paul253

This isn’t our year but we add a rookie 2nd basemen who currently has 98 plate appearances above A ball and let a pitcher with #3 upside develop for a year and all of sudden we’re in the World Series? And this year we don’t need to get lucky. We have the best record in the league with an offense that is vastly underperforming. What we need is our hitters to get theirs heads out of their you know what’s and start hitting. And I’d love to have an ace that you can feel confident in every time he steps on the mounds.

There are rumors that beginning with the 2021 draft high school players are going to be eligible again. That means that you’ll basically have two draft classes in one and it will be loaded. I believe there’s a chance we won’t even have a first round pick that year because of the Bledsoe trade. If they trade Middleton I’d love to see them add a first round pick in that draft even though it’s still a few years out.

Villar has been good enough to handle second base again. And no way are why giving up on Arcia yet. Doubon is coming back sometime next year and he can play both positions if need be. You also have Perez and Miller as options. Plenty to work with. . As far as pitching depth goes even if you trade two prospects you’ll have Degrom, Davies, Guerra, Chacin, Suter, whichever prospect you hang onto, Anderson and Nelson. That’s 8 legitimate starting pitchers. Depth is fine. We have plenty of depth. What we don’t have are a ton of top end talent like Degrom or Syndergaard. That’s a lot of if’s. I don’t see how you can decide whether or not to make a trade based on the possibility that theee of your main guys go down with long term injuries. If that happens you deal with it.

Agreed. But I don’t even know how you’d acquire a pitcher for a one game playoff without also acquiring them to help you win the division. Clearly whoever you get you get for the regular season. The playoffs would be the added bonus. All we are saying is that all things being equal, if you have the chance the start a Degrom or a Syndergaard over a Chacin or anAnderson, which is a very strong possibility, it’d be a huge upgrade. The CC Sabitha deal showed just how important one pitcher can be. Without him we are not in the playoffs.

But it’s not “all-in” for this season. Depending on which pitcher you get youd have them for either two or three more years. Plus, you don’t get the benefit of hindsight. You have no idea if you’ll make the playoffs or in what capacity you do if you get him. You can’t say “well if we make the playoffs then I’d do it but if don’t then it wouldn’t”. Doesn’t work like that. The best way to win a one game playoff is to score more runs than the other team. Doesn’t matter how you do it. I’d prefer to have a dominant starter who gives me 7 solid innings as opposed to using up my two or three best bullpen arms in the first 5 innings because if the game is still tight in the 8th or 9th, or goes into extra innings, who are you going to rely on? Jacob Barnes? Taylor Williams? No thanks. I’m much rather take my chances with Degrom/Syndergaard for 7 followed by Hader, Jeffrey’s and Knebel.

I don’t think many people complain about the Brewers not being able to develop “talent”. I think they complain about the Brewers not being able to develop pitching. And four quality starts from Peralta not withstanding they’ve mostly been right.

He’d be very helpful in the playoffs when, in a one game wild card series if that’s what we end up with, it’d be him instead of probaly Chacin. Even over the course of a 7 game series he’d probably pitch at least two, possibly three times. And that means less starts for whoever our fourth best starter is. Additionally, he’d be more likely to keep us in the game low scoring games when our offense isn’t producing. One way to win if you aren’t scoring runs is to give up fewer runs. Our rotation has been about average in ERA so there is definitely room for improvement. The fact is Degrom or Syndergaard was definitely improve this team, particularly in the playoffs if we make it. I get that the offense is in a rut but I don’t necessarily think acquiring an average type hitter will be much help either. You’re basically talking about one, maybe two more hits a game, if that. Is that going to cause us to score 3 more runs a game? No way. It will help, but the only way the offense is truly going to get better is if at least some of the players who are struggling get better. We can trade for a Walker or Hairston type player but if the offense is going to turn the corner guys like Braun and Santana and Shaw and Arcia and Pina will have to get better. Also, while I wouldn’t mind seeing Hiura up at the end of the year let’s be hesitant to annoint him as our offensive savior. It’s not often a guy starts the season in A ball and ends up having success in the Major leagues the same year. Hiura is likely more of a next year type fix.

Given how many options we have for the rotation next year (Chacin, Anderson, Davies, Suter, Nelson, Guerra, Woodruff, Burnes and Peralta) I think I’d be willing to move Woodruff plus either Burnes or Peralta in exchange for one of these guys. So start of with: Woodruff and say Peralta. I’d add in Santana as a guy who is kind of at a sell low point but could entice NY and someone who has a 30 HR season under his belt and has some upside still. So Woodruff, Peralta, Santana. If you add in Hiura is that enough? Degrom for Hiura, Peralta, Woodruff and Santana? It’s basically what the ESPN suggested but I’m substituting Woodruff for Burnes. That would leave next years rotation as likely Degrom, Guerra, Anderson Nelson and Chacin with Burnes and Suter next up. Solid rotation but our farm would take a major hit. Is it worth it?

I’m just curious why he came back. Is there a bigger story to go along with that or was it just a nod to the other movies. Also, I’m pretty sure it was canon how he came back.

Down goes Germany. Who’d have thought. I’m probably rooting for England. And man, looking at the bracket stack up it sure looks like it would behoove them to lose to Belgium and take second in their group. It would get them away from a potential matchup with Brazil in the quarterfinals.

DS should target a new hitting coach who can actually help these guys get over their struggles. Arcia has been horrid. It’s like he’s closing his eyes and swinging. Santana obviously has been bad. Pina. Braun. Sogard. Even Shaw’s numbers aren’t great. I realize these guys aren’t all exactly perennial all stars but how every one of those guys can be in a season long slump is beyond me. I keep looking at our hitters and saying “look at these guys. They’ll get over it and be fine. We don’t need to add offense”, as well as looking at our pitchers and saying “look at these guys. Surely they’ll fall off at some point. We need to add a pitcher”. Yet here we are at the end of June and our pitchers are still pitching (mostly) well and our hitters are still (mostly) sucking it up.

I really think the Brewers should have made a move for Cole but I’m not sure how accurate a comparison is between a pitcher who was putting up pedestrians numbers and a catcher who is clearly the top offensive catcher in the league

Miami’s system really looks weak. I wonder if they’d settle for quantity over quality if it becomes clear they aren’t getting an elite prospect back. Burnes and Peralta are nothing to sniff at. I’m hesitant to include them both but without Hiura it’s likely a must.

Burnes, Peralta, Nottingham and Lopez?

It still takes time though because the manager strolls out to the mound, talks to the pitcher for a bit, then makes the move. Then the new pitcher has to trot in from the bullpen which is usually in the outfield. Then even without warmups he’ll kicked the dirt around the mound a bit to get a good footing. Plus, the warmups often allow pitchers to come in a little before they are ready. Without warmups the manager might send the pitching coach out first or take more time to call for the change. Don’t get me wrong, I’m fine without giving them warmups but on a pitching change the warmups aren’t the biggest time consumer.

Honestly if there is any way to get him without giving up Hiura, which there might not be, I think you have to do it. I’m just so hesitant to give up Hiura with the way he’s been dominating this year. He could legitimately be the opening day second basemen next year and if you can somehow pry Realmuto away from the Marlins without giving him up you can solve two of your biggest offensive holes next year. You’d just really have to hope the pitching holds up because you’d likely be giving up Burnes and Peralta. Doesn’t leave us much room for error rotation wise.

How about a pitcher has to face a minimum of two batters unless they get injured? Three and Four pitcher innings can take 25-30 minutes.

So apparently after the “Solo” flop Disney has suspended production of any further spinoffs. I saw “Solo” and I didn’t think it was THAT bad, but then again by the time I saw it the reviews had already come out and my expectations were really low. Rumor has it they were planning an Obi Wan spin-off which would have occurred between episodes 3 and 4 and had Ewan McGregor starred in it, which he had expressed interest in doing, I think actually could have been pretty good. But overall the more I look at what Disney has done with Star Wars, particularly the two new trilogy movies, the more I don’t like it. I admit to being a dork and reading a lot of the “extended universe” books and while some of those storylines were pretty far out there the general story line with Han and Leia and their Jedi twins and Luke starting a new Jedi Order and Grand Admiral Thrawn and the Imperial Remnant was all pretty good. Disney just basically used the same storyline as the original movies in TFA and then TLJ pretty much killed off every angle TFA started, mostly without any real explanation. The third movie in a trilogy is supposed to wrap things up but with Star Wars it seems like they have to start anew. Really the only storylines left from the first two movies are the Rey-Kylo Wren relationship and how to officially kill off Leia. I just don’t understand why they chose to go this direction.

I don’t follow the Bucks all that closely but even I recognized their need for a stronger inside presence. I was a little surprised they didn’t go for Williams but hopefully this McCoy dude can help out on the boards.

I had to read this a few times to make sure you weren’t joking. It’s “racist” to say our best athletes play football and basketball. Um yeah.....this isn’t the political board so I’ll leave that one alone. And yet the poorest of the poor in countries like Mexico, Nigeria, Ghana....well pretty much any country in Europe, South America and Africa.....manage to afford to play. Explain that. What equipment do you need to play soccer? You need goal, which is usually provided by the city. And you need a ball. Pretty much the same expense as basketball. Soccer fields are almost exactly the same size as football fields and yet tons of the best football players in the country come from low income and poor neighborhoods. Use common sense before you make these arguments. And this is different than every other major organized sport how? I’ve been around a lot of little league baseball and a lot of youth basketball. Seems to me that winning sure beats out helping kids improve there too Why do you think there is a better chance to be noticed in basketball than in soccer? Because Basketball is infinitely more popular and is a much bigger deal for colleges, professionals, and even high schools so those institutions have more incentive to go out and find the best players. Colleges make tons of money off of basketball. And I’m guessing almost all of them lose money off of soccer. So common sense dictates it would make more sense to advocate resources to going out and finding the best basketball players vs the best soccer players. It has nothing to do with how much it costs to play soccer. With all due respect you have to be blind if you actually believe this. Soccer is far and away the least popular of the five major sports in America. Even as an avid, life long sports fan I cannot name five MLS players. I’m not even exaggerating. The other sports, particularly football and basketball are so much more popular, as are the individual athletes. You cannot honestly believe that if soccer club teams didn’t cost as much money that the top athletes in America would all of a sudden switch over to soccer. It’s a little more complicated than that. In order for many of these football players to get noticed they have to travel to all different types of camps and pay their own way for unofficial visits. Plus, to my knowledge traveling football teams aren’t really a thing so High School is pretty much the only chance for scouts to see the players in action. Additionally, where are all the best baseball players noticed? Apparently they have the same type of expensive traveling teams that soccer has. But even more poor kids continue on in baseball than they do in soccer. Yeah....you did: “ inner city kids don't play soccer because it's EXPENSIVE. There is no field space in the inner cities, but there are basketball courts”

Or they could be extremely happy if the guy they acquire helps win them the division and make a deep playoff run and the prospect they send in return fizzles out. You never know how these things will turn out. As I said I like Woodruff. And I know that’s he’s still young and still has a lot of potential. But in his 12 major league starts the last two seasons he has left A LOT to be desired. It’s entirely possible that he’s your prototypical “AAAA” pitcher who never does anything at the major league level. If that happens to be the case getting JA Happ, even for a few months, would be a steal. Everyone always assumes the prospects we move are going to meet or surpass their potential once we move them. That’s not always the case. If Toronto offered Happ for Woodruff right now I’d probably do it. Then focus on solidifying the lineup.

Hanging onto prospects for too long is the exact opposite of what we should be doing too. We can’t keep every single prospect we have.

I’d do Woodruff and maybe Lopez. I’ve always liked Woodruff but he’s been surpassed by Peralta and we still have Burnes too. He needs a chance to start regularly to see what he can do and unfortunately it doesn’t look like he’ll get that chance here. Lopez really has no future here either other than maybe long man out of the pen. It’s not a ton and Happ has been pretty good the last few years but the fact that he’s gone after this year lowers his value.

Not really young ones maybe not but the teenagers? Absolutely. I bet if you surveyed teenagers in the inner city and asked who, on average, makes money, an NBA player or an MLS player I’d bet 90% of them would say NBA. And how many of them even know who the best players in the world are? I’m an educated sport lover who spends half his day looking at scores and browsing the internet and even I can’t name more than 10 professional soccer players in the world. Professional soccer has absolutely no draw to inner city kids.

I don’t think it’s nearly that simple. Kids can grab a soccer ball and play just as easily and cheaply as they can a basketball. But they don’t. They grab the basketball. Why? Two big reasons I think. The first is cultural. Black kids in the inner city look up to black professional athletes. That’s why basketball and to a lesser extent football are so much more popular in the inner city than baseball and soccer are. Sure there are popular black baseball players and, probably, soccer players. But honesly name three players on the US men’s national soccer team. I can’t. And I’m sure kids in the inner city can’t either. But they can probably name 100 NBA players. And so can I even though I don’t watch the NBA. The second reason is money but not in the sense you’re talking about. How much does the average soccer player in America make? Not nearly as much as the average NBA player. Poor kids grow up dreaming of making it big and being rich and famous. You don’t get rich and famous in America playing soccer. The reason why USA can’t compete with the other nations in offer is because our best athletes don’t play soccer....or they don’t continue it I should say. They play basketball. They play football. And to a lesser extent they play baseball. If the USA ever hopes to become a World Power in soccer they have to figure out how to get the best American athletes to play. That means advertising. That means sponsorships. That means paying their players close to what athletes in the other major sports make.