Lathund

With regards to the BB point: One thing that "analytics" does show, one of the early finds of the sabermetric era really, was just the value of walks. Or to be more specific, the value of getting on base and not recording outs, which is the main value of a single. So walks do matter, and it's reflected in stats like wOBA and wRC+, which are essentially OPS, but where the constituent parts of OPS (Walks, HPB, singles, doubles, triples, HRs) are weighted. One of the issues with OPS is that 1pt of slugging and 1pt of OBP count the same, when they really shouldn't. So to move from BBs to Ks. Of course Ks are bad. Especially in certain situations. But that's missing the tradeoff, and why the K% is high. A player who takes a lot of walks will also, as a consequence of that (Unless you're Joey Votto) take more called third strikes than others. Likewise, a player who swings for the fences will have more swinging third strikes. So as the poster quoted below points out, K's aren't all that different from other outs; you lose value in not being able to advance runners. But you gain value in more walks, more HRs and, I supopse, in running up pitch counts. So if the high K% are a result of a specific approach that gets you other advantages, they're not as bad as they seem. But striking out a lot due to simply being bad, well, that's never a good thing. The Brewers are a bit of both currently. There seems to be a Patience/Power approach. But we're also in a situation where the team isn't necessarily filled with the players, or type of players, the front office want in the long term. When you're taking flyers on waiver claims, cheap trades, cheap FAs and such, you can't be too picky. You see a player that you suspect is undervalued and where you see upside, and take a chance. That will include guys who strike out a ton but where the positives have been missing; Keon Broxton might be a shining example of that. These types of players will have warts, that's why they're available in the first place. Nobody has ever said Ks don't matter, a K as a result does not significantly matter compared to an out as a result. That is a completely different argument. People also have never said clutch isn't good, clutch just isn't predictive. Because you were clutch one time does not mean you are more likely to be clutch the next time. The big issue with analytics is people not understand what they are saying and misquoting them. Very well put!

To answer my own question, in case anyone else was curious, Adam McCalvy says he's just getting a day off.

Is Brinson injured? Hasn't been in the lineup the last couple of days. Or has he been on standby to join the big league club?

Would've liked to see Davies given the chance to go one more inning.

I can only imagine what this thread would look like if the roles were reversed! Man, bases loaded two innings in a row, and then 1st and 3rd with no outs, and no runs?!?!

Knebel walks the leadoff batter to make things interesting. Woodruff takes it to a whole new level.

If he shows decent control, managing a reasonably low pitch count, and the changeup is OK, then give him a chance to start. In the bullpen I see him more as what I guess you mean by a bullpen ace, a fireman, an Andrew Miller type. High leverage situations, multiple innings when needed.

I seem to recall that the neck injury in training camp persisted into the season, followed by severe cluster migraine attacks. Was a top 100 prospect only two years ago and has looked OK in limited time in the majors. To find one positive from the Bandy/Vogt injuries it's that we'll get a look at Susac that we probably otherwise wouldn't have had.

Well Rene Garcia has posted an OPS of .809 between AAA and AA this year. Personally I could live without Espino on the 40 man. After a terrible April, Susac has a .800 OPS over the last 90 days, .825 over the last 28. And Susac has some major league experience already. For what would be a very marginal improvement, if it's any improvement at all, I don't see the point of making a 40-man roster move when you don't have to.

Yup. Has there been any changes to the Tampa stadium situation? I know it's basically crap, but after this long they don't draw anyone it's probably time to give someplace else a crack at it and see how it goes rather than spending a billion on a new stadium there. I don't recall any news about a new stadium. Probably better to do that than a 2 team expansion. Montreal and Charlotte would keep them in the AL East. The Rays will not be relocated because they have a large fanbase that prefers not to attend games in person (stadium issue + older skewing fanbase). The Rays TV audience is in the top half of MLB. They have a much larger TV audience than the Brewers (thanks to higher population in Tampa/St. Pete). A new stadium across the bay, actually in Tampa, would likely have a big impact on attendance on it's own. Remains to be seen how big though.

I don't know if Stearns will ever view us as being in any particular stage (i.e. rebuild, "win now") or as anything to ever be "complete." I think that as long as Stearns is GM and Attanasio trusts him, we will always continue to look for ways to infuse talent into the system at all levels. We added MLB pieces when we have not been expected to win at the MLB level, and we will trade away guys from the MLB roster when we are expected to win. Stearns seems to be very "big picture," so he will continue to try to add value to the entire franchise, not just the current MLB team. No one is perfect, but I'm kind of fascinated by how Stearns works. I also believe that this is what Stearns will try to do, at least I certainly hope so as I think that's the right approach to take for a chance at sustained success, as opposed to the rebuilding->win now cycle.

Bronson Koenig? He's a basketball player. You mean Brinson? We signed Bronson Arroyo to play OF for the Brewers.

Yeah it's a bit frustrating. I don't quite understand how this can be such a frequent occurence.

I guess the logic is that they don't want to burn Broxton's last option; and I'm fine with that, it makes sense. But to then keep Brinson up and in the mix once we get back to 5 starters in the coming days, they would need to make space by either going with a 7-man bullpen or by getting rid of a position player. They don't seem to be willing (Or able; not many relievers with options remaining in the pen tbh) to do the former, and I don't think they want to DFA Sogard or Villar at this point. EDIT: Reminder to not go AFK while writing a post; takes too long!

Brinson has a .115 BABIP. His ratio of soft/medium/hard contact is virtually identical to Manny Piña, who's running a .376 BABIP. His stats should improve significantly even if he keeps doing the exact same thing he is now. I hope he's up to stay now for the rest of the season. EDIT: Looking at Statcast, his average exit velocity is the 33rd best in the majors. 5 spots and 0.4 MPH behind Stanton. EV obviously isn't the only thing that matters, but again it shows that he makes good contact. More hits will come.

Calhoun is an interesting case. He's a small, stocky guy with poor defense. Which is why he's never going to be rated as a true top talent. But that bat is legit. Drafted in 2015, is now a 22 year old in AAA with a .931 OPS. A leftie with a .899 OPS against LHP. Strikes out only 12% of the time so far in his professional career. On a team that can afford to carry a full-time DH he's going to be a beast. The rental market isn't what it used to be; I would imagine partly because of the CBA, but also because there weren't many teams looking at rental SPs. With 3 divsions basically decided already, fewer teams than usual would be in the mix. Considering that, I don't think they did badly at all. With the caveat that if they were planning to resign Darvish, and a trade hurt those chances, then then the return looks pretty light.

If the two injured guys manage to come back from their injuries without any lasting issues, I think this is a good return for the A's. But that's obviously not a given, so a high risk move. At the same time, the Yankees trade away some uncertainty for a solid return. But it's also yet another trade that clearly shows the market is not the same as last year. The Chapman and Miller deals were the anomalies, not the new norm. Or perhaps Cashman is just really, really good at his job.

That's correlation, not causality. The Cubs signing a pitcher who may or may not have gone to the Brewers if he hadn't gone to the Cubs is not the reason we stopped hitting with runners in scoring position. And if, against all odds, it did somehow have something to do with it, then our offense doesn't have the strength to win anything in the first place. The Cubs had most of their WS-winning team return. The Brewers were 1,5 years into a rebuild. Look at the 2013 Cubs for how competitive we "should" be at this stage. DS and the whole organization really has done a fantastic job at uncovering good players in low-key trades, free agent signings, waiver pickups or in getting some more immediate return even in rebuilding trades. That's why we're where we are. But we have barely even started to see the return from the actual rebuilding trades we did. And yes, it may very well be that hardly any of these prospects pan out. It's very unlikely, but it is possible. But we need to take that risk. It's the only way a small budget team has sustained success, by patiently building from within. By squeezing every last bit of value out of every dollar we spend. To never succumb to short termism. We don't have the resources the Cubs or Yankees do. If we try to use the same blueprint as them, to make similar moves and go for the same players, they will beat us. I've seen the argument that standing pat is the easy thing to do, the safe thing, even the "cowardly" thing to do. That DS doesn't have the guts to make moves. I would say it's the other way around: Making these trades is easy. It's what the mainstream fans and mainstream media wants. It's what the owner wants. It feeds the perception that action, any action, is a sign of strength. The hardest thing to do is sometimes to do nothing. To have patience. To stick to your convictions, stick to your plans. That's not to mention the short memories of anyone questioning DS guts. He non-tendered the reigning NL HR champion. To make space for a guy who left for Korea because he couldn't hack it in the majors. I think this has more to do with how these opinions are presented. There are several posters on here who are more in the "win now" camp; or at least in the camp to make some moves to make that happen sooner, who don't get the snarky comments or attacks. Probably because they're civil themselves, and don't question the intelligence of either other posters or David Stearns for that matter. Because they support their position with solid arguments. Because they're actually engaging in a debate, attempting to respond to counter arguments. Whether you agree with their viewpoint or not, that's something to respect and respond to with civility. I agree with the basic point that perpetuating the behaviour you mention in your post, and that "he started it" has never led to anything productive. And that using the ignore function is a much better way to deal with it than going on a counter-attack. But I disagree with the premise that this kind of behaviour, for the most part, is a result of simply disagreeing with someone.

I like Kinsler as well, really good player despite his age. Under contract through 2018, which should allow us to phase in Dubon next year without rushing him, and have Diaz and Hiura not far off by then.

I would think that Woodruff or Jungmann gets the next Guerra start.

Hoping for a multi-HR game from Thames. And a lot of head-scratching in post-game interviews.

Could be that Reed is getting traded, and they saw an opportunity to secure next seasons closer already, at a price they're OK with. Or Reed isn't getting traded, but not getting extended either.

I'm always worried in game where we get a lot of baserunners, but don't score many runs of it. Just has this inevitable feel of a comeback. Please please let me be wrong.

I really can't see any truth to this. What would be the point?

He has a sub 4 ERA (117 ERA+) with a FIP to match, and will cost $5m for the season. The way he's played this season it won't be a problem moving him. Can't expect huge returns, but we'll get at least something.