Ron Robinsons Beard

Cain lacing a single up the middle is one of the prettiest baseball things out there. Guy just makes playing baseball look so natural.

Ah, Orlando Arcia swinging at a bad pitch. The season really has begun!

10/10 for misspelling Kimbrel. 0/10 for spelling Counsell right. Battin' .500 will get ya to the HOF!

Your sarcasm game is on point!

I realize you are trying to be funny, but this act is going to get old pretty quick. Grandal and Pina are not in the same stratosphere.

#FireCounsell #SignKimbrell #FireCapers

Enjoy your moment Kolten. The Cardinals will inexplicably bench you again by June.

I do wonder how close the Brewers were to signing Mikolas last year. That would have been nice.

He has pitched just fine, but it certainly sounds like in this case that the damage has been elevated. You're right though ... whatever is decided on by the pros will be the best course of action, and we'll have to deal with whatever is decided. This pen proved last year that it can function effectively without Knebel, and they are likely going to have to do it again, at least for awhile.

Not a big fan of the rehab route. Those situations seem to go the way of missing the whole year, ending up having the surgery in the offseason, then missing the next year too. If he's got damage, I'd rather he just get it done, miss the year, then come back next year. Granted, it isn't an easy surgery to recover from, but the idea of rehabbing a UCL tear just seems like you are prolonging the inevitable to me. Either way, whether we sign Kimbrel or not (and it's looking like it isn't going to happen), I'm ready for this thread to go the way of the dodo.

Counsell on starters: I would love for starters to go 8, but it’s really about not giving up runs and getting 27 outs. This doesn't look like a team that's going to be "blurring the lines" unless it's out of necessity.

+1 Just hoping early on starters and offense can overcome. Or perhaps we could try going into the season with faith that our remaining healthy pen arms can pick up the slack, instead of determining that the sky has already fallen if we don't go out and sign a guy with plenty of red flags of his own.

LOL, I see what you're doing here. Just greasing the skids for the "sky is falling" crowd.

I got the same idea about him. I think he's one of those guys that will step away from the game, and the only time you'll hear about him is when he's inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame, and for various reunions every few years. He's smart enough to be a terrific coach, but also smart enough not to stay far away from coaching, if you know what I mean. Would I be correct in assuming you meant smart enough TO stay far away from coaching and the "not" in there was in error? I know Jodry's a family man, but I don't remember how many children he has. For some reason I can picture him in a flannel shirt in a family pic with like 5 kids around him. If I'm reading what you wrote correctly, it seems like you're saying he should stay away from coaching so he doesn't have to spend 100 hours a week at the stadium and away from his kids. I'd like to see him maybe be a part time guy on a NFL Network or ESPN show. Some guys are just almost impossible to not like. Jordy was a great reciever in his prime and I don't think he was a product of Rodgers. His body control was amazing and his ability to go and keep those toes in bounds while catching a ball feet out of bounds was something he could do as well as anyone in the NFL. He was also a great deep threat and route runner, and he was all these things without being a diva. AB or Beckham in GB has been discussed, but things really run smoothly when you have stars like Jordy, Driver, Jones, Jennings for 99 pct of his career. Guys who just perform without complaining. Also, and this is not a call to re-sign him, but he had one of the better SB's for a WR'er all time. 9 catches for 140 yards and that was with two big early drops where he started running before he secured the ball. He could have tacked on another 60 yards. But Rodgers came back to him and he more than made up for any early errors. Yes, good catch. Typo on my part. He's smart enough not to get into coaching. I think Jordy would have had a solid, long NFL career regardless of what team he ended up with. I don't know if he would have ever been a Pro Bowl type without the Packers and Rodgers, though. But I totally agree that they guy brought terrific athleticism and awareness in his prime, which helped him easily make up for average speed for a WR. He was also an incredibly smart player who worked his butt off and led by example. He was never a transcendent star, but a team stacked with Jordy Nelson types would be a Super Bowl contender every year.

Yup, just because the money may be there, it doesn't mean they should go out and hand a $100 million deal to a reliever. Kimbrel has been terrific for the majority of his career, but last year was arguably his worst in MLB. Still good by typical reliever standards, but not by his. It is quite possible that there is some sort of analytic that points to more regression from him, which would make any sort of long-term agreement for the terms he's looking for an albatross-type contract that could cripple the team in the future. I'm sure Stearns has a set value assigned, and frankly I'm very happy that he's seemingly stuck to it. Just because someone happens to be a big name doesn't mean that they are the right fit for the team at the given moment.

There is more optimism for this team than I can remember. We have a legit World Series contender with a young, talented core built for an extended window. It's a great time to be a Brewer fan right now. Happy Opening Day!

The grill will be fired up, and the brats are already soaking in Blatz. Still have about 18 inches of snow on the ground up here in northern Wisconsin, but that's typical for this time of year.

My hope is that by the time Braun is ready to either hang them up or move on, Tristen Lutz will be ready. He profiles as a prototypical RF, which would allow Yelich to play his more natural LF. I really like Ray, but he's playing his age 24 year, and there isn't much of a path to regular playing time on the Brewers, barring injury, until Braun's contract is up.

Hopefully that's the case, but in reality it could be a bunch of factors. Perhaps Kimbrel's health isn't where it should be? Perhaps he's still asking for too much $$$ or too many years. Perhaps the Brewers met with him and determined he wouldn't be a fit. The fit is certainly there on paper, but there are so many variables that we don't know. Totally agree. Perhaps the oddest thing about the entire Kimbrel situation was that McCalvy wrote the article with quotes from Ryan Braun and Mike Moustakas about the Brewers potentially adding Kimbrel. Definitely seemed like a foregone conclusion they would be adding him given Milwaukee writers' propensity to not report on potential FA acquisitions until they are actually signed, sealed and delivered. Yep ... that makes me think they either found something in his medicals, or he asked for more money/years after Knebel's injury came out, and Stearns told him to pound sand. There was certainly a time last week, though, where it appeared it was a foregone conclusion.

Also need to point out Yelich as an overrated regression candidate when he goes 1-4 with a K.

Hopefully that's the case, but in reality it could be a bunch of factors. Perhaps Kimbrel's health isn't where it should be? Perhaps he's still asking for too much $$$ or too many years. Perhaps the Brewers met with him and determined he wouldn't be a fit. The fit is certainly there on paper, but there are so many variables that we don't know.

I was as well, but I think if it was going to happen, it would have by now. I think that ship has sailed. If I'm wrong, great. If not, oh well.

Cubs arguably make more sense than the Brewers, since Maddon is that dinosaur-type manager that pigeonholes his relievers into concrete spots. My guess is still Braves, though.

One spot ahead of the Cubs, but the Cubs are projected to win 4 more games. Hmm ... new math is complicated.

I got the same idea about him. I think he's one of those guys that will step away from the game, and the only time you'll hear about him is when he's inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame, and for various reunions every few years. He's smart enough to be a terrific coach, but also smart enough not to stay far away from coaching, if you know what I mean.