OnTheBlack

I think it was still just two or three weeks ago someone was still arguing that this trade could end up being a good deal for both teams. I think the Jury is out on this one. Imagine if we inexplicably wanted to trade him right now what we could get for him. If Yelich was a FA this year, this would be one of the best acquisitions in Wisconsin sports history. That he's here through 2022...it's ridiculous.

Well, they said that it wasn't Gio he was talking about. This could be a tease with nothing to it, but it's exciting. Trying to think who I'd rather see them sign. I think I'm in the minority and would rather see Kimbrel signed for big money and Gio signed to a cheap one year deal. I just really like the idea of getting Hader back into the role of using him when it's most important and further away from using him as a closer. Edit-I mean to say Kimbrel as opposed to Kuechel if both could be had for just one year deals. Still, regardless of this individual being right about Moose, doesn't mean he's right here and it also says "close." Close can fall apart quickly. No matter what, I hope it's a ONE year deal, maybe with a team option. I want to keep the young guys in the rotation and we'e got so many young relievers SHOULD be ready to step in next year with big time stuff that I'd hate to see a lot of money from next years budget allocated to fixing this years staff. As always though, until Stearns stops making brilliant moves, I'll keep trusting him.

So we don't know if he has an elbow injury, shoulder injury or a blister? Kinda hate how the Brewers seem to be so quiet about their prospects injury issues. You hear if someone goes under the knife, but short of that, we're left guessing. Ponce isn't exactly Corbin Burnes, but he could make an impact in Milwaukee if all goes right. You know, there are Federal laws about medical disclosures. [sarcasm]Right, it's because of HIPPA that we NEVER hear about athletes injuries.... [/sarcasm] I couldn't tell if this was serious, snide or what, but it seems like you're genuinely confused as to why I'd like to know more about the health of the Brewers prospects. Also, HIPPA rights can and often are waived by professional sports leagues. In fact, in some, it's actually mandatory that you list players injuries. Professional baseball player on the DL isn't QUITE the same as Katie next doors results from the clinic.

Brady's also a master at just shuffling his feet in the pocket and creating time that extra half a second for his guys to get open. Just the most underrated part of his game. And I don't see him get those big hits all that often. I'm hoping rather than scrambling as much, Rodgers tries to play a LITTLE bit more like Brady moving forward. Just pick his spots better, don't bail out and look for the TD when you can get the 1st down. That said, Rodgers is like a savant at making guys miss. I'm sure most people here play sports, but it's easy to practice something perfectly, it's very difficult to do it at the levels we've all competed at. The way Rodgers is able to use his footwork, tuck that shoulder and avoid pass rushers coming at him full speed is exactly how you teach QB's to avoid the pass rush, almost like a punt returner who can make the first guy miss just because they're coming at you with a head full of steam. It's amazing how Rodgers has made some of the game best miss by perfecting that move. Both hands on the ball, a little pivot and tuck that inside shoulder to make yourself a smaller target and able to move as soon as the pass rusher misses. Just seeing someone who could get to you and bailing...that's not a recipe for success. Hundley, like dozens and dozens of QB's had all the talent need to be a very good NFL QB. But he bailed too quickly. But lets also keep in mind, he was getting his shot right as GB's offense was getting it's most outdated and our receivers were as bad as any time in McCarthy's reign at getting open on their own. So he was probably not much different as the starting QB for the Packers than probably a third of the other starters would be and most of the backup's in the NFL. He had good games and terrible homes games. But early on I thought he'd be a guy we'd eventually get a nice pick for, perhaps even a 2nd rounder. His size, arm strength, what looked like improved accuracy and then my belief that McCarthy and Clement were Quarterback whisperers. That did not come to fruition.

Feels like they had a run of later season bye weeks before the last 3-4 years. Sadly, the bye week has always been a welcome break where we could get back Nick Perry or Randall, or Rollins or King or whoever year after year and finally get healthy. A late season bye may help this team if Pettine can get this D to gel and Rodgers can bounce back this year. We face a couple of really talented AFC West teams in KC and SD, but the schedule is very manageable. I'm calling 11-5 right now in my way too early predictions.

I hated that trade when it happened and even called in and argued with Bill Michaels(the big unit) about it who touted it as a massive defensive upgrade over Logan Schafer(he was not in any way an upgrade). But moreover, I followed prospects more closely then and was a fan of Haniger. I didn't think much of Banda in particular and I certainly didn't expect Haniger to become a stud, I just thought it was a pointless trade. It looks so much worse in hindsight. Imagine our OF right now with Haniger in RF and Banda in our farm system. No Davies, but we could all live with that. That said, bad trades happen. Just ask the Marlins. Edit-For the record, I was a huge Clint Coulter fan and went to quite a few Appleton games just to watch him play....so not pretending to be some clairvoyant.

Greed, with the corporate ownership group in Atlanta, seems to be keeping the inevitable from happening. Pretty much spot on. The Braves are a notoriously cheap team despite having a huge market as they probably have the largest regional fan base of any team in baseball. I didn't even think there was a question that the Braves were a cheap organization. Do you debate this?

No, there's a FAR greater difference between the first four(3 especially IMO) and Claudio, and I don't care what a small sample size for a left-handed specialist says. The other 4 pitchers are elite power arms who can get out both lefties and rights and can break a thin pane of glass with a baseball, not to mention almost all of Claudio's WAR comes from two years ago when he had a fluke year and put up a 2.8 WAR season. This also includes a year in which he posted a whip over 1.5. It's not close at all regardless of what one stat driven primarily by one year says. Also, when in tough spots, I'll take the guys who strike out 3 times as many people as Claudio does. I used 2017-18 because that’s how long Hader has been in the league. If you go back to Claudio’s first season in 2016 he has pitched 197 innings (22nd among all relievers) in 173 games, so he is not a lefty specialist. He also ranks 20th in Win Probability Added & 26th in Runs Allowed WAR over that time frame. So over a three year sample (aka not small) he has been a top 25ish reliever in all of baseball. I never said he was on the same level as the other guys, just closer than many probably think. If I need to get outs in 2019 I’ll take Claudio over Jeffress, Kimbrel & Knebel at the present moment. So you'll literally take him over 3 other pitchers who are not pitching? Not really all that high of a bar. I guess I'd probably take that a step further. I'd take him over Ben Sheets or Randy Johnson or any other person who has pitched, but currently isn't(though at the time of your post, Jeffress hadn't yet pitched, now that he has, I'd hope you'd at least take him off that list). He has a +90 OPS in high leverage situations in his career. He's got a career OPS+ total of 99. And he's DEFINITELY a left handed specialist on a team trying to win. Vs Right Handers-.313/.358/.458 Vs Left Handers-.187/.219/.266 So HUGE difference in splits vs lefties and righties, well below average in high leverage situations, and most of his career spent on a poor team. Yeah, I think I'd take Kimbrel over him right now and I'll definitely take Jeffress over him and by a lot.

Even better going back now that he is dominating and throwing in the upper 90's with his FB and low 90's with his slider.

[sarcasm]Yeah, but you forget, Jeffress is already a disaster in the pen. I don't really care about his actual results.[/sarcasm]

Agree wholeheartedly. When Knebel went down, it changed things in the pen. All the young starters are having trouble keeping hitters off their fastball. Their offspeed stuff just isn't up to par with top starters, and their breaking stuff is a mixture of hangers and pitches that are out of the zone out of their hand. I'd move both Burnes and Woodruff to the pen and insert Anderson and Houser until Kuechel is ready. So basically then, at this point we'd just be saying that neither is a starting pitcher despite both clearly having the ability to be successful starters because they've struggled through their first couple starts(while also showing some extremely encouraging signs). If often takes young pitchers more than a few starts to figure it out. And I don't know why we're so confident in Houser if we've lost confidence in Burnes and Woodruff. And while the teams record in a pitchers start is obviously not a determining factor in keeping them in the rotation, the Brewers are 5-3 in the 8 starts these two have made and they're both getting a lot of swings and misses. My only point being is that it's not like they're pitching us out of games and both should be given a bit more rope before we pull the plug on two promising young starters for a less promising young starter(Houser) and an older starter in Anderson who had the same problem last year with HR's that have hurt Burnes and Woodruff thus far. These three should be kept in the rotation through May. If you take them out, take them out and send them down rather than just relegating both to the pen for their careers at this early stage.

So we don't know if he has an elbow injury, shoulder injury or a blister? Kinda hate how the Brewers seem to be so quiet about their prospects injury issues. You hear if someone goes under the knife, but short of that, we're left guessing. Ponce isn't exactly Corbin Burnes, but he could make an impact in Milwaukee if all goes right.

OK, I'll slow down the hype train. While he threw three innings today, he only threw 35 pitches. I'd be willing to bet that he's starting now because he's on a pitch count and he can come into the game completely and easily warmed up and go until he reaches his pitch limit. The list of guys who have had TJ twice and returned to become an effective starter isn't a long list. I'm going to wait until he's up over 60 pitches to get real excited. He could be a real weapon out of the pen, even a long reliever/Hader-lite. But recovery-wise, he isn't out of the woods yet. There's a big distinction between having two separate Tommy John surgeries and having a TJ surgery and then needing to go in and correct it. Pardon my ignorance, but did he have two separate surgeries, one in HS and then another one after he was drafted, or was there an issue with the first one? In any event, most of the guys who have two TJ surgeries usually don't come back and get their stuff back, they usually don't ever come back throwing in the upper 90's. That's not to say anything you said is wrong of course. But man...this type of stuff is more fun for me than any part of Brewers baseball other than when they have the type of team they have right now. I'd be even nicer if Kirby was a left handed counter part to what Rasmussen is doing, but these low risk, huge reward type picks are so fun when they work out.

And just a quick aside, I don't have much of an opinion on Nasir Adderly one way or the other, but it would be nice to grab a nephew of an Packer great.

The only way I'd like to see them take a QB is if Murray falls to us at 12 or some other equally unrealistic scenario. Not since Rodgers has the best or 2nd best QB fallen like ARod has(I wonder how much of that is because of Arod). And when we drafted ARod, Favre was already talking about retirement whereas Rodgers just re-upped for 4 more years and has implied this won't be his last contract in GB if it's up to him. If he can avoid the concussions, it won't be up to him, but he's plenty talented to be "just" a pocket passer. He would be even better IMO if he didn't scramble as much. Long way of saying that I'd would be real upset if they took a QB as opposed to the last time we had a HOF QB in their mid 30's when it made some sense. I'm gonna guess that we take Oliver at 12. You're probably right, he's probably gone, but these mocks are so incredibly unreliable and there are always a few teams that pick a guy in the top 12 that most people had going in the 20's. I also do not want anything to do with Metcalf. Great, he's huge, he's strong, he's fast. He wasn't the best WR'er on his own team. WE have big, physical WR'ers. He could end up being like Thomas was in Denver with Peyton, taking WR'er screens 50 yards on a regular basis, but I'm not confident. 30th-I'm gonna guess it's Irv Smith. I don't think Fant falls to 12 and I really don't think Hockenson does. I could actually see the Packers moving up 4-6 spots if someone falls, but if not, I think we'll just take the best skill player available.

Can someone tell me what's going on with him? I know he hasn't pitched this year, but if he's undergone TJ or some other issue, I missed it.

I don't like it when people hold the Bucks' history against them, so I can't hold Toronto's history against them either. With Kawhi and Green, they're a different team with a different personality. The Bucks were dominant most of the year, so every team relies on hot shooting to beat them. Are they likely to shoot the 3 well enough to beat the Bucks 4 times? No, but I think they're more likely to do it than any other team in the East. I think Philly and Boston are a little over-rated for having more so-called star power, but Toronto is just better. Siakam is also a much improved, and very athletic 4 that gives Toronto even more versatility. They have the 2nd best two way player in the East, and a pretty impressive supporting cast. If we play them, I think it comes down to our 3 point shooting. They're the team best equipped to slow down Giannis IMO....in as much as he can be slowed down. Siakam, Leonard, Ibaka and the Gasol that can still actually play will make it a bit tougher for him to get 30. Golden State is still obviously the best in the NBA. Cousins going down probably makes them even better. He was a poor fit there.

And if that is NOT the case...if teams are unwilling to part with their relievers at this point in time and there is not a trade market, then obviously you don't force a trade. But I agree, we are or should be solid everywhere else for the most part, no reason to not address an area of the team that you can already see needs it.

No, it makes far more sense to make definitive declarations now! I'm not the biggest believer in Jeffress as it stands. I believe last year was a career year. And I don't like shoulder issues, but if all he had was fatigue, it makes perfect sense he went from 84 to the low 90's and when he's in an actual big league game again, his velocity may tick up. The thing about Jeffress though, moreso than Knebel or some others, he's got that nasty circle change that can get guys out also. I expect him to be about a 3 ER 9K/9 type pitcher if he's healthy. If the shoulder issue was really a shoulder impingement that turns into a shoulder surgery, then all of this talk becomes moot. But it's almost comical to make a declaration one way or the other before he actually...ya know...pitches.

I guess I don't have the same direct line to the Brewers brass or their players that you do, so I wouldn't presume to speak with any degree of certainty about why the Brewers are doing what the Brewers are doing. I do know that generally when players are rehabbing, they do so in the minors before coming back up to the big leagues. But...I can't speak with the certainty that you seem to be able to.

10 days ago Moose had an OBP of .270. Numbers change real quickly this early in the season. Shaw's given us back to back 4 WAR seasons. If CC wants to flip them, that's fine, and Grandal is certainly a worthy #3 hitter on this team. I'm not worried about any of those three hitting this year. I just want to see Aguilar get back into that rhythm he was in last year. He's not a fluke, he didn't get lucky, but you can see with him it's mental. When he's jumping at pitches, he's not a good hitter. When he's just trying to make contact he's a stud. I think the big guy will get on a run and help carry this team.

That's the rub. The team obviously doesn't have infinite financial resources at its disposal. What happens if they sign Kimbrel, then they don't have the financial flexibility to make the deals at the deadline they'd like to? I don't think Stearns has a strict cap he's gotta stay under, but he's not giving out blank checks either. Would Kimbrel make the pen stronger? Yes, possibly. The clear favorite? That's a stretch. I would go a step further and say absolutely not. Talent wise, the Brewers are not on the same level as the Dodgers or even Nats in my opinion. Doesn't mean you can't win, but those teams are both more talented. Both teams have pitchers who would be the best in Milwaukee history right now, they both have multiple other starters who are extremely talented in Strausburg, Corbin, Buehler, Ryu and others and they can both mash. Of course it's also more than "possible," that Kimbrel would make the Pen stronger than it is. It's a near certainty. But it has to be one year. If the Brewers want to "get stupid," spending money, they can dole out the type of money Kimbrel is looking for, but add a little bit to pick up one of the stud starters that's going to be a free agent this off-season. Bring Cole back to the division. But we don't need 3 years of Kimbrel. Not with all the talent we'll have in the pen in the upcoming seasons.

If they get him, great. If they don't .. they'll figure it out. In any case, the "OMG the Brewers need KIMBREL!" talk is getting kind of annoying. I know I'm late here, and I echo all those who think the Brewers need to address the pen sooner rather than later, but we're all just assuming we get all-time great peak Kimbrel. He was NOT that the 2nd half of last year and he really wasn't that in the post-season. He was worse than Jeffress in the post-season. I don't think he blew any saves(could be wrong) but his ERA was north of 6 and worse than that, his control was awful. You can get away with poor command when you have his stuff, not just poor control. That's why I wouldn't even broach the possibility of a multi year deal for him. One year or nothing. But you're ultimately right. We don't have a thing to do with it one way or the other. Also, Stearns isn't stupid. He knows this team isn't as good as it's record, but it's record has afforded them some leeway. Plus the struggles of the Cubs...and I WOULD say the Cards, but they're 8-2 vs everyone other team.

The difference between tonight’s strike zone and last night’s is pretty dramatic. No way that would have been a strike last night. The Cards have been on the wrong end of quite a few calls this series. I'm surprised they're not getting all whinny and...Cardinally(which I guess is redundant).

Is this supposed to be in blue? Are you really inferring that basketball players don't exert that much energy during a game?