And That

Hell with it, call up Gamel and LaPorta for a few weeks to inject anything into the lineup.

So. Frustrating.

Can Simmons fire Skaalen?

This team is just not fun to watch right now.

Hardy threw the ball waaaaay before his foot hit the bag.

I miss the point of making a joke about 25+ guys who are a hair away from the big leagues, trying as hard as they can to make Nashville a winning team.

I've never been a big fan of using non-specific Indian names (ie, Indians and Redskins) for team sports names because if you substitute other groups into that space, it sounds bad and doesn't even make sense. Like, "The Cleveland African-Americans" or "The Washington Mexicans" - it's a dumb, slippery slope.

I said it during the offseason and I'll repeat it again: no way do I trade Gamel unless it's in a deal for a bona fide major league #2 or better. I don't think the corner outfield is a foregone conclusion for him and that makes his value as a non LF/RF/1B guy astronomical to the Brewers. He's still worth much more to the Brewers than to other teams.

Ryan Braun has the higher upside at the plate due to his ability to launch any ball he can get the bat (and any part of the bat) on. He's one of the strongest hitters the Brewers have ever had. He still has weak spots in his swing and his plate discipline is a work in progress. If he puts it all together, he could be a perennial All-Star and frankly has the offensive tools to put himself on a HoF path. The Brewers put him in the outfield way too late, though I guess it's hard to argue that it affected him at the plate in 2007. If Ryan can learn to take bad pitches and consistently use the whole field with balls out of his wheelhouse, the sky is the limit. I worry somewhat that he's already had his best year, though that's mitigated somewhat by a)that last year was a helluva year and b)he'll still be arbitration eligible for his 27 and 28 year old seasons. I've liked his work in LF and I think he could make a good defensive CF, too. His throws and routes have generally been good. Matt LaPorta is just a masher. He doesn't look like the wiry physical specimen that Braun is, but he's going to be a solid major league hitter. Just how good he can be is a little up in the air, but he clearly has more plate discipline than Braun at the same age. While Braun could flame out or go to Cooperstown, LaPorta probably isn't going to do either. And he is what he is on defense - not spectacular, but good enough. I hope they move him back to first base eventually (yes, you can read between the lines there). I don't think he'll have the rookie campaign Braun did, but I'd have no problem bringing him up to DH during the AL interleague games. He just hits.

Oblique strains can be long term, worrisome injuries. Hopefully it isn't too serious. I get the distinct feeling that barring a long-term injury or melt down, we'll see DiFelice in Milwaukee sometime this year. Now all we have to do is trade for Mike DiFelice...

I'm sure the Nashville Sounds players and fans appreciate your attempt at comedy, at their expense.

This is not a Ned Yost thread.

I hate hate.

Villareal is the only *player* the Astros have left. Everyone else is a starting pitcher.

I've been a big fan of Albert Pujols for a few years now.

Turnbow was also a dominant reliever for a time. Wise never was. I'll take Turnbow potential over Wise potential every time out of AA relievers.

I believe FtJ was referring to McClung's control issues, hitting someone other than Johnson.

Actually there are 134 games left.

This will be my only contribution to the IGT today, in memory of Gallardo's 2008 season. http://www.astro.washington.edu/laws/MRO/home.page/mro.gph/black.square.jpg

The condescension is getting pretty thick in the Yost talk. Tone it down please.

They can transfer him when they want to, but they only have 37 guys on the 40-man right now, so they don't need to put him on the 60-day DL. And yes, blue is for sarcasm.

I hope the Brewers don't make a knee-jerk trade for a pitcher. And I don't think they will. We need to sort out what we have and see where we are after we do. If the team feels they need to trade for a starter, I don't think they'll reach that conclusion until the end of June.

JB12, I don't think we're that far off in what we think of Ryan. I think he's somewhere between 51-60 on the prospect list, you think he's around 40. There's a lot of nebulousness there. First of all, Ryan went into this season with more strikeouts (168) than hits allowed (156) in his pro career and 7.8 per 9 innings. It's not like he doesn't strike anybody out. I think this has to do with a competition issue. I've long said I don't really pay attention to how well a college guy does (unless it's badly) until he gets to AA. Third, I had guys tell me Villanueva was a fringe prospect 3 years ago because A. He didn't throw hard. B. He gave up too many HR and C. He was pitching in friendly Florida State League. How'd that turn out? Villenueva and Ryan are different pitchers in different circumstances. Only difference is one is a starter, and one is a reliever. That's a pretty big difference.

It's too early to worry about trading for another starting pitcher. Let's see where we are at the end of May and at the end of June.

"No decision will be made on surgery until the swelling subsides in Gallardo's knee. But he in all likelihood will miss most if not all the rest of the season, a severe blow to the Brewers' chances in 2008." Yippity freakin' doo-dah.