brwrsfan

I'll be surprised if the Badgers can pull out a win tomorrow. Tough place to play and unlike Maryland, MSU is playing really, really well right now. Got pretty lucky to beat them last time (if I recall, down 4 with 30 seconds left and won). A win almost certainly locks in a tournament birth, but as long as they don't get completely blown out, I'll be fine with that.

Yeah, I'm with you there 100%. I have a group of 4 for the games and I'm the only one that wants the bobblehead. So I can't make my buddies change games just because I want the stupid bobblehead. Which ultimately means I'll wind up buying an extra ticket for a game that I already have a ticket to. Had I known about this in advance, we likely would have steered clear of those games. I complained to my ticket rep about it last year - that for season ticket holders, there should be an option to just buy the bobblehead if I want it. I already gave them my money for the game, I shouldn't have to do it twice.

Am I the only one that is getting frustrated by these "theme night" bobbleheads?? Yes, they are cool and generally nicer, but the fact that I have to buy a special ticket (that ranges 25-50) just to ensure I get one kind of irritates me. I already have a 20 pack of tickets ($400 each), having to shell out another $100 to get three themed bobbleheads (when they already have 8-9 others) just irritates me. And why three? Wouldn't ONE special one a year be enough considering they already have more than every other team in MLB every single season?? I'll still get them because I'm hooked (and I'm a moron) and have every other one they've released, but it's just getting closer and closer to being just flat out too much. I've contemplated selling them all just to get out of it. On top of that, they give almost no notice for this stuff. Hey, we're having a special night with a limited edition and limited number of a bobblehead, oh and tickets are on sale in 2 days. I realize why they are doing it - they're going to suck and this will bring in more people. But the whole thing is just really getting frustrating and growing old for me. I know, I know...I don't have to get them.

Lunardi has them as a 9 seed against Colorado (Followed by Kansas). I hate the 8/9 area, but that puts the Badgers pretty safely in the tournament right now. Still a long way to go, but if they win the games they should, they'll almost certainly be in. As far as making a deep run, it's going to be depend on matchups. Yes, they can beat anyone, but they simply aren't as good and don't have the same talent they had the last two years (where the matchups quite frankly didn't matter). With this team, it's going to depend on their shooting, if they are making threes, they can be deadly.

Wisconsin won at Syracuse. While that's not marquee this year, they are comfortably inside the top 50 RPI. That's a solid road win. Also beat VCU on a neutral court (RPI around 55). At this moment, they are projected as around a 10 seed. That's in relatively comfortably at the moment. If they beat Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan they should be in easily (a loss to Illinois or Minnesota and it gets dicey), but their SOS will be top 10 and they have enough quality wins to offset a couple of terrible losses. The bubble is quite bad this year and two teams certainly in (SMU and Louisville) aren't going to be. Marquette on the other hand....better run the table at least. Just found too many ways to lose close games. So young but so much talent. With another year, they'd be dangerous but I highly highly doubt Ellenson returns.

The #Brewers have acquired two young prospects, C Jacob Nottingham and RHP Bubba Derby, from Oakland in exchange for OF Khris Davis.

Others too... Milwaukee Brewers ‏@Brewers · 1m1 minute ago OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis (NYM), C Josmil Pinto (SD) and 1B Andy Wilkins (TEX) have been claimed off waivers. The 40-man roster is at capacity.

There's absolutely nothing to me that would indicate Braun hates Milwaukee. In fact, all the evidence seems to point to the exact opposite of that. That said, he may not necessarily want to be part of a 3-5 year rebuild (when there's no guarantee he'd even be here when we're good again).

THEN the Brewers will sign him and watch him slowly decline until the wheels completely fall off .

Maybe I missed the announcement (don't think I did) but the Brewers certainly could have given more notice on this. The Star Wars thing came out yesterday or today....the tickets go on sale tomorrow morning at 9 and there is obviously only a small number of them. I practically missed it and would have if the wife hadn't seen it on FB.

Can Bill Hall play 1b?

Milwaukee Brewers ‏@Brewers · 1m1 minute ago In the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 Draft, #Brewers select LHP Mitch Lambson from Atlanta and RHP Kender Villegas from St. Louis.

And then this one too. Passed in the third round so that's it for the MLB portion. Didn't lose anybody. Adam McCalvy ‏@AdamMcCalvy · 2m2 minutes ago Brewers make another Rule 5 pick: RHP Zach Jones from the Twins organization. Tom ‏@Haudricourt · 10s10 seconds ago Zach Jones is hard-throwing reliever who split 2015 between advanced A and AA. Struck out 68 in 51.2 IP and was 12 for 15 in saves.

Adam McCalvy ‏@AdamMcCalvy · 2m2 minutes ago Brewers pick 2B Colin Walsh from the Oakland organization with the fifth pick of the Rule 5 Draft. Didn't see much of anything on this guy before the draft. Anyone? Switch hitter. Here are his milb stats: http://m.milb.com/milb/player/595023

Per jsonline: Missaki, 19, went 1-2 with a 3.41 ERA in six starts at Class-A Clinton in 2015. He walked only five batters in 34.1 innings pitched while producing 34 strikeouts. Opponents batted .244. His season was cut short as he underwent "Tommy John" surgery on his right elbow in May. Originally signed by Seattle as a non-drafted free agent on May 6, 2013, Missaki owns a career record of 7-6 with a 3.40 ERA in 24 games, including 20 starts, with opponents batting .236. He has recorded 111 strikeouts in just 106.0 innings pitched while issuing only 26 walks over his three seasons in the minor leagues. Missaki, who was born in Japan before moving to Brazil as a young child, participated in the 2013 World Baseball Classic for Team Brazil, appearing in one game (0.1ip on March 5 vs. China). At 16 years old, he was the youngest player in the tournament that year. He had Tommy John surgery last May and is still recovering from that reconstructive elbow surgery. Herrera, 18, spent his first professional season in the Dominican Summer League and went 4-2 with a 3.26 ERA in 14 starts. He limited opponents to a .228 batting average with 13 walks and 73 strikeouts in 80.0 innings pitched. He posted a 1.85 ERA over his final five starts of the season, going 2-1. Herrera was signed by Seattle as a non-drafted free agent on July 21, 2014. Peralta, 19, went 2-3 with a 4.11 ERA in 11 games (9 starts) with the Rookie Arizona Mariners in 2015. He walked only eight batters in 57.0 innings pitched while producing 67 strikeouts (second in the Arizona League). Opponents batted .242. Originally signed by Seattle as a non-drafted free agent on April 18, 2013, Peralta has gone 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA in 36 games (31 starts) over three minor-league seasons. He has held opponents to a .239 batting average with 47 walks and 158 strikeouts in 163.1 innings pitched

Milwaukee Brewers ‏@Brewers · 1m1 minute ago  Nashville, TN 1B Adam Lind traded to Seattle for RHPs Daniel Missaki, Carlos Herrera and Freddy Peralta. All are under 20 years old. #WinterMeetings Missaki had TJ surgery last year it appears too. All righties from what I can tell. Anyone know anything of these guys?

So three low level pitchers for Lind? That doesn't sound like much of a deal? Don't know who they are obviously, but getting a bunch of low level minor league guys?? Guys at that stage certainly could be high upside, but that's a long, long way to project to the majors too. I'll hold out to see who they are, but I would have thought we'd get someone at least somewhat close to the majors.

If Phillips is really pegged as the CF of the future and only needs one more year in the minors, wouldn't it make more sense to just sign a veteran of some kind to play CF?? There's gotta be one or two out there we can sign to a 1-2 year contract? And if they play well, flip them at the deadline for anything and let Phillips/Santana cover it the rest of the season.

Bob Dutton ‏@TNT_Mariners · 3m3 minutes ago UPDATED: #Mariners get Miley from Boston; talking to Milwaukee about 1B/DH Adam Lind. http://bit.ly/1NG8RMz

No details but just saw this on Twitter. Anyone know the Mariners system well? Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal · 18s18 seconds ago Sources: #Mariners not done. Trying to get Lind from #Brewers. Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal · 48s48 Again: #Mariners and #Brewers are in discussions on Lind, per sources. Tom ‏@Haudricourt · 28s29 seconds ago I am told Mariners are thin in top-level prospects so will be interesting to see if they have enough to pry Lind away from #Brewers

1. How exactly would MLB go about with a plan to limit salaries which wouldn't involve collusion? 2. The players are getting this level of money only because the owners are raking in huge revenues via monster cable TV rights packages, along with national TV money and cash from attendance. Maybe at some point the huge boom in TV rights bubble will burst, but right now at least, sports of all kinds be it pro and college are getting massive TV contracts because it's something which most viewers watch live vs recording shows on their DVR and fast forwarding right through the commercials. That fits me to a tee. I DVR nearly every show i like, but watch many sporting events live. 3. As for MLB salaries being higher compared to other sports, that's about to change with the NBA. Starting next season as the new NBA TV contracts kick in, their salary cap will rise dramatically in kind and thus will player salaries. So the top players in the NBA will make 30-plus million a year and the rest of their players will also see salaries rise just as will happen in MLB to where hypothetically just a slightly above average starting pitcher will command 15 million per or more. The NFL players don't get the same level of money as MLB and NBA players do, but that has a lot to do simply with roster sizes. The overall pie of NFL salary money has to be split between 53 players, but only 25 in MLB and 15 in the NBA. 1 - Every other major sport has done it. The NBA has maximum salaries for players. The NFL, NBA and NHL all have some form of salary cap, which while it doesn't necessarily restrict a players contract, building a winner with an albatross of a deal is extremely difficult. MLB is the only one in which there isn't a level playing field, and as a result, the contracts have gotten drastically out of hand. If every team had a 30+ million dollar player, that's one thing (though still ridiculous) but that's simply not the case. It's not the players fault they are getting these deals, it's 100% MLB that they have a system in place that has no restrictions. It's a larger issue obviously, but a salary cap of any kind would put an end to this and at least make it even for everyone. But that'll never happen at this point.

It's utterly ridiculous that MLB does absolutely nothing to limit these salaries. It's just gotten to the point of complete and utter ridiculousness. MLB players make substantially more than all the other major sports (who also make way too much money). I simply don't get it and as I've said before, with each passing season I get closer and closer to not following any more until something changes - which to me seems like will likely never happen.

The Packers winning a game on a Hail Mary! Felt great to finally be on the other side of one of those plays.

Pretty sure "budget constraints" was meant in a broader sense than pertaining to just this specific year. The Brewers are never going to have as much money available to spend as teams like the Yankees, Dodgers and Cubs. So positioning themselves to have as much financial flexibility as possible down the road, when it's time to max out their budget on a contending team, is very important and having an extra year on a guy before free agency here and there could be the difference between contending for the division and contending for the World Series. Yes, this is exactly what I meant. For this season and probably another 1-2 seasons, sure, the money really isn't an issue. But when we start contending again, every dollar and every salary is going to matter as under the current system, we simply will never be able to compete with the big boys from a salary standpoint. As others have stated, I'm not saying not pitch them or send them down to the minors, I'm saying if we have options on a team that is going to suck, it makes perfect sense to think about the future and how todays roles can potentially impact future salaries (and thus the future chance of said player leaving when he hits FA). I don't see how it's much different than guys staying in the minors to avoid super 2 status and all that. The Brewers did it with Braun and the Cubs (who have a ton of cash) toyed with doing it to Bryant last year, though they caved a bit too early and brought him up.

Eh, on a contending team I'd 100% agree. Do whatever you can to win now if you think you have a shot at the playoffs. On a team that's projected for maybe 70 wins and is in the middle of the road for budget, I don't have much issue with it. I'm not saying potentially sabotage careers, but future salaries should be something to consider on a bad team with budget constraints.