paul253

This falls much more on Jack Z then it does on Melvin. Everyone loved Jack Z when he was here, he was the golden child. But ultimately it's Melvin's responsibility. Whats that phrase, "s*** rolls up hill". He obviously felt that Jack Z's lack of ability of drafting a quality pitcher was not a good enough reason to replace him, probably because of his track record of drafting position players. So regardless of who made the actual draft pick, the results are just as much the responsibility of Melvin as they are of Jack Z. Let's not ignore that he brought in Ohka, Capuano, Villanueva, Coffey and Sabathia all via trade. The Sabathia trade alone took us to the playoffs (without that trade we may be talking about having no playoff trips during the Fielder era). Capuano could sort of be considered a success. Right before the injury wasn't he removed from the rotation though? Tomo Ohka? He pitched here for a year and compiled a 4-5 record with an ERA close to 5. Serviceable but nothing to brag about. Villanueva is extremely inconsistent and his ERA has been going up every year since he broke in, up until this year. Sabathia obviously was a great move. Easily Melvin's best move as GM. Coffey I think was claimed off of waivers, not traded for. A good move too though. However, with the exception of the Sabathia deal, none of these moves were exactly earth shattering. If people are actually using Tomo Ohka in Melvin's defense, that's not really a good thing. #2 Injury/Suspension problems with top round picks. One of those picks, Rogers, was a bad pick. Most people agreed that Homer Bailey was a better pick, but IIRC we went with Rogers because his delivery and mechanics were supposed to be better and would be less likely to result in injury. As far as Jeffress goes....yeah, he was suspended. But let's not forget that in between suspensions he was actually demoted from Huntsville because of his performance. Also, my assumption is that he didn't start smoking weed after he was drafted. That is something that should have been addressed before spending a first round pick and millions of dollars on him. There's no guarantee that any of these guys would have panned out anyway. We can't just assume that we lost three #1 pitchers due to injury and suspension.

Ah yes, he should just trade for a young guy who will be a top/middle of the rotation starter. How can Melvin not understand this? It's so simple! Obviously trading for guys who have a #1 or #2 ceiling is next to impossible because teams are so unwilling to give them up. That just makes it all the more important to be able to draft your own pitchers. How many guys that have been drafted since Melvin has been GM have actually started a game in Milwaukee? Gallardo obviously. Dana Eveland was drafted in 2002. I went through every draft and those are the only two I found. Two pitchers who have started a game, one of who was not good at all, in 8 drafts. Regardless of whether or not he is making the pick, as GM he is responsible for the drafts. If his guy isn't cutting it, then he should be replaced. And this isn't even mentioning the prospects he has traded for (Capellan, Jackson, and JDLR) who have been no good. There is still some hope for Josh Butler, but we'll have to see. With such a terrible record in all categories of pitching (draft, free agents, and trade) I don't see how he can be considered a top 10 GM.

Our team is at a natural disadvantage. We are likely never going to be any higher than 3rd in regards to payroll in our division Tampa will probably never have more than the 4th or even the 5th highest payroll in their division. They are also in the same division where two teams can get pretty much any FA they want. It shows how valuable a GM who knows how to acquire good young pitching is. That's a trait Melvin has failed to shown in his 8 years here. I have faith that Melvin can keep this team playing around a .500 clip each year and keep us in the 3rd-4th place spot in our division. I am not satisfied with that. With the talent he acquired with those high draft picks from all those years of terrible records, I don't think a .475 winning percentage and one wild card appearance in 8 years can be considered a success.

I was hoping the president would go down. She was the reason the Jack started doing what he was doing, and a hell of a lot of people died because of it, albeit all bad guys. I don't like the fact that they made her a good guy. Also, did I miss something? How was she able to so quickly contact the guys who were about the kill Jack?

I believe we still have a very talented system top to bottom, when Melvin started out with basically nothing. Some prospect pitchers didn't pan out, so we had to fill in with veteran FA pitchers. We got good really quickly, so Melvin took a shot at the World Series in the Sabathia trade. We still have a lot of talent, both at the MLB level and in the minors, so it's not nearly as bad as some seem to make it out to be. I actually disagree with this. We didn't get really good. After a really hot start in 2007, they played the rest of the year 10 games under .500 In 2008 they had a really good first few months then took an absolute nosedive at the end of the year. Only the pitching of Sabathia and the dump the Mets took allowed us into the playoffs. By 2009 they were back under .500. Personally I think with the talent the Brewers had/have offensively, it's an absolute shame they are as bad as they are. If Melvin could have developed any pitching whatsoever the team would be ok. But he has to rely on below average free agents and "nuggets" like Doug Davis to get by. The fact is, he's had what, 7 years to find pitching? And he hasn't. What makes us think he's going to be able to change that any time soon? Especially considering he had the exact same problem with his old team. I think overall, good pitching with bad offense can still win games (see SF) Bad pitching with a good offense cannot. We need to find a GM who can bring in good pitching.

I'm glad they didn't kill off Jack, and ended it with him being a good guy again. It also set up a nice lead-in to the movie. I can see him living in hiding somewhere when the Russians find him.

Maybe Macha and Melvin will look at today at get the idea. Go with the young guys, particularly the pitchers. It looks like Axford is the real deal. Braddock certainly could be as well. I'd rather see Marco Estrada in the pen than Vargas or Suppan. Now that there's a day off and we can get the bullpen straight, Parra can go back to starting. Gallardo, Wolf, Narveson, Bush and Parra in the rotation, and if Bush keeps struggling I wouldn't mind seeing Estrada or Loe given a chance. Or even Rivas. I'm just really sick of seeing guys like Davis and Suppan pitch.

Even though this has nothing to do with anything, it is a thread about the Rangers so I thought I'd post it here. Does anyone else find it weird that they have both Red and Blue alternate uniforms? Those are two completely opposite colors. It seems so funny to me.

Kind of interesting they told him they thought he'd make it to the majors faster as a second basemen. I would have thought with all of the prospects about him playing second base and really no good shortstop prospects, he'd be better served to play short.

I just get the sense he wants them to ride out this season and then "go for it" again in 2011. This team is not close to being able to "go for it". Their philosophy the past few years has been to out-slug everyone and hope they can score more runs than the other team despite woeful pitching and mediocre defense. Obviously that philosophy isn't working. Mark A. needs to be realistic. Even if it means trading Fielder for one high ceiling pitcher only (which I still think they could get more....at least another low level fairly high ceiling type pitcher). Fielder is not going to re-sign. He's not. Move on and get what you can for him. As I said before, get rid of the players that don't have a future in Milwaukee.

Doesn't this kind of show just how unlucky we've been in the pitching front. Sure there are some things we could/should have done in the FA & trade markets in the past that would make us a better team today, but if 1 or 2 of these players had lived up to his potential, our pitching situation would be vastly different today and we would not have had to pick up aging free agents to fill in the rotation. At some point you need to stop blaming luck and start considering the fact that the Brewers drafted and/or relied on the wrong guys. Back when Mark Rogers was drafted, it seemed like everyone and their mom wanted Homer Bailey who was considered a better prospect. Well we didn't take him and even though Rogers still has a shot to be decent, I think everyone would trade Rogers for Bailey in a heartbeat. Eric Arnett.....I know it's early but my lord. Here is a first round pick, a college pitcher, and he is consistently getting hammered by low A ball hitters. I realize there's a chance he could turn it around, but it's starting to look like they blew that pick. Evan Frederickson. The guy couldn't throw strikes in college and we take him as a first round sup pick and guess what, he still can't throw strikes. Cody Adams was a dud. Seth Lintz a dud (I mention those two specifically b/c of how high they were drafted and how unsuccessful they were). All of the top pitching prospects they traded for (JDLR, Jackson, Capellan) were duds. His FA starting pitcher signings have been duds. And we expect him to improve the team with a Prince Fielder trade? I am as vocal as anyone about the need to trade Fielder, but can anyone else see him trading Prince for a reliever, a backup outfielder, and a soft tossing left-handed pitching prospect?

Aside from Fielder, which Brewers player has the highest trade value. I'm only talking about guys who may actually get traded. Obviously Gallardo and Braun aren't going anywhere. But if the Brewers continue to reach new levels of suckiness, I really hope they trade Fielder by the all star break. Who else can actually bring something back though? Hart? Zaun? Relievers tend to bring back nice low level prospects. It'd be nice is guys like Hoffman and Hawkins could get their act together so we can trade them. I don't think they (Texas) would do it either To be honest, I wouldn't make that trade. It's not a knock on Smoak, but how does that improve our team? Gamel can move to first base and and I think offensively his upside if comparable to Smoak's. Unless we bring back pitching, there is not point in trading Fielder because without pitching, this team will go nowhere.

At this point I don't really care. I think watching Estrada will be fun. I'd also be ok with Capuano or Rivas just for something different.

How bad is it that a guy missed 100 games due to suspension and then when the suspension is finally over, he's hurt and will miss a few more weeks? I'm starting to think if the Brewers didn't have bad luck they wouldn't have any luck at all.

It's really good news to hear Angel is coming back. He's been one of my favorite players to follow the past three seasons and I'd love to see what he can do with some regular playing time.

I wouldn't be surprised if Seattle would be interested. Or KC. Or Houston. I can't believe there isn't one team that would take a chance on him.

Villanueva tonight. He did fine. I'd like to see Coffey as the 8th inning guy then. I like Axford as much as anyone but I don't want to just hand him the closers role after a few impressive innings.

Unless Lucroy is the every day catcher, I am not a fan of this.

How is John Axford only 27? He looks like he's about 45. That's not supposed to be an insult or anything. I just see him on tv and say "no way is he 27".

So what's the over/under on how many people Jack kills in the 2 hour series finale? I'll set it at 8 say under. Anyone else?

Totally thought of The Pink Panther also. What great movies. I find it incredible that someone is able to pull off a burglary like this in present day. Ah see I was thinking of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and the rest of Ocean's 11.

My vote would be for Coffey. I think he's been misused all year.

Yeah I think Axford needs to stay. I am kind of in the middle about Braddock. As thrilled as I am to see him in Milwaukee, I really, really wish he was moved back to starting. I know people are probably sick of the debate, but the bullpen is in much better shape than the rotation is. Even going into next year, you'll have Coffey, Hawkins, Stetter, Axford, Villanueva, and a long guy. That leaves one, maybe two spots which could easily be filled elsewhere. Either way though, congrats to Braddock. It's an opportunity well deserved.

I think the Brewers are in a unique position in that they can have a "firesale" without really having to start over from scratch. This year is a bust so far, and you may have to accept next year as a loss to. But with so many aging vets and a lot of young guys ready to get a chance, you need to dump the vets. Hoffman, Zaun, Davis, Hawkins, Edmonds, Vargas, can all be traded for a least a minor leaguer. Fielder needs to go because he's the only hope to bring back a decent pitching haul, which is what we need. Hart could be traded because he's making a lot of money for what he brings. Bush, I feel like we could do without him as well. At this point, you need to figure out what you have. Manny Parra is not a reliever. Either he is a starter, or he should go. Gamel is not a bench player. Either he plays every day when he is ready, or he goes. Lucroy is not a platoon player. Salome is not either. Figure out who your catcher is, then make arrangements for the other (trade or switch positions). Lawrie and Weeks are not going to both be playing second base in Milwaukee. Move Lawrie and sign Weeks or decide that Weeks doesn't have a future in Milwaukee. Gomez needs to play every day because Jim Edmonds is not going to be a Brewer next season. What I am saying is this. Let the guys who potentially have a future in Milwaukee play. That's the only way you're going to know if they do in fact have a future. Make decisions about the future, defensive wise. I hate it when people change positions after they've hit the majors when they could have gotten a year experience down in the minors. After this year, they'll be a lot of money available. They'll also have a lot positions potentially free (1B, RF, C, SP, RP). I'd almost rather fill them in house with guys like Axford, Braddock, Gamel, Cain, Lucroy, Butler, etc and save money then take your shot in 2012 when you'll have a lot of young guys, particularly pitchers, coming up. You can supplement them with FA's with the money they saved. They still have a good base of players in Escobar, Braun, McGehee, Gallardo, Wolf, Villanueva, Stetter, Coffey, Narveson and possibly Gomez and Weeks.

I was a little disappointed that they never really tied off the Tony Almedo story line. He went off to prison at the end of last season and I figured he'd make an appearance this year so Jack could kill him. I thought they would have done something with Audrey Rains too. Oh well.