Matt Breen

Yep

Yep

Yep

Good lord.

Think Aram could run a little harder. Pathetic looking.

I hope Aoki keeps getting more PT. He's been looking pretty good.

That outside corner strike is BS. Clearly a ball. At least the ump is consistent with his bad calls.

Yes, i'm 'absurd' believing a guy with 8 minor league starts in AA, and two guys at HiA ball are probably 2-3 years away from contributing at the major league level. Could one or more secure a spot on next year's team? Sure. The Brewers often move pitchers directly from AA to the majors. Oh, wait... never mind. Seriously, it could happen. But there are so many reasons it WON'T. From injuries, to the Brewers history of how they develop players, to the simple fact that guys struggle at some point. And just because a guy makes the team doesn't make him any good. Every level is an adjustment - none bigger than MLB. I guess the entire line where I pointed out Peralta could help us beginning this year equals ignoring him. No, I'm projecting what most scouting reports have portrayed our system to be like. I wish we had five top 20 prospects. I wish they were all at AAA. I wish no one had hosest concerns about any of our guys. But that isn't the case. I believe he'll base his decision very heavily on how well he thinks a team is going to do. People who have known him - players, coaches, writers - have stated how important winning is to him. He's an idiot to not look at the organization from top to bottom. Do I know that for sure? No. No one knows the exact things he'll do. But based on past actions (such as wanting to leave KC and rejecting the trade to the Nats), he's not interested in a rebuilding program. To say we have 'very good offensive players' in our minor league system is simply wrong. We do not. We have some potential major league players. Are they 'very good'? No. Again, basing on how most scouts see our minor league hitters, we have role players. Maybe average starter types. Doesn't mean one can't develop, but right now, we don't have that. At the major league level we have Braun, Weeks, A-Ram, Hart. Weeks and A-Ram are struggling. Hart is scheduled to leave after 2013. Maybe Lucroy continues to hit and we'll look at him as special. But that's it. Absolutely right here. There are lots of great reasons Rickie will be return to form. Totally agree. The Brewers, in my opinion, and I believe the opinion of most scouts, do not have any impact bats in the upper minors. I don't even know there's one in the lower minors. We have plenty of guys that can be role players. Perhaps even start. But I doubt there are many scouts who consider our guys anything more than average at best. It's not bad to produce role players. They are essential. But there's nothing beyond that. No, I did not say Aram isn't a good player. He is having a bad year so far. He will be 34 next month. Not old. But not young for a baseball player. He had a very good 2011, so it's unlikely he continues to hit like he has this year. But it's not unheard of for a player like him to decline - and decline quickly. Aram is a notorious slow starter. He's in a new city. Personally, I think with time that he'll rebound. He's on pace for almost 50 doubles (and only 8 or 9 HR). Some of those doubles are going to start turning into HR. But if he has a bad year, it's pretty hard for any player not to look at him and wonder if he can rebound. Yep. I think Greinke is the linchpin for competing over the next few years. I'm just saying that it's not all about money. If things don't go right for the Crew, it will be tough. As for Zack's preferences - I know he likes Milwaukee. He liked KC too - said he'd be open to going back there. He wants to be comfortable. Whether it's Milwaukee or wherever - he's going to make his money. We'll all pay him. It's just where he, ultimately, wants to be. Again, read the entire post. For 2012 and 13, the upside available is from slumping players (A-Ram, Weeks, Nyjer, Ax, Veras, K-Rod) rebounding and producing like 2011. If those guys start producing, we are going to be pretty decent. We can get back into the playoff race. We do that and he's going to feel a lot better about 2013. Will and when we rebound is the question. I pray and hope it's soon. But will we win this year? I hope so. I think it's critical to keep Zack. But if things go poorly this year, it hurts us a lot because it makes 2013 pretty bleak to a guy who hates losing. Perhaps we were 'in' discussions with Zack on a contract. How far along, no one really knows. How serious they were, no one but Zack knows. Bottom line is that Zack Greinke wants to win. Our current team can do that, but guys have to start producing like they have done in the past. If we win in 2012, we can win in 2013 - even with losing guys like K-Rod, Wolf and Marcum. If we win in 2012, and 2013 looks more like a reload year than a rebuild year, I think that will help us get Zack to come back long term in Milwaukee. That's just my absurd opinion.

This is a nice thing to watch for - sort of like when we had Hardy, Braun, Prince and Rickie all coming up together. And there are other guys that could develop as well. Makes for a decent future if even 1/2 of them turn out to be serviceable guys. But having Greinke is really important, as you pointed. None of our other guys have the 'ace' potential like he does. At least not yet. I just hope he's interested in being part of it.

I don't think it has a lot to do with money. The Brewers know where the market is for Zack. So does he. It all comes down to Greinke not wanting to get caught up with a bad team. He knows Hart is gone after 2013 (barring an extension). He knows we don't have a SS. Or 1B. He knows Marcum and Wolf are FAs after this year. He knows Narvy is coming off major surgery. He knows Ramirez is aging and a bad fielder. He knows most of our impact talent (Jungmann, Bradley, Thornburg, etc.) is a 2-3 years away. He knows the system lacks impact bats. What's the offense like in 2014? C - Lucroy 1B - ? - Gamel? Morris? 2B - Weeks SS - ? 3B - Ramirez LF - Braun CF - Schafer? Plush? Aoki? Gomez? RF - Gindl? Sure, we can make some deals. But Zack can't count on deals that 'might' happen. Deals that will forfeit 2013 for the future. I think the only way we keep Greinke is if we do well in 2012. The Aoki/Morgan/Gomez hydra has to improve. Ramirez has got to get WAY better. Weeks has got to become Rickie of the past. Ishikawa has to keep improving. Estrada has to prove he's a solid starter. Maybe Peralta can come up and help in the pen in a big way, thus making him primed for a starting spot in 2013. The club has to do well in 2012 and appear to have a chance in the next few years. I think that's the key to keeping Zack.

I think Dillard has been better of late. Chulk is a big 'whatever'. I'd have no problem bringing up Peralta. My question is do you move him into the rotation - and take out Estrada. Or do you let Peralta get his feet wet this season as a reliever. I will say this about Estrada - he's been okay as a starter over the last year. I wouldn't mind giving him some time to see if he has a future there. If he could prove himself this year in the rotation, it would be great knowing he could be there next year - when we could potentially be without 4 of our starters from this year's rotation (Greinke, Marcum, Wolf and even Narvy, if the rehab doesn't go well).

Another thing with Braun's HBP was that it wasn't that far from his head. Six inches up, and he's got one on the chin. That made it look bad. I bet the next time we play the Mets we drill one of their guys early on. The umps will warn everyone. That'll be the end of it. Collins basically admits it's how the game is played. They nailed one of ours, we nails one of theirs.

Lawrie really should get nailed by baseball for this one. He came at the ump as if he was going to attack him. It wasn't a simple 'slam the helmet down' gesture - he whipped the thing into the ground, in the direction of the ump. He'll get nailed. I will say this, the third strike call was a terrible call. I read the second one was bad too. But having not seen the rest of the game, I can't say if this was how the umpire was calling things all night. If he was consistently calling that a strike, then Lawrie and everyone else in the game should understand that. No matter, what Lawrie did was really stupid and childish. Passion for the game is one thing, but he looked like he was ready to go after the ump. Final thing - if I did that in my workplace, I'd be fired in a heartbeat. I could do a lot of things that might get me written up by HR or a talking to from my boss - such as argue a coworker, raise my voice in a meeting, slam my fist into the table, roll my eyes in disgust - but I wouldn't lose my job (assuming i haven't done it before). But if I took my water bottle, raised it above my head, moved aggressively toward a coworker, and slammed the bottle into the ground - I'm in for some serious trouble.

Weeks is kind of odd looking at the plate. Perhaps he's guessing a lot, not uncommon when a guy is struggling.

So, we swing at crap outside the zone, but watch things right down the middle? Man....

It's hard to figure out Hamilton. The guy plays hard - you have to admire that. But he's gotten a lot of dings in his life. He'll be 32 when he hits free agency - not ideal for a guy with injury history. Not to mention the drug/alcohol issues. But he's so friggin' good. You just like watching him play. I wonder if a guy like that would be happy - at least now - as a DH. He doesn't seem like the type who would sit around waiting to swing the bat. Someone will give him a monster contract (assuming he avoids serious injury this year). $25 million a year doesn't seem out of the question if he has a huge year and stays (reasonably) healthy. I guess the years will be critical. And no doubt any team will build in some safeguards with regards to the past alcohol and drug problems. Hamilton has gone off the wagon twice in the last few years. Any team should be wary.

Is this supposed to be blue?

This may be the longest 'Tommy Manzella' thread in the history of the Internet.

This may be the longest 'Tommy Manzella' thread in the history of the Internet.

Mazella is 29. He's got a career AAA OPS of .678, including a .252 BA. He 'hit' .225 with a .531 OPS in 2010 in 258 ABs. I wouldn't count on anything from this guy. Just minor league depth.

Mazella is 29. He's got a career AAA OPS of .678, including a .252 BA. He 'hit' .225 with a .531 OPS in 2010 in 258 ABs. I wouldn't count on anything from this guy. Just minor league depth.

I think you're doing a disservice to Josh Wilson.

I think you're doing a disservice to Josh Wilson.

As much as many of us trash Yuni (myself included), he has some positives to him. Durable (although he is on the DL), solid pop for his position, makes contact. Yuni of last year would be an upgrade at this point.

I'm not sure how to go on this one. I'm not ready to bail on the Brewers' season just yet, which makes me want to get a new SS. Izturis, Maysonet, Bianchi - those guys aren't going to help us get to the playoffs. But I'm also wary with regard to what we are willing to take on. I guess I'd sniff around and if we can get an upgrade for a reasonable price, go for it. I assume this isn't going to happen - decent shortstops aren't cheap. In which case I guess maybe wait a month or so and see if the team can come out of its funk and get back into the race. At that point you can make the call. It's just so early for anyone to be making any salary dumps. Man, I wish we had JHJR right about now. I still say the worse move of the year was Ramirez. I'd rather have had a Green/Hairston platoon than pay A-Ram $36 million. It would have been a lot easier to find Green a right handed 3B partner (Wes Helms anyone?). Of course, hindsight is 20/20. If A-Ram catches fire (and he's got to get better - doesn't he?), I'll be happy to have him.