strawbossisevil

What do you want to Wager FTJ? I'm not one who gambles money, but I'm certainly up for a wager that involves a creative reward for the winner/punishment for the loser. Lay some ideas on me.

Now that Yost is gone and Weeks is playing very well, I guess Suppan is the next on the FTJ hate list. Proceed with the hate. I would take the under on the 5.15 going forward. I suppose it's possible that his first two ugly starts could bump his ERA over that, especially if he gets his starts skipped quite frequently. And perhaps you haven't suggested DFAing him, but others have. So those comments of mine wouldn't apply to you, would they. Can't I react to those people? Last I checked, my post was not a response to one of yours. As far as Bush, you may have realized the stupidity in the talk of DFA Bush talk, but many others did not. Plus I am talking about the beginning of the year (Bush's first few starts), not the mid year happenings (when the Bush/McClung duo was being considered). If those people had their way, we probably don't even make the playoffs last year. And putting Bush on waivers (which is done with nearly every player at some point during the year) and DFAing him is a huge difference. Look, I don't blame anyone if Suppan isn't their favorite player. The guy makes way too much money for his role on the team. But that doesn't change the fact that he still has some value to our team, since we have him signed anyway.

Was it last year that everyone wanted Bush DFAd because of a few bad starts to start the year? It´s a good thing the Brewers didn´t do that last season. It´s interesting how the same lesson needs to be learned year after year after year by fans. I guess that comes when one´s passion often gets in the way of keeping things in perspective. No one´s happy with Suppan´s first two starts, but two starts is not nearly enough to make a judgment in regards to how he´ll pitch the rest of the year. It´s probably likely that Suppan has an ERA somewhere in the area of 5 (perhaps a bit lower, perhaps a bit higher) at season end. While that is not worth his salary, that still is a productive #5 pitcher. If we can get that out of him, there is no reason why we should be throwing away $12 Million this year or next.

I still think there is some overreacting going on based on one mediocre bad luck start and one horrible start. If at the end of May he still is struggling to find the strike zone, and is continuing to get the loss start after start, then yes, I´d expect him pulled. Yesterday was awful, no doubt, but let´s not make it out to be any more than what it was, one start. If we are making long term decisions already, let´s bench Hardy as well, since he´s clearly played horribly. This is why being a fan of baseball is so hard, sometimes first impressions on players aren´t always the best impressions. Hopefully in a few weeks this will all be recognized as the over-reaction thread that it really is.

Everyone thought that about the Detroit Tigers last year too. I'm hoping for a Tigeresque collapse by the Cubs this year, that would be awesome.

I'm in a 12 team league in Yahoo with a number of friends. This is my roster, please let me know what you think, it's been a number of years since I played fantasy baseball: C: Napoli - He's an interesting player, I don't know what to think about him. He had 20 HR in only 227 ABs, is he really that good? 1B: Youkilis 2nd: Utley SS: Hardy 3B: Wright OF: Beltran OF: Dunn OF: Justin Upton Utl: Uggla Bn: Hawpe Bn: Reynolds Bn: Giambi Bn: Salty SP: Gallardo SP: Harang RP: Gregg RP: Valverde P: Bedard P: Carpenter P: Mármol Bn: Malhom DL: Hoffman Thanks much for the advice.

X ellence, you mean that it would have been a rIdiculous steal, right? I too am glad that Gaudin hasn´t amounted to much for the Cubs.

You forgot to mention how rediculous we are.That has to be my biggest pet peeve. It's not like it's even pronounced like "red", every time I see it written like that, it is tough to take at any value anything else written in the post. RIDiculous.

Bump. I'm getting an Ipod touch in about a week. Any other good apps that people have found to be good? I should add, that my Ipod touch is a 1st generation, so I don't think it has a microphone.

JohnBriggs, Lamb's numbers are really such a small sample, plus if his overall ability has decreased, it wouldn't be a surprise if his PH abilities have decreased as well. I don't know that there is any "skill" that a player has to have in order to be a pinch hitter. It is very likely that the better hitters will likely hit better in PH situations. For example, if we had Ryan Braun pinch hitting, he is likely to do far better than Lamb, even though Lamb has more experience. If McGehee is better with the bat then Lamb, he should be the guy pinch hitting for us late in the game, not Lamb because he's done it 200 times.

Ugh, things going from bad to worse for this guy. He was just outed by the "Spitzer madam" as having used some of her prostitutes and having dated her. This guy's lack of common sense is really mind numbing.

Ridiculous that Utah State as an #11 seed has a game that close to their fan base.

Suppan is just so much more stretched out than McClung. McClung has not pitched much more than 100 IP in recent years (he had two years of 150+ back in 2001 and 2002). He just doesn't have the innings in his arm to start for a whole season. Suppan on the other hand has been over 170 IP since 1999. McClung and Suppan might be about the same, but even if McClung is slightly better, with a huge increase of his innings he is likely to tire and perform worse as the end of the season approaches.

Ok, I never said it was your fault, enough of the strawmen. This is exactly what I meant when you said that there has to be someone at "fault". We can't accept that a player is playing his best, that he's doing everything he can for improvement. We have to heap and pile "criticism" on the player for things he is working his best at correcting. The truth is all player have their flaws, if they do the best they can to improve and cover up those flaws, what is left to criticize? I think baseball intelligence (instincts) can fall into the "natural gifts" as well, and should be taken into consideration when accessing a player. It doesn't nicely fit into the "five tools" but I'd say it is just as important to a player. A person may or may not be able to fix this problem despite all efforts to correct it. Your story about the pitcher is interesting, however, there is a difference between book smarts and street smarts. My point on the 90 mph fastball, and curve was that basic fundamentals would say to wait back on the breaking ball etc. The footwork, weight transfer is easy when you know what pitch is coming, but even the most fundamental MLB players flail occasionally at breaking balls, some will do so more as they don't read pitches as well as others (Rickie appears to be one who has trouble reading what pitch is coming). Fundamentals take place in an environment, and you can't just ignore the environment. No, I have no proof, but I'm not the one coming up with this theory either. Your theory is just one of many possible reasons for his lack of results, I do have a problem with you trying to pass that one of as truth, because it conveniently fits what your expectations of Rickie. Weeks responsibility is to play the best that he possibly can. That is his responsibility and by all accounts he does just that. If his best isn't up to your standards, whose standard is off?

Easy to say that everyone can do better at fundamentals when you aren't the one facing the 90 mph fastballs and the 12 to 6 curveballs that Rickie is. I don't think there are many of us who could be fundamentally sound facing those type of pitchers, even if we devoted our lives to doing so. You have no proof that Rickie is practicing negative habits. He does the bat waggle, but that doesn't effect his swing. You make it sound like Rickie is uncoachable, that he wants to do things his way or else. Once again (aside from the bat waggle) I would ask for any proof to that point. You really do want to place blame. You can't accept that someone might not be as good as you originally thought they would. If they don't live up to your expectations, somehow such a person is at fault. Intelligence is a natural gift as well. If Weeks isn't intelligent enough to make the right adjustments at the plate (which takes a lot of quick precise thinking), then the doctor comparison is valid.

Right, but there are plenty of examples of people putting up big numbers in the minors, and never performing up to those levels in the majors. We can often take a bit of an educated guess as to what to expect from someone who hits a certain way, but there is no guarantee that when they make the switch to the big leagues that those numbers will transfer over as much as we'd like them to. I think to always be blaming the player for this is unfair, especially if they are giving their all towards becoming a better player. With Rickie, I just don't think he is a smart hitter. That isn't his fault, he just may not have the intelligence of figuring out how to change his approach now that the pitchers are much smarter in their approach than they were in the minors. It's like a guy who has the kindness, patience, and work ethic needed to be a doctor, but piling on said doctor for going to UW for med school because he doesn't have the smarts to go to Harvard Med. Is it necessarily his fault that he couldn't get into Harvard med? If he poured his all into his college studies, but just didn't have the smarts to do so, I'd say "no". I think some people just love to shove "blame" at people, even when there isn't blame to shove. Things just can't be disappointing, it has to be "someone's fault".

Are you suggesting TheCrew07, when you say that it is Rickie's fault, that it is due to some lack of effort on his part? Because almost everyone around the club says that he is one of the hardest workers on the club. I guess I fail how you can fault a guy for trying his best, even if his best attempt doesn't live up to your high standards. As long as a guy is going 100%, I don't think they "deserve" criticism. I'm not saying that we shouldn't objectively point out a player's flaws, but to criticize the person seems over the top, unless there is a reason within the player's control that would deserve the criticism. Show me how Rickie has brought his poor play on himself, otherwise this "no fault but his own" stuff is over the top and unnecessary. Yes, he hasn't lived up to his perceived potential, not all prospects do, but that doesn't always reflect on the prospect. Rather, sometimes the perceived potential can be flawed from the start, and we can perceive them in ways that are unfair to the player (giving the player shoes that he is never able to fill despite appearing to have the natural ability to do so).

I don't think we have any starter who is an overwhelmingly better option than Suppan. It's not like someone who is clearly better is being held out (as bklyn asserts). McClung is likely to put up similar numbers but has never pitched the innings of Suppan. Difelice is over 30 and still has yet to play more than a handful of innings in the Majors. I like what he could bring in the bullpen, but I think he'd be exposed as a starter. If Jeffress is lighting things up but can't get in the rotation next season because of Suppan, then it would be a valid point. Right now, not so much.

Stoutdude, have you seen this remake of the "Take on me" Video.

FTJ/Homer some of those videos had me laughing out loud. Although, they are probably less funny without seeing the ridiculous videos. Or you could do the ever famous. Da da da song. Or you can look up Gunther and his Ding Ding Dong song (NSFW).

I think some are forgetting what trading Hardy could bring us. If for example, we fall out of the running early this year, and a team in the hunt for the playoffs needs a SS. We could score quite a bit of minor league talent for Hardy. Probably a deal similar to what the Indians got from us (perhaps even better considering we only got CC for half a year, where as the team getting JJ would get him for a year and a half). This could mean getting a top prospect pitcher + an additional top 10 prospect. So on top of the money saved from going from Hardy to Escobar (which may or may not be able to be used in FA to improve the team - the trouble with FA is that a player has to want to play in Milwaukee, that isn't always the case), we would also add one or two big time prospects. If we fall out early in '09, I could see the '10 season being a quick rebuilding season. Giving Gamel, Escobar, Salome, Jeffress, Cain, Top Prospects from Hardy trade, Top Prospects from Fielder trade. All settled in and getting the experience they need to make another run in '11.

I'm not saying we should build our team around Fielder. But I do almost wish we had traded Escobar instead of LaPorta. It would have made much more sense signing Hardy to a long term contract and go cheap at 1B with LaPorta (if we trade Fielder, quite a bit of the money used to sign him during his arby years could have gone toward Hardy's deal). I could be wrong, but I really think LaPorta could have stepped in and been close to Prince Fielder's equal (if you take into account offense and defense). Now, we have 1B as a organizational weak point. I know Fielder is a bad fielder, and that having improved fielding will help make up for SOME of the difference, however if Fielder goes back to being the player he was in 2007, the amount of offense he provides is going to be hard to replace with guys like Gamel (who should stick at 3B), Nelson, or Errecart (None of whom I think are as good offensively as Laporta).

Who exactly replaces Fielder? Gamel profiles as a guy who might hit 20-25 HRs (something that profiles much better at 3B or RF rather than at 1B). He is not a good option at 1B IMO. After that who is there to replace him in house? Chris Errecart?

False. He gets to a ton more balls than Braun since unlike Braun he actually has the range to play 3B. Also, despite that range, his Fld Pct. was better last season than Braun's was in his year with Milwaukee. If Gamel were to simply repeat what he did last year, he'd be in the bottom 5 defensively in the league (although Gamel has been improving each year, so to assume that he won't continue to improve would be foolish). Braun was one of the worst defensive 3B in MLB history. There is also the question of whether Gamel has the bat for 1B. I see him as a 20-25 HR guy. That's pretty solid at 3B, but that's pretty mediocre at 1st. Offensively, he'd be a huge drop off from Prince.