MadScientist

I just get the feeling that the Brewers are going to be a team that others teams will hate playing. Speed at the top of the order, decent power throughout and no gaping holes that will let the pitcher relax. On the other side, solid defense, decent pen and starters that can keep things close. The other teams may beat the Brewers, but the Brewers aren't just going to roll over for anybody.

Sure, but if you are trying things outside your normal comfort zone, you don't worry about a lack of success, you just try to make yourself a better player. I suspect the last week players who look like they are struggling will try to do more of their normal habits to get ready for the start of the season. If you strike out a bunch because you are working on taking pitches, or working on your 2-strike hitting approach, you'd probably not be concerned about it at all. One other thing going on is that several players are trying out the helmets with more protection. They are probably closer to their normal habits so they can accurately gauge if the the helmets are causing them problems. If the helmets don't cause problems, they could be expected to put up better numbers than a player working on other things.

Spring training stats mean absolutely nothing. Hell, Jimmy Nelson's last start they wouldn't shut up about how he was trying a new pitch while he was getting shelled. The Red Sox had one of the worst offenses in spring training last year and led the league in AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS and runs scored. If you want to think that spring training stats mean anything, that's fine, but they don't. In some ways it tells you what players are trying to show something (to make the team like Aguilar, or to show they are close to ready like Erceg or Brinson) vs what players are working on something, like Nelson or Garza. It's probably a good sign that players trying to show something have done well, and in the case of minor leaguers, might portend good things to come. The only ones who really have a grasp on what the spring training results mean for veterans are probably sitting in the dugouts during the game.

There's a giant T-bone steak around the :33 mark so I'm guessing no. My favorite vegetable.

There are definitely risks on both sides with this offer, but it is nice to see Villar with the confidence to bet on himself.

Davies, because he finally hit puberty.

If true, I may have to worry less about violating the cuss filter here. Still the Cardinals seem like they could have their team plane crash into a testosterone factory, and still win 85 games with a bunch of guys they signed from a local beer league.

Record: 77-85 Playoffs: No Brewers MVP: Broxton Brewers Cy Young: Davies Brewers ROY: Pina (more by default than anything) First player traded: Garza Surprise Player: Garza (pitches reasonably well in the first half which lets the Brewers get something for him) Disappointing Player: Braun (nagging injuries crop up, making him untradable for the foreseeable future) World Series: Indians over Dodgers

Yet somehow it never seems to matter to the Cardinals. They will still finish no worse than second in the division and will likely get a wild card.

280 and 35HR would be a pipe dream, yours is more of an optimistic fan dream. This is the time of year for those. And yes, the Brewers' lineup has the potential to be solid this year.

It's hard to pick out a trend after just one season. Some of the basic parameters of a rebuild are going to be standard practice (at least standard for the current MLB situation), i.e. trading away as MLB talent to stock the minor leagues, and looking for easy flip targets (second tier FA's particularly those looking for a bounce back). The one thing we can do is try to see if he is doing anything different from others. Some of the things that have been mentioned here are 1) almost always getting pitching back in trades and 2) looking for high K/BB pitchers. Part of the reason for always asking for pitching in returns could be the lack of pitching in the minors. The high control pitchers might represent an analysis by Sterns that big arms are overvalued, or more likely to not progress, and you can win with control pitchers. Time will tell, but I don't think Sterns is just following the trends. However he can only be considered ahead of the trend if things work out.

I assume ESPN is still in their drastic cost cutting mode (losing tons of subscribers), so assuming they are just going cheaper. They probably want to get some new blood in to connect with a more mobile audience. Also, even if his health isn't an immediate issue, he is getting to the age where most normal people are thinking about retiring. It's just time to reduce his role and use him in spots.

The Monkees - Good Times Completely unexpected that they came out with anything, let alone something that sounds this good.

Yep, agreed totally. In theory, a small market team can stay near the top forever with the right formula. - Draft well (obviously the better you are, the lower you're drafting, but the competitive balance round helps) - Extend a very select few of your homegrown players. The earlier the better because the more you'll save, but you better be right about the ones you extend, big wrong investments will get you in trouble quickly. We obviously dodged a bullet with Prince, and the more deals you can do like Lucroy's, the better. - Trade as high as you can on your trade pieces, no matter how competitive you are or aren't. Obviously this is much harder said than done. Not only do you have to figure out where 'high' is, but you have to be willing to sell off pieces when you're competitive. It's a continuous cycle, but probably the only way to stay continuously competitive as a small market without a rebuild. Emotionally it's nearly impossible to trade a star away in a year where you're contending. Clearly doing all these things to perfection is nearly impossible which is why the longer a small marker can sustain a winning model, the more impressive it is. If you have a good farm system, you get the flexibility with extensions. You also need to come up with good insurance policies to cover salary in cases like this. Thus, if I had a core like Fielder, Lucroy, and Braun... I try to keep them together. But much of it comes down to the farm system. Having a very good farm system with a constant flow of talent means the team can absorb even a Prince Fielder suffering a career-ending injury. Honestly, when I think about it, it's why I am frustrated the Brewers did sign Milone. Why spend on a free-agent (even a cheap one) when you could give Suter, Woodruff, or some other pitcher the chance? Or even have them just fill the spot for a couple of years (another advantage - even if Suter completely bombs as a starter those years, you get good draft picks). Cheap veteran FA pitchers are a handy way to improve the talent in the system. They let you keep a guy in the minors and not worry about roster spot shuffles, and more importantly they are easy flips at the trade deadline.

Boston was motivated to dump salary to get under the tax, so they wanted to make sure they could get a deal. While it would be great if the Brewers could trade Garza, but the money isn't the issue. If there is no return, letting Garza pitch for half a year is a better option, in the hope of getting a decent return.

Here's the thread. http://forum.brewerfan.net/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=33847&p=976995&hilit=predictions#p976995 The win-loss predictions are a reasonable distribution around an average number of wins in the low 70's. This team is staring to bring up talent, and even without Braun 75 wins isn't pie-in-the-sky dreaming. Trading a starting pitcher or two might well push the expected wins into the 60's. Our predictions involving individual players was a little less correlated with reality.

Does being an ace require both stuff and talent, or can you get away with having one and not the other? You can be an ace without the raw stuff if you outstanding control, like the later years for Greg Maddux (when he was young he could throw hard as well). An ace has to be able to dominate a game time and time again. To the point where it gets into a batters head even before the game starts.

Figure out what is in Bosio's bottle super sauce that turns average to good pitchers into aces.

So the Angles got a better backup this year and possibly next (and a pitcher who might warrant a cup of coffee in a time of need), while the Brewers got someone they can keep for a few years and has some potential. Sounds like a fair trade, but since Maldy might have been the odd man out, I like that the Brewers managed to get it done.

Who says the Brewers can't be big players in FA this year?

Taken in that light, the Brewers basically got free money from the Cubs. I'm good with that, especially since there's a good chance that it won't even help the Cubs.

The article's saying that the cash alternative for the PTBNL is $100. My take is that it is very likely that the Brewers will get a player from this deal, especially with none of Boston's players got picked in the rule 5 draft. The only way I could see that not happening is if the PTBNL was only tied to an extreme event like Shaw not making the Brewers roster, or Thornburg getting injured early.

A team that claims him would still have to keep him on the 25 man roster. If he can't hack it in SD the Brewers will get him back.

Anyone else think Pennington has a very good chance of at least being Thornburg two years from now? With that in mind the Brewers traded Thornburg in seasons where they won't compete to get new Thornburg back when they will, and picked up a possible solution to the third base hole and a solid 2B/SS prospect, and maybe another player as well.

So who on Boston is rule 5 eligible that the Brewers might be targeting?