Jump to content
Brewer Fanatic

Matt Breen

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    9,122

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Profiles

Forums

Blogs

Events

Milwaukee Brewers News, Rumors & Analysis

2026 Milwaukee Brewers Top Prospect Rankings

Milwaukee Brewers Videos

2022 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Milwaukee Brewers Trade & Free Agent Rumors

Milwaukee Brewers Fan Guides & Resources

2023 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2024 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

The Milwaukee Brewers Players Project

2025 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2026 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by Matt Breen

  1. Matt Breen
    The Pirates seem to be getting the love in my house. 20+ years of pain makes them sympathetic. I kind of hope it's Oakland and Pittsburgh. No St. Louis. Cardinals are evil.
  2. Matt Breen
    A while back Albert Pujols threatened to sue Jack Clark about comments he made regarding steroids and PEDs. Essentially, Clark said the Cardinals trainer told him he was shooting up Pujols (the trainer denies ever saying that). Now, Albert is suing. I thought this would just go away. Clark lost his job for the comments. But now the lawsuit. What's interesting to me is that Clark never backed down from the statements. On Aug. 10, Clark tweeted: "I completely stand by the story I told 8 days ago about conversations 13 years ago w/ Mihlfeld. He will never admit it." For Pujols sake, he better hope it doesn't open a can worms. If it comes out there might be something to the accusations, he just looks likes a liar who was willing to destroy others to save his reputation (sound like anyone in Milwaukee). That said, I would think Pujols would be crazy to pursue the lawsuit if he thought there was any chance that would happen. But we'll see. http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/story/_/id/9769100/albert-pujols-los-angeles-angels-sues-jack-clark-steroid-accusations
  3. Matt Breen
    I thought Dave Shoenfield at ESPN did a nice job of summing up why Dusty needed to go: http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/41183/it-was-time-for-dusty-baker-to-go It comes down to Baker being 3-7 in playoff series in his career. Shoenfield says that, 'Baker's flaw in the postseason is managing like it's still the regular season'. He then goes through examples of Dusty's mistakes in the postseason (such as letting pitchers in too long).
  4. Matt Breen
    Halton's problem is that he really doesn't do anything that well at a premium hitter's position - 1B. In the minors, he displayed average power, solid batting average. His walk rate is not particularly good - meaning his OBP is OK. All this in a hitter's league. At age 26, he's not exactly a young guy. His chance will be if we go with a left handed hitter at 1B - say Francisco or Hunter Morris. He could get some playing time in a platoon, plus pinch hitter and emergency OF. He seems like a good guy - willing to do whatever is needed. That's essential for a fringe player like him. If the team brings back Hart, I don't see Halton making the club. He just won't get enough ABs.
  5. Matt Breen
    Bucknor's strike zone was really weird that game as well. One strike he called was so obviously low it was unbelievable. Must have been a different game in the series...he was at 1B when he made the safe call on Halton. Yes, I didn't read your post closely. I was talking about when Buckner was behind the plate.
  6. Matt Breen
    You forgot to add that he'll be replaced by Yuni Betancourt because the team will benefit from his veteran presence.
  7. Matt Breen
    Blake Lalli! No!!! I don't understand. 30 year old minor league journeymen are so hard to come by. I will treasure his 24 ABs and 3 hits. I curse the ghost of Rob Picciolo.
  8. Matt Breen
    I wouldn't take what Melvin says too seriously. First, he doesn't want to disrespect Rickie and say outright that the guy has lost his job. Second, the team likely wants to trade Weeks, and if we say he's going to be a backup or he isn't in our plans, no one will want to deal for him. They'll just wait until he's cut to try and sign him. I think the plan will be to let Rickie come to spring camp, saying he's going to have to earn the 2B job. But that will be a fallacy. The team will go with Scooter. They'll hope Rickie looks serviceable, and trade him to a team for a million or two dollars in salary relief.
  9. Matt Breen
    Gamel I'm not surprised about. He's missed two year in a row and was set for arbitration if we had kept him. And I don't think the team was ever that thrilled about him. Green does surprise me a little. His ability to play a decent 3B would have complimented the right handed (aging and coming off an injury) A-Ram. Same thing with Hart. He could have potentially been a decent back up. I guess the team just didn't like what they saw in 2012 when he hit poorly.
  10. Matt Breen
    Our lack of left handed power is kind of painful. Versus lefthanded pitching the Brewers had the best hitting team in the NL last year (OPS of .736). Against right handed pitchers we had an OPS of .699 - 10th in the league. It's why I always hoped Gamel would blossom into a decent hitter. The key is finding someone we can afford - either via trading Aoki - or free agency. I don't think anyone trusts Francisco to be a regular player. Some free agent 1B who hit with a bit of power include James Loney (age 30), Kendrys Morales (30), Justin Morneau (33), Lance Berkmann (37). I don't really like the group. They are either mediocre, aging, have injury issues, platoon issues, or will be really expensive (and some have a combination of issues). May as well just move Braun or Davis to 1B, and let Gindl start and hope his hits .280 with 15 HR. Or hope Gamel can come back, or Morris can graduate the big leagues and hit .250-260 with 20 HR. Trading Aoki for a young player might be the best option. It's just a matter if someone values his skill set enough to give us a decent young prospect.
  11. Matt Breen
    I actually like Schafer, despite his bad year at the plate. I think his defense is great - fangraphs and baseball reference both really like his defense as well. That he can play anywhere is an asset as well. I also look at his minor league numbers - .292 BA at both AA and AAA - and a .370 and .351 OBP for each respective level, and I think he can be a decent hitter. Does he need to hit better. Absolutely. But it was his first season adjusting to irregular playing time. Some guys just need some time to adjust. I think he can a very good 4/5 outfielder at this time. He can back up CF (important since Gomez is the kind of guy who gets banged up). He brings speed and defense to the field. He just needs to improve at the plate. Hopefully, a season under his belt will help him prepare for 2014.
  12. Matt Breen
    I love Votto. I don't love the 10-year extension. They'll be paying him $25 million annually from age 36-40. That's just playing with fire. And you can't DH the guy. As he ages I see the power diminishing to a degree (if it hasn't already). If he can stay healthy, that will be key. A guy like Todd Helton was a lot like Votto at age 30. A few years later and he's lost so much of his power due to injuries.
  13. Matt Breen
    Bucknor's strike zone was really weird that game as well. One strike he called was so obviously low it was unbelievable.
  14. Matt Breen
    Ned Yost is returning to the Royals for two more years. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9753309/manager-ned-yost-agrees-2-year-extension-kansas-city-royals
  15. Matt Breen
    I think the only way it happens is if you swap him for another team's baggage. Or take on 90% of his salary.
  16. Matt Breen
    The major league left fielder had a .735 OPS last season. So even if you could get a .800 OPS out of a guy like Davis, you have a better-than-average hitter at the position. Of course, his fielding won't be very good, but even if he comes out an average player, it's not a bad thing - especially at his price. You would hope he would improve in subsequent seasons, making him a valuable player. One nice thing about Davis is that he hasn't shown big splits in the minors, so hopefully he could go out there everyday.
  17. Matt Breen
    I want Roenicke to do the following: - Stop bunting so friggin' much. We give away way too many outs with bunts. There's a time and a place for it, but we waste too many at bats with bunts. - Stop playing horrible players with no upside like Yuni. I'd rather see a young guy who is an unknown than known, crappy commodities. - Stop obsessing about 'veterans' and let young guys play without fear of getting yanked the moment they have a few bad games. I'm so sick of hearing him say things like 'That wouldn't be fair for (insert player's name) to be put in a difficult position'. Are you kidding me? Young players are drooling at the chance to make a mark. So instead of letting a young player get an at bat or pitch a late inning, he trots out the 'veteran' - just because he's a veteran. I understand you want to give young players confidence and give them a platform to succeed, but his reliance on veterans - even horrible ones - is sometimes ridiculous. I'm sure there are other things about the guy I want changed, but these are a few. I doubt anything will change, but I can hope.
  18. Matt Breen
    Not a shock, but he didn't really get much of a chance. http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/9748610/chicago-cubs-fire-manager-dale-sveum-two-years
  19. Matt Breen
    I'm actually okay where we are at for 2014. But I wouldn't be adverse to adding a couple of low cost guys. The Brewers have the 5th best ERA in baseball for its relievers. Most of the guys that got us there are returning. Getting rid of Gonzalez should make us better. He's been pretty bad. Axford wasn't great either. The only thing we'll miss is K-Rod's 25 innings of good pitching. Henderson Kintzler Badenhop (just limit his exposure to righties, please) Gorzelanny (don't let him start - 2.70 ERA as a reliever, 4.81 as a starter) Figaro (3.13 ERA as a reliever - awful as a starter) Hand (3.03 ERA as a reliever) Wooten Blazek Sanchez (2.83 ERA at AAA last year, and a sub-2.00 ERA at AA in 2012) Chris Narveson (make him a loogy. they guy has always shut down lefties well. he doesn't look like he's a starter anymore, so give him a chance to return to the bigs as a loogy) Relievers are a fickle species. So I certainly wouldn't over pay for anyone. A loogy wouldn't be bad if you don't trust Narveson and Gorzelanny to fill the role. But otherwise, I say give the young guys the chance. Just don't try and make them something they are not. Figaro was okay as a reliever - but a disaster as a starter. To try and think a 29 year old guy, who hasn't been in the league for years, is suddenly a viable starter, is kind of stupid.
  20. Matt Breen
    Unless the Brewers sign a FA pitcher they are not close to a $100M payroll. Bringing back basically everyone and adding Hart at $5M would still be around a $92.5M payroll. And they can get down to $88M if they trade Weeks by eating 2/3 of his contract and cut Badenhop (while okay, it seems we can get by with min.wage guys w/ options). Cutting Badenhop would probably save you about $2 million next year. However, I seriously doubt any team agrees to take Rickie unless we take 90% of his salary. The guy hit awful. His defense is awful. And he coming off a major injury. If he was a free agent, he'd be lucky to get a major league contract. So I don't think any team would agree to pay $3-4 million of Rickie's deal. Plus, there's a $1 million buyout of Rickie's 2015 option. We'd probably have to cover that as well.
  21. Matt Breen
    Tony Batista has a .663 OPS with 99 RBI in 2003. A .270 OPS. Ouch.
  22. Matt Breen
    Interesting article by Dave Cameron at FanGraphs about the Pirates success: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/how-the-pirates-built-a-playoff-team/
  23. Matt Breen
    It's kind of hard not to give Thornburg serious consideration for a rotation spot next season. He represents something we have so little of with regards to pitching: upside. A few months ago, I would never have thought that of Tyler. I thought he was bullpen bound. But he seems to have gotten everything together over the last six weeks. He's only given up one HR in 66.2 innings. That's pretty amazing. I realize it's only seven starts, but I really hope the team gives him or one of the other young guys, like Nelson, the fifth spot on the rotation next year, instead of bringing in some mediocre veteran with little upside.
  24. Matt Breen
    The scary part is that Scooter has been abysmal against lefties in the big leagues. With Segura out, it's probably the best option. Ouch.
  25. Matt Breen
    I assume the Brewers are looking to strike lightning like with Axford and Henderson. Perhaps they have seen him, and feel his mechanics can be worked corrected, and thus harness the power he reputably has.
×
×
  • Create New...