Matt Breen

McGehee's banishment to the bench is pretty much complete. I would never have thought it. I guess his September play was so bad RRR had to do something. Nice that Hairston has stepped up.

McGehee's banishment to the bench is pretty much complete. I would never have thought it. I guess his September play was so bad RRR had to do something. Nice that Hairston has stepped up.

Lexi881, how do you know this? Just curious. I think it's a good that Melvin called Gamel. thanks.

Agreed. Nobody remembers the Tony Muser's of the world. But Wes Parker is forever immortalized due to his guest spot on the Brady Bunch.I remember the episode. Even back then most people didn't know who Wes Parker was. I only knew him because I had his baseball card. I was amazed back then because he had 100+ RBI with only 10 HR. And then there was the Joe Namath episode. A classic.

Just to clarify, are you saying that Molitor was invited back as a player after his initial departure to Toronto or are you using that $1 million offer from the Brewers before he left as your example of when he was invited back as a player? that is correct. as rockcocougers notes, after his contract in Toronto ran out, the brewers talked to him about coming back. but his wife didn't want to come back to milwaukee. At least, that was the story. but i think the biggest thing is Molitor wanted to play for the Twins more than anything - go home, play for his boyhood team.

I think people pretty much have nailed it with regard to Molitor. He will never have the love that Yount has, and for good reason. Some of it is his own doing, some of it not. It's just the way it is. Molitor had some personal issues that have arisen over the years (drug use, divorce, etc.). Yount hasn't.Molitor left. As I said above, I don't blame him. But he did leave, and Yount never did. Yount has a personality that makes you love him. Molitor just doesn't. Yount is still 'the kid'. He's still the guy who rode into County Stadium on his motorcycle. You gotta love that. Unfortunately for Molitor, he just didn't have that connection. Yount has always come back to Milwaukee and celebrated with the city and team. He's been a coach. Molitor has not. He has been invited back in numerous capacities (player, coach, etc.). I can't stress this one enough. I loved Molitor. He was favorite player in the 80s. But I always felt that every time the Brewers reached out to him, he rebuffed them. Sure he came back for things like retiring his number, but I just sort of felt like wasn't interested - so I lost interest as well. This topic is funny because I was talking about Yount and Molitor to my 12 year old son the other day. He didn't know who Molitor was. But he totally knew Robin. He's seen the jerseys. Seen robin. Heard people talk about him. I think it's a good story for players who leave a city they are really entrenched in. You risk giving up something when you leave. Robin has a meal at every home in Wisconsin for the rest of his life if he needs it. Guys like Ganter and Gorman Thomas as well. To me, the thing that sucks is that I never blamed Molitor for leaving Milwaukee. Bando and the team were totally under appreciating his worth.

The Brewers ultimately offered arbitration to Molitor, which would have gotten him his money -- but the Jays came in with a 3-year $13 million deal (plus a 4th year option). I thought the Crew had initially offered Molitor $2.3 million, but that's going by memory. Still a big pay cut. Bando only offered arbitration at the last minute. I remember being crushed at the time, but I understood it. $3 million or $13 million - not a hard choice, especially after Bando's 'only a DH' comment.

Verducci at SI goes for Braun too. He essentially says the stats are so close, you have give to the guy who has played meaningful games for the past few months - something Kemp hasn't done. http://sportsillustrated....index.html?sct=mlb_wr_a3

What kind of aspirin bottle? Advil? Bayer? Tylenol? There are a lot of factors to consider. Advil had a WAR of 3.1 last year, making it a better alternative than generic acetaminophen - which is only considered replacement level pain relief (1.0 WAR). I'd stick with Guinness, which has had a WAR over 5.0 for over 200 years. Yuni's WAR is below Zero, meaning he actually causes headaches.

Who starts at 3B? McGehee or Hairston? I bet RRR starts McGehee the first game. I think he'll 'go with the guys who got them there' - and give Casey one last chance to pull something out of his butt. Then if casey plays poorly, Hairston takes over.

nate, tell us more of blanks. i know nothing about him.

The $2 million buyout is paid by KC. I don't know if we'd get to 'keep' the $2 million if we picked up his option or signed him to a different deal. I think we would, but I'm not sure.

Holy crap. Wow. The dodgers should throw themselves off a bridge for that.

The Cardinals aren't any different than the Brewers and are less a threat than a healthy Braves team. And I'd much rather face the DBacks than either. but the braves aren't healthy.... Braves are playing bad and have major injuries. Cards are playing great. I have no desire to see the cards in the playoffs. They are in way better shape than the braves.

No watching game. Why bunt wolf with a runner in scoring position?

I'm waiting for McGehee to have two bloop singles or something tonight and RRR to declare him 'hot', and then play him every inning of every game in the playoffs.

Thanks, I was wondering about that. I'd rather have Schaffer in CF and Hairston at 3B. Give Hairston some reps.

I really don't want a fading veteran bat - which is what you get for $5 million. More than note, you end up with guys like Lyle Overbay, Derrick Lee and Aubrey Huff. Fading hitters with little speed, diminishing power and defense. Sure you can catch lightning in a bottle - Berkman for example. But more than likely you end up with mediocre play. I'd rather spend $400,000 and gamble Gamel can produce mediocre (and maybe better) results. You can spend more - $8-10 million - and go after some better players - Cuddyer, Carlos Pena, Josh Willingham - but they aren't that young either (all three will either be 33 or 34 by the start or shortly after the season starts), and will likely require a multi-year contract. That's a big risk - guys moving into their (likely) fading years. That leads you to having Aubrey Huff on your team for two more years at $10 million a year. All three guys mentioned above - Cuddyer, Pena, Willingham - have had injuries over the past couple of years as well. I look at it as we can get a solid player for around $10 million a year. But the player isn't going to suddenly break out with a superstar season (again, Lance Berkman aside). If anything, they will produce similar results - or worse - as they age. That's why I argue you throw the dice on a young player who you feel can produce average results - but at a much reduced price. You put those savings back into the team with pitching (Greinke and/or Marcum). Plus, if your young player fails, you can cut bait early on him and have financial flexibility to add a stop gap if necessary. Some people talk about not wanting rookies in the line up for a contending team. I understand it, but I think they offer greater rewards than a 'proven' veteran. They offer more upside (and downside), but at a much lower cost. Plus, with guys like Braun, Weeks, Hart and Barmes (I'm hoping for him at SS), you have 'proven vets' who can help young players thrive. Those are my thoughts.

I've always read that Betemit is really a bad fielder. Just going to by what I recall. Never really seen him play much. His UZR on fangraphs is pretty brutal (-8.0, -12.7, -4.9 the last three years). I'd like to hear from people that have seen him play for extended periods at 3B.

I couple of weeks ago I thought that if Braun won the batting title (and the Brewers won the division) he was pretty much a lock to win the MVP. But you have to give Kemp credit. He's been a monster this month, and he's taken the lead in most major categories. Having this happen at the end of the season will likely give him some extra visability with voters that he wouldn't have had if this streak had happened in April or May. However, I think there are enough voters that will NOT pick Kemp in the top spot because he isn't on a winning team. There will be a contingent of voters who will, for better or worse, say to themselves that the MVP should be on a winning team. Also, there may be some voters who will think that Kemp put up numbers 'when it didn't matter'. This group probably falls in line with the 'MVP should be on a winning team' group. But even if a few voters take that approach, it might give Braun a bit of an edge. I hope it does. If Braun could win the battle title, that would really help him. In the end, I think that people will look at Braun and Kemp and see that they are very close in most areas. And then they'll pick Braunie first because he's on a winning team and has produced in the heat of a pennant race.

With the season almost over we are likely to see a wave of 'All Star' team by writers and sites. I thought a thread would be a nice way to share and keep track of them. Here's one: Dave Schoenfield at ESPN (who I think does a rather nice job on the 'Sweetspot' blog) with his NL All-Stars: http://espn.go.com/blog/s...ational-league-all-stars Braunie and Axford are on the list. Nice to see Ax get the nod at the closer's spot. Rickie could have been there if he hadn't been hurt, but Philips had a good year, so no argument.

I think Whitlock just posts crap like this to get people like us linking to his site and giving him traffic. Too bad we oblige (I know I went and read it).

I think Yuni is terrible, but I totally agree that McGehee is even worse. His hitting is just putrid this year. His base running is bad. he's slow. His defense is not terrible, like Yuni's, but I'd say it's below average. And he's struggling badly right now. I'd be happy letting Hairston (and perhaps Green) getting the job during the playoffs. Do I think it will happen? No. Despite RRR's comments, I think he'll live and die with 'the guys that got us here' attitude. Perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe Casey's dreadful September will actually make RRR make the move.

Casey is arby eligible for the first time in 2012. Most 1st year starters, even mediocre ones, get at least $2 million. So I imagine $2-3 million for him. if the team is convinced he's lost it, they should just non-tender. maybe resign at a lower salary and incentives - if he's open to it. He might not be. But i find it hard to think any team would offer him that much on the open market. he's just been dreadful this year.

Coming to 2011, I wondered about Janish. But, wow, his hitting has been awful this year. Almost counselesque. I like his glove. Just not sure if he will ever hit enough.