And That

Gamel may or may not turn out to be alright at third base. The Brewers learned their lesson with Ryan Braun and won't push Gamel as hard, as fast even though he has the bat to warrant it. They've talked about keeping him at third base all year in AA. I assume that at the end of the year, they'll make a decision on whether or not Mat can stick there. If he can't, it is off to a corner outfield spot. Gamel's problems at third are almost identical to Braun's - poor footwork leading to errant throws possibly leading to mental wear. I don't know if the writer of that article has seen him play or not, but if you've seen him play, you'd know he has the talent (much like Braun) to play an adequate third base. It's just a matter of getting over the footwork hurdle. Gamel has a good arm for the hot corner, and his bat is vastly underrated in my opinion. He can be an average third baseman defensively. He could also be a very good third baseman offensively. He's third on my prospect list, with a bullet. JoeHova's right about Salome's arm. It's off the charts. His other defensive skills, including throwing accuracy, blocking the plate and game calling, are all lacking. He should hit decently to well for a catcher, but unlike Gamel he's kind of chained to the position. He's so short and squat (a muscular squat) that his body type doesn't really play anywhere else on the diamond.

Gamel may or may not turn out to be alright at third base. The Brewers learned their lesson with Ryan Braun and won't push Gamel as hard, as fast even though he has the bat to warrant it. They've talked about keeping him at third base all year in AA. I assume that at the end of the year, they'll make a decision on whether or not Mat can stick there. If he can't, it is off to a corner outfield spot. Gamel's problems at third are almost identical to Braun's - poor footwork leading to errant throws possibly leading to mental wear. I don't know if the writer of that article has seen him play or not, but if you've seen him play, you'd know he has the talent (much like Braun) to play an adequate third base. It's just a matter of getting over the footwork hurdle. Gamel has a good arm for the hot corner, and his bat is vastly underrated in my opinion. He can be an average third baseman defensively. He could also be a very good third baseman offensively. He's third on my prospect list, with a bullet. JoeHova's right about Salome's arm. It's off the charts. His other defensive skills, including throwing accuracy, blocking the plate and game calling, are all lacking. He should hit decently to well for a catcher, but unlike Gamel he's kind of chained to the position. He's so short and squat (a muscular squat) that his body type doesn't really play anywhere else on the diamond.

The guy who does the Law and Order titles? Or, is it Bobby Fisher?

There's a vent thread and it's February 4th.

Ivan Lendl.

I fast-forwarded through the Super Bowl for the commercials. There were some alright ones, but I think the era of great Super Bowl commercials is officially toast. I liked the Planters Cashews one the best, the Diet Pepsi Max thing was decent and I remember some of the Bud Light ones being sort of humorous. Nothing that memorable. Agreed about those strange salesgenie.com ads. I didn't think the first one was racist so much as culturally weird, but the second one with the pandas was pretty darn close to meeting my definition of racist.

For those interested in going to the political link in the above post, the people posting in that forum may be posting PG-13 to R material with some regularity. The forum will be moving away from any Brewerfan connection (except for the link from the Off-Topic forum) in the near future.

That's a new and strange sort of quasi-organizational promotion.

Daleks! http://www.historyvortex.org/SilverDalekWorker.jpg

http://brewerfanpoliticalscene.yuku.com/ As we enter the heart of another presidential election cycle, I've decided to dust off the Brewerfan Political Scene. While I'm sure we've all enjoyed politics and religion staying out of Brewerfan, I'm sure many people here would like to have a place to talk about those very things with fellow members. This is where the Brewerfan Political Scene comes in. Before venturing over there, it is important to keep one thing in mind: Brewerfan Political Scene is not an extension of Brewerfan other than in name. Brian and the other staff members/moderators of Brewerfan have nothing to do with this. While the communities will share many members, the communities are separate. There are a few rule differences at the 'BPS: -I am presently the only moderator -I do not see this as a heavy workload problem because there won't be much moderation on the forum -I will not start out with a single rule in place on the forum, as sort of an (ill-fated?) internet social experiment -If for some reason you find your self getting the ban hammer on the 'BPS, that will not apply to your Brewerfan membership -There is no language/swear filter... I don't want this to change, but wide-spread abuse my force my hand at some point That's about it for now. If I think of anything else later, I'll add it in reply to this post. Cheers and happy politicking! -Toby, 'BPS Autocrat P.S. If you have any questions about this, I'm about to start a thread in the "General Discussion" forum on 'BPS.

See, I would have gone Taintess McFadden. Ivana Lendl?

I got my BA Prospect Handbook today and while I won't list their entire list, here's the top 5 plus the NL Central: 1. Rays 2. Red Sox 3. Reds 4. Rangers 5. Yankees ... 13. Cardinals ... 20. Cubs 21. Brewers (They mention they think Jack Z. will be able to restock the system.) ... 26. Pirates ... 30. Astros

Sir Taint Goochburn McFadden IV?

Ivan Lendl.

The Brewers are backed up with 1B prospects at the lower levels. If Wilson can play 3B, he'll play 3B plenty. Wheeler will also play 3B, and I imagine some 2B too. Newton is plus on the power side. He was injured in '06, hence his late arrival to the party. And once again, Chapman has nothing to prove in West Virginia. There's almost no doubt he'll be in Brevard.

And you forgot Ring. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Zion is almost exactly halfway between Omro and Oshkosh on Highway K. Population of ~8.

As I've said before, I think Brantley will get plenty of time in OF, but he'll also get plenty of time at 1B because the Brewers have higher priorities/better athletes ticketed in the OF in AA right now. Chapman has nothing left to prove in WV... didn't he set a HR record there? Wheeler will split time with Wilson at 3B, and Wilson will also play 1B with Newton and Rindal.

If there's anyone I forgot, feel free to let me know. I didn't mention any guys currently assigned to rookie clubs not on a full-season club because that would have taken forever to type out. I'm struck by the amount of home-grown talent in AAA. While Nix and DiFelice can't be considered home-grown, they both have been around for more than a season now. Not the break-out talent we've all been spoiled by in recent years, but there is a lot of help there. Who knew The Hurricane could be the guy to replace Cameron in 2009? The AA pitching staff, as I have it, has four lefties in the rotation and one lefty in the pen (I put Housman there against my inclination to put a number of righties there). That could be a fun club to watch... LaPorta is LaPorta, Gamel is a stud, and I believe Bell and Gillespie are poised for breakout years. Adding Salome later on will make them even better. I initially had Dave Johnson in AAA, but with all the arms there, I could see them giving him some time at the end of AA games. The Brevard club may be the most boring of the bunch. The offense is always suppressed there, no matter what milb.com studies will have you believe. If Errecart is healthy, I could see Alonso repeating West Virginia. Mark Rogers coming back is big news, and Alex Periard could push his stock forward quite a bit. Brae Wright quietly had a good year in 2007. Matt Kretzschmar and Omar Aguilar both have superb arms. Jon Lucroy is my favorite new full season prospect outside of LaPorta. Can't wait to see how he does. And Caleb Gindl is a bat splinter behind Lucroy. There's any number of guys that could fill the Miller and Fonseca roles, including including Scotty McKnight, Zach McAngus, Matt Cline, Miguel Vasquez and Carlos Hereud. Boatloads of pitching talent here and that's without considering Braddock, Ramirez, Jeffress, Chad Robinson, Wes Etheridge, Efrain Nieves, Cody Scarpetta and Rolando Pascual.

IIRC, it used to be Ratch and Benzie's Pizza. Benzie split off and started his own place. A number of years ago he actually sold the business to his long time waitress/manager Mary, and now she runs it (last I knew). When I lived out in rural Wisconsin between Oshkosh and Omro (if anyone has heard of a place called Zion, Wisconsin I congratulate you) we used to get West End carry-out for special treats. And occasionally Pizza Pit, but that place was pretty sketchy.

I need one more document to complete my tax return and rake in my refund. EduCap Financial Services, I'm looking at you.

Bobby Fisher.

I forget which kind of mini pizzas they had there... those were good too. Speaking of Oshkosh pizza, Doctor Benzie's Pizza is my favorite pizza on the planet. It's further north on main, due east of UW-O. I would seriously consider breaking vegan for a few slices of their taco pizza.

Not sure how much of a lead-in this needs. This isn't meant to be any sort of major league prognostication. For the Brewers, I just put in what I thought fit best at the moment. The minor leagues are more intuitive based on what I know about the players and what I know about how the Brewers move players around. There are a number of players I didn't put on any of the rosters due to suspensions and injuries that occurred last year. If I'm not very sure that a player has recovered from his injury, I did not place him on a roster. It could be that the player is fully healthy and will make a team, however I am not clairvoyant in such matters. If a player is healthy and not assigned to a club, it is my opinion that someone else has a leg up on roster spot they are vying for. * = positional starter ^ = piggyback rotation starter MLB Catcher: Jason Kendall*, Eric Munson Infield: Prince Fielder*, Rickie Weeks*, J.J. Hardy*, Bill Hall*, Craig Counsell, Joe Dillon Outfield: Ryan Braun*, Corey Hart*, Gabe Gross*, Tony Gwynn Jr., Gabe Kapler Starting pitchers: Ben Sheets, Yovanni Gallardo, Jeff Suppan, Carlos Villanueva, Chris Capuano Relief pitchers: Dave Bush, Saloman Torres, Guillermo Mota, Derrick Turnbow, David Riske, Brian Shouse Closer: Eric Gagne Suspended: CF Mike Cameron Not assigned to a club: C Mike Rivera, SP Claudio Vargas, MR Seth McClung AAA Catcher: Lou Palmisano*, Vinny Rottino Infield: Brad Nelson*, Abraham Nunez*, Alcides Escobar*, Adam Heether*, Ozzie Chavez, Steve Sollmann Outfield: Laynce Nix*, Hernan Iribarren*, Brendan Katin*, Steve Moss Starting pitchers: Manny Parra, Zach Jackson, Steve Hammond, Derrick Miller, Mike DiFelice Relief pitchers: Tim Dillard, Randy Choate, Scott Cassidy, Erasmo Ramirez, Steve Bray, Mitch Stetter Closer: Luismar Pena Not assigned to a club: C Brian Munhall, SP Mike Jones (injury), SP Lindsey Gulin, SP Nic Ungs, MR Franklin Nunez, MR Jason Karnuth, MR Juan Sandoval, MR Joe Bateman, MR Jason Shiell AA Catcher: Carlos Corporan*, J.R. Hopf Infield: Mike Brantley*, Mike Bell*, Yohannis Perez*, Mat Gamel*, Guilder Rodriguez, Ryan Crew Outfield: Matt LaPorta*, Lorenzo Cain*, Cole Gillespie*, Mel Stocker Starting pitchers: Sam Narron, Rafael Lluberes, David Welch, Chris Cody, Chris Narveson Relief pitchers: Josh Wahpepah, Ben Stanczyk, Brett Campbell, Jeff Housman, Rob Hinton, Patrick Ryan Closer: Dave Johnson Suspended: C Angel Salome Not assigned to a club: MR Thomas Atlee, MR E.J. Shanks A+ Catcher: Andy Bouchie*, Anderson Delarosa Infield: John Alonso*, Ken Holmberg*, Brent Brewer*, Taylor Green*, Jimmy Mojica, Ryan Barba Outfield: Steve Chapman*, Darren Ford*, Charlie Fermaint*, Chuck Caufield, Freddy Parejo Starting pitchers: Mike McClendon, Brae Wright, Shawn Ferguson, Alexandre Periard, Mark Rogers^, Mike Ramlow^ Relief pitchers: Travis Wendte, Reid Dickert, D.J. Lidyard, Matt Kretzschmar, Jose Romero Closer: Omar Aguilar Not assigned to a club: 1B Chris Errecart (injury), 1B Ned Yost IV, MR Rusty Tucker A Catcher: Jon Lucroy*, Nestor Corredor Infield: Eric Newton*, Eric Farris*, Brad Miller*, Steffan Wilson*, David Fonseca, Zelous Wheeler Outfield: Kurt Crowell*, Lee Haydel*, Caleb Gindl*, Curt Rindal, Mike Goetz Starting pitchers: Roque Mercedes, Amaury Rivas, Bobby Bramhall, Evan Anundsen^, Rob Bryson^, Jose Garcia^, R.J. Seidel^ Relief pitchers: Donovan Hand, Curtis Pasma, Nick Tyson, Casey Baron Closer: Dan Merklinger Suspended: SP Jeremy Jeffress Not assigned to a club: C Martin Maldonado, SP Zach Braddock (injury), SP Luis Ramirez (injury), MR Jared Sutton

I guess it's just cos I moved from Oshkosh to the Twin Cities that by comparison I remember Oshkosh as being dull, but I remember Oshkosh as being dull. I do love The Magnet, tho.

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