splitterpfj

Pittsburgh is in now.

His workout for the Angels today must have impressed someone, they've asked to see him again on Saturday.

Assuming he's fully healthy, and not just "good enough to play", I'm sure Hart will help the team. If the starting rotation doesn't start doing MUCH better than they have been, it won't mean much.

That day, he came out and warmed up for the game, and then rain hit, so they delayed the start of the game. He went back out and warmed up again, but he just didn't "have it" that day...everything up in the zone. First batter of the game was a walk, next guy, BOOM, 2-run-shot, welcome to the ballgame. I wasn't there, so I can't comment on his mechanics, but I know the Mets are the only team that has backed off. It's just one of those things, he had possibly his worst game of the season that day.

I agree with those who think Coulter should move off the catcher position now, to allow his bat to develop. I think Jimmy Nelson and Mitch Haniger may be the "safe guys" in the system to root for. They both look like they have the tools to reach the big leagues, without an obvious hole. Victor Roache...power and discipline with holes in his swing, Pat Burrell-ish, perhaps? Arcia...I'll love it if they're right..who wouldn't?

3and2, you're right in general, but then you have what the Mets did. The Mets sent a "bird dog", who liked him and sent him up the ladder, then the area scout liked him and sent him up the ladder, then the crosschecker came to watch him. That was the one, the crosschecker would have recommended him to be drafted, but he had his first bad game in two months that day, and the Mets told him they're out for this year. It's obvious the teams don't all work the same. Oakland has called now, and up until just now, he had never even known they had scouted him. When the Angels asked for a workout, it was the first he'd ever heard from them too. Some of these other teams have been in touch for months.

Pogokat, that's exactly right. When a team gets pushed around this badly for most of a month, FIRE EVERYBODY threads and comments pop up everywhere. It's not like there aren't plenty of changes that might help this club, but each negative is magnified right now. "Should Weeks be replaced in the lineup?" is really the question at this point; the decision on whether or not to recall Gennett should be based on Gennett, not Weeks. If the team thinks Gennett is the future at second base, then they need to promote Gennett when it's the best thing for Gennett. If that's today, fine, if it's not, then it's not.

I think a lot of people thought the Brewers had a chance to compete for a wild card spot, and when I was down in St Louis last weekend, the Cards' TV announcers said as much. The Brewers weren't expected to be great, but they were expected to be competitive, which they certainly are not right now. I don't think this is all on Roenicke by any stretch, but a change wouldn't surprise me in the least. It's time for an honest assessment, well beyond the manager's office. The starting pitching on this team has been awful, there have been times when the baserunning has been inexplicable, the batting order has a great top with no bottom...there are things to fix. It may be time to hit the "reset" button. Doug Melvin has done a nice job here, but he's also in his 11th season with the club, it may be time for a fresh face. Bruce Seid has drafted some future contributors, but it's not like he's built the envy of the industry, maybe a new GM, with a new Director of Scouting would make sense at season's end. There are some pieces to build around, and there are some veterans who are tradeable, if this is all we get from this roster, there's no reason to keep it intact.

One other thing, to give the kid a lot of credit, here's what he said to me about not being drafted out of high school: "I got a break. I had one pitch then, the fastball, and it was 89. I had a curve and a change, but they weren't ready for pro ball, so I would have gotten behind the hitters, and I would have had to throw 89 mile an hour fastballs, which would have been crushed. Now, I'm at 92 every day of the week, my curve is my best pitch, I added a slider which has really worked well, and I have the change, I wouldn't be afraid to throw any of them against pro hitters now. You control what you can control, and forget the rest, I didn't get picked, so I went to college and got bigger and stronger, and now I'm ready."

I know the Mets, Reds and Blue Jays have been to see him multiple times, I believe Seattle has as well. He's reached the point where teams want to know what it'll take to sign, and now he's doing private workouts, so the interest is obvious. Until the Mets backed off, I hadn't heard anything negative at all. There have been other scouts and coaches who heard the Mets told him no, and they've all told him the Mets organization is a mess, and it wouldn't have been a good situation for him anyway. I don't know if that's accurate, but several people have said it to him.

This is really crazy, I could see him going in the 10th round, or not being picked at all. The teams are coming at him fast...the Mets were all over him, but now they say they're out. The Reds are in, as are the Blue Jays and Mariners, he did a private workout for the Dodgers today, and has another with the Angels in a few days. When it gets this close, the activity really picks up, and he's handling it with great poise. His college coach was a 9th round pick once, and there are a couple of retired players in his area, including Frank Catalanotto, who have given him great advice. He absolutely rolled for six weeks, throwing four different pitches well, but then in the opening round of the playoffs he was up in the zone and he got hit...that's the game the Mets' crosschecker saw.

Help me exorcise the demons that are currently haunting the Brewers...post the stuff that needs to be cleansed from this franchise... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Suppan

K-Rod added to Brewers' roster. http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-on-baseball/22247347/brewers-call-up-francisco-rodriguez-prior-to-optout-date

Dear Doug...scrap this plan and send us Robert Wooten.

If Segura agrees to a long-term deal at any point in the next year, I'll be thrilled. Even if the price winds up being higher than it might have been at one point or another, the team will have a young star locked up for quite a while. May we have five more guys like Segura please?

Love him, hate him...have at him...

I'm rooting for Scooter, and I still think he's going to start at second base for someone in the big leagues for a few years. I think he'll be a "just enough" kind of guy for someone to give him a spot. The one really negative development that has happened this year, which could change what I just said, is the complete disappearance of power. Before this season, Scooter was a 30 doubles, 5 homers guy...not much power, but a little something. This season, he has 36 hits, for 42 total bases. That's 31 singles, 4 doubles, 1 triple. If that's what he is going forward, that won't work - pitchers will just pound the strike zone and make him hit it, and he doesn't have the speed to leg out a bunch of extra infield hits, he'll have to poke it into the outfield for a single, A LOT, to have value as a hitter. Scooter doesn't have the speed to steal bases, at the rate he gets caught, it's best if he just stays where he is. I wouldn't call him slow, but just an average runner. He also has an average glove, I don't hear people calling him bad in the field, just average. If you're average on the bases, and average in the field, with almost no power at all, and few walks....all you have is a pile of singles. That won't work, beyond perhaps a career as a pinch hitter. I'm rooting for the 30 doubles and 5 homers to return, and I'm hoping at least a few more walks come with time. If Scooter has a little bit of power, with a decent batting average, I would bet someone will accept his average glove and speed in their lineup for a little while.

He was named Conference Pitcher of the Year today, after having been the preseason choice for the same award. Naturally, he got hit around today in the team's first playoff game.

I locked the thread. 1. Don't curse on this site, which includes implied cursing, "I am so damned sick of ****** like Pete Kozma", does not fly here. 2. Leave religion out. I've been part of this forum since '05 - both of those rules have been around here longer than I have.

It won't happen, there is no way the Brewers will trade Lohse this season, no way, ever. Mr Attanasio just wouldn't allow it, he's was too competitive to leave Lohse on the market and keep the draft pick - there is NO WAY he would allow Lohse to be dealt in the first year of the deal. I don't think it would happen, period, but the soonest the Brewers would ever deal the guy is next year, and that would require a monumental collapse of the team. This owner plays to win first, and build later, and the big club is better with Lohse on it than it would be minus him, plus two in the minor leagues. I know a lot of people hate that, but it's just true. In an interview right before the start of the season, Attanasio said (paraphrasing, it was posted on jsonline), "You always have to weigh winning now vs restocking the farm system for the future - there will always be a lot of pressure from me to win." Lohse plus money this July, just isn't in the mix, Lohse plus money next year, would take the owner deciding his team was out of next year's race, with little hope of being in the 2015 race either. I just don't see this owner accepting a thing like that. If the Brewers had been at .500 last July, I don't believe Jean Segura would be on this team.

Monty, I don't believe the Brewers were the only team willing to sign Lohse, I think Lohse is here because the Brewers were the first team to add a third year to their offer. Losing a first-round draft pick to sign Lohse is the equivalent of trading a team's best A-ball level prospect to get him, which teams might be willing to do, but the kicker is, the team that signed him also loses the money allotted to sign that pick from their draft pool, which may also affect who they take in the next few rounds, knowing they may not be able to offer some kids what it would take to sign them. In a trade scenario, if the Brewers made Lohse available in July, during a race, I simply do not believe there wouldn't be a market for him. Pitching is always in demand, and while the Brewers would have a veteran arm to deal, they'd also have the ability to eat some of the money on the contract, making Lohse less expensive to the acquiring team. I guess it depends on what you would consider a "market" to be, I don't ever see Lohse netting an elite prospect, but I wouldn't be surprised if a team gave up two solid ones to get him, under the right conditions.

To answer the question, there would be a strong market for Lohse, if the Brewers were willing to deal him. He's a good pitcher, and those have always, are always and will always be in demand. As so many have said before me...it'll never happen.

I talked to him tonight. As the draft gets closer, this is getting more interesting. In the past few days, three teams have asked him how much it will take for him to sign. I know which three teams they are, and I know of a fourth that is coming to watch him again in his next start. He has not heard from Milwaukee.

It's hard to know what to make of Gennett. I've always thought he'd play in the big leagues, and I've thought he'd probably be a starting second basemen for a few seasons, and then play as a bench guy for a while. I still think that. I haven't seen him play in person, so I'm going by stats, and scouting reports. My take on him is that he's an average defender, and an average runner in terms of speed; he's also a guy who piles up hits, has very little power, and doesn't walk much. My question to all of you is, does he walk very little because he's not patient enough at the plate, or is it because pitchers pound the strike zone against him because they know a mistake is probably a single? I would assume, with his ability to make contact, he's not up there flailing away, so I'm guessing he sees a lot of strikes, and puts his bat on the ball. Is that right, or should he be walking more?

The Brewers' middle relief was shaky in 2011, so they got K-Rod. and then everyone out there fell in place, and the bullpen was awesome. This is part of the deal, every team starts the season with what is supposed to work, and then adjusts from there. Don't be surprised if we see someone else out there along the way. I realize that's why K-Rod was signed, but just like Henderson last year, there's an under-the-radar guy in Nashville...Robert Wooten.