letsgored

Much of the venom that gets directed towards Yuni should really be directed to Melvin/Roenicke, who run YB out there as our regular shortstop.

It needs to be over now. We are now 103 games into the season and Casey has an appalling OPS of .586. This isn't a bad stretch or a cold month, this is consistently weak hitting. .752 in April, .593 in May, .422 in June, and .597 so far in July. There is no reason to expect significant improvement at this point in the season. Hopefully, Doug can make something happen with a deal very soon.

Casey's OPS is now .674. YBet's is .582. Might the Brewers have the worst performing left side of the infield in MLB, considering both offense and defense? Both Casey and Yuni need to start picking it up with the stick and the glove.

Add two teams. Engage in some geographical reallignment. Get rid of the DH and have the same set of rules in each league. Go to four, four team divisions per league. 162 games. Schedule several day/night Saturday doubleheaders to cut a week of the season. 66 games within your division (11 home, 11 away each opponent). 24 games (72 total) against each other division in your league (3 home, 3 away). 24 games (3 home, 3 away) of interleage play, rotating through the four divisions in the opposite league. Two wild cards. The top two division champions get a bye in the first round. The other two division champions host a 3 game series against the wild card teams to get to the division round. Division rounds and LCS are 7 game series, along with the WS. AL East New York Yankees Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox Toronto Blue Jays AL North Cincinnati Reds Chicago White Sox Cleveland Indians Detroit Tigers AL South Florida Marlins Tampa Bay Rays Charlotte (expansion) Atlanta Braves AL West Oakland A's Los Angeles Angels Seattle Mariners Portland (expansion) NL East New York Mets Philadelphia Phillies Washington Nationals Pittsburgh Pirates NL North Chicago Cubs Milwaukee Brewers Minnesota Twins St. Louis Cardinals NL Central Colorado Rockies Kansas City Royals Houston Astros Texas Rangers NL West Los Angeles Dodgers San Diego Padres San Francisco Giants Arizona Diamondbacks

Four picks refers to compensatory picks the Brewers would receive if Sabathia AND Sheets signed elsewhere...2 per player.

What is the opinion of the board regarding Carlos's future? Starter or middle reliever? Unless the injury bug hits this year, I doubt we silly Villy go back into the rotation, especially with Sabathia or another starter coming aboard. However, what about next year and beyond? Does Carlos have good enough stuff to consistently go through the lineup 3-4 times? Or is he better suited to the middle relief role he is filling quite nicely right now, where he only sees hitters once? I think I still have hopes of him being a quality #3 or #4 starter, but maybe he's destined to be a valuable bullpen piece for his stay in MKE. Thoughts?

Kapler's clutch. Huge triple to setup the tie at 2-2.

Really? I think there is more competition at 1B for all star honors for Prince than there is for Braun in the OF. You could say a lot of guys deserve a spot. Berkman is a lock at 1B. Gonzalez, Lee, Pujols, Fielder are all kind of battling it out for the other spots. Howard has big RBI and HR numbers, but his OPS isn't great. Braun, meanwhile, is first in the NL (among OF's) is total bases, sixth in OPS, and second in RBI. I think Braun is a mortal lock as a reserve if he doesn't get voted in, he's very deserving. I think Prince may be deserving as well, but not moreso than Braun.

FWIW, Richard Justice is a very respected sportswriter.

Ryan's shot was 3/4 the way up the LF bleachers. Big hitter, the Lama

If I was a MLB pitching coach, I would tell my pitchers not to throw Braun strikes until he proves that he is willing to take walks. Throwing him a pitch that catches the heart of the plate right now is stupid. It's a recipe for disaster. I'd let him get himself out.

I recall Ned stating how he likes to rest regulars the day after an off day to give them two days off, I think that's what we are seeing with Braun, who could probably use the time to get the bad hitting thoughts out of his head.

I work in ticketing. I worked in the Brewer's ticket office for a couple years in the late 90's. First, let me say that the policy of assigning fan's choice packages after pre-set packages was in in place 10 years ago, and I'm fairly certain that the policy never changed. Any ticket rep who said otherwise was either likely not truthful or uneducated about the policy. Either way, that's the sign of a bad ticket rep. As to fans receiving better seats for single game tickets than season seat holders receive, this happens all the time, in any ticket office. It all has to do with holding seat locations for possible season purchase, right up until and even beyond the first game. Please keep in mind the season tickets need to be assigned (using the Brewers as an example) by sometime in February, so orders can be processed and printed and mailed to customers prior to the start of the season. Slowly but surely, as the start of the season approaches (as well as the start of single game sales), season ticket holds are released and the available inventory is assigned to single game status (or possibly late ordering fan's choice packages)...I reiterate that this is business as usual in any ticket office. Many people are not aware of behind the scenes work in a ticket office, much like I couldn't understand the inner workings of an emergency room, for example. I'm certain that the Brewers are still holding quality seat locations for season purchase, and those holds will gradually be opened for sale for single game purchase (or late fan's choice package orders) as the season progresses. While it may not be fair that a five year fan's choice package holder, who orders right away, may receive worse seats than a first year fan's choice package holder, who ordered on March 25 or whatever, that's reality. It took me many years to accept this reality, but working in the industry for a decade know, I have come to terms with it. Bottom line, in order to get the flexibility of a fan's choice package, you have to give up something, and that something is seat location. Any good ticket rep needs to be truthful with their account holder.

My guess is that Michael is on that boat and is Ben's mole...he might even be the "captain" of that boat. He could have been the one to destroy the communications equipment as well.

You don't red-shirt perimeter players. Occasionally, you might red-shirt a big if you feel that they are going to be significantly better as a fifth year senior. Bigs take much longer to develop than perimeter players. It's also a gamble to red-shirt players with only 13 scholarships. If you lose a player or two due to injury or transfer, you can find yourself with a mighty short bench. Jarmusz will find himself working harder in practice because he could break into the playing rotation. There's not a lot of incentive to work real hard in practice during a red-shirt season. When it comes time for Jarmusz to graduate, there will also be plenty of other talented players for Coach Ryan to bring in. It didn't hurt Wisconsin when Taylor didn't red-shirt, even though he saw basically zero significant minutes as a freshman. It didn't hurt Wisconsin when Hughes didn't red-shirt, as Pop saw limited significant minutes last season. Jarmusz not red-shirting will also not hurt the program.

The Big Ten has gone to an 18 game league schedule this year, so each team will now have only two opponents that it will not play home and home. Wisconsin catches a break this year by not having to go to MSU. Hughes is not yet the shooter that Taylor was, but he's a better player in every other facet of the game, and will be the best passing UW point guard since Tracey Webster. Look for a nine-man rotation of (from bigs to smalls) Steimsma, Butch, Nankivil, Leuer, Landry, Krabbenhoft, Bohannon, Flowers & Hughes. Tim Jarmusz may also see some time in the backcourt if there are injuries. Should be another fun year of Badger hoops

I think you guys may be confusing Van Pelt from John Anderson. I believe that it is Anderson who is from WI. Van Pelt is a big Maryland guy, but he's familiar with Wisconsin due to his working on golf with Andy North, who is a huge Wisconsin guy. Van Pelt attended the UW-Maryland Big Ten/ACC Challenge game at the Kohl Center a few years back.

Two of my favorites that I haven't seen mentioned are "Nothing Like It In The World", a non-fiction work by Steven Ambrose which depicts the transcontinental railroad, and "Killer Angels", the Gettysburg account by Michael Shaara.

That's a fair point. I know that you need to treat a special talent like Yo with kid gloves. I like the thought of stretching him out later to possibly start in the playoffs.

Let's assume that Yo shows that he belongs as a starter. I know that many have expressed concern with the number of innings he might pitch as a full time starter for the rest of the season. Would Yo's inning total be manageable by making him the the fifth starter, where you could skip a number of his starts?

Only four extra base hits in this game out of 30 hits...pretty remarkable.

I like Dave Bush, I think he has some talent and can help the team, but I think it's time to seriously consider moving him out of the rotation. He just isn't getting people out consistently so far this year, especially on the road. Villy or Gallardo need to take Dave's spot in the rotation.

It's brilliant Turnbow tonight. Great job.

I think he is decent, somewhere in the middle of the pack for 8th inning guys. My concern is that since the beginning of May, Derrick has pitched 11 innings and allowed 19 hits/walks, and it has come against better competition. I like him alot as a middle reliever, he's ok as a primary setup guy, but I don't want him closing again.

I think Turnbow has inconsistent good stuff. I just think that "phenomenal" is an overstatement, that's all.