5 and not particularly fast. Though I was always content with his D in RF and even when he filled in CF on occasion and was a good baserunner. But as he got older/bigger he slowed down. Santana is already that big and slow.

Wasn't there someone on here a while back who had a huge obsession that Haniger was going to be awesome and that was like the dumbest trade in Brewers history? I didn't notice he came up to MLB but I guess we'll see if he sticks and is ever more than a 4/5 OF in MLB like we thought or if he's the next underrated guy to kill it as that guy thought.

I'd like to know if it's been tried or why he can't play 1B. What I mean is that if he is just godawful at fielding a ground ball then yea he's automatically out. But the fans like us just don't have access to that info so it leads to speculation like this. He's 6'5, not really that fast and is just not that good in OF so it's only logical to think 1B could be an option. Now throw in that we have no prospects close at that position but several close in OF and I think the more accurate question would be Why wouldn't people want to try him at 1B? Based on the original poster I guess the attitude would be that players don't switch positions as easily as dumb fans like us think. Well, people do move to 1B fairly often. Top of my head as Brewer example, Corey Hart in mid-season. Also, Lucroy was able to play it just fine. Hernan Perez played a couple games with no issues. This year in MLB, Wil Myers. I know Daniel Murphy played there a bunch too. Frankly as long as he's not totally immune to fielding a groundball I see no way he's worse than Prince on D. Yes the jury's still out on him overall on offense but this a way for him to get lots of PT while also freeing up an OF spot, he hit fine last year and this year was ruined by injury, can't just rule him out already. I actually think they'll roll with Carter one more year and possibly trade him at the deadline if he keeps doing well. At which point a guy like Brinson should be ready to come up so if Broxton is legit and Braun is here you you don't have a spot. Santana to first could be the solution. Unless he or the team come out and say it's been tried and he just can't do it (like with K Davis), fans are going to continue to speculate and rightfully so.

I think next year will be worse and will be our bottom. For all the possible positives you have to remember you won't have the second best catch in the league for 100 games, and missing two very good relievers for 100 games. Some likely regression from Villar. Throw in an injury to Braun and you're in serious trouble. The last few games from Peralta certainly bring some optimism for a stable starter but still at this point there is virtually nothing you can bank on as better than a 4/5 starter type. With Braun healthy the offense is at least competent, but we simply have no starters to rely on at this point.

Agreed, it would still be a salary dump with nothing of value coming back. Best case scenario would be a 19 yr old wild card (trying to avoid the term lottery ticket). As you stated, we don't need to dump salary so why not just keep until next year and hope he can keep being OK. With that larger sample maybe you can get one legitimate prospects at the deadline. It would also help eat up some innings before bringing up young guys like Hader.

Broxton is just missing too many games to be trusted for the playoffs starting next week. I'm actually tempted to pick up Carlos Gomez right now. He's been playing everyday since going to TX and getting on base at least once and stealing bases. I might need the SBs now since Dee Gordon has gone to garbage the last few weeks. Other options are Upton on Tor, who is missing too many games, Brett Gardner who is just blah, or trying to guess with STL player gets PT and hot that week.

Exactly, and that's why the Brewers won't get a good return. So might as well just keep him. The money is nothing to us now since they have no other salary.

I like that you think outside the box as it brings in new, sometimes a little crazy, ideas. And I mean that with no disrespect. I just don't see a move to first base at the age of 25 when he has shows more athletic ability than most. I am in the camp of moving Gennett and allowing Villar to focus solely on playing second base. No reps anywhere else but at 2B. I think that part of his problem defensively has been he's been moved around so much and never had a chance to settle in anywhere. I don't think 3B is the best option for him and feel that getting him at 2B shortens that throw but still allows him to use his range up the middle like a shortstop. Villar's played a grand total of 6 major league innings at 2B, and played just 19 games there in the minor leagues (with 5 errors I might add). That's roughly 20 more games playing 2nd base in pro ball than I have. Where is everyone getting this idea that he's qualified to play 2B? You don't think he'll make errant throws pivoting to turn double plays when he's hardly ever done it? Did you watch Weeks' career? He's a defensive liability anywhere you put him. If you plan to move him, you better find some place in winter ball that will allow him to play there. I think the logic would be that anyone who plays SS should be able to move over to 2B quite easily, or even 3B. Basically that SS is by far the toughest so if you can do that you can do the others. He would seem to make perfect sense with that, he's played tons of SS but isn't quite up to snuff at the MLB for it, so he should be able to move to 2B and be able to handle it. I mean, Perez is a perfect example right in front of us as he's easily been able to cover the other positions.

Still, if he comes back to Earth a bit and settles in as a 275/350 guy that's more than adequate for 2B. Heck, it will have basically been better than anything we've had post Rickie at 2B, post 2013 Ramirez at 3b, post I don't when at SS, post Yount? Hardy I guess but that's debateable (talking offense here). I think he should be moved to 2B as it should be easiest defensively where he's no wizard, and generally not having 20+ HR pop is more accepted at 2B.

I know some of your points go beyond this, but I really don't agree. McCutcheon has a higher career WAR than Braun, despite being 3 years younger and having 2 less seasons played. He plays a more premium position. He has never had less than a .364 OBP in a season, with the last 4 years at .400 or higher. He was voted among the top 3 in the MVP race 3 years in a row. Up until this season, he's been the definition of consistency. If you want to argue that Braun is a superior hitter; sure, I guess I can kind of agree, though I'd still say the career comparisons are pretty insignificant. But to say McCutcheon isn't in Braun's HOF class? I can't agree with that at all. Fair enough. I just don't view a 3 year stretch preceded by some mediocre seasons as in the same class. usually only 25ish HRs and usually in the 80s in RBI. WAR factors in D and we're talking about hitting. I probably weigh a bit too heavily that Braun stepped in and raked immediately whereas McCutcheon had a more typical 'ramp-up' progression. I guess I just view that as a sign of being an elite hitter. Tack on two more years that were ruined by the thumb/suspension onto Braun's prime run and it would be very very impressive. Which brings us back to the main issue here which is that he's always hurt.

Of course we don't know, thus the word presumably. And to me luxury tax/contract is kind of the same thing. But even taking it down the path you're going. Wouldn't they just claim him now for nothing and then sort out dumping of contracts to free money in the offseason? Much better route than clearing contracts plus giving up good prospects like we're talking about. Of course there's risk you can't dump contacts but they're trying to win the world series here assuming Kershaw comes back before the playoffs. That's the route I'd go anyway for a hitter of his quality. They of course don't want value him enough to take that risk, so chances are they're not giving you anything really good back. Again, if they do then go for it. I just don't see it happening. I was under the impression that if he was claimed on waivers it would be the same as a trade so he could block it. I'm no expert though on those specifics.

To hit on some recent post. Of course injury/hitting is related. My point is that I think all of us and all teams would agree with the statement "If Braun is healthy he will still be a well above average hitter for the next 3-4 years". But no one can confidently say that he'll be healthy, therefore the concern is health not hitting ability. To those saying how we can get good returns back along with how we should be able to get a good package or 1 elite P prospect. Yea, I agree with how good he is we 'should' be able to. But what is reality? He's about to get full no-trade power. He just cleared waivers with no one claiming him. So again, LAD are the most likely scenario here and they just chose not to claim him in spite of playing Howie Kendrick in LF during a playoff run presumably out of fear that MKE would just let them have him and they'd be on the hook for the contract. Now we're going to call them up two months later and demand an elite pitching prospect? My guess is they offer up a poopoo platter and we say no. Which is as of now what I see from everyone. So might as well just keep. Yea, if you get a good package go for it. Of course McCutcheon was a good player. But not in Braun's HOF class. That's what I'm getting at, Braun's talent is severely underrated due to the hating on him due to PEDs and the several months of bad stats due to the thumb. Basically take those several months out of his career and he's never not straight up killed it.

McCutcheon is dropping off at age 29. Why? Simply because he's not as good of a hitter as Braun. Braun is a pure hitter and HOF player if not for the PEDs with a perfect swing. He will continue to hit well for a few more years when healthy. Yea, maybe .320 drops to 280 over the next 3-4 years but he's not all of a sudden going to hit 230. Again, health is the big question with him. Not his ability to hit. The other team's concern is a 4 year deal to a guy who constantly has a nagging injury. A team with a DH would have less concern but unfortunately the most logical spot for him is LAD. Basically no one is going to give you the value he should have in a trade. So you might as well just keep him here so we have something to watch the next two years while the team isn't good. If he's healthy/good enough to contribute 3-4 years from now it's just gravy at that point.

I was there too and was astounded by the play. Important thing to note for me is that the throw got there in the air, I think Carter even had to reach above his head for it. You see that ball skipped there tons of times to beat a slow runner or when they don't get the out vs a fast guy.

I think this summarizes it exactly, it's all about his age and always having a nagging injury of some kidn. And I bet LAD would be a lot more willing if they had a DH, but without those last two years are more likely to be an issue.

The way he stored it definitely could have affected the result of the sample and that's what they proved in the appeal. It was reported they recreated the situation and presented the results proving it affected. Some Olympian did the same thing and proved it, probably where Braun's team got the idea. Again, it was reported at the time that the other people tested that day also all tested drastically so high that their tests were thrown out because they were impossible whereas Braun's was just under the threshold of being thrown out. Very good chance imo that if the tester didn't botch that handling he wouldn't have failed that test and then who knows, maybe he gets swept under the rug in the Miami scandal instead of being one of the two people MLB had a complete obsession about. Where Braun messed up was implying the guy might have intentionally tampered and just overall being so brazen about it in that speech when he won. Should have just been humble, said the process worked and that he maintains innocence. Maybe mentioned the things I mentioned above or anything else that could have 'proven' his innocence. I still think it's laughable that it's such a supposed cloud over him but everyone else is just ignored. I actually don't think it's because anyone is more offended over his handling. It's simply that he's just more famous so everyone knows about him. Whereas joe schmo fan doesn't know that Cruz, Grandal, Cervelli, Pheralta etc were in the same scandal. So it's just something to bust his chops about when on the road. Would be the same thing if he dated a Kardashian, had a sex scandal, or anything enough that it made national news.

Was scrolling Yahoo news and randomly saw this: http://www.brewcrewball.com/2016/8/26/12656624/bring-the-brewers-aaa-affiliate-to-verona

I think the presumption for Madison would be that the Brewers team would replace the Mallards and use their stadium, which I believe is going through some upgrades this offseason. I don't think many here would have a beef with that, I think they'd actually prefer a legit AAA team. Though going to minor league games isn't really about the game all that much anyway. But still think a connection the Brewers would generally help. Skewing of weather was mentioned. In regards to the Mallards, since it's college kids the games don't start until the end of May I believe. So they don't have those brutal April days bringing down their average.