Joseph Zarr

My feelings on Señor Black are quite well known within the confines of these virtual walls. Stud. Defensive unknowns. But, so much impact everywhere else it almost becomes irrelevant. BUT, all that pops out to me as I open another finely written @Smichaelis9piece is that hideous Shuckers jersey. Boy, that one is rough. 😅 Bless the players for playing through that unfortunate event. Come to think of it, with that look on Tyler's face I think he's aware of what he is wearing.🤭

Yeah baby. The McMenamins Edgefield is pretty awesome within the greater pantheon of McMenamins. Loved going there in the summer. Fun gardens. Music. When I first moved to PDX, my now wife took me to a McMenamins in NE Portland (I think it was the Kennedy School ?) and I had spicy tater tots and a hard cider. It was my first very Portland moment. Regardless, McMenamins is a fantastic business model and having talked to the employees it appears they are treated quite well within the greater business. Glad you liked it!

Gasser clearly did enough last season to merit a legitimate opportunity in 2024. That is the logical next step for his career and I have to think the Brewers know this. This is a big off season for him. What I've enjoyed to date, in addition to simply watching him pitch and mature on the mound, is his availability. Let's hope he continues to make those small adjustments to his arsenal, continues developing the lesser developed offerings, and remains a steadfast presence in the pitching stables. I'm excited to see how his stuff plays at the MLB level!

I entirely get it. I was mainly trying (likely feebly) to speak to many feeeeewings about Burnes, Williams, Couns potentially leaving etc. But, alas, tis the nature of the Brewers organization as it is structured and funded. I have no real gripes about it, honestly. and given my core fascination is from the Minor League side of things with the Brewers being my cherry on top, it will certainly be fascinating to see how this all plays out. I have a tremendous amount of faith in Matt Arnold seeing him cook this last season. I think we have the right Captain to steer this ship through possibly choppy waters.

It's a fine idea and makes plenty of sense given the proverbial state of affairs with the Brew Crew. But...I just want to use a gif.

That was a nice wrap-up of where we are in the Great Mudcats Stadium Hunt. It would appear the aim is to play in Wilson by 2026 but because there is nothing binding as of yet both Zebulon and Wilson are legally permitted to each continue submitting offers. Given Five Counties Stadium remains in non-compliance with MLB's extensive criteria for acceptable stadiums, and given no major renovations to said stadium have been approved by County Commissioners, it would certainly appear the writing is on the wall that it is just a matter of time for the Wilson project to move forward. And, of course, anything can happen.

OR, he just wants a new opportunity; a new organization; and the familiar face of an old friend and colleague makes the thought exercise and opportunity all the more appealing. It's a challenge first and foremost by my eyes and a massively bigger spending budget to meet the post season rigors. Getting paid more handsomely and tilting the balance is a flower in the bouquet. I personally think it is something more along the lines of this. And, who really knows? And, I've mentioned this in a couple other threads on this forum: If Counsell does indeed choose by his own volition to go to another organization - the Mets or elsewhere for whatever litany of reasons he's certainly earned the right - should the Brewers go internal they should absolutely seriously consider Victor Estévez. He is absolutely fantastic and aggressive in all the right ways. He was a former MLB player (Diamondbacks) so he knows the grind. He's bi-lingual. He has worked the DSL and the Winter Leagues. He took Carolina to the post-season in just his second year leading that club after the longest drought in all the Minor Leagues. I absolutely love him. He's a prized jewel by my obsessive Minor League watching eyes. The organization would be silly to not, in the very least, involve him in the interviewing process.

The thing with Dame is that FT gravity doesn't leave in the post season. AND, what's even more sublime: as he's ages his FT % in the post season has gotten to absurd levels. His past two playoff appearances, at a clip of over 8 FT's/ Game he is hitting at an over 90% clip. Absurd. Bananas.

Dame just does not disappoint. I watched him for five years straight when I lived in Troutdale, Oregon (15 minutes from PDX). I worked at a brewery in downtown Portland so was more than able to hop over to Moda on many occasions just to watch Lillard play the game of basketball. I want to reiterate again: as a lifelong Bucks fan this pairing is a surreal manifesto to my only remaining dream of NBA basketball in Milwaukee. I am walking a path of basketball heaven. And I will enjoy every moment. Now you all know. Now you see what I've seen for the past five years. And, this is just a blip on the radar. There is NO better clutch performer in the League. Period. Not Curry. Not Bron. Not Jokic. Nobody. Not a single player in the League can close games like this man can. The rest of the nation, because of the rightful gravity of Giannis, is finally going to find out how utterly gifted and unparalleled this man is with the ball in his hands. I was at his 71 point game with father in law (on a whim!) after my wife and I visited the in-laws this past February when he was given a remission ticket. He literally could have scored in the 90's. He's on another level. He just is. Enjoy the ride. We are so so so lucky as Bucks fans.

OF Hendry Mendez shined in the nine-hole tonight. Playing time has been sparse for the young man, but he has definitely been trending in the right direction in his limited appearances. He finished his evening 2-for-3 with 1 BB and 3 R. A fine performance and one hopefully gaining even more trust and opportunity. DH Wes Clarke was batting clean-up again tonight and put forth a 2-for-5 showing with 2 RBI and 2 K. Eric Brown Jr. was manning the shortstop position batting 7th in the line-up. He managed an 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K night of work at the dish. No Brewers players pitched, unfortunately, but the Saguaros squeaked out a close one, 6-5. They can thank their five run output across the 7th and 8th innings for their victory - Clarke and Mendez played pivotal roles in these rallies. The Saguaros moved to 13-8 overall. They won their third straight contest while jumping back to sole possession of first place gaining a 1/2 game on Scottsdale (12-8) who were idle for the evening.

RHP Michele Vassalotti is also playing with Cardenales, fwiw. Old friend, LHP Andy Otero is pitching in the Dominican Winter League for Estrellas Orientales (Dominican) Old friend, RHP Zach Mort is hurling for Naranjeros de Hermosillo (Mexico) 1B Thomas Dillard (the former placeholder, apparently, for Wes Clarke and Ernesto Martinez) is playing for Tomateros de Culiacán RHP (and late season Montgomery Biscuits nemesis) Victor Castañeda is in the pitching stables of the same Tomateros de Culiacán Wild side bits: OF Troy Stokes Jr. is manning the OF grass for Águilas de Mexicali (Mexico) and C Jacob Nottingham (Oh Jacob!) is playing a back stop for Tigres del Licey (Dominican)

Staying current: - The Milwaukee Brewers selected the contract of OF Chris Roller from the Nashville Sounds

RHP Justin Yeager pitched a scoreless 2/3 inning picking up his first AFL Save as he continues to excel after his rough first outing. The Saguaros trailed 6-2 heading to the bottom of the 6th. They put three on the board but Salt River grabbed one back. Trailing 7-5 headed to the bottom of the 8th, Surprise put up a 7-spot. With a runner aboard at 3rd base with one down, and the Rafters already having pulled within 12-9, Yeager was brought aboard. He conceded a sac fly to CF, he hit the next batter, and then he induced another fly out to CF to end it. Surprise moves to 12-8 pulling out the 12-10 victory even tho they were outhit 20-to-13 (whew). 1B Wes Clarke batted third in the batting order and finished with a strong 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 2B evening. SS Eric Brown Jr. batted eighth and finished 1-for-4. Surprise is now in first place - 1/2 G ahead of second place Scottsdale.

Closing the Lauer loop and Brewers tenure: - LHP Eric Lauer was sent outright to the Nashville Sounds by the Milwaukee Brewers. He opted for Free Agency.

Let's add RHP Sam Gardner to the mix. The Timber Rattlers' key second half set-up man joins the Brisbane Bandits for their 9-week season beginning November 17:

RHP Joseph Hernandez continues to struggle mightily in Arizona: 1 1/3 IP tonight 8 H 1 BB 2 K 4 ER His AFL ERA currently sitting at a ripe 15.19. Yikes. LHP Adam Seminaris started for Surprise and put forth 4 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 3 ER (4.50 ERA overall). EBJ was the lone Brewers field player to make an appearance for the Saguaros. He replaced SS Cameron Cauley (unknown reason) in the 5th frame hitting an RBI single to RF in the bottom half of the same frame. He finished 1-for-3 with 1 R, 1 RBI, and 1 K. That is his 12th RBI of his AFL season. The Saguaros came back from an early 3-0 deficit to win 11-7. Seminaris picks up the 'W' moving to 2-0 overall while Surprise moves to 11-8 overall just 1/2 GB of first place Scottsdale.

I have to say it is pretty spectacle-like amazing witnessing the vast majority of Packers fans (albeit, I'm looking at the Bird App) entirely incapable of accepting the growing pains or 'rebound' (poor word choice) of being outside the bubble of Favre-to-Rodgers brilliance. It's as if people only allowed for the smooth and seamless transition to further excellence and more post-season runs? It's a pretty poor look from the fanbase. People are not handling this well. They should probably go back and watch those 1980's games for a refresher course. Now, this being said, I continue to not enjoy this Packers product. Just no identity. All the same issues repeating themselves. I don't trust this organization to make any intrepid decisions in any form of right timing. It will be certainly interesting to see how the entirety of this season travels and what types of decisions do end up being made.

Clarke has improved his K:BB ratio after 2 AB's tonight to 17:12. Love this trend for him.

Surprise will face Peoria tonight. It's about 40 minutes til first pitch and it would appear Clarke, EBJ, and Mendez are all in the line-up.

100% agreed. And I do fear Giannis may not see that or understand that. It's a legit concern. At this juncture of his HOF career it really is about evolving the mental side of his game. His limits to being even more impactful and evolving further have little to nothing to do with his desire to win by my eyes. I personally 'believe' it had everything to do with how he can advance the basics: seeing the floor; knowing what your team needs to be successful; and getting back to fundamentals (ie Box out for crying out loud, make the simple pass because you know where your shooters are, and for crying out loud get back to 70% FT). I can only hope he will see this as the season advances. I remain skeptical.

Watched the last two pre-season games. With the addendum, it's the pre-season and means zilch, here were my observations: 1) AJJ is definitely a player. He 'should' get PT and enter the rotation this season. The earlier the better. He pops and impacts the entire game every time he's been on the floor. 2) Beauchamp lacks consistency and consistency of confidence but when he is playing confident he is very good to the rack; can shoot from distance; has an improved handle; and has length for defensive impact. It's all about the mental side of the game here it would appear. Hopefully, he solidifies that. 3) AJ Green is arguably the best pure distance shooter on the team. His stroke is straight butter. Hard to fathom he won't get minutes and it's hard to fathom his stroke from distance is purer than Lillard but it just may be. His release point is extremely hard to block as well. He looks like a completely transformed player after one year (physically ripped and speed of play) and this after an unexpectedly decent rookie year. 4) RoLo is, sadly, absolutely washed. He shouldn't see the floor. He likely shouldn't hold a roster spot but there may be some form of agreement with the Bucks and BroLo (as we know they clearly do those things for their core players). He was awful in these meaningless games. It was fairly shocking how far he's fallen off the playable cliff. 5) Giannis was #1 in usage in the NBA last season. Dame was #4. In this equation, Giannis absolutely needs to let go of his own ball dominant fetish. Get the ball in Dame's hands. It's the pre-season, yes, but I did not like how the half court was initiated 90% of the time with the starters and this was largely due to Giannis absolutely hogging primary ball handling duties. This can not remain the trend. There was a reason Giannis was like a -19 yesterday: he played a lot of boneheaded basketball with Dame on the court. He is still in love with his undisciplined distant shooting - man, I sincerely hope he realizes anything more than 2 3's a game from him is egregious with the shooters they have. It's a stubborn refusal to dominate the void within the offense and it actually muddles the offensive flow. Dame relegated to standing in the corner?! This had way too many shades of J Kidd's time with the Bucks. I found this, perhaps, the most disturbing possible trend of the pre-season. I can only hope they were keeping things in the bag for the regular season. It was ugly. Giannis has to understand his role has changed. I fear he may not. If you claim you will set 50 picks if need be, can you please be willing to set 10? My gods. His trend of play offensively is pretty concerning if you're not wearing rose colored glasses. And, the FT's continue to just plummet toward Shaq levels of inefficiency. Yikes. 6) Jae Crowder looks completely reinvigorated. This is a very good thing. 7) This is the most exciting lotto ticket compilation of youth the Bucks have had since...? TyTy looked very good yesterday. Green and AJJ have been discussed. As has Marjon. Livingston could continue to develop as well and has flashed. Obviously Griffin had a conflict with Stotts and that led to a departure. He certainly seems to be the guy to help develop these young guys, however. Given the Bucks Salary Cap implications this will be key moving ahead. 8) I think it's going to take longer than people think for this team to really gel. And, that's just fine. The defensive philosophy is entirely different and more aggressive. The offense will be a work in progress. To me, it's entirely up to how Giannis learns to fit himself into this type of talent. If he continues his #1 usage ways and ball dominance, this team will likely see repeat disappointments. If he truly is the unselfish superstar he claims he is, this team will flourish. That's how I see it entering Game 1.

Ah, yes. It's that athlete posts eyes thing to keep everyone guessing.😅