Brian the Automator

I agree with you that, as a whole, we're a very organic site, and our coverage and our tendencies move with the flow of the crowd. We used to be an extremely self-policing site, moderators were few, and everything flowed free and easy. The problem, as I see it, is that there are a few people who tend to try to dominate conversation, and feel that through thought repetition and the refusal to just let things die a natural death, it ends up being detrimental to the site. It's very hard to "legislate away" that sort of thing... because what do you do?... post limit counts? limits based on the number of times a particular sentiment occurs from a poster in a given period? It's impossible. I think we've taken moderation more seriously, because the situation has required it. We're sort of into uncharted territory here as far as sports forums go... If there's a model of a forum this big that's been around for a while and hasn't decayed into anarchy, I'm always VERY interested in studying their successes. We've looked at Sons of San Horn and RedsZone.com and are trying to go with a best-of-breed approach to keeping the site strong.

wow... the guy I wanted, they took. that's like a total first. I think I should get like a free t-shirt or something.

It's been a while since I've posted regularly due to some pretty intense "real life" things I've had to deal with, but I think the conception of censorship vs. rules and standards is an important one. We've received a large amount of feedback over the course of running the site. Some people have left, either because our standards are too high, or our standards are too low. Some people email us with feedback or start threads like these because controls are too tough, or not tough enough. There's a pretty substantial number of people that contribute to lengthy discussions about what promotes the sites ideals going forward. We've been referred to as Yost-bashers, and Yost-apologists all at the same time. It's very easy for people to criticize (and I don't mean bash) what we do hear, because it's very rare when every decision we make will line up with someone's way they'd optimally like to see the site run. Heck, there are things I've certainly compromised on regarding the site, and ultimately, I'm on the hook for everything here. I'm confident that we've made far more good decisions than bad decisions since we've opened the doors in 2001, and I really think our traffic and our loyalty among site members shows that. That's not to say that we may make decisions that are going to push some people away. I'm not trying to say "deal with it", but at the same time, we're doing what we believe are the best things to make this the premier place to talk about Brewers baseball, and if it means sacrificing posts and views and perhaps even the ability of users to find it unacceptable to post here anymore, we're going to live with those choices.

I hope that's not a setup for an "I told you so". I believe many of use have an asterisk next to our claims that the sky is falling (asterisk being it's not a straight Cameron for Cabrera swap, and for me, that the money isn't used to take on a bad-contract starting pitcher).

If they can get a start pitcher back, it would change the deal completely for me. I've always like Phil Hughes, even despite his major league struggles, and Ian Kennedy would be a fine addition to the team. Even if it meant dealing Hall and eating a bit of salary, it would be worth it to me to get one of those two pitchers.

With still a strong core of players, and enough minor league talent to go out and "get another Sabathia" at the trade deadline, I'd argue that they would have a legitimate chance at the WC again in 2009. Throw in some Horsey sauce, and most rational people would accept Arby's from just about anyone.

Yeah, you're getting a mediocre player at $450k... Honestly, I'd rather have TGJ out there in CF, and I really don't like TGJ all that much. I really don't feel the team needed to shed Cameron's salary. If they're able to pull of some amazing fleeces in the near future for starting pitching, I'll gladly eat crow... but if this just paves the way for an inbound Kevin Millwood or Vincente Padilla, it'll be an extremely disappointing offseason for me. I'll reserve judgement as I always do until opening day when the roster's set, but right now, I'm not looking all that forward to the Brewers in 2009.

I guess I don't understand what the fascination is with Melky Cabrera. His minor league numbers have never screamed huge upside to me, and his major league production (so far) certainly hasn't been anything to write home about. Melky just seems like he's part of the NYY prospect hype machine. .767 career minor league OPS (.347 OBP) .703 major league OPS (.329 OBP) Is this supposed to be exciting? I really hope it's more than a one-for-one deal, because it just seems to me that Cameron was barely worth re-signing if this is the return.

candy corn on the cob.

I'll give this one an official "meh"... Assuming it's 1.5M or less, it's probably a decent gamble. The only question I have is what will his official mocking nickname be when he goes through his first cold streak.

Isn't Javier Vazquez just Jeff Suppan with a few more K's instead of ground balls?... Just seems like an innings-eater to me.

It certainly was a fitting end, but the Andre 3000/Acaveda stuff seemed pretty forced... would have also been nice to get resolution on Dutch's case, but I guess not everything needed to be addressed.

They do have Waffle House.

I think there's always been a particular fondness at Brewerfan for players who: a) don't make a ton of money and b) are known for either carrying a high OBP or high SLG percentage while maintaining a low batting average, making them somewhat perceived as undervalued.

Dave Roberts: 2005: .784 OPS 2006: .753 OPS (-31) 2007: .695 OPS (-58) 2008: .621 OPS (-74) Isn't that pretty much the dictionary definition of declining with age?

Obviously, if it turns out that JP is moving on, I'm excited for him and wish him all the best. At the same time, I really, really, really, hope he doesn't leave.

Wow. The whole Shane thing was powerful sad. I guess for Vic, it was a fate worse than death, so it's fitting.

The Jason Bourgeois sweepstakes is over already?

I'm ANXIOUSLY awaiting the final episode as well. The Shield has been easily one of my top 5 favorite shows.

Ayala's a free agent.

Who's available, and what would you be willing to give up?

Given that the Brewers have serious bullpen questionmarks this year, I'd give Eduardo Morlan (TB) a shot.

If Lowell swung from the left side of the plate, I'd be a lot more interested.

link http://www.japantimes.co.jp/images/photos2008/sb20080729j1a.jpg 39 years old with a 3.50 ERA last year in Japan?... Just doesn't seem like it would translate to MLB success.

The one thing that I'm sure of is that I don't have the right kind of drugs for this video.