Jim French Stepstool

Maybe by 2040 we can "advance" to the point where you'll just have a 9-man batting order, a pitcher & catcher with no fielders. When a ball is put in play, a group of aerodynamics experts & mathematicians in an enclosed skybox somewhere can determine out or safe & how many bases awarded by calculating launch angle & MPH off the bat. Now if you'll excuse me, there's some clouds rolling by, I have to go outside & yell at them.

I remember after his first few years here, I wanted him to remain in the organization after his playing days whether it was front office, roving instructor, coach, whatever. I was THAT impressed with him as a lead-by-example guy, just an overall winner. Thinking along those lines, then reading these comments just makes this so totally bizarre to me. Move on, indeed.

Two runs on three hits in the 4th inning. Two runs on three hits for the game. We really don't believe in spoiling our starters. If Burnes doesn't go to 3-2 to Yaz (putting the runner in motion w/2 outs) he pitches a shutout. That was fun to watch after his recent outings.

I don't look forward to any of the "Nashville 4" OFs being traded, but I suspect someone will be part of a deal simply because there's four of them, they all have value, & you have Chourio coming up behind them. Ruiz is as good a guess as any as there appears to be a hit tool & solid defensive ability for the other three as well as speed; supposedly Ruiz' defense is a bit suspect. Topa has never seemed to work out here. Maybe with the health issues behind him that can change.

I don't look forward to any of the "Nashville 4" OFs being traded, but I suspect someone will be part of a deal simply because there's four of them, they all have value, & you have Chourio coming up behind them. Ruiz is as good a guess as any as there appears to be a hit tool & solid defensive ability for the other three as well as speed; supposedly Ruiz' defense is a bit suspect. Topa has never seemed to work out here. Maybe with the health issues behind him that can change.

We're on the same page pretty much. But as everyday players I see Turang & whoever is in CF. Hiura may (probably) ace out someone as DH, making a 2nd OF having to rely on Renfroe leaving. I considered Mario as not being an "everyday" player. If Renfroe is retained It's hard to see more than two, or three is Feliciano sharing a job is counted.

Don't know how one would want to define substantial, but as currently constructed I see room for no more than 2 rookies to be more-or-less everyday players, unless someone else forces their way into a substantial role. And that would be a good thing. The starting pitching has to be healthy (that only pertains to the Brewers, plus every other team), and has to perform up to the level they're capable of, which hasn't happened nearly enough. I suspect a % of that "bunch of rookies" will be used as trade capital.

IMO it'll be the two above plus Caratini over the whole of 2023. There's no one I know of better in FA for a one-year deal, and if there is they shouldn't go more than one year anyway. They should bank on Feliciano being able to share the job soon, then count the days until Quero.

Agree. This certainly isn't a stand-pat situation, but it's far from some kind of teardown. What's needed are good personnel decisions, which is something they've done more often than not over the last half decade.

Yep. I guess Schroeders' back-and-forth with laRussa would qualify also. But I was actually thinking of a player or manager lashing out at one of the "home" guys.

I think a lot of managers would pull a pitcher after 7 innings with a five run lead. And they probably wouldn't go to one of their prime late-inning guys either, unless someone was dormant for a few days & needed work. No argument that it obviously blew up in his face last night, but let's not fool ourselves into thinking CC is on some island somewhere in making that decision. Bulldogboy, I think your anger should be directed at all the people in the room not named Sophia Minnaert who don't ask the questions you would like to hear asked after the game. If those people then get shunned/ignored in the future for asking those questions (which is what I think would happen), then get mad at Counsell or the Brewers for not calling on them. I don't waste my time getting mad at Sophia; I've learned a long time ago to ignore the frivolous nonsense she dispenses. I've watched enough other games to know pretty much every team has a Mic-Holder in Charge of Fluff. You could make the argument she doesn't belong in the room post-game, but fat chance of that. Trying to remember the last time a Brewer player actually blew up at a reporter. I might be missing an incident but I go all the way back to BJ Surhoff. Don't remember who the reporter was. That illustrates a point someone made earlier. You just don't get that stuff in Milwaukee. As entertaining as it might be to see it, this ain't Philadelphia.

Can't agree more re Quero. How much catching has Clarke done? I thought he's primarily been a corner INF?

I think letting him walk has been in the cards for a while now. Thing is, the blueprint was probably Caratini & Severino with Feliciano starting the year in Nashville. But after getting a closeup (albeit brief) look at him here & seeing how he's performed since going back down I don't think it's a slam dunk that he sees AAA next year. It probably comes down to how he's doing behind the plate.

One of my biggest off-season fears is Devanney not being protected & someone taking a chance on him.

One hundred and twenty-eight trips to the plate (in AAA). He's struck out nine times. I mean, I don't know what to say.

I think they should have postgame on-field interviews after losses, too. That way Sophia can ask Renfroe how awesome it felt to break up the shutout in the ninth inning.

I can think of scenarios other than that when it would be a good idea, too. What I suspect, at least in the case of Ruiz, is you get up here and feel the need to, I don't know if conform is the right word, but you look around & don't see anyone else doing it so you don't either. Folks in authority should be encouraging him to look for it as well, and I doubt if that's happening. To borrow a hoops term, Arizona was tough to guard all weekend. We're very easy to guard.

Pulling him after twice thru yeah, that's probably more appropriate with him than just about anyone else on the staff. I really don't think pitch count should ever factor into it with Alexander unless he's at 100 in the fifth, and due to the first point he's probably gone by then anyway.

Not a pleasant memory, but I remember him being left out on the mound by Alex Grammas to give up some monstrous run total. Double digit IIRC. Grammas claimed the bullpen was overworked & needed to be saved but there was speculation that he just didn't like the guy.

Not a pleasant memory, but I remember him being left out on the mound by Alex Grammas to give up some monstrous run total. Double digit IIRC. Grammas claimed the bullpen was overworked & needed to be saved but there was speculation that he just didn't like the guy.

The funny thing is, people have made comments about Alexander, and for sure he's no world-beater, but he's probably serviceable as a back-end rotation guy except for one thing: if you're going to be that style of pitcher you CANNOT walk people unless strategically to your advantage. He gets the strikeout-DP then falls behind & walks the next hitter for no particular reason w/Walker on deck. I've seen him make hitters look really uncomfortable, but then he just suddenly puts the dunce cap on & it costs him. I guess that's one of the ingredients in the "AAAA" recipe.

Agree with pretty much all of this. The direction they're heading in isn't "wrong" so much as it's a retooling based on building strength through the farm system, which IMO is a necessity. This certainly could lead to trading one of the two "aces", which is made more possible by the fact that talent-wise I believe they can afford to do so given the locking-up of Ashby & Peralta & some of the emerging talent in the system. When I think of Yelich, I'm reminded of power hitters who have suddenly "lost it" & thus became close to worthless. That's not what we're dealing with here. I don't know if anyone's ever had a 40-HR guy who lost his big power, was moved to leadoff, and gave you acceptable or better performance there. It's doesn't jibe with the contract but to have a role he can fill, whatever that may be, is certainly better than the alternative. While Adames has a lot of maturing to do consistency-wise, let's keep in mind he & Tellez have been two of our most productive hitters over one-and-a-half seasons, and we're talking about two in-season acquisitions. No one bats 1.000 but Stearns has more than proven himself regarding personnel decisions. The McCutchen signing had some risk--as much risk as you can attach to a one-year deal--but at the time there was a hole to be filled at DH. Coming in to 2022 there was zero reason to think Keston Hiura would return to any semblance of his first year #s. Unless you're looking to be non-competitive for a few years--something that we know doesn't fit their philosophy--we'll almost certainly see a trade or two that includes some of the prospects we've been hearing a lot about. There's too many ready or close to ready & not enough spots to fill. It's intriguing to me when I think about who might go & who stays as it's certainly not an easy call. Due predominantly to the rebuilding of the farm, I think we're in good shape. Organizations can be in good shape & have disappointing seasons, and so far this certainly is one.

With his build---the strength in his lower body---I see no real avenue for him to improve by dropping any weight. I didn't notice any difference either.

My thoughts: Considering the talent lost at WR/TE, I really liked what I saw from that group. Both Cundiff & Rucci Look like they can play. Dike has already proven himself, but Markus Allen looked the part after the early whiff. A lot of easy throws from Mertz, but the thing is, he MADE them. One INC was a drop, the other on the mark but the defender made a nice breakup. He needed to get off to a good start; mission completed. Despite being beat over the top a few times I think this has a chance to be a real nice secondary. Impressive athletes who are going to get better each week (obviously will need to given the sked). Not an elite opponent of course, but given the inexperience a great first week for the defense. You have to go long & far to find better coordinators. Love Leonhards' work, and I think Engram is going to prove to be a great fit here.

In this age of cybermetrics, that's one very simple thing I've always looked at for years as I think it can tell you a lot about a player. While the BA at Wisconsin isn't as gaudy as it was in Carolina he is K'ing a bit less, but still hitting home runs at a much higher rate. Just so much fun to see a kid like that develop. I don't think an arrival sometime in '24 is far-fetched at all.