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Jim French Stepstool

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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool

  1. Jim French Stepstool
    I think if he has a future here it's as a starter. But continuing to run him out there every 5-6 games doesn't appear to be necessary anymore, not to mention productive. So I'm hoping to see him starting in Nashville. Stallings might go as well, due to unavailability for a few days.
  2. Jim French Stepstool
    Pratt for Hamilton was simply a case of simplicity--he replaces Hamilton both as a hitter & defensively (with Ortiz moving to 3B). I think a lot of teams tend to do this now with shorter benches as opposed to years ago. Don't shoot the messenger; Sanchez would've been a good choice there. But I knew before it was even announced that it would be Pratt. I had no issue with Turang laying the ball down, but give yourself a better chance to beat it out of the box for a hit--a little less of a square-around. Or even try to drag it vs a relatively inexperienced 1B.
  3. Jim French Stepstool
    It would be easy to blame Sproat for the loss, and largely accurate. But an awful lot on Wild Bill too, on both ends of the floor. It's frustrating when you get a clutch AB late (Davis vs Ashby) & their #9 hitter, despite being retired puts up a solid AB & hits one right on the screws. Then Yelich & Contreras basically get themselves out by chasing with a couple men on. And in the 9th, I guess a guy throwing 99-100 means you're supposed to chase breaking balls, even though there wasn't much evidence he was going to throw strikes with it. Most of the competitiveness today w/the bats came from the people a lot of folks wanted replaced--Hamilton & Ortiz. Thought Stallings would be the one to go with the additions. That's still a strong possibility since he went four innings, but we should definitely see him back. Fifty games left. Like I said earlier---Chourio, Mitchell, Yelich, Contreras, Vaughn. It's squarely on them. Yelich, everyone knows the failures there & it's up in the air as to what he can give you. The other four need to be better, and have been.
  4. Jim French Stepstool
    "Just because everyone else jumps off a building, it doesn't mean that........ Ahhh, screw it.
  5. Jim French Stepstool
    I heard nothing re complaints about it being hot, if there were then yes, just shut up. The other two are legit. Misiorowski is 6'7" AND gets unusual extension besides. I can certainly understand him having issues with a part of the mound that maybe no other pitchers ever need packed/groomed. I'm sure all of us have dealt with a time change. Combining that with sitting in an airport for five hours yeah, I can see how that might affect you.
  6. Jim French Stepstool
    Post-season, perhaps not. I think these acquisitions today are mostly about trying to limit innings for an awfully young rotation while also spreading out the BP innings. Making moves at the deadline for that reason isn't very sexy but it can be quite important. That's not to say the price wasn't too high, though.
  7. Jim French Stepstool
    This. Contreras, Chourio. You need to get something out of Yelich, whatever is left there. In the last 50 games & post-season, Mitchell needs to be something closer to what he was during his recent hot streak. And as he gets further from the hamate issue, Vaughn has to be something closer to what he was in '25. 'Adding a bat' wouldn't have made any difference if the above doesn't occur.
  8. Jim French Stepstool
    What's the over/under on how many times in the next 8 weeks Sophia mentions that Dustin May took a no-hitter into the 8th inning vs the Brewers? Manfredi sort of gives me DL Hall vibes. I'm fine with giving up him & Martinez for Senzatela.
  9. Jim French Stepstool
    Yeah, there's a glut regarding these two. But I'd have been much happier if they were able to deal from the 1B-3B glut (Adams, Boeve, Wilkin, Burke, Fischer, Bitonti). It takes two though. Boy, Ragsdales' stock has shot up quickly.
  10. Jim French Stepstool
    I dunno. I'm going to wait until I hear from a more level-headed, experienced voice. When does Greg Amsinger come on the air?
  11. Jim French Stepstool
    Rags, Adamczewski & Payne are all on sort of the same track AFA readiness (Payne maybe a bit behind) & I thought one of those three would go, sooner or later. Ragsdale really took quite a step forward this year, sorry to see him go but Adamczewski's ahead of him. Payne, we'll see. I was good with one of the three OFs (Anderson, Encarnacion & Frias) in Wilson going & predicted as much. Frias is the one I'd like to have kept though. This obviously helps the team in 2026, but it smells like they were beaten out of a few other things & felt the need to pull it. Getting both done in one deal helped it along I suppose, but It's a rough price for two rentals.
  12. Jim French Stepstool
    People weren't. Trolls OTOH were. Unless of course we actually traded for Miller. Then THAT trade would be their defecation target. Mods, I don't know at what point you open the booby hatch, but perhaps consider a little quicker hook?
  13. Jim French Stepstool
    Very good post. The Dodgers are an extremely well-run organization, but their success has very little to do with risk, or being willing to take risk. The layers of cash buffer the element of risk tremendously. Some clown on the MLB Network just came on the air at the top of the hour & lauded LA for their long history of being willing to take risks, eat contracts, etc. I had to hit mute.
  14. Jim French Stepstool
    Yep. I was referring to the general idea of the Brewers being aggressive a la the Pads, and that aggressiveness being especially risky if it involved them acquiring rental pieces. You're right; San Diego mostly picked up contracts that still had meat on the bone.
  15. Jim French Stepstool
    It's now officially the opening of the Trade Deadline Countdown Season. The first GO FOR IT!!!!! & MOVE THE NEEDLE!!!!! have been launched. I for one would like to know exactly what our best offer was for Skubal, and what it would've taken for the Tigers to say yes. Normally we're never privy to this info, but if we can know for a fact that the entire roster is upset at the front office we should be able to find this out as well.
  16. Jim French Stepstool
    You're right. And that's why I'm always hesitant to rip on the team not acquiring someone that we had hopes might be acquired. Tell me what Skubal (or whoever) would've taken, and I'd have an opinion. Of course, criticizing is always easier 🙄. I might've been fine with dealing Henderson for Skubal if we had 120 million lying around to throw at a replacement.
  17. Jim French Stepstool
    And I suspect you'll disagree with me, but I wouldn't call Arnold ultra-conservative. I would classify him that way if he had a fleet of Brinks trucks to throw at potential holes like a few other teams do. Judicious, maybe more creative than other GMs (by necessity). certainly more bottom-line conscious (again by necessity). Like I said above, I'll be disappointed if nothing happens by 5 tomorrow. At the same time, I've always had a hard time criticizing us not trading for this or that player unless I know what the cost would've been. While keeping a necessary eye towards the future as well as now, I think he usually does strike a pretty good balance. He leans towards the side of less risk, yes. IMO he pretty much has to. There are attractive pieces from Wilson to Nashville, a LOT of them. We'll see what happens.
  18. Jim French Stepstool
    Family-related stuff makes me late to the party, but let me say that my favorite part of the game today was when Vinny Rottino, in front of a nation-wide audience, called Jackson Chourio a "contact hitter." My second-favorite was when William Contreras came to the plate leading off the 9th inning, trailing by 3 runs, and chose to swing at a 2-0 pitch vs a guy who has a fairly high walk rate. When the body is still on the diamond but the brain is already on a plane back to Milwaukee it's time to pack the bats. DL Hall can be so frustrating. For the most part no one has really hit him hard this year, but the freebies are just killing him. Sort of appropriate that he'd get back on the saddle today & walk the first man he faces. The way Urena threw the ball & located, I think he shuts down a lot of people today. What bothered me most was opportunities in the 7th & 8th after he left that were really butchered.
  19. Jim French Stepstool
    After putting so much resource into scouting, drafting & player development, getting impact from your farm system had better be a damn sight more than 'maybe'. Cuz like I said, if they don't they have no chance for success in today's game. Not with the financial realities that exist. That's why they go about it the way they do. A productive farm HAS to be part of the equation. Mind you, I'm not saying you hang on to everyone. That's impossible. And I'll be disappointed if nothing happens tomorrow. But being AJ Preller-type aggressive, especially for rentals, is something I don't think we'll ever see here. Nor, IMO, should we.
  20. Jim French Stepstool
    Limited to the summer/fall of 2026 Skubal gives you more impact than any one guy you'd deal for him, including Made. But down the road you'll definitely get impact from some of these kids; if you don't then the Brewers would be unable to compete. Therein lies the Russian roulette of making trades---WHICH ones? At the end of the day I guess I'll trust the Brewer FO AFA evaluation, who to keep, etc.
  21. Jim French Stepstool
    If that's the cost for Detmers then IMO they should've already made the trade.
  22. Jim French Stepstool
    All of those things and most importantly, someone who has shown he can compete right now and has no appreciable difference in AB quality when facing LH or RHP. Blake has kinda become a good 5th or 6th OF in an era where you can't go that deep due to needing 13 pitchers.
  23. Jim French Stepstool
    What, you weren't excited for the Jamie Quirk-Jim Wohlford era?
  24. Jim French Stepstool
    That's a spot-on assessment of Perkins IMO. I would've bet the house the Brewers would leave him at AAA after Lockridge returned & eventually release him; in no way did I see him involved in a trade. But OTOH yeah, he's definitely been useful & has been instrumental in wins over the past few years, mostly with the glove but with the bat a couple of times----the 3 run HR off Sanchez back in June opened up that game. This was inevitable, but he had his moments. Best of luck to him & Yoho in Cleveland.
  25. Jim French Stepstool
    He's pretty far down the ladder obviously, but I think they like him quite a bit. Having a guy at his age catching at the full-season level at age 19 says something because you can always find an organizational-type to fill that role if they feel he can't handle it. So I believe he's someone they have hopes for.
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