tmwiese55

I thought the deals signed to Gallardo, Weeks, Hart, Lucroy were exactly the ones most on here would want. Early, cheap team friendly extensions that signed them until 30-32ish type age at which point you trade them. They just got unlucky that Hart got hurt and well Weeks turned to trash. That said, who knows if they would have actually followed through on trading them, but the deals themselves were ideal imo. Gallardo did get traded and Lucroy is likely to. Jimmie Nelson will be an odd situation due to coming up at a little bit older age. Essentially we could just arbitration right through his prime at which point he risks never really getting a significant payday if he gets hurt or is just nothing more than a middling #3-4 type starter, so when he hits FA he won't command big deal. In his situation if you hand him like 6/30-35 million right now maybe he takes it just to never have to worry about getting a real job. But if you're the Brewers you don't need to do it, but if then you risk paying him bigger in his arbitration years as salaries keep going up.

Man some of you guys are downers and haters. If Villar keeps doing what he's doing he's for sure a starting infielder at the big league level, apparently to some though if you're not a superstar then you're just replacement level. You're talking about this guy like you should be someone like Hernan Perez or Betancourt. What more could you reasonably expect? Don't get me wrong, it's still a little early but so far how can everyone not be very happy with this guy especially after watching the garbage we've trotted out at all 3 infield positions the last few years (possible exception of 3B before Rammy deteriorated)? But combining last year's ABs and this years he's up to around 300 ABs of solid production at age 24-25. I don't see anything special on D but doesn't look like a liability and is near tops in the league at SBs, just needs to tone down some of the aggression in that regard. Move him to an easier position like 2B and you might have something for a few years until hopefully some of the lower level guys are ready because as of now the only one close to me is Arcia

And with the shift it makes sense because it's so much hard to get a ball through the infield now and obviously low pitches are going to be ground balls. I get it, it's just every adjustment one can think of creates a side effect that could also be a problem. In this case, potentially drawing even more walks which is boring.

I really don't know what to think of this. My gut is to think they should slightly expand strikezone to force hitters to swing, which will speed up the game and create more action overall. But on the otherhand, pitchers are already "winning" right now so it's tough to give them even more help just in the name of putting more balls in play. Very tough problem to solve. What about lowering the mound instead of anything like this?

In the last 13 games the Brewers relievers have a 1.71 ERA (42 IP) and an opponent .198 BA (30-151). SS Jonathan Villar is hitting .333 (23-69) in the month of May. During that time he has also earned 11 walks for a .425 OBP. Villar is 2nd in the NL with 13 stolen bases. RP Tyler Thornburg has been unscored upon in 15 of his 18 appearances this season. In 17 2/3 innings he has 28 strikeouts which equates to 14.26 K’s per 9 innings pitched. That is the 3rd best in the NL among relievers. In the month of May, Jonathan Lucroy ranks in the top 10 in the NL in home runs (2nd with 6), runs scored (9th with 12), and SLG (5th with .672). Brewers starting pitchers have quality starts in 8 of the last 10 games. In that stretch they have a 3.04 ERA in 65 innings. Brewers hitters are 2nd in MLB with 172 walks and have an overall .331 OBP which is good for 8th in MLB.

One guy is replacement level and mediocre while making the bigs at age 22. The superior player was still A+ at 22. Yea, no way Santana will improve beyond his first 3 months in the big leagues, players never do that...

Good solid post. The argument would be this, at the same age Khris Davis split time between A and AA as far as I can tell. This guy was destroying AAA at age 22. The hope is that he'll end up a better player than Khris. And they feared Khris would regress a bit in the next 2-3 years as he reached age 30 and would rather cash in his trade value now than risk it drying up. We'll see.

If Peralta and Jungmann had even just been "mediocre" they'd be a .500 team right now, which is heartening I suppose. Davies has settled down, and Guerra (at least for the time being) is pitching well. I expect at some point the league will figure out the 31 year old journeyman, but may as well enjoy the ride while it lasts. Very good point. Going into the year I actually thought we'd have better SP than last year on account of no Lohse or Garza as the two worst SPs in baseball last year. Throw in mediocrity from the like of Jungman, Davies, Anderson, Wily or even Garza and thought hey they'd at least be competent. Not expecting good or anything, just competent which is much better than the beginning of last year when they were getting blown out nearly every game. Positive: Even without that happening the team is doing much better overall than expected and most games have been competitive and watchable so I've ended up watching much more than I expected I would (especially during NBA playoffs). This could turn quickly though if Braun hits the DL, Luc is traded, Carter snaps back to reality which has already started a bit. But so far so good.

On that point, smashing into the catcher and 2B are no longer allowed when for 100 years that was just "good hard baseball". For me 2nd base takeouts and subsequent area play of not having to tag the base was one of the dumbest things. Especially once baseball became big business in the 80s/90s, at that point you're deliberately trying to injure someone in the same union as you and potentially cost them millions of dollars. Home plate I at least more understood it since you're defending the plate and run rides on it.

So he has to accept something he doesn't agree with but TX didn't? I do get your point and it's sound. Like you said at the end though and I did earlier, the dynamics are changing on it more and more that the public and more players (in this case Batista) think it's stupid to drill people over celebrating. Part of it is probably due to the influx of latin players in recent years, more and more of them play that way and it's just part of the game. I'm sure it's trickling to everyone else to think "yea, who cares if that guy stared at his HR, I can do the same thing and I can get pumped when I strike him out next time in a big situation without having to fear of being accused of being a jerk. Let's just play the game and have fun doing it instead of getting all worked up over small things". If you've even seen American History X the end quote is, "Life's too short to be p#ssed off all the time, it's just not worth it." That's pretty much my take on it. I've made the taunting/celebrating distinction before too and understand it's a tough line to draw. To me it's as simple as are you directing specifically to a player (pointing at them, screaming at them, etc) or just showing emotion with your teammates. But again, the big point for me is that this is all just stupid and distracting from the game, trying to police it down to boredom and not showing any personality. The other two sports and the fans completely accept it and those sports are booming. So it's clearly not turning people away from those sports.

I don't know, kids have been going pro out of HS or after 1 year consistently for 20 years now and NCAAB seems to be doing just fine. I actually think it would be better to let them go pro out of HS to reduce the 1 and done gimmicks the last few years. Plus, you know they're 18 so should be allowed to work for pay. Actually now that I think about a bit a compromise that could really work is what baseball does, you can sign with the NBA out of HS or decline and commit to college for 3 years. Yes, a lot will just declare or play overseas but at least the college game will get back to what it's supposed to be instead of the pro feeder system it is now.

The issue with the NBA draft is that most players are getting drafted 2-3 years before NFL players. In NFL if you are a first round pick and cant contribute on day 1, there is an issue. In the nba players are not ready when they are drafted. I agree with your points that once basketball is their full time job and NCAA rules are no longer applicable with regards to coaching and practice times, you will naturally improve. It is sad that a player who was a great college player in Denzel Valentine actually has a negative listed as being 23 one NBA opening night. I understand that this is how its going to be from now on, and basketball is naturally going the route of baseball with more teams owning their own NBDL teams. Yea that's not untrue. I just don't see why it's a problem. I guess the argument is it diminishes the overall current roster with a couple spots for development but they can have 15 peopleon the roster so I don't see the issue. If anything I think it's good, football players destroy their body for 3-4 years for free. It's a free market, if there wasn't value in it then teams wouldn't draft them and the kids get to be paid for their work. I think it's the american way. The solution to your issue though isn't demanding guys stay in college because you're just going to see more and more go overseas. The solution is for the NBA to actually pay legit money in the D League so it is truly a minor league for the bigs so they'll want their guys down there playing instead of riding the bench. Yes it will hurt college basketball and I love college basketball, but the NCAA system is just corrupt and really overall unfair to the big time bball and football players.

That's one of the biggest reasons I hate the Cardinals. THey're the moral authority of baseball and routinely drilled our guys because they were young and disrespectful just doing celebrations, no taunting really. Obviously their biggest beef was with Braun for occasionally watching HRs a bit too long, and the big celebration on the playoff clincher that time. Yet, Pujols was the worst HR stand and watch guy in baseball (maybe #2 after Bonds back in the day). And Carpenter was always barking at the other team, which is directly taunting/confrontational. The double standard of those guys was the worst.

Exactly what I was going to say. Yes, Skal after year 3 at Kentucky will be better and more prepared than now, of course. Skal after 1 year at UK and then two years of NBA training though is much better than the Skal with 3 years at Kentucky. There is actually a rule in college that doesn't allow coaches to work with players for more than a small amount of hours each week. And yes of course some guys will got lost in the life and not put in the work or whatever, which could happen just as much later on after more years in college. More importantly this is America and the individual should be able to choose his path and have the right to make money, and frankly I have no idea how these leagues have gotten away with blatant age discrimination like they have.

Apparently Khris Davis had a big celebration after his 3rd homer last night that was the game winner. Funny thing is it was vs Texas so they really can't do anything. Normally a celebration like that should warrant many fastballs at someone the next day. Really I don't see why TX didn't just attack them with baseball bats on the field and get the fight going right there, I mean as long as they just hit in the body and not in the head it should be allowed. Can't allow someone to be happy like that, bad for the game.

I don't recall if they're for sure stuck in Co Springs next year but maybe they're hoping for someplace new. So he can get his innings up in AA this year, then somewhere new next year in AAA until they deem him ready. I just think he's doing so well they might not mess with him by going to Co Springs. AA until the bigs, whenever that is.

Nobody's head was thrown at. As far as punching someone in the face I tend to think it's more bush to slide into someone's knees in an attempt to hurt them than to stand toe to toe in a fight and land the best punch. 4 months ago that slide was legal and happened on a nearly daily basis. Either way, the throw at heads thing is a general commentary on the practice of intentionally throwing at hitters. Not specific to this one, but really any time you're throwing at someone there's a chance it happens to hit the head because yes it's still going at them and it's easy to be a little off. It just makes no sense to me.

Not sure where I demeaned at all in there other than I suppose the semi political thing at the end. Oh shoot yea I guess the Goose wisecrack, sorry if you took that as more than just a joke, didn't really mean it as a start of an attack or anything. Other than that I really stuck to the points and you never really addressed the real discussion and got off into other stuff which led us down this odd route. I'm libertarian too. I see the way you're using the metaphor I guess. The way I was using is this: people celebrating are just living their lives, people throwing balls at them and punching them for it are the government or moral highgrounders not letting them just do their thing. That said, even going by your take on it that the players will police themselves, I actually think that's the way this is going. Public consensus is on the side of who cares about celebrating and it sure seems player consensus will be that way soon enough if it already isn't too. At which point they'll put in rules saying drilling each other for dumb reasons isn't allowed, that is still players policing themselves because they essentially make the rules. Again the main disagreement comes to I think personality, emotion and celebrating are fine and good for the game, you don't and think they're jerks. I think people throwing stuff at people heads or punching them for it are jerks, you don't. It's that simple and I've laid out some points in support as to my view that won't change your mind because your take is that you just don't like it, which is fine to each their own. Like I said way at the beginning of all this though, consensus is moving the other way on it so you're probably going to have to get used to it.

Always find these situations funny, management guts the team knowing it's going to lose. Fires the manager when it loses. I haven't followed it closely at all though, maybe he wants no part of the teardown/rebuild they're doing. Was just speaking in general as you see this type of thing all the time.

You think it's fun to watch someone being a jerk. From the tone of your post, I'd guess you have some experience in this field. I think it's good to see someone who is acting like a jerk get punched in the face, as that usually stops said person from continuing to act like a jerk. I still believe that most parents and coaches try to teach sportsmanship. If you can beat someone, beat them and shake their hand after the game. Teasing/taunting/"talking smack" does nothing other than make one person (and their fans) feel "big" at the expense of someone else. Encouraging this behavior and penalizing any retaliation will simply make the behavior worse. I'll stop now, because I really don't feel like continuing this discussion. I'd rather talk about baseball, and not the childish actions of a small portion of a handful of athletes, when most professional athletes are good people. Yea we're not going to agree. The difference is that to me the one who I think is the jerk is the one throwing a deadly object at someone's head or punching them in the face, you think they're the classy ones. Whereas you think the the jerks are the guys celebrating and being happy. Have to say I'm pretty comfortable with my take. You still have yet to address some other points, did you agree with Larusa drilling Braun over and over? Do you not see the other two major sports celebrating like crazy? Do you hate Steph Curry? Do you hate Aaron Rodgers? And no I was never a trash talker or outgoing player in any sport, just not my nature as an easy going shy introvert type. But if we're going to make broad personal generalizations based on this discussion I'm guessing your also the type that wants to instill their morals and religousy social views on all of society too, on issues like gay marriage, marijuana legalization, etc instead of just living your life and letting others live theirs.

Wouldn't surprise me if Hader goes right from AA to the bigs. Might be this year or if they want to save his clock it might not be until next year but it wouldn't surprise me if they don't mess with him and having him pitch in Co Springs.

Just think, all this fuss over a guy getting excited he hit a walkoff homer in the playoffs and celebrating. What sense does it make? [sarcasm]Often times a pitcher does a fist pump or a minor celebration after a big strikeout in a big situation, what is the unwritten rule to respond to that since pitchers rarely hit? Maybe batters should be able to throw their bat at them like a boomerang? The pitchers need to chill out and stop showing hitters up.[/sarcasm]

[sarcasm]But Cervelli used PEDs. Who would want him, fans would revolt[/sarcasm]

Wow, yup baseball celebrations will be ruin of civilization and way to completely ignore the actual discussion with some unknowable thing about what's good for society. What is more bullying than throwing a baseball at someone body? Bullying on a schoolground isn't when a kid makes a homer in kickball and celebrates with his friends on his team, it's when the losing side beats them up for it. Seems like you're looking at it completely backwards to me. Seriously, you're saying that throwing a deadly object at another human and then punch them in the face is proper but jumping up and throwing your bat in happiness/celebration is wrong. Just think about that for a second. Call up Goose Gossage and talk about how back in the day was better and how you used to walk up hill both ways to school.

I think it's going to go the opposite. More and more personality will be allowed to be shown and the people doing the retaliation will be the ones getting the suspensions. Therefore the retaliations will stop and celebrating will be allowed. Look at the NBA as another example, after the Artest fight and the Nuggets fights they have basically a complete zero tolerance on fighting, huge suspension otherwise. Really haven't had a big one since and all the petty trash talking and celebrating goes on like no big deal, well because it is not a big deal. As a Brewers fan, did you side with Larusa for repeatedly drilling our best players for minor HR celebrations? Usually for walkoffs and in Braun's cases playoff clinchers.