BillScottCanRake

A defensive stop... fitting and sweet.

I am not sure I can take five more minutes... not that I have a choice.

My son played Legion baseball against Jaren a couple of years and my daughter played some hockey with/against his younger brother, so we have spent a fair amount of time around Jaren and his family. He's a better kid than he is a baseball player, and he's a heck of a baseball player. I'd love him to end up in Milwaukee's system somehow, whether it's this summer or after his three or four years at Vandy are up.

I thought that, given the number of different players who can score and the different ways they can do it, the Badgers would avoid having games like they did last night offensively. If you remove Brust from the stat-line, the rest of the team was 8 of 39 last night (20.5%) and 2 of 14 from three (14.3%). For a team that collectively shoots 46% (even after last night) and 37% from three, that's pretty appalling. Given how last night went, I do wish Koenig would have gotten more than four minutes. I'm not sure it would have made a difference, but with Gasser/Jackson going a combined 2-16, it probably wouldn't have hurt. Who'd have thought that Saturday's game would almost be a must win for Wisconsin and OSU?

I think this is a solid signing. Like Greg, I am not sure this signing makes the Brewers a contender, but it does make them better. And there is nothing wrong with the Brewers being better this year than last. And, if nothing else, I've gain a signature from this transaction. (Thanks SRB)

Aaron Nagler ‏@Aaron_Nagler 57m For my followers who are Brewers fans, little bird just told me to be on the look out for free agency news.

July 8, 1990. I listened to that game on the radio. I remember almost turning it off when it was 7-0, but then the Brewers scored in the bottom of the third, so I decided to give them one more inning. I'm glad I did. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIL/MIL199308242.shtml

Living in the western part of the state, I don't get to many games in person, but I've been pretty fortunate to see some good ones when I go. Here is my top-6. 1) Robin Yount's 3000th hit. 2) Rickie Weeks 'signing' game vs the Braves (August 5, 2003). 3) Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder both hitting their first career home run against the Twins (Brewerfan.net FanFest 2005). 4) Seabiscuit's (Eddie Perez's) walk off home run against the Reds (Brewerfan.net FanFest 2003). 5) Milwaukee scores two in the 9th to beat the Reds in Cincy on July 4, 2002 (my first road Brewers game). 6) The major league debut of Dennis Sarfate in a loss to the Marlins in 2003. If you were able to go to FanFest in the early 2000s, chances are you were going to see something good, which is nice considering how bad many of those teams were.

As poorly as Weeks has started this year, only Kottaras, Braun, Lucroy, Ramirez, Aoki and Maldonado have higher OBPs. It will take some work, but a 750 OPS for the season is still possible. And better still, I found my signature... thanks Russ and chuckiehacks.

But lets not forget he allowed 15 runs (12) earned in 3 postseason starts last year. There's a very real possibility he could do that again facing the likes of the Yankees. If the implication is Greinke isn't good enough to win in the postseason then why should Milwaukee bother trying to resign him, especially at his asking price? Even if he's willing to sign 5 yrs/100 million, any team that has aspirations of playing meaningful October baseball should avoid him and spend their money more wisely.

So banned members from the old system can rejoin us anytime they like? Do they know this??? If they didn't, they do now. Way to go This thread makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, just like rainbows, unicorns and lemurs.

if i'm not mistaken, it's the team record the year before. My bad- I see you meant in the case of a tie...

I don't want to turn a Peralta thread into one about Jungmann, but I have three problems with Jungmann getting a September call up this year. I assume that Melvin would probably have the same issues, regardless of what he told the press. First, while adding Jungmann to the 40-man roster this year wouldn't have used an option this year, it would have pretty much ensured an option was used next year. And then, if he's not ready at the beginning of 2013, it uses another option. When 2014 rolls around, you suddenly have lots less margin for error. Additionally, for at least 2012, you have a guy taking a 40-man roster spot who a) didn't need to be and b) will more than likely not contribute anything at the ML level. 40-man roster spots are, I think, too precious to use in such a manner. Finally, having another arm or two when the rosters expand September 1 is a fine idea. There are some guys already on the 40-man roster who can help without adding someone Jungmann. If he's ready sooner rather than later, he can be added to the 40-man roster and recalled to Milwaukee then. If not, at least he's not wasting a 40-man roster spot and using options unnecessarily.

Can Milwaukee really any block anyone at this point? Per Wikipedia: If a player is waived, any team may claim him. If more than one team claims the player from waivers, the team with the weakest record in the player's league gets preference. If no team in the player's league claims him, the claiming team with the weakest record in the other league gets preference. In the first month of the season, preference is determined using the previous year's standings. If a team claims a player off waivers and has a viable claim as described above, his current team (the "waiving team") may choose one of the following options: arrange a trade with the claiming team for that player within two business days of the claim; or rescind the request and keep the player on its major league roster, effectively canceling the waiver; or do nothing and allow the claiming team to assume the player's existing contract, pay the waiving team a waiver fee, and place the player on its active major league roster. I didn't see any date in this thread as to when Berkman was placed on waivers, but didn't have to happen promptly on August 1. It's only been the last week or so that the Cards have fallen nearly hopelessly behind the Brewers, so they didn't need to place him on waivers until more recently. Depending on when he was place on waivers, it's possible that the Brewers couldn't have "blocked" Berkman from becoming a Brave. If all this went down at a time when Atlanta had an inferior record, all they would have needed to do if they wanted him was put in a claim and work out a trade and their would have been nothing the Brewers could have done about it. As for the consequences of blocking a player you don't really want, ask the Padres how the whole Randy Meyers thing worked out for them. Yes Berkman is owed less money and yes he'd probably be more useful to Milwaukee than Meyers was for the Padres, but there are enough consequences that not making a claim on someone like Berkman is, in my opinion, a reasonable decision on Melvin's part.

The Reds have 34 games left. If Milwaukee gets to 93 wins by going 15-15 the rest of the way, the Reds would need to go 30-4 to get to 93 wins.

A little perspective might help us get thru the day. Milwaukee has 30 games left after today. If they split, they'll end the season 93-69. St. Louis has 32 games left after today's loss, meaning they need to go 26-6 to reach 93 wins. Philadelphia has the best record in baseball. On average they lose 7 times out of every 20 games. Today's loss was Milwaukee's 7th since July 23. Speaking of the Phillies, they have lost to the Pirates as many times as the Brewers (twice)- but they've played them seven fewer times. I know losing sucks and it hasn't happened a lot lately, but it happens a lot to even the best teams and it's going to happen way more in the last month of the season than it has lately. When you have a 10 game lead with a month to go, you can live with a 15-15 stretch. Better than needing to go 26-6 and hoping for help...

http://www.tias.com/stores/rabasa/pictures/nfl10a.jpg

http://smncc.com/store/images/P/18261%20-%201978%20Yearbook.jpg

I thought I read that when the Brewers and K-Rod re-did the buyout they also agreed the Brewers wouldn't offer him arbitration. Google hasn't helped me clarify that, so maybe someone here can? EDIT: Nevermind- JSOnline reported the opposite in July. http://stephaniehillberry.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/nothing-to-see-here.jpg

I'm curious who had August 12 in the "On what date will Prince and K-Rod both have infield hits?" pool? Very fun game last night.

Bernie Miklasz, Post-Dispatch Sports Columnist, tweaked La Russa a bit in his Wednesday's Bernie Bytes.

It's weird to think about, but there's an outside shot that that is reachable, isn't there? Considering they started what...14 - 20? With a current .573 winning percentage, the Brewers are "on pace" to win 93. They need 29 wins in their last 45 to get to 96, which is a .644 percentage. As unlikely as that probably is, Milwaukee has gone 23-12 in their last 35 since July 1, or a .657 percentage. So we know they are capable of being pretty good for a decent stretch of games, even if they aren't likely to keep up this pace.

Having things clinched early wouldn't lead to meaningless baseball, in my opinion. First, with the Minor League season ending around September 1 and Weeks and Gomez still likely on the DL, having things wrapped up early would allow them to have their "rehab" assignment in Milwaukee. It would be nice to be able to use the last couple of weeks of September to get them ready for their playoff roles. Second, while it is doubtful the Brewers would ever catch the Phillies, getting the number 2 seed is worth playing for. Between the ribbon board lights, stealing signs and mean fans yelling at managers, home field advantage in the first round is pretty important. Third, it would be nice to be able to setup the rotation. As fun as 2008 was, having CC pitch seemingly everyday thru the end of the year really hurt the teams post season chances. They have a deeper rotation this year, but it would still be nice to set it up for the first round of the playoffs. And, finally, as a Brewer fan, watching a team win 90+ games is awesome. If they somehow managed to get to 92 wins with a week left in the season, division clinched or not the last week of the season will rock.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the waivers issue a long-term deal? As in, if you call up Peralta, you're burning one option, which stays burned when you send him down, and you don't expose him to waivers. Only after all his options have been used is he exposed to waivers. Is that correct? Peralta was added to the 40-man roster in November 2010. When he didn't make the 25-man roster this spring, he was optioned to Huntsville, which used his first option year. Therefore, he could be called-up and sent-down as often as the Brewers want this year with worrying about using an option or waivers.

If the Cards are worried about teams stealing their signs, they can go with a system like the one documented here: