tmwiese55

The closest comp would be Garnett. Obviously not predicting him to be that good or anything, just on the body type and what can be predicted in his play. Can guard 5s but swith onto everyone. Long arms for rim protection. Ability to step out and hit outside shots but primarily still a 'big'. Can handle the ball well for a big but probably shouldn't be initiating PnRs himself, he should be the screener. That would be my best comp: poor man's Garnett with maybe more rim running on PnRs due to not being as polished.

If only you could predict beforehand how every game would have gone and that he would not be needed. It was just insurance in case something happened. Yes this time along won't matter but at some point who knows, maybe he gets sent down again due to not pitching well, then this time could be enough to put them over the top.

The real tangible benefit was to have another bench player available in case he's needed, most likely in an extra inning game or injury. Turns out nothing happened in the game so far but it's just like buying insurance. Now add in the other real tangible benefit to the team of potentially getting an extra year of control on Davies and you have a move that makes sense from the team's perspective.

Very surprised Bruce in over him. Who knows though, maybe he declined for the extra days off. Being in San Diego though it's a good location for him. Or they just liked the homers and rbis more. Still surprised since he got put on the final vote and all.

Just saw Carpenter from STL on the DL and replaced with Diaz from STL. I'm assuming that's part of the team rep rule, even if a guy is named but must pull out due to injury they still need a rep from that team. I thought that spot would go to Crawford from SF but possibly Villar.

Guys, he made the ASG last year. He didn't make it this year because Philly and Reds needed reps and their only options were OF. Braun just isn't quite good enough now to be an automatic in no matter what like in his prime, he's now borderline/debateable when healthy and can get bumped due to teams needing spots.

Good point, without the leak it wouldn't have been the long media story so now everyone remembers him but not all the other guys who've been caught. He had no choice but to lie after winning the appeal. In hindsight though, knowing that he had used he should have been more humble about it though just in case something else came out. On the other hand, his goal in order to get back in the HOF trajectory was to turn the public back on his side and make people believe that he'd never used. The best way to do that was to act like you've never done it, and a person like that would have given a very similar speech. Best route probably would have been to not say anything and demand to get traded to the Sawx, then you can still be loved in spite of being a PED user and still make the HOF.

"What could have possibly happened to it during that 44-hour period (before the collector took the urine sample to FedEx)? There were a lot of things that we learned about the collector, about the collection process, about the way that the entire thing worked that made us very concerned and very suspicious about what could have actually happened...We spoke to biochemists and scientists and we asked them, ‘How difficult would it be to tamper with somebody’s sample?’ And their response was that, ‘If they were motivated, it would be extremely easy.’" He inferred that the collector had likely tampered with his sample and that is why it was a failed test. I'm sorry but he made that collector look horrible and made people think the collector did something wrong. Now of course if he didn't know he had taken something maybe this would have been no big deal, but he did. In the end Braun talked way too much. He should have left it at "The collection process wasn't correct" and been done with it. Instead he seemed confident this was buried forever...unfortunately for him that plan backfired badly. I don't really care either way, but I hate when people act like Braun didn't go after the collector. He did and more than just saying he didn't do his job right(not getting it to FedEx fast enough). Is it a bit overblown? Probably, but it doesn't mean he didn't do it. I didn't remember it being quite that direct, so yes that quote implies it that way and I won't really deny that way of looking at it. I just went back an re-read it, and the quotes around that quote just go into how it was handled, chain of custody, and just them not following protocol. He does bring up confidentiality which again does imply intentional tampering. so yes, he did imply something intentional more than I remember. That said, the collector 100% did his job incorrectly and deserved to be thrown under the bus and likely not allowed to do this job anymore. I'd still be curious if the collector didn't mess up that test whether he would have failed. Seems he likely had a pretty solid system in place to pass tests, and really it would have been just dumb to have taken that day knowing that all players must be tested in the playoffs. Keep in mind the other two guys tested that day also failed theirs so drastically they were thrown out as mistakes because it was viewed as almost impossible to test that high, and Braun was just under the threshold of being thrown out. At least that's what was reported at the time, if it was disproven since I don't know. Say he never fails the test maybe he skates through the Arod scandal by being given the benefit of the doubt.

He didn't accuse him of framing him, he accused him of doing his job badly/incompetently. Which was 100% true. That said, he should have been more humble after winning that case. Just say he didn't know what happened and his team was able to prove it was a false positive, then move on.

He made it last year along with several other PED users and David Ortiz will be the face of the ASG this year. This year probably had more to do with Cinncy and Philly needing a representative more than anything else and their best guys are OFs.

Middlebrooks had a July 1 opt out. I'm sure they didn't want to risk losing him by waiting 4 more days. I'm aware but wasn't he not called up until yesterday (not July 1)? I was traveling a few days so if he was sitting on the bench the last few days I missed it, thought the call up was yesterday. One would think they could have told him he's getting called up the next day and he would have understood and been fine with it. Either way, would rather have a normal OF but in the grand scheme of this season it's really not a big deal for just a few days.

I won't get worked up either way. I guess I'd prefer to just roll with the young guys. On the other hand, he'd be a great guy to have around them to teach them things. The deal would only be 3 years so wouldn't impede anything down the line. It would be great for marketing and selling tickets. If healthy come playoff time they should for sure get out of the first round for the 2nd time in like 30 years and a good shot at the ECF finals. If Lebron gets hurt, who knows what happens.

Yes, I'd just have it based on who has the best record, like every other league. Off the top of my head, if you wanted to have something quirky you could have whichever league has the best interleague record gets home field. But interleague favors the AL so I don't like it either. Just go with best record. If the game is an exhibition then it doesn't matter if fans votes in lesser players and if each team needs a rep. If it matters, that stuff should be gone. I always laughed how people viewed the exhibition ASG tie as a travesty or embarrassing while the greatest best most powerful league/sport has ties in actual regular season games. And hockey at the time did as well.

i get dropping him down due to schedule but why not just wait one more day and brought Middlebrooks up for him instead and kept Broxton for OF depth. Especially with Middlebrooks being able to backup 1B, they should really have a true outfielder as a backup.

And what made no sense is that making it decide the WS home team didn't in any way fix the problem that caused the tie. Team could still very easily run out of pitchers again and nothing was put in to fix it. I'm adamantly against having the ASG decide it. Baseball won't have the problems the NFL has in players not showing up because it's not physical. If healthy almost every player will go if asked.

Should have just had the Cubs play the Sawx and let everyone else rest. I will struggle to watch any of it this year due to the lovefest for Ortiz, and he's a complete attention seeker so will be constantly sticking his nose in everything. As most of you know, I personally don't care about PEDs, but I find it laughable that ESPN is in love with a known PED user and will usher him into the HOF while simultaneously villainizing Braun/Arod. And in comparison to Braun, Ortiz was in the era of actual real steroids.

Selling the pick was just a stupid move, nothing to demand someone's firing over but just stupid. If they wanted to swing for the fences on that pick they should have just went with Skal, similar upside but you at least know how old he is. My preferred route was to draft a shooter like Baldwin, then gamble on two bigs with the 2nds. With Skal and Davis from MSU falling so far you could have traded up to get one at the end of the first, or just sat where you were and hoped for them or Thon to fall to you. I'm not a big Delly guy or anything, but the narrative that he was benched in the playoffs isn't fully accurate as he was injured. That said, my biggest fear with him is that he'll perpetually be injured due to his physical playing style.

Mirza was one of the best deals signed in the frenzy, very good price for him considering a guy like Ryan Anderson got 20 mil, he's half that much. i'm not a huge Delly guy but considering he got under 10 mil I don't think we can complain. That is below the going rate for fringe starters or early guys off the bench like they'll be. I went into this worried we'd pay a guy like Bazemore 18mil or Dwight/Noah 20+ mil. So I'm content with the discount type guys they got as they shouldn't impede anything going forward for when we're true contenders and might need to make other moves.

Yea I'd almost prefer they just sit this year out other than roster filler type moves like Dudley, Bayless type things. If it means one more year of not making the playoffs, so be it. I'd rather not have a burden contract in a few years when they'll actually be trying to contend. Really with Giannis likely huge improvement along with Mid and Jabari they should be able to make the playoffs with whatever filler they put around them. Real contention is 3-4 years out when Lebron is old, save your money and cap space until then.

Of course he could still improve. But the narrative was he was 19 and only playing ball for 5 years. If it turns out he was 23-24 and playing for closer to 10, the expected improvement goes way way down. not saying improvement isn't likely, just that much less would be expected in the second scenario here. I'm at the point where i'd set his over/under at 21. I'm at least confident at this point a grand conspiracy didn't happen, which is enough for me not be upset at all and will just root for him and hope for the best. Just likely there was an error when he first left Africa in his birthdate so he's legally a year or two less than he biologically is and they really had no choice but to go with the narrative that he's that age. I mean, how can they prove he's older?

If he's 24 his chances are much lower because frankly he "can't play" right now. If he was 19 and had only been playing ball for 5 years as initially thought, his complete rawness is no big deal as his body should fill out and improvement curve is through the roof since he'd barely played (think Giannis). Now, if he's 23-24 and been playing ball for up to 10 years and is still so skinny. Chances of filling out drastically more is unlikely and chances of a huge improvement is also much lower. If he was coming in old and ready to play immediately (think Tim Duncan) I would agree, no big deal. but when he's the rawest guy in the draft and also the oldest, your chances go way lower. If they wanted the high upside boom/bust type I would have just gone with Skal, at least we know how old he is and generally similar games/potential. At the time I was leaning towards drafting shooting and had landed on Baldwin as one of the few Gs who can actually already hit a 3 ball. Then gambled on high upside bigs like Thon/Skal or whoever dropped to us with our 2nd rounders. In hindsight it could have worked with Skal and the MSU guy dropping, could have traded up somehow to snag them late first.

Whoever gets Lucroy would have him for 1.5 years on the best contract in baseball and the upperhand to tack on a 3 yr extension. Which he is probably desperate to sign so you can get him at a reasonable rate before hitting FA and paying market value, which is usually absurd. Lucroy is the best or second best C in baseball with the best contract in baseball (other than rookie deals of course), you should get a great package for him.

Financially they don't have to pay him while suspended so that's not a big thing. The issue would be losing a year of his ever dwindling remaining good years. Braun is currently doing very well at age 32. Have to think you can bank on solid production if healthy at 33 and 34 at which point you're kind of playing on house money. Pujols also had such a weird swing that probably didn't help as his bat slowed down. Braun on the other hand has an absolutely perfect swing. To me, the only concern on Braun is his constant nagging injuries and if you have a DH slot for him that should really be reduced as much as possible. I agree with others that if you trade Braun/Lucroy together you should basically be able to get any prospect. If not, then the other side isn't valuing Braun at all so you might as well just keep him.

Does Paul Molitor hitting .341 at age 39 mean Braun will do well at 34? No, it doesn't. It only means that some players will continue to hit well. Probably the best hitter of the last 20 years is Albert Pujols. Age 30: 1.011 OPS 31: .906 32: .859 33: .767 34: .790 35: .787 36: .708 (current season) Great players decline at some point. Pujols decline doesn't mean Braun will next year or whenever - it just means it happens to players - even great players. Perhaps there are indications that Braun (or anyone) will age well (or won't age well). That would be interesting to know. But I know there have been studies showing that players, taken as a whole, peak, stay steady, and then decline at a specific age. You might then take in account body type, injuries, type of player (such as a guy who relies on speed or power or whatever), and other variables and draw some conclusions. Ryan is hitting great right now, and I hope he keeps hitting great. But I expect some decline as the years go along. I don't think anyone thinks he's just going to fall off a cliff, but to have him decline gradually is probably what would be expected. And we have to remember, a declining Ryan Braun is (hopefully) still a much better hitter most other hitters. This is assuming we're positive about Pujols' age. Seems like there have been whispers through the years, almost his entire career, that he's older than his stated age. And I would wager large sums of money that Pujols was much more reliant on PEDs than Braun ever was. I wasn't surprised his production dropped off basically as soon as he signed that mega-deal. Specific to Braun, if he goes to an AL team where he can move to DH in 2018 it really should mitigate the injury risk a lot. Or if the we still have him there's a chance the DH is here by then.

Yes, any coach should be asked for input. But Kidd shouldn't be pulling the strings as defacto GM the way he supposedly has been. He had one a full year at it and did the MCW trade, Monroe signing, traded a 1st rd pick for Vasquez, traded Zaza and Dudley for literally nothing (fine to trade them but at least get a legit 2nd rounder back), attempted to trade some of the young core at the deadline for Howard until the owners vetoed it. Yes, he is a horrible GM.