strawbossisevil

Was watching the St. Louis game. The runner that was on for the Pujols HR, was on due to a blown call by the umpires. So, tough break for us.

This statement is 100% bollocks. Betancourt is bad at defense, but there is no way that a guy who can´t even get the ball out of the infield on offense, and just about set a modern era record for offensive futility can be equal to Betancourt. Give Counsell an equal number of at bats as Betancourt, and I think you would be singing a different tune. The difference between the two on defense is likely 2-3 prevented singles per month. No way that makes up the difference of .100 points of batting average and slugging. For what it's worth, Fangraphs does have Counsell as being more valuable in terms of WAR than Betancourt. Obviously the defensive data is limited at this point and makes Counsell harder to really evaluate, but the point still stands that Counsell saves runs as an above average SS and Yuni kills us as perhaps the worst regular defensive SS in the league. The gap in their defense is wide enough at this point that Counsell's WAR is actually higher despite hitting .150...that's saying something. That just goes to show that WAR isn't the be-all, end-all in this discussion. It is obvious to anyone with eyes which player gives our team the best opportunity to win. Also, I'll repeat again. Statistically, the difference between an average (Counsell) and an awful defensive SS (Betancourt) is a few balls per month! That is exactly why I've been pointing out on certain threads that people over-state Betancourt's defensive deficiancies when they make uninformed comments like "he misses two or three balls more per game than the average SS". No he doesn't. People have been anything but objective when actually discussing his deficiencies. He's bad, very bad. But most have no idea what the difference between very bad and average is. Topper's comment above just shows the level the ridiculousness has gotten to.

This statement is 100% bollocks. Betancourt is bad at defense, but there is no way that a guy who can´t even get the ball out of the infield on offense, and just about set a modern era record for offensive futility can be equal to Betancourt. Give Counsell an equal number of at bats as Betancourt, and I think you would be singing a different tune. The difference between the two on defense is likely 2-3 prevented singles per month. No way that makes up the difference of .100 points of batting average and slugging.

[quote name= Ennder]They still have a chance, it just isn't a very good chance. Teams turn things around randomly all the time so how they have played this year means a lot less to me than how much talent they have and they have plenty of talent.

LaRussa complains about the fans. http://sports.yahoo.com/m...cardinals-larussainsults Good thing he´s in Wisconsin, so he can have some high quality cheese with that whine.

Goodness...give the "DPR" thing a rest. It´s not funny. It never was funny. It won´t be funny in the future.

Pretty sure Brian and Bill said it would probably end up being 5 games. But I could have heard that somewhere else and just be mis-remembering.

It looked like it was on the black to me. There is no excuse for him going off like that. Absolutely ridiculous.

What has McGehee's July looked like? Or Counsell's July? Would you rather have Betancourt's .323 playing next to Hairston's .322. Or would you prefer Hairston's .322 playing next to McGehee's ____. Or Counsell's ______. Currently, with the way Betancourt is hitting, I'd rather Hairston would have played 3b. Especially if we are going to start Counsell.

The play to Barmes was the double play. Did you watch the game? That play robbed him of having additional RBIs. He's been hitting the ball hard lately. I'm fine playing with him as long as he keeps this up, especially considering JHJ's recent hand issue. No need to rush JHJ into the daily line up. If JHJ should have been on the field today, he should have been at 3b, not SS. Aside from Counsell's defensive gem, he was awful at the plate today once again.

Their 3B is hitting pretty well, as well. I think the Cards have the better offense. I like our pitching staff better than theirs mainly because our bullpen is a bit better. Either way, it should be a fun home-stretch.

So essentially you'd rather have a player who is seeing the ball well and smoking it sitting on the bench, because he'll eventually regress someday? If the Brewers did that today, they may not have scored enough runs to win the game. They played the hot hand and they were rewarded for it. I'd say I'm pretty happy how RRR's decision played out. Aren't you?

Yuni would have to improve to be below average defensively. Yuni gets singled out for 2 reasons. 1)He has no track record of success in the past few years. 2)For some reason people feel compelled to defend him which is odd, see #1. Neither Yuni or McGehee are doing anything well at this point. Every other player can at least hit enough to make up for their defensive shortcomings. Yuni is probably our worst defender on the field at what is considered a premium defensive position. People felt compelled to defend him, not because they felt that he was good. Nor because they even felt that he was even below average. But because 1) some weren´t being honest about the availablity of other SS options in the offseason and because 2) some were calling out Yuni on multiple plays every game...despite the fact that a difference between Yuni and an average SS is probably a handful of balls per month. There was no objectivity to the attacks made on his game. I was the first in line to say he sucks defensively (look at my signature, it's right there and has been there for months), but some went way, way, way overboard in their criticisms. To the point that some plays that were even borderline Gold Glove caliber plays were meriting him criticism. I can´t tell you how many times I saw a criticism made of him, went back to look at the video online (I have the MLB package) and found the criticism to be totally bogus or very, very questionable. Not to say there weren´t some that were legitimate, there were. But like a said, objectivity is gone for many. Is making such a defense of Yuni not legitimate? He sucks, we get it. But at least try to be objective...yet some posters, have not even tried to look at him with an objective eye, and I think you are one of the most frequent violators. The fact that you´ve dedicated your signature to it is clue #1. The fact that I've never once seen you actually acknowledge a good play he's made is #2. There is no objectivity with you. You don't care about being objective. You just care about banging on your Yuni stinks drum over and over and over...ad naseum. We get it, and we agree with you, he sucks, most of the time he is pretty awful.

I've pointed this out about 100 times over the last 9 years but there is very little evidence that batters who are "hot" continue to perform over their expected performance level. It's 99% statistical noise. Same goes for cold streaks. An excel batter gets hot all the time as well. I'm sure there are times where cold streaks are real but good luck determining when. Yuni has an updated ZiPS projection of .265/.289/.398. There is also a clear consensus among scouts, advanced defensive metrics and the fans; Betancourt is a terrible defensive SS, perhaps the worst everyday SS. He's hit .300/.286/.350 over the last 7 days? Super.I know you´ve said this and made this point before, but I don´t buy it. Just about every major leager I´ve heard speak, says sometimes they go through periods where they see the ball better, and other times they go through periods where they don´t. So clearly, if a player is seeing the ball better, that is a time to leave him in. Some of these things just can´t be categorically slotted away in your statistical boxes. You make these players out to be robots, they aren´t. They are human beings who go through ups and downs. No one is saying he isn´t bad defensively. But even in many of his outs lately, they have been smoked. Like that play to Barmes today. That was likely a double to the wall that was taken away by a gold glove caliber play. Just watching the games you´ll have noticed a difference in his approach and how he is hitting. Now that could go back to his pop ups tomorrow. You keep an eye out for that, and when it happens you begin to platoon him with JHJ. Simple as that. JHJ is a great addition to our team, and I hope he gets a lot of the starts at SS going forward when Betancourt begins to hit as he did in May again. But with the way Betancourt has been smoking the ball, I don´t blame RRR for starting him today. It turned out really well for the Brewers. Betancourt had 2 of the Brewers 5 RBIs, and he could have had more had Barmes not robbed him. In addition as was stated on the broadcast JHJ is coming off of a hand injury. I guess it would probably be wise to ease an older player like him into the lineup. Honestly, our bigger problem today wasn´t SS, it was Counsell playing 3B.

You've now said that twice. Are you saying that based on specific knowledge, or just on the fact of his age and the demands of the position? I just haven't seen that statement anywhere else. I would love to have seen more upgrades, but when you make such a big splash in the offseason, and to a lesser extent in-season, you sort of diminish your expectations for the deadline. I didn't see any allegedly realistic deals that I'm mad we didn't make. If Hairston can indeed play ss at least semi-regularly, I'm not sure I see him as a less attractive pickup than Furcal. Also, I hate trading top prospects for relievers (assuming such a trade might have been possible), and our bullpen situation seems to have settled down lately. I'm saying it because of his age, the demands of the position, and because he hasn't been playing it much lately. I could be wrong, but I just don't see him as an everyday player anymore.

I don't see that as the case. The Brewers were reported to have been looking, quite seriously, at the medical reports of Furcal. Apparently they decided to pass after seeing them. And there were reports of the Brewers contacting the Astros about Barmes as well. So it looks like Melvin was making an effort to upgrade the SS position, it just seems that there weren't any good options, outside of Jerry Hairston Jr, who due to his age won't likely be able to play SS everyday. Right now, I just hope the changes the Brewers did make are enough to get us into the playoffs. Once you are in the playoffs, anything can happen.

Agreed there. Now that the deadline has passed, I hope they bring up Green. It's time to give him a shot. Counsell and McGehee are not the answer. I can't expect Green to be any worse. Wish they could have gotten A-Ram, although for all we know they tried and A-Ram blocked a move with his no-trade clause. We really can't know all that went on behind the scenes.

There is clearly something to players having a good stretch of games where they are seeing the ball well. Betancourt is having a streak where just about every time he has an at bat he is hitting the ball hard. You don't bench him while that is the case. It isn't a terrible strategy, it is the smart move. Clearly your hate for Betancourt isn't even allowing you to make a rational argument. When your tagline is "Anyone but Betancourt", I suppose we already know what argument you are going to make, no matter if it makes sense or not. And in this case, it clearly does not. I don't like Yuni. You clearly haven't read any of my posts. I wanted him replaced by Barmes and Furcal, although apparently there was something about Furcal the Brewers didn't like, and the Astros weren't willing to trade Barmes. It stinks. But in this case, given what we have, with Betancourt hitting as he has been, you have to play him. Especially with our other option (JHJ) coming off of an injury.

More excuses. His defense still stinks and even during his "hot" streak he is barely hitting better than Harriston has been hitting all year. There is no reason at all to continue stating YunE-6 more than a handful of times a week to give other, more talented players, a day off.If that´s what you think, then you honestly haven´t been watching over the past week +. He's been red hot, and hitting far better than what could be expected from Hairston. I don't expect him to keep it up, but while he's a hot hand, you ride it. I know this isn't a game thread, but it is a good thing he started today as he has half of the Brewers RBI.

You can't put this on RR - he has to play these guys and he can only play the guys on his roster. It's Melvin's job to give RR quality players. That said, a number of quality players were available - Furcal was a PERFECT fit and not only did we pass, we let a division rival get him for a fringe prospect. Blows my mind that Melvin wouldn't do that.......... It remains to be seen why the Brewers passed on Furcal. Apparently they saw something they really didn´t like. If he is injured or has been slowed significantly by injury he wouldn´t be a "Perfect Fit". Perhaps the Brewers know something, perhaps they just goofed this up. Only time will tell.

You are right we did. How has he been so far as a starter?Have you been watching the games lately? Betancourt has been red-hot at the plate. I don´t blame Ron at all for letting him play while he´s hitting everything hard.

I am disapppointed we couldn´t swing a trade for Furcal or Barmes. I think that would have put our team over the top. Apparently the Brewers didn´t like what they saw in Furcal and Houston was asking for the moon. At least we found someone in JHJ who can play SS on a part time basis (he´s probably too old to do it every day). Let´s just hope that Yuni continues to swing a hot bat for the rest of the season, because we can´t afford to go back to the black hole we had at SS earlier in the season.

Right, I don´t think anyone can say 100% that he isn´t one of the PTBNL. But based on everything that has been said, it seems highly unlikely. I´m 99% sure that he is not a PTBNL.

YES. So happy to have a legitimate couch who should provide the direction the US needs to take the next step.

Except there are a few things to factor in. 1) Most players do not call the city that they play in home. They may have a flat somewhere, but it is only a place where they stay for 80 days out of the year when they have home games. It may be more "home" than a hotel room, but not much. 2) They travel for a living. They go here, there, and everywhere, and they've all been doing it for years. I imagine that it doesn't much matter where they are, falling asleep will be equally hard or easy. As far as the travel time. It could easily be shown how traveling effects winning. What is the winning percentage of the home team when both teams have to travel to get to the game? versus What is the winning percentage of the home team when only the visiting team had to travel the night before? Find out the difference, and then you'll be able to see if there is anything to the travel argument or not. I still think the biggest impact is positive vs. negative reinforcement and its effect on the human emotions. Science has shown it to be the case. Not saying that traveling and staying in hotels couldn't play a small role as well, but I think the emotions play the far greater role. Another strike against it being primarily traveling would be soccer results in a country like England that is small, and requires little traveling. Yet, in evenly matched games, the home team almost always wins. I think so many on this site want the players to be like robots that aren't capable of having their play altered by emotion, or like to downplay the effect fans do have on the game. There is a lot of science as to why that simply is incorrect.