adambr2

Well, Stearns was asked about it the other day and sounded like it could go either way. This was my issue with the Walker signing. I didn't want to see Villar rotting away on the bench right as things were finally clicking for him . Which is exactly what was happening up until a day or two ago.

Villar has had a great August. Better think long and hard before deciding to give up on him.

Great job Aguilar!

Braun's season numbers are beginning to look fairly 'meh' for an oft injured corner outfielder whose main benefit is his bat.

2 runs this inning simply because of poor infield defense. Vogt is so awful throwing out runners. Seems like every throw is short hopped. That ball is in Perez' glove when Turner is about halfway to 3rd if Pina is in there. We really miss him.

Braun really needs to start stepping it up. That was pretty much the luckiest sac fly ever.

Says he is not being completely removed from the rotation. Maybe that's our nice way of telling him, 'You're still in our rotation, but we're skipping the rest of your starts.'

Sort of a weird move for the Phillies. 600K for a month when they're not going anywhere this year anyway But yeah, at least he's not going to a different contender.

I guess I'm just not offended by Lucroy saying that, Brew. Guys are generally pretty candid aboit their chances in a rebuild. Our own owner before the season said wins and losses weren't a high priority to him this year. Braun stated before the year that he was optimistic but also realistic. Could Lucroy have worded it better, yeah, but I still appreciate everything he did for us and wish him the best.

Ill will? Pish posh. He made douchey comments about wanting to be on a team to contend and all that jazz before our season ever began. He had one foot out the door the minute they said no on his extension offer. I don't hate the guy, just would rather see him never make the playoffs while our Brewers figure out a way to continually get in them. Well, if it's enough that you hope he never sees a playoff game, yes, I would call that ill will. He was directly asked by a reporter in an interview his thoughts about being traded to a contender. Here was his response. "I want to win and I don't see us winning in the foreseeable future. I want to go to a World Series. That's what all players want. Rebuilding is not a lot of fun for any veteran guy." "If I stay with the Brewers, I'm not going to go out and dog it," he told the newspaper. "I'm not going to be a bad teammate. I'm not going to be a bad clubhouse guy. I'm not going to be bitter. It's just part of the game." "Right now, I'm planning on being with the Brewers. I'm not going to think anything different until something happens. It might and it might not. No one knows. I'm going to go out every day and compete with whatever team I'm with. He gave an honest response instead of an obviously phony 'no comment' or 'I think we're on the right track here!' I can respect that. He didn't bemoan the organization, complain about his lack of a new contract or anything like that. After being a great teammate and player for years, playing for well under market value and basically turning into the best catcher in Brewer history, I am honestly pretty shocked that people are bitter enough toward him for those relatively mild comments enough to hope he never makes it back to the playoffs. And I totally understand and agree with why they didn't give him an extension.

Yeah, I really don't understand why anyone harbors any ill will towards Lucroy. I hope he gets a nice contract in the off-season.

All I really need to think about him is that he's easily better than Carlos Torres. That's plenty good enough for me.

Looking at the schedule, Garza's next start lines up against Scherzer. We might as well take a shot with Jungmann, Guerra or Suter, otherwise it's basically going to be a throwaway game.

September 7th-14th will be a very key week. The Rockies have an absolutely brutal stretch, 8 games in Arizona and L.A. without a day off. Meanwhile we get 3 in Chicago and 3 at home vs. the Pirates with 2 days off. Hopefully they get slaughtered. If they went 2-6 on that stretch even if we only split ours 3-3, that would be enough to completely erase the current deficit.

3-3 against the Dodgers this season, and held them to 3 or fewer runs in five out of six. I like the team's chances. I think the Dodgers are cocky enough to think the Crew is a pushover... and the Crew could take them, especially if a Suter or Davies is red hot and the offense shows up. I have to give you credit, Clancy. You could probably find a way to work Brent Suter into a conversation about diced ham.

It feels almost impossible that those two teams, amongst others, would allow him to move up the chain to a team like us, or the Cubs. One can hope but it just doesn't feel realistic. I saw an article for the Rockies yesterday claiming they think Niasco will fall to Colorado. I thought, no way, because he'd have to get past us for that to happen, and no way are we not putting in a claim. I would be furious if he did, not only because it would mean we missed an obvious and free bullpen upgrade, but also let him go to one of the main, if not the main team that we're vying for a playoff spot against.

Should find out today about Niasco. Marlins or Cardinals have first crack among the fringe contenders, they have the same record so not sure which one gets first dibs.

With 7 games left against the Cubs, it looks like the it may be division that offers the best shot at a post-season appearance for the Brewers. I really don't think so. It would take pretty much going 5-2 against them just to make things interesting, and even 5-2 would not be enough to give us the lead at this point, so we'd still need to make up ground against a considerably tougher schedule than the Cubs. I know we try to say schedule doesn't matter, but it obviously does. Since the Cubs left Arizona and began the soft part of their schedule, they've done exactly what one would expect -- gone 11-5. We have been playing pretty good baseball, and still haven't been able to make up ground, because the Cubs' schedule is just that soft, and it isn't getting much more difficult in September. So if they don't crumble against a soft September schedule, it will take us going 6-1 or 7-0 against them, or going on an insanely good run like a Dodger July, to win the division. While both are theoretically possible, neither are very realistic. Contrast that to the Rockies, whom we have a smaller margin with, and who have a killer schedule in September that includes two different series' with the Dodgers, two series' against Arizona, and the Marlins once. At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter much which we're shooting for -- all we can control is our own games, and winning them. I would expect that if we go out strong with a 17-12 or so finish, that will be good enough to get in. But not good enough to win the division.

I'm all about pulling the plug on Garza, and I feel pretty good about a #1-#4 of Anderson, Nelson, Davies and Woodruff. Only question is, who do you go with at the #5 spot? Guerra? Jungmann? Both have looked very good lately, as you said. I'd be curious to know on Guerra what the story is, if it's been smoke and mirrors or if his command and velocity are back to where they need to be.

I might rather trade Brinson than Broxton. I know that will be an unpopular opinion, so let me explain why. We are basically talking about trading Broxton for the best offer we can get. That's not a very value-orieinted strategy if the offers aren't there, especially if everyone knows we just want to dump him to make room for Brinson. Brinson even unproven has substantially more present trade value as a top prospect who has produced in AAA. Many teams would be interested in Brinson. So that said, onto the next reason. Broxton is becoming a fairly known commodity. Nothing elite, but his D will hold up, he stays healthy and available, and despite the peaks and valleys should give us about league average production in CF for cheap for several years. That's more of his floor than his ceiling. His ceiling with his skillset could be much higher. But even if he produces closer to his current production, there's something to be said for a known quantity in CF if this team is ready to contend in a year or two or even sooner. Which brings us to the unknown quantity in Brinson. It's possible he becomes the 30/30 guy we hope. It's also possible he doesn't produce as we hope at this level. In contrast to Broxton who doesn't struggle with lingering injuries (Hard to blame Broxton much for freak things like the Wrigley wall and a HBP to the face), Brinson's injury struggles are starting to become a bit of a red flag.) So I think most would agree on two things: 1) Broxton is probably safer, and 2) Brinson at present time is worth substantially more in trade. So suppose we could find a deal in the off-season for a TOR type pitcher, similarly to pre-2011, with Brinson as the centerpiece, hang onto Broxton, and still have Phillips as a 4th OFer or insurance in case Broxton goes south. Would that necessarily be a bad play, and if so why?

It's got to be the Marlins or Cardinals. I'd be elated if he made it to us.

Looked definitely like it was going over or off the top of the wall and likely over to me. Very best cast scenario a double and the tying run scores.

What a bogus earned run for Hader. A little playable pop drops in, and then someone else gives up a HR.

Good work Swarzak...

Would like to see Villar/Arcia /Shaw tomorrow with Walker sitting out for now.