Ron Robinsons Beard

Matt Albers is quietly having a solid year. Nice to see.

Your love affair with Santana is getting weird now. It really is. He's a piss poor outfielder that was playing for an NL team. That's why he isn't a Brewer anymore. I don't really know what else there is to say. Like several others have said, this is a really odd hill to die on. Does that apply? LOL, right on cue, Domingo apparently caught stealing. Appropriate. Firstly, you brought it up tonight ... the Gamel vs. Santana debate ... not me. Secondly, I was clearly talking about Domingo's offensive stats when saying that Domingo doesn't have to rely on flaky defensive plays in the outfield for his homeruns. You took it another direction completely (likely because you cannot defend the huge offensive statistical run production and overall offensive advantage that Domingo has displayed over Ben this season). Thirdly, you fail to acknowledge that the Mariners experimented with Domingo in left field at a new ballpark where by far the vast majority of his errors occurred. When Domingo was returned to right, he has been all-right! Domingo > Ben, easily, in my estimation. Look at the stats ... it's plainly obvious. I like Ben Gamel as a backup, but that is what he is ... a backup. Domingo Santana can be an all-star multiple times in his career -- he had an all-star like season for us in 2017. That's a difference I can appreciate. I wish the Brewers had. Good day, sir! All I said was I'd like to see Santana do what Gamel did, which, because they were traded for each other, is appropriate. I acknowledged in the other thread that Santana is a good offensive player. As a defender, he's a dumpster fire. That's why he's not a Brewer. The Brewers value defense and versatility in the OF. Santana provides neither.

If Shaw drops below .145 than that’s the last straw for CC. Of course, his batting average can't drop if he never plays.

Your love affair with Santana is getting weird now. It really is. He's a piss poor outfielder that was playing for an NL team. That's why he isn't a Brewer anymore. I don't really know what else there is to say. Like several others have said, this is a really odd hill to die on. Does that apply? LOL, right on cue, Domingo apparently caught stealing. Appropriate.

Yeah, this has HR written all over it. Or a routine grounder that Moose airmails.

Domingo does not need dumb luck from a rotten outfield play for his homeruns! The stats speak for themselves! Yep ... the stats say he's the absolute worst defensive OF in the league. That's all I need to see.

I'd like to see Domingo Santana do that

While I by no means believe that Keston Hiura is the savior that's going to cure everything that ails this team at the given moment, I do believe that right now he is part of the best version of this team's starting nine, so he should be up. Dubon is inching ever so closer to that level as well.

I was just making light of the situation. I want him up too.

With the standard some seem to hold Hiura to around here, I guess I just assumed that he'd be able to will the starting staff to pitch better.

Exactly. Who knows what his motivations were besides money? By all appearances it sucks for the Brewers, but I can't help but wish Johnson nothing but the best. While we're on the subject of coaches, the inconsistent offensive showing this season has made me somewhat rethink Darnell Coles's time as the hitting coach. Perhaps the lack of disciplined at-bats is more on the hitters and less on the coach? How so? The offense has scored almost 60 runs more than they had at this time last year. They are averaging 4.97 runs per game, compared to 4.62 runs per game total for 2018. In terms of inconsistency, the 2018 offense at this point in the season, for one example, had been held to 2 or less runs in 27 games. That has happened only 14 times this season. Seems like this season's offense, compared to last year, has been much more consistent and productive than 2018. Given the unforseen and extreme struggles of Aguilar, Shaw and Cain, I think the 2019 offense has done a great job. I guess I was referring more to the individual regressions of Aguilar, Shaw and to a lesser extent, Cain. Those guys have put a lot of really subpar at-bats on film this year. I agree that overall, the offense hasn't been a huge issue, but having a few guys that they counted on to be run producers not hitting has certainly kept them from reaching their full offensive potential.

Exactly. Who knows what his motivations were besides money? By all appearances it sucks for the Brewers, but I can't help but wish Johnson nothing but the best. While we're on the subject of coaches, the inconsistent offensive showing this season has made me somewhat rethink Darnell Coles's time as the hitting coach. Perhaps the lack of disciplined at-bats is more on the hitters and less on the coach?

The 2018 team sat at 46-33 at this point last year. The 2019 team sits at 42-37 currently. It's a four game difference. The current team is playing pretty poorly right now, but are only one hot streak away from being on a similar pace to last year's squad. I won't deny that there are reasons for concern, but to write off a team that is right in the thick of things record wise (despite the poor play recently), and has 83 more games to play this year, is hyperbole at best in my opinion.

I agree ... the justification for sending him down was somewhat sketchy to begin with, and continues to trend in that general direction with every hit he has in AAA. I typically am happy with the moves this team makes, but it's getting to the point now where it makes very little to no sense to not have Hiura up helping this team. Especially with the pitching issues they've been dealing with lately, any added offensive production can't help but be a positive.

No grains of salt here. Yeah, the 2019 team has warts. 2018 team had a lot of them, too. There's a whole lot of season left, and this team has the talent to get over this bump in the road. And yes, in a 162-game season, that's all this is ... a bump. In the end, the goal is to keep winning enough to stay in contention.

Yes. The brewers need something good to happen. They need to win a series. And they need to find players they can count on going forward Something. I feel for counsell this year. He’s really been stuck with a horrible hand So happy that this horrible hand has them in playoff contention and one game out of 1st place in the Central.

Really excited to see Houser go tonight. Hopefully he is efficient enough to go 5 innings. I can't imagine his pitch limit is going to be anymore than 75 pitches. The guy has an electric arm, and has been hitting upper 90s with solid breaking stuff and a full starter's arsenal of pitches. Really hoping he shows enough tonight to stay in the rotation.

This is about as fair and impartial of an opinion on this deal as I've seen. Santana simply no longer fit the mold that Stearns was seemingly looking for with his offensive and defensive plans. I agree ... Santana is a very nice bat, but the fact that they sent him to the minors and kept him they for a pretty huge chunk of the season last year meant that the writing was pretty much on the wall regarding how they viewed his future with the organization. Compare that to the Shaw situation this year. Santana even at his worst last year was still hitting pretty substantially better than Shaw has most of the season, yet Shaw is getting weeks upon weeks to try to work out of it. That's a pretty strong indicator of how both players are/were viewed by the organization. Gamel is never going to be a star, but he's the type who is totally capable of putting up Brady Clark-type numbers during Clark's best years, and that makes for a very valuable player, especially as a 4th OF. If Zavolas turns out to be a serviceable mid-rotation guy, which I think he stands a very good chance of, this trade is a win.

Unless you mean Miller Beer at Miller Park in October, this makes no sense.

I'd argue that Taylor is every bit as good as Gordon. It's the talent on the offensive line that's the biggest difference.

He has a right to be mad. That is atrocious. Between behavior like that at the game, and the high-resolution TV options out there that enable a near gameday experience in your living room, I'm surprised attendance isn't decreasing at a faster rate. If I were sitting in that section, I'd be frustrated as all get out.

No

David Freitas continues to tear the cover off the ball. I bet Yasmani is looking over his shoulder.

I'm curious, have you ever gotten a chance to watch either play? Or are you just watching their box scores and evaluating them? Yes, i’ve watched them play baseball. And I stand by my comparison. Besides the fact that, you know, Broxton stands nearly 4 inches taller, has a much longer swing, and, of course, bats right handed. But other than that ... twins! Honestly, they are completely different types of players. Ray generates his power with a short, quick stroke, not unlike a player like Ray Lankford. Broxton's swing is long and powerful when he makes contact. Sort of a very poor man's Devon White or Mike Cameron.

Well ... Moose has arguably been this team's 2nd offensive MVP so far, so things would look pretty rough taking him out of the lineup. It would have, however, opened a spot for Hiura to be starting every day at 2B, though, so perhaps the drop-off in production wouldn't have been hugely significant. Minor's numbers would sure look good solidifying the staff right now. Perhaps... I'll say this much - 2019 Moose is an immense asset playing every day. I'd probably lean towards Moose, even with Minor's performance. They guy is having a career year with the bat in what's been a very nice career so far. To get that type of production at 2B, especially at the contract he signed for, is pretty dang nice. It's easy to see why Stearns has been interested in him for awhile. That bat is a great fit for Miller Park. Back to Minor ... I agree that I would have loved to see what the Brewers offer was on him, and if it involved the Rangers paying down any of his salary.