dadofandrew

Correia, Harang, and any others who may consider a one year "make good" deal is who I expect Doug to talk to. Vasquez may fall into the category.

29 teams want Lawrie, but few have the pitching to get him. I'd hate to move him, but if they do, he could bring a guy like Yo, though possibly less proven.

Conan gets the youngsters, which advertisers crave, but Leno is up 67% in total viewers from LY (when Conan was hosting) and looks like about a 3-2 edge in Conan's first week. Once the marketing dries up and the free media boost ends, I assume it will end up about 2-1, with a small lead in the 18-whatevers that sets the ad rates. Also be interesting to see where Kimmel, Dave, and Comedy Central ends up...I was shocked to see The Daily Show only got 1M viewers on Monday...I know it's on more than once, but that's less than CNN's minuscule numbers, which has led them to revamp their entire lineup.

Roenicke is obviously not in love with Rick, or he wouldn't be talking to others. That said, Rick will be paid next year and has a mindset to set up throughout the system, so he's not losing sleep over it. Ron probably has a guy or two in mind that he has worked with or knows that he wants to chat with. I've run retail stores in the past, and it's always awkward to inherit a management staff, because you don't know if you'll like 'em, hate 'em, or in between. If given the opportunity to bring in people I knew and trusted, I would not have hesitated, so it's tempting.

I'd say it's likely BOS asked about Braun as they asked about Fielder. I can't imagine Ryan and Prince both leaving, and considering Prince is all but gone, and Braun's team friendly contract, I'd be shocked...shocked.

Well, everyone has 4 grandmas...

If you have to explain an absence from the job market (you know, took a 2 year break and lived off your girlfriend), the phrase "I spent the past couple years helping to take care of my grandmother. She passed away two weeks ago. I'm ready to get back in the real world." They can't verify it, and if anything, it'll probably get you the job. Plus, if you get hired and want to stay on, the best thing you can do is show up early, stay late, and cover an extra shift or two if asked. Ask to talk to the manager on duty if you fill out an app in person. Be confident but let them know you want a job, and can begin when needed. Call every 2-3 days, at various times, and ask for the person in charge of HR, or a manager. And never put on an app you can't work Fri/Sat nights, or Sunday, if you want a job in retail or restaurants. Even if you can't, explain it later. Half the battle is getting an interview. If they ask fluff questions like "Why did you apply here today," put down you are a regular shopper, or if you know an employee, say that, even if you're not close to them. Attach your resume to the app, bring your own paper clip. If you're a guy, short hair, no cap, and business casual attire. No athletic shoes. Firm handshake, clean shaven. If you're a woman, almost anything is ok except prostitute attire, but conservative is better. Don't hide the fact you're attractive, though, it'll get you employed at plenty of places. Easy on the cologne/perfume, I've cut interviews short because of it. Remove piercings and cover tattoos, unless you want to prove a point...that you like being unemployed. Sit up straight, and if you think you might be there a while, a bottle of water is fine. Don't mumble, bring a pen, pencil, and 3-4 resumes in a plain folder or manilla envelope. If they ask questions about school, be honest, they might come back to it later, but never say you are worse than a C student. Don't say your favorite subject is history if it's not, because they might ask a similar question later, and you'll have to recall your fib. If they ask your best quality, think of what your grandma would say about you, "honest" or "loyal", not "good at math". Weaknesses? Turn it into a positive. "I used to be unorganized. Then, I took a class on it, and I'm much better. In fact, I organized the garage sale at church last year." Embarrassing moment? Same thing, minor negative, turn it around. If you have to fill out a test about your behavior/beliefs, on a scale of 1-10, every answer should be a 1 or a 10. If you're not sure, answer it like the pope or a nun would. Don't overthink. EDIT: You can say prostitute but not hook-er? Heh.

I think Doug will bring in a serious younger SP like Nolasco or Garza in trade. I could see them signing a Correia type to fill things out. I got an e-mail the other day saying they can't expect to get a SP for Fielder, as so few teams trade SP, and they're not going to do it for a single year of Prince. That made sense, as Yo is untouchable. They might well take a replacement 1B and two solid prospects for him, and not a major league ready SP. Teams like FLA or TB, looking to shed salary, will want prospects and pre-arby guys, not a soon to be FA.

No format will lower the 162 game regular season schedule at least until the next CBA. 3-5-7 game series should be over 3 weeks after the season ends, which is mid-October. Much of the delay is because they take 8 days to play 5 games now. They have planes now, you can play every day, with a day off between series.

The A's have plenty of SP's on the roster. There's trade potential there.

Still young too. Half the teams in MLB will probably have some degree of interest. He might end up with a 2 year major league deal.

Correia on a 1 year deal makes perfect sense, as they tried to trade for him last year but could not get it done. If Tim was going to predict a stopgap 1B, he should have at least made him a LH bat. Next year's 1B is probably already on the roster, or will come over in the Prince trade.

Dillard is nice to have in Nashville, but that's all he is right now, AAA depth. He's got velocity, but doesn't seem to know what to do with it.

TSN has sucked for years, I got a free subscription a couple years ago, and didn't even read it while waiting for the dog to come in, or in the bathroom. I used to subscribe when I was young, and it was the best mag out there. Literally, from best to worst in 20 years.

I have no doubt Gomez's speed led to several runs. However, finding guys that hit like Braun and run like Gomez are mighty tough. The Brewers had a fine offense. If the pitching had been better, they would have been fine. The Reds offense was almost a mirror image of the Brewers, and they had success, because they did not allow as many runs to score.

Miller Park is a HR park, though it is neutral overall. Doug is smart enough to build a team to the park they play in 81 times a year, and any manager will be smart enough to play to his team's strengths. As is, Lucroy, Fielder, and McGehee are not going to run, and certainly not go 1B-3B very often either. Gomez, Braun, Cain, Hart, and so on have and will continue to do so. Cameron was one of the best at taking an extra base (they keep stats), so losing him hurt, possibly it had others not look to do so as much. Gomez certainly had the green light all the time, so to be honest, I think lots of the players simply did not feel running was worth the risk. I doubt much will change, unless personnel does.

Axford was coming off injury. James may have had minor issues, but was coming off years of not being a prospect. Something clicked, but to me, he's just a velocity grab...not that there's anything wrong with that.

He's 29 and was in indy ball a couple years ago. Very low ceiling, but 94 works for me. You can't teach that.

In all 3 cases, their offense rushed them to the big leagues. Not sure what that has to do with the topic at hand. Again, players do not magically get better by eating lean meats and fruit. Some will be responsible, some will not. Some make it, most will not. Feeding them all healthy and hoping to get better baseball from them, seems overly optimistic at best. Considering the 30 teams don't do it, and yet my view is being called "contrary" sums it up for me. I'd love to find cheap ways to improve the minors, but adding some chicken and veggies to the diet of guys who can't hit...I don't see it having much success. My idea of adding a team in the NY-P league, stocking it with college seniors who'll sign for $5-10K, and letting most of them fail naturally, but adding a few prospects for about $250K per yeartotal is an idea I'd like to see someone try, that I have to believe would yield far more results.

No way they'll spend money on AJ, spending $4M more on a 5-10% increase is a foolish use of money. An experienced backup, for $1M, is possible, but unlikely, George had very good backup C numbers, and hits LH.

Whitey Herzog said they should have AA and AAA teams and have all the rest in an extended spring training like atmosphere. Never happen because that would leave a lot of markets like Appleton without baseball. I think most of the fuss about diet/nutrition is overstated...guys like Braun, Prince, Weeks, and so on are going to rise to the top, no matter how they eat.

The fellas sure wore their shorts short back then.

6.5 years of Lawrie would be to me. Weeks has played 5.6 years in MIL, Braun 3.7 thus far. Lawrie is younger and has played at levels advanced for his age. For small markets, those pre-arby years are vital.

Casey rebounded from injury with a nice year at 3B, just a tad bellow average. Gamel is known for not making much of an effort to play 3B well, and has already complained about 1B. I can't imagine him ending up at 3B if McGehee is still around.

Are you being sarcastic there Al? Milwaukee certainly has a stronger base of basketball fans than some other NBA franchises, but the Bucks wouldn't average 18K even if they won 55-60 games this year. There is just to much overall apathy towards the NBA among casual sports fans in Milwaukee for the Bucks to draw nearly a full house on a nightly basis, regardless of nice ticket deals and a much improved team compared to the last 8-10 years. I may have been a bit optimistic, but I feel they'll be way up with a 45-50 win season...I believe I read season tickets were up 20%, and almost all were renewed. They averaged just over 15K last year, so a 10-12% increase would put them between 16500-17000. That's probably more realistic. Or, if they stop running nightly specials, they might only average 16K. But, if they stay aggressive, they will sell tickets, and plenty of them. They have a lot of buzz, to be certain.