Turning2

I stepped away from following pro ball around 1986 when salaries and such were beginning to get stupid, and teams couldn't retain their players. So, no, I don't know anything about the Braun / Fielder era teams. The game has been taken over by the moneyball front office mindset thanks to Bill Gates providing the software to overanalyze what baseball didn't need to obsess about for over a century. In my mind, stats are calculable, whereas metrics are highly subjective and can be twisted to serve talking points and a cottage industry developed by computer nerds. When I speak of power, I don't mean it is the end all be all. Of course, you have to have more to your game than just power. That's what HRs, batting average, RBI's traditionally provided. On base and slugging percentages are useful too. But I put no stock in any of the Wins about replacement because from what I've read it's how much value you bring which equates to W's versus your replacement. You simply can't measure that because there are 8 other guys / positions whose performances have to be accounted for in a W or L. These supposition metrics just provide often useless data that some use to create new employment opportunities. The data paints a picture that doesn't necessarily reflect reality. I have to question how baseball managers ever managed to win without all these new measurements. Purely dumb luck? No, they indentified guys who could hit, play defense, pitch, run and had baseball instinct and smarts. They also recognized guys who had the competitive fire and heart for the game. There are no metrics that can spit out data on that. It's a new era for a younger generation weaned on video games and XL spreadsheets and I'm old... it is what it is LOl. 😁

Arnold is doing exactly what is expected of him by the ownership group. With a limited budget, keep the team just competitive enough not to lose the fan base from coming to the games and spending gobs of money on merch and overpriced concessions. His job is to provide that summer of entertainment that Attanasio so famously referenced. That sounds like a slight, but I mean it as a complement. It's the reality of small market baseball in a MLB's ridiculously imbalanced economic environment. With any luck, ownership hopes they catch lightning in a bottle and actually win something meaningful like another league championship after 50 odd years. That's what the whole "just get in the playoffs" mantra is all about... banking on the hope of getting hot at just the right time while not going bankrupt getting there. The Packers are in a similar situation, Keeping Lambeau filled due to being competitive is jobe #1, that entire city economy largely depends on the Packers not being perennial cellar dwellars. Winning a SB is just icing on the cake. How the hell can WI have the smallest market in both MLB and the NFL... crazy.

My posts probably come off too hard on short stature guys. It's the light hitting more than the height. Nothing wrong with 5'8" Jose Ramirez who has a ton of power. Collins is 27, just breaking into the top level at age 27. When Ramirez was 27, he hit 17 HRs and .292 average. When he was 25, same age as Frelick and Durb, he hit 39 with a .270 average. Maybe some of these guys will develop bigger power numbers (not expecing HOF numbers like Ramirez) as they grow older, but they're already mid 20's and older.

? Never heard of that. Is that another of the new fangled metrics that have been invented. My 4 wins for a corner OF are (regardless of size) .265+ average Minimum of 15 HRs At least average defense At least average speed Frelick checks off all those but the power which, nbt surprisingly, brings it back to where my opinions started.

I like the guys, and they are developing, but "playing well" is a bit of a stretch for me. Frelick has the gold glove defense and an excellent batting average. He's a keeper. But let's say he winds up with 10-12 HRs for the year. Is that want from a corner OF? Not ideally. Collins is an older guy just now breaking into the bigs. He's probably peaking before our eyes. The average is good at the moment, and he's on pace for about 10 HRs. Is it enough? Maybe. Durbin.. pretty much the same thing except he's a rookie. I like scrappy underdogs, and they are playing well enough to give us a...... summer of entertainment LOL. Hopefully they are really polished by the time the farm thumpers get called up in a couple of years. That could be an exciting balance of power and speed give us a few autumns of entertainment.

It helps to have a slew of MVPs woven into the roster and an unlimited payroll budget. Yes, smaller guys can hit for power, ours just don't. That power tends to come from bigger guys regardless. Don't get me wrong - I like our smaller, scrappy guys, they've grown on me. The scouts, GM, coaches and owner just need to find a way to get more thump in the lineup that can stay healthy. Find 5 guys that can provide 20+HRs. Thought they might have that this year, but it hasn't panned out. Yelli, Hosk, Contreras, Chourio, Mitchell.... Could have been a "wallbanger" redux.

Begging to differ... Slugging / power still matter. We like these guys because they are our guys. But unless they can hit dingers like Altuve or Pedroia, you're only going to go so far with small, fast, defense first, light hitting players making up roughly a third of the starting lineup. How many WS champs over the past 15 years have had 3-4 players under 5'9" in their everyday lineups? I'm not going to look it up, but I wouldn't be surprised if the answer is zero.

But the point is, they aren't "winning" on run prevention. Winning lots of regular season games and division championships, yes.. but that is not the "winning" we're talking about. This franchise needs deep post season success and a WS championship. They need more thumpers to do that. Yes, the farm is currently loaded with some big guys (all but Dinges and Adamczewski) who may or may not pan out. Odds are some of them won't cut it at the big league level. So, I'm advocating to keep that pipeline of "big guys" pumping. Need power hitters on the corners both infield and outfield. They currently have a plethora of infielders of that size, so now they need to continue stocking the OF. Braylon Payne at 6'2" was a good start. And of course, you need high contact guys as well, so its a matter of balance as usual.

Maybe initially, especially if the intent is a short term call up.

Why now?... as already mentioned, he provides a lot of roster flexibility. A Leatherman multi tool infielder who can also provide catching backup really covers a lot of ground, a lot of bang for the buck. And he's hitting in the high .270's with 7 HRs. Perhaps it's an "encouragement nudge" to Durbin that we need more from the bat or playing time may be split. Or maybe it's just to give Sieg a cup of MLB coffee until Perk returns. I don't think Contreras is going on the DL anytime soon.

Given that the recent issue was related to the screws they patched him up with the first time, yeah, that sounds like a potentially ongoing problem.

No surprise. How long do they justify hanging onto him? I don't blame a guy for injuries, but goodwill doesn't win ball games either. Really too bad. He was there only, what I consider, big, prototypical power hitting OF who might give you 25-30 HRs. No prospects fitting that mode either that I can think of, except perhaps Payne as he gets a little older and muscled up.

We're all supposing that WC's hand injury is severe enough to impede his ability at the plate, but not serious enough to sit him. I have to wonder if Murphy and med staff know otherwise, and perhaps that's not the case. Maybe he is just having a down year with the bat. We've heard that WC is vocal about not being left out of the lineup, but still.. if he was injured to a detrimental extent of the team, it's hard to believe they wouldn't DL him (I reject the IL terminology).

It's not rocket science. Draft big framed guys who have shown they have power and contact skills relative to their level, and who can put on muscle. Enough with the small, fast, defense first guys with little to no power. That recipe has not worked and will not work. You have to find a balance between the two. You have to have 5 guys capable of reaching 20+ HRs (because all of them probably won't at the same time due to injury, down year or whatever).

I'm not quite as grumpy about the celebrating while on base with the dugout, That has always existed to some degree and rightfully so. I just think it's a bit more flamboyant than in my youth, and also the TV production looks for it now, so it's more evident. I just prefer a simple fist pump or something. The dugout costume / prop stuff is hopefully a quickly passing fad designed as entertainment for young and casual adult fans who view going to a game as an amusement park, Savana Banana type event rather than serious, top level baseball. Same thing with the city connect jersey nonsense. No better way to add revenues than to sucker a bunch of fly by night fans into buying gaudy merch. That's what it takes for slow paced MLB to remain relevant in an UFC / NFL culture I suppose.

Correct, that's why I included the addendum about making the prospects unneeded / tradeabale

Yes, defensively he's been better than I expected... by quite a bit. The range is good for what he can do lengthwise - in other words, there are balls he can't get to when laying out because of his stature. But that is negligible. I suspect his average will come up to at least the .250- .270 range eventually (next year?). If he can get his power up to the 15ish HR's / year range, he will be a great band aid until some of the prospects arrive - (that assumes at least one of the prospects will pan out with power at this level however). To that end, if he hits those targets, he might make some of the prospects tradeable. I still hope / believe that Wilken will eventually be our monster thumper at 3B delivering 25+ HRs yearly.

Sell Ortiz because of Pratt? There sure is a lot of presumption when it comes to Coop. He certainly looks promising, but it's not like he's hitting .280 with a dozen HRs at AA Biloxi.

He does have an odd throwing motion, It looks like a dart pushing movement sometimes. I noticed that right off, but it hasn't been a problem.

BA said today in the 2nd inning that the Brewers turnaround is pegged to about May 18. Entirely subjective where one wants to peg that. I put it about the time Frelick moved to lead off a few days after my original post. This isn’t meant to be a toot my own horn thing, because who cares what some armchair manager thinks? But give credit to Murphy for recognizing it and making the switch. The offense has clicked on ever since, and it’s hard to argue the switch didn’t have something to do with it.

Ironic isn’t it.

I don't speak the new stat/metric language, so I prefer the K.I.S.S (keep it simple stupid) metrics LOL. If presented as a "True / false" - Bohm will hit more homeruns and for better average than Durbin this year? Based off Bohm's proven track record, it is a fairly safe bet that the answer is true. Obviously, that doesn't factor in defense. I think this is where WAR enters the conversation, and that's a metric I discount for what I've read its supposed to be a measure of. Bohm certainly isn't the classic big power bat at 3B. But the Brewers can never afford a guy like that unless they develop them in house (who was the last 30+HR 3B the Brewers drafted / developed?). Instead, Bohm is that happy medium that occasionally lands within the price range of a small market team during certain windows of opportunity. Last year seemed like a rare aligning of those conditions. Didn't happen. So be it.

He would have cost about $8 mill / year for a couple years. Philly needed a closer, MIL had one they were intent on shopping. It was largely a match made in trading heaven. It wouldn't have been a 1 for 1, would have needed some sweetener from MIL, but I think it would have been worth it depending on the prospect cost. Bohm's defense gets bagged on, but I'd take lesser defense at third for more power and production from the corner infield. Who has won a WS lately where top defense at 3B was viewed as a larger part of the success than the offense that the position and / or team generated? Defense is great, but reality is the thump wins championships in modern MLB.

I see him as an adequate band aid / placeholder destined to be a solid value bench / utility player once the thumper prospects arrive. There is no good reason to pursue McMahon unless you want to burn a couple prospects and spend a boatload of payroll for a minimal upgrade. If McMahon had a reliable history of hitting 15-20 HRs, with a career batting average around .275+ and was affordable for a couple years, I'd pull the trigger. He's not. That guy was Alec Bohm - who was briefly rumored as being on the trade block last offseason (maybe true, maybe not). After a slow start, Bohm is currently hitting .280 and 7 HRs at the midway point. That would look a helluva lot better at 3B than either Durbin or McMahon. But as it is, I'm content with Durb. This year is for developing experience and setting the table for the wave of prospects set to arrive in a couple years in my opinion.

Pleasantly surprised - same here. He's not going to go wide to his right, way past the line and come up with a rocket to throw a guy out, but he's made pretty much the bulk of what else you expect/need.