Patrick425

This was one of my main thoughts as well. The unwritten rules of baseball existed in the mid 80's as well, maybe even more-so.

Don't forget about this: http://m.mlb.com/news/article/3084786/ A lot of people thought we were "trading the farm" at that point. Without Fielder the Brewers don't make the playoffs in 2008. People tend to cherry pick regarding these trades and just remember the prospects that ended up actually having good careers and forgetting the ones that ended up being not much at all. When you have a chance to make a run for the playoffs I will trade away unproven "prospects" for proven major leaguers every single time. You are not seriously going to compare a small market MLB team to a small market NFL team. Not sure where to start, but it's apples and oranges. Salary cap, National TV deal with a lot more revenue sharing. Green Bay does not have to compete economically with the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Angels of the world who all have separate TV deals that dwarf that of teams like the Brewers (yes, they share some of that, but not like in football). Also, their drafts picks often contribute the very next season. Baseball teams don't usually see the fruits of their drafts until 3 or 4 years later and many times the "can't miss" prospects they draft end up missing badly. I don't think the Brewers made moves for a "prolonged" period of time. They did it when it was appropriate to do it. Here is a list of big names they drafted in the early/mid 2000's and the year of their debut: Fielder: Drafted: 2002 Debuted: 2005 Weeks: 2003/2003 (first yr of real significant playing time was 2005) Hart: 2000/2004 Hardy: 2001/2005 Braun: 2005/2007 Gallardo: 2004/2007 Ok, so as you can see, lots of offense, little pitching. They needed pitching to make it to the playoffs. They could have done nothing, made no trades, and waited for pitchers like Peralta( drafted 2005/ debuted 2012), Odorizzi (2008/2012), and Nelson (2010/2013) to come up and hope that they would all be effective in the majors (which there is never a guarantee that they will be). By the time they came up and were all ready to contribute, the possibility of still having that offensive core together and be able to pay them was not likely at all. So, they either had to trade for pitching or sign free agent pitcher. We all know that the Brewers are never going to compete for pitchers like Sabathia and Grienke in the FA market. It's pretty much impossible to have an entire team of home grown talent on the MLB ballclub at the same time. There are always holes to fill. You either have to do that through FA pickups (not a reasonable plan for the Brewers) or be willing to trade some of the future for guys to fill those holes.

...along with still looking for our first playoff appearance in 30+ years? I know we don't want to rehash and this is a conversation about building for the future. Yes, let's build for the future and then strike when the time is right. Sorry, but there are windows of opportunity and franchises like Milwaukee have to take advantage of them when they come up. I think believing that you are going to build some sort of dynasty in Milwaukee by always building for the future and never willing to trade prospects is flawed. I think that just leads to many years of maybe being competitive, but not quite making the playoffs because you were unwilling to trade to fill in the missing piece or two that was needed.

Make better choices in life and you won't have to worry about whether or not you being treated fairly for stupid things you decided to do.

Simmons is a great choice, i just figured that he really has no interest in doing it full time. Yeah, Simmons would be interesting. However, for some reason, I also fear a "Forrest Gregg" type vibe with him.

I also wholeheartedly agree. However, the key words are "at this point". It's clear that is the direction the Brewers should take now. Time to "clean house" and build for the future. However, when the future arrives, please don't be angry when the Brewers then trade whatever prospects they still have in the system for guys to help them win now (as they did with Sabathia and Grienke). Seems like there are some on this board who never want to trade prospects and always want to build for the future. I realize that neither Sabatihia or Grienke garnered the Brewers a WS appearance, but I'm not sure that they would have been any better off today if they had not made those trades and they may have still been searching for their first playoff birth since 1982 (they definitely would not have made it in 2008 without Sabathia).

True, but in the words of John Bender, if we let PrinceFielderx1 in, we have to let everyone in...it will be anarchy!

Things could always be worse! http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/si_online/covers/images/1988/0502_large.jpg For those not old enough to remember, the O's actually actually started 0-21 that season. Cal Ripken Sr was replaced by Frank Robinson after they were 0-6.

Jason Rogers

Crazy offensive display!!! ....Ughhh Braun....

I would be all for this and would love it if they could somehow get some kind of return for Braun. Even if he returns to his old form, it's like a hood ornament on a Pinto. I know that there are a lot of Braun defenders on this board, but to me it just seems like he has lost his enthusiasm for the game. There are some players who relish being booed and hated. They thrive on that. I don't think Braun is one of those players. I think he was much happier and played much looser when he was an "up and coming" and well-liked MLB star. That seems like an obvious statement, but I think all the negativity that follows him, especially on the road, bothers him much more than he lets on. When I watch him now, it seems like he's just going through the motions. I definitely don't see him as being an effective leader on the team. Unfortunately, not sure what kind of return we could get for him at this point without having to pay a decent portion of his contract.

I agree. Seemed like an innocent and reasonable question. It wasn't like he was asking for the 3rd base coaches signs or the scouting report for their next opponent. Imagine how mad he would be if his team was 2-11!

Anyone going to watch this tonight? Seems like it might be interesting, but also seems like it may be a bit of information overload: http://m.mlb.com/news/article/119234412/statcast-technology-debut-2015-cardinals-nationals-mlb-network

How do you measure managers then...not at all? You used the words average to mediocre, so you must have some measuring stick. I disagree with the notion that managers have zero impact. I wouldn't say that they are one of the top reasons a team succeeds or doesn't succeed, but they are one of the ingredients. I'm a huge believer in team chemistry (sorry stat-heads. I love stats too, but I also think there are other intangibles that make the sports world go round). I takes a special mentality to be the first one to the park every day and the last one to leave for the course of 7 months or more and and then have to deal with the delicate egos of athletes that are getting paid many multiples of what you are making. If just one or two of your star players don't like you for whatever reason, you probably are going to have team chemistry problems....and I can't help but believe that that doesn't carry on to the field in some fashion. I think it's harder to break team slumps when you have that kind of atmosphere.

Bryan Price is not a $@%$& happy man!! http://www.cincinnati.com/story/redsblog/2015/04/20/bryan-price-reds/26101107/

This is the one I remember the most. I don't think it was that long ago. I believe this was a discussion more about the benefits of being a season ticket holder than it was an optimistic comment about the Brewers. No, not that difficult, just really really expensive.

I find this statement really ironic. You do understand that without Selig their is no Miller Park (or Milwaukee Brewers), right?

I know you mean on a regular basis, but hard for me not to think about Rick Manning after his game winning hit with Molitor on deck still needing a hit to extend his hitting streak in 1987 (I was at that game).

Costas is doing the game now on the radio. Pretty cool...even though I know he leans towards the Cards.

Listening on AM620....getting tired of the NWS tests! I understand the need to do it, but seems like overkill. Do they really need to do two of them a half hour a part and do they need to list just about every county and body of water in WI? Anyways, yes, Kris Davis is a horrible fielder. I don't know if there is any measure for this, but I would guess that he may have the weakest arm in MLB and he never seems to get very good jumps on the ball.

Wow, never realized that we had a professional comedian on the board! I guess I should have stated that as saying it's "my" benchmark for "my" sense of humor. I realize that there are differences in what people find humorous. That's why there are comedians with so many different styles of comedy.

I have found over the last 20 years or so that if I'm talking to someone and they say that they "don't like", "never got", or "never watched" Seinfeld, it instantly changes my image of that person in a negative way and I know that we will never really ever be good friends. This may sound like an irrational way to judge people, and maybe it is, but sense of humor is a huge factor in regards to whether or not I can ever really get along well with someone. To me, Seinfeld is the benchmark in judgement of sense of humor. As Jerry's mom would say, "How can anyone not like Seinfeld?!" Sorry to anyone on the board that doesn't like Seinfeld. It's not that I don't like you. I just know, from that little piece of information, that we probably do not have a whole lot in common.

At least most people would know what it means. I have Brewer plates with "19 HOF". Most people have no idea what it means. Went to Saturday's Brewer game and the person taking my parking pass asked if it was for B.J. Hoffman? I asked her if she meant B.J. Surhoff or Trevor Hoffman, got a blank stare, then I said it's not related to either of them and then drove away because I figured I had wasted enough time of the people behind me in line. I need to come up with different plates. I'm tired of answering questions about the meaning of my plates. I would be stunned if more people knew what "8 LIES" meant than "19 HOF" Oh, I would bet that twice as many know what 8 LIES means than what 19 HOF means. Anyone who is a current Brewer fan pretty much knows who wears #8. You would not believe how many don't know who wore #19. Most of the people that ask me don't even know what 19 represents and the ones that do don't get the HOF at all. I fell like most people think HOF is one of 2 things: - Trevor Hoffman - David Hasselhof (why one would reference him on a Brewer's plate, I have no idea). ....and then the .01% who think it's in regards to someone named B.J. Hoffman.

At least most people would know what it means. I have Brewer plates with "19 HOF". Most people have no idea what it means. Went to Saturday's Brewer game and the person taking my parking pass asked if it was for B.J. Hoffman? I asked her if she meant B.J. Surhoff or Trevor Hoffman, got a blank stare, then I said it's not related to either of them and then drove away because I figured I had wasted enough time of the people behind me in line. I need to come up with different plates. I'm tired of answering questions about the meaning of my plates.

So after his first start with the Cubs last week Jon Lester was asked about how his lack of throwing over to first and he responded with something along the lines of it's not a big deal, he just hasn't had the need to throw over to first for the last 2 years. Then this, from last night's game.... https://youtu.be/U73Pr7Lg-Zc Yeah Jon, it's not a big deal at all...perfectly normal not to throw over to first for 2 years as a left handed pitcher