BillScottCanRake

I don't have any problem with there being no physical keypad. There is still a digital keypad Obviously you can still dial. But, without a physical keypad, when you can't feel the keys, I don't know how you could dial without looking. I don't do it a lot (I don't use my phone while driving), but there are times when it's nice to be able to feel the keys and dial a number. I guess I am a bit old fashioned in wanting my cell phone to be a phone first.

I think the lack of a keypad would bug me a lot. I don't know how many times I have dialed a number without looking at the keypad. If you can't feel the keys, I am not sure the same thing would be possible on this phone.

Roy Oswalt has been amazing for years now. But in 2007 so far, his walk rate is nearly double, and his ERA is up half a run. Do you just sit there and let it continue? Past stats say to ignore it, but he hasn't been getting past his surprising wild streak. Past statistics don't say you should ignore anything. There is always a reason for a given performance producing stats. Where care needs to be applied is in determining why that's the case and what needs to be done about it. In the case of Oswalt, simply knowing his walk rate has doubled is important but the "why" is just as (or more) important. Are hitters taking more pitches? Is he tipping his curve ball so hitters aren't swinging at it? Have his mechanics gotten out of whack? Statistical variation? Bad luck? If something is broken and can be fixed, chances are decent that his walk rate will trend towards career norms. If he's simply strung together a series of bad outings, and there isn't anything to "fix", it seems probable that his outings will improve and his stats will move towards his career numbers. If there is a problem, either that is unidentified, or can't be fixed, he could well not revert towards career norms. With someone like Corey Hart, his early season lack of success can be attributed largely to a sore wrist and a small sample. Getting healthy was as important as getting a larger sample to "prove" he wasn't a .220 hitter. The thing is now one really "knows" what is going to happen in the future. The best one can do is use the data on hand to try to predict what will happen. The best data at hand is the data with the largest sample. It's not perfect, but it's the best there is with regard to trying to predict future performance. But what if we're looking at hitters who had been terrific in the last few years, and who now stink in 2007 (Jermaine Dye, Nomar, JD Drew) and successful pitchers who suddenly find themselves struggling this year (Bronson Arroyo, Dontrelle Willis, Mariano Rivera)? Do you do nothing, out of fear you'll overreact? The answer, as with almost all things, is "it depends". If they are pretty much the same player as they were in the past, it's entirely possible they are "slumping" or experiencing "bad luck" and with additional time their numbers will rebound towards their career norms. In that case, doing nothing could well be the right move. However, if something is "wrong" and that something isn't fixed, doing nothing is stupid. May and June are not too early to turn around someone who's struggling and salvage their season. Especially someone who hasn't established longer term success in the majors. You've GOT to at least react. I don't think that's in dispute. It's the degree of the reaction that is.

Here is the Stars jersey I was talking about wanting. This was from the 2002 season. http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l68/cthawkinson/stars.jpg

This leaves Marquette with too many scholarship players... the seemingly annual transfer out of the program hasn't happened this offseason. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I don't follow Marquette basketball too closely, but how did this happen? Did Marquette sign another player for this year after James declared, or would they have run into this problem had James never declared?

Too bad you can't readily make over the Doug Davises into Yovani Gallardos - since according to the Brewers' website, Yo's the next Brewer to don the big 4-9. So, if Gallardo triples, do you get a jersey? Or does he have to triple twice? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Is anyone else a little worried that he might not be sharp early on because he didn't do his regular between start throwing this week? Of course I am still really excited about tonight. Just a little guarded about what to expect from him. Next start, however... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

In '04 we were anxiously waiting for so many players to make their way to the big-leagues, and now we are watching a lineup that is almost entirely homegrown. Seeing that success lends to even more hope, having a sense of confidence that the organization is truly doing the right things to put themselves in a position to be successful for a long, long time. I agree with this 100%. As cool as it was to see all those kids in 2004 (and 2003), many of them in person, it's more fun to follow prospects when the major league team is actually pretty good. Instead of wondering if a batch of players can save the franchise, I'm wondering if Braun and Gallardo can put them over the top. Perhaps the 2003-2004 group is more important than this one... and they will always be special, but this year has been incredible. Plus, you have three teams that are on the top of their respective divisions. 2003 was probably more fun to watch just because the organization had three teams in the playoffs IIRC (Huntsville, Beloit and Helena) with three respective league MVPs (Hart, Fielder and Palmisano). 2003 was more special than 2004 for me. That Beloit team was so much fun to watch in person, especially late in the year with all the 2003 draft picks being added. I don't know how many times this year I have watched Fielder launch a home run and think... "Just like in Beloit." The one disappointing thing about the 2007 crop is that I haven't seen them in person like I did the earlier teams. I saw Weeks and Fielder and Gwynn so many times as minor leaguers, and even saw Hardy and Hart a couple even though they didn't spend time in Beloit. No suck luck with guys like Gallardo and Braun and Inman.

I noticed today that the "cappy getting hurt" thread was locked, because a moderator (or moderators, I don't know) said the discussion "had run it's course". It seems to me that that's kind of an arbitrary decision to make. I know that many people found the initial post absurd, outlandish, whatever, but at least the poster presented some points, (and reworded his initial argument) that at least showed his side. It was a decision, and it may not have been the correct decision depending upon your point of view, but it wasn't arbitrary or solitary. The reason for the lock wasn't the outlandish nature of the thread. There were 100 posts in the thread, a third of them were by a single poster, and no one had modified their position significantly. Given the lack of movement and the fact that the poster said it was "good" for the Brewers that a player was injured, I felt the thread was ripe to turn emotional. Maybe it was overly cautious, but I have seen too many threads like that degrade over the years into things that no one likes to see. Again, it might not have been the right decision (I think it was, but I can see where people might not agree), and I am probably guilty of a lesser explanation (which is sometimes hard to do during the day), but it wasn't arbitrary or solitary by any means.

I too have the game for the PS2, and I noticed a couple of glitches. The first glitch is that I had a pitcher get injured while batting. It states I must replace him, but when I try I get a message stating I can't make a defensive replacement while batting. In general, I have found their "in game goals" to be glitchy. I don't know how many times I have been asked to "induce a ground ball", the hitter grounds into a 6-4-3 and I am told my goal failed. In general, I enjoy the game. I enjoy the "Road to the Show" much more so than the classic version of having a career. It's definitely a game and not a sim, but I like it.

I'll be honest with you...although several years ago my sevice was spotty, I can't remember the last time my service was out. I agree their customer service people are pretty bad, however. You'll get different information from different people. Every company that provides a service will have outages/problems from time-to-time. The measure of the company is how they deal with those issues, and Charter is the worst company I have ever dealt with.

It also sets up the possibility of a Nuclear Monday, with the chances of Yovani Gallardo debuting in Milwaukee, Manny Parra debuting in Nashville, and Inman starting the Stars' portion of his career all on the same day. Wow... I wonder if there has ever been a day like that since the inception of BF.net. That's almost worthy of a day off work if you can get it. EDIT: Guess Inman is pitching tonight... maybe that makes Monday only worth half a day off. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Any ideas on what to do? Or, do any of you have tips on how to deal with them? My suggestion would be to find another provider. Any provider. Then, call them up and let them know you are unhappy with their service and you are going to another provider. When they ask if there is anything they can do, tell them they should start by unplugging their modem for 60 seconds, and if that doesn't work you'll stop by their office sometime between 8-5 the next day to let them know what you don't like about them, but their may be a charge for doing so.

trading Gallardo for any young, very promising starting pitcher seems redundant. No matter what we think about Gallardo, the thing that Verlander has that Gallardo doesn't 45 major league starts and 281 very successful innings. While you'll never know for sure what the future holds for each, I think it's safe to say we know more about Verlander than Gallardo. And what we know is that he's pretty dang good.

Ive always liked this kid. Dont bash me for putting this up now, but would would it take to get him next year? Inman or Gallardo and who? Verlander is in his second full season, he's 24, and he's be very good to this point of his young career. He has the stuff to become an even better pitcher than he has been so far. The only thing he is really lacking is experience, but he's getting more with each start. Take a look at his stat line: sports.espn.go.com/mlb/pl...yerId=6341 Not only is he 24 and Tigers property for four full years after this season, but he plays on a team that was in the WS last year is poised to make a serious run at the post season again this year. The Tigers have no reason to trade him (he is young, cheap, good and their property for 4 more years), and there isn't a return they could realistically get to make their team better. I don't think the Brewers could make an offer for him that the Tigers would ever consider.

Of all those listed, I like the white Power jersey best, followed by the Sounds game-worn red BP top and the Stars jersey. I have a game-worn sounds BP jersey of Nelson Cruz, and it's pretty nice, but definitely game worn. I also have a red/black Sounds jersey with Sarfate's name and number on it. It was 50.00 when I bought it last year, plus another 20 to have his name and number sown on, but I think it looks sharp. The jersey that I really want is the one that Ben Hendrickson wore on the Huntsville Stars media guide back in 2002 or 2003. I haven't been able to find one of those, however.

If 135 Innings is his limit this year, this discussion is also moot. There is a fine line between coddling and babying and I think 135 innings for someone who will have 80 innings in the first half of a season is babying. The prevailing thought is that injuries tend to occur in younger pitchers not so much from a certain workload at a certain age, but rather increasing a players workload beyond a certain point from year-to-year. Any sort of increase beyond a certain point is considered dangerous and potentially harmful to arms that are still developing. It's not about having 80 innings now, or that he can go 160, but rather the cumulative effect all those extra pitches will have on his arm and managing risk. The Brewers, for the most part, have done a great job in that regard, and it's because of that conservative approach that people are saying there isn't a chance you'll see Inman unless you go to Huntsville. Dana Eveland was recalled in part because he didn't have enough innings left to stay in Huntsville's rotation for the entire season (in addition to his success in Huntsville), and they preferred adding him to Milwaukee bullpen over Nashville's. The big difference between Eveland and Inman is their age and number of AA innings. Eveland was 22 when he was called up, and had 132 AA innings. Inman is 20 and, at most, will have 50-60 AA innings. I think basically your position is what you might consider if you were the Brewers (in that you might call up Inman), and my position (that the chances of him being called up are so low they are zero for all practical purposes) is what I think the Brewers will do, given what we know about how they promote and treat their prospects. I firmly believe that given what we have seen from the Brewers, there is no realistic chance of seeing Inman, no matter what argument you put forth. Good point on the options also. but really how many options does a player have? I am not really on the up and up on player option aspect of the game. You can get all the details you could ever want (and probably more) by Viewing the BF.net Roster FAQ. The short version, once a player is added to the 40 man roster, they get three (in some cases, four) option years. A player who is on the ML roster for the entire season does not use an option, while a player who spends time in the minors does. Braun, at this point, has not used any options, because he was added to the 40-man and 25-rosters at the same time and has not spent any time in the minors since his addition to the 40 man roster. This means he has three years during which he can be shuttled back and forth between the minors. Inman has to be added to the 40 man roster after next season or exposed to the Rule 5 draft. So, if the worst happens and he is injured in 2008, it's no big deal if he isn't on the 40 man roster. He can spend the entire year rehabbing and he won't burn an option. Now, lets say he's placed on the 40 man roster this year and he's injured and misses 2008. In that situation, he either needs to: - Burn an option - or - - Be added the ML disabled list, meaning he saves and option but gains service time towards arbitration and FA. Those things may not be the end of the world, and they might not be a big deal if he were ready to go in 2009. That said, burning an option reduces the margin for error the team and Inman have, and burning service time will make him more expensive sooner. I don't want to sound like an injury is a forgone conclusion, because it isn't. I don't think it is in anyway worth risking Inman's future spot in the rotation for 30 innings in the majors at age 20, even if the risk of injury is 1 in 20.

Rydogg would you really be happy if LaPorta turned into Scott Hatteberg? Do you have another point? Or are you just going to keep repeating this over and over? Other valid comparison have been made but you seem to be completely ignoring them. What if Heyward really is a lefthanded Derek Lee or if Parker is another Lincecum or Oswalt who are similar in stuff and stature to him? Well if that turns out to be the case this pick was a total reach and a complete shame. How is that different than any other draft? Anytime you draft someone, if they bust and someone you passed on doesn't, its too bad. It's not like they took a guy who should have gone in the third round in the first. They took the guy who they thought was the best power hitter in the draft. And even if he only turns into Hatteberg, that is better than JM Gold, or Dave Krynzel, or loads of other first rounders who didn't get to the majors. Only time will tell if I am right and I certainly hope to be proven wrong but I do not like this pick and fear that the days of picking kids with high upsides might be over for this organization and that would be a shame. Why do you feel that is the case? Because of this one pick? Jack Z picked Braun over Maybin in 2005, but he jumped right back into the HS right-hander party in 2006. I don't think a single pick makes a trend, it's just a single pick. Really, I don't think much has changed at all. And, even if it has, it will be a year before we really know for sure, and it's not like there haven't been college players who have turned into stars.

I agree that the Brewers aren't building towards this year alone. But if you can win this year than I see no reason in shielding a player from playing in the Majors if he can help right now. There is no guarantee that adding Inman, no matter how good he might perform in Huntsville, will put the Brewers over the top and allow them to win a WS. Inman could be added to the pen and put up Dana Eveland 2005 numbers, or he could pull an Eldred (in more ways than one!). With that lack of a guarantee, the Brewers need to consider some probabilities. - Does a large increase in the number of pitches/IP thrown from one year to the next increase the possibility of an injury? I think it's fair to say it does- how many pitches and innings and how much is open to debate, of course. But I don't like taking a chance on a guy that has a big shot at being a big time part of the rotation for four or five years. You can't totally prevent injuries, and you can't baby players, but you've got to be smart and make sure they build towards being a 200 inning guy in the majors. You have to, as best you can, manage his risk. - Are you willing to burn an option on a player who will have less than 70 AA innings to his credit? That might not seem like a big deal, of course, but what if he gets hurt in 2008? At that point, he either has to be placed on the ML DL (in which case he gains service time towards arbitration and FA), or he has to burn his second option in the minors. Neither option is very good. Or, what if he struggles a bit in the majors like Eveland did and he uses an option again in 2008? That makes 2009 make-or-break. Suddenly, the margin for error with him is smaller. It might not matter, but it might. At this point in his career, I think it's much more important to limit risk than it is to put him in Milwaukee's pen. There is more benefit to Inman and the Brewers- the risks outweigh the rewards. I am not saying that we should make him a starter and run up 240 innings on his arm. However if he dominates AA and he is on of the best pitchers in the organization then I see no reason why he shouldn't get some work in the majors as long as he stays within the limitations that the Brewers have set for him. Let's pretend that the Brewers have set a firm 135 inning limit for Inman. Let's also pretend he's added to the 25 man roster, and he becomes a valuable member of the pen. And, lets say that on Sept 18th, with the Brewers 3 games up on the Cubs, he throws his 135th inning. Now what? Short of getting injured, that's probably about the worst possible scenario, because it forces the Brewers to decide between additional risk and potentially not making the playoffs. It would take the edge of making the playoffs to lose Inman to TJ surgery or something like that. All of those things will make the Brewer rightly cautious. I guess if you are looking for someone to say "is it at all possible", then yeah, it is possible- he's Brewers property and he's a top prospect. Personally, I think it's more likely we'll see LaPorta in Milwaukee this year than Inman.

It worked last year with Villanueva. I don't really see what is so different. The difference is that Inman is now where Villanueva was in 2005. Villanueva threw 114 innings in Beloit in 2004 as a 20 year old. As a 21 year old, he threw a combined 132 innings in Brevard County and Huntsville. Note that is an increase of 18 innnings. It wasn't until he was 22 that he was allowed a larger yearly increase in innings pitched (50+ to get him to 182), and he didn't see any time in Milwaukee until he had 80+ innings in AA. I don't see IP as the big determinant as much as pitch count. He has been getting through Innings pretty quick. Right now he is on pace to pitch 160 innings. His next start will probably be his last for Brevard County. I am sure the Brewers are keeping a close track the number of pitches he has thrown. We (at least I) don't keep track of the number of pitches thrown, because we don't know how many he's throwing in the pen before the game, between innings, etc. We can make an assumption, however, that his pitches/IP in 2007 are probably pretty close enough to his pitches/IP for 2006. It is based upon that assumption that that a jump of more than 25-35 innings pitched over last year is unlikely to be allowed to happen. If you look back to Gallardo, he threw 121 innings in his first full year. Last year he threw 155, and increase of 34. That's at the high end of what the Brewers have said they want to see for a yearly increase in innings pitched. If we accept those things that the Brewers themselves have stated, and we see that Inman pitched 110 innings in 2006, I would not expect him to pitch any more than 130-140 innings this year. You couldn't see the Brewers bumping him up to the big club to help during the stretch run and into the playoffs if it is determined that he is one of the 12 best pitchers in the organization? In the Bullpen he would probably get another 30 innings and would still be at his target of 150-160. No, I really couldn't see that. Because his target is more than likely 135-145 innings, not 150-160. First off, the Brewers aren't building towards and for this year. They are building their team to make a sustained run for several years. They don't need to add Inman to the pen and risk his future by skyrocketing his IP total to win this year. It would be very shortsighted of the Brewers to increase Inman's risk of injury this year by increasing his workload by 50% over last years so he can spend time in the bullpen this year. It's the same reason that when Gallardo is called up, he will almost certainly be added to the pen instead of the rotation. They want to manage his inning total. They want to make sure Gallardo and Inman don't turn out like Neugebauer. He's a remarkable 20 year old, but he's still only 20. I want to see Inman in the majors as much as anyone, and as soon as possible. But if he throws 150 innings this year or spends one day on the 25 man roster, I'll be very, very angry at the Brewers front office.

Maybe they will keep another bat instead. But the question still remains could Inman be called up at season's end? I doubt it, simply because he will have more than likely hit his innings limit for the year. The Brewers have been pretty cautious with their young pitchers and don't like to have them pitch more than 25-30 innings more than the previous year. Given that Inman pitched 110 innings in 2006, and he's already to 73 this year, he's probably only got another 70 or so innings in him. Assuming he continues to start, that's only another 12-15 starts, which he should reach by the end of the minor league season.

Interesting. The Brewers are in need of a backup outfielder who can hit right-handed and come off the bench. How much of an insane reach would it be to call him up in Sept? If he can contribute to the Major League club this year, how can you not like the pick?

Is there any chance they drafted him thinking they might not even sign him? Very surprising pick. He's a four year college player- I can't imagine they wouldn't be able to sign him.

Pioneers3 has this question (moved from another thread): Question for you Colby-The last Mock Draft I saw had us taking a HS catcher with Heyward still on the Board, if Heyward is there at 7 will the crew take him? I believe he has more raw power than Prince and he has more tools, speed, arm strength, I really think if he is there, he's the pick!

In Western Wisconsin, the action is supposed to start about 3pm. It HAD to happen on draft day, didn't it. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif