adambr2

Maybe it's just me looking through Brewer-colored goggles, but I feel like Brewers have been getting just squeezed badly by the homeplate umpires the last 2 nights.

I've been critical of Peralta, but that was the most misleading 4 ER in an inning you'll ever see given up. Peralta was squeezed worse than I've ever seen by an umpire. When you're throwing 2 balls and 4 strikes every at-bat and they're still getting to take 1st and then scoring on dribblers, there's not much you can do.

I agree that the sensationalizing media can be ridiculous sometimes, but if Yo really believes this, I don't even know what to say anymore.

Bet the "Trade Ryan Braun" idea from 2 months ago doesn't look so crazy now, does it? I actually would look to deal him if they can since 1) His teammates will never trust him again and thus he's probably going to be a distraction and 2) distance themselves from this as much as possible. But no team will want to until he proves he can produce when clean, or at least what other teams hope is clean. Some people are trying desperately to understate us. Yeah, the season is lost anyway. Yeah, we save $4 million bucks. Too bad it runs much, much deeper than that. First of all, the $4M will be a drop in the bucket next to what they lose in ticket sales, jersey sales, other merchandise sales, etc. Everything Braun has done in his career is now in question, and therefore everything the team has done since that time -- the playoffs in 2008, the division title, the NLDS win, everything. The implications for Braun are many. He will never be in the Hall of Fame. His MVP, ROY, every All Star honor, all in question. And let's please not try to excuse with the "half the guys out there are probably doing the same thing." You cannot seriously profess "innocent until proven guilty!" for 2 years and then try to assume guilt about half the league based on nothing. I will assume the innocent are innocent until proven otherwise, just like I did for Braun until he proved otherwise. Our franchise player is now a known cheater. I could have moved on from that if he had come clean in the first place and admitted he was wrong and taken his 50 games, but he didn't. He looked us all in the eye and emotionally told us about how there was no way those drugs ever entered his body, and all this time tried to hide behind a cryptic "if you all knew the real story", which was all a lie. It is better to have no franchise player at all than a tainted one. I could have gotten over him cheating if he fessed up. Everybody makes mistakes. But he went far beyond that with lies and deception. Think of all the people who he embarrassed that wholeheartedly defended him. How do you think Aaron Rodgers feels? Think he still wants to run a restaurant with him? Think of all the fans, like myself, who told anyone who would listen that there seemed to be a lot more to this story than met the eye and Braun seemed to be the victim, not the culprit. In all honesty, I would look to deal him and give him a fresh start elsewhere and distance ourselves from him as much as possible. But like I said, it won't be that easy. Another implication of this. He now goes from an extremely valuable asset to a big question mark. But if possible, I would move him, put the stamp of franchise player on Jean Segura, and move on. I'm not sure this will all just heal with time. Some of his teammates will probably forgive him, eventually. Others probably never will. It doesn't bode well for future clubhouse chemistry.

Getting to 88 wins would require us to go 47-18 the rest of the way, or a .723 winning percentage. For perspective, the Cardinals have the best winning percentage in baseball this year, at .615, and the best winning percentage by a team of all time in the modern era is .716 by the 2001 Mariners. And I'd still say 88 wins is probably not going to be enough. There is no realistic shot of us making the playoffs this year, and I sure hope we don't approach the trade deadline from a front office standpoint with the mentality that that is still within range.

I think Axford will be offered arby too, but I'm not really sure why. He is a ridiculously expensive option for us. Given typical raises in arbitration and his performance, I would say he will make about $7M in arbitration next year. That's a number he probably couldn't even demand on the FA market. Given the volatile nature of relievers in general, but particularly Axford, his price tag makes no sense for what is essentially a rebuilding ball club, particularly when he's not even the closer. I would definitely trade him for any reasonable offer before the deadline.

I can't find it, where did anyone say we should keep our relievers? If Melvin doesn't trade KRod, Gonzalez, and Axford then he should get canned. KRod and Gonzalez are free agents and Axford probably won't be offered arby. Sorry, I forgot to post the link. http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/danny-knobler/22841307/dodgers-tigers-red-sox-among-teams-showing-interest-in-k-rod "No team has yet pushed hard to complete a deal for any of the Brewer relievers, sources say, and there's some belief that none will be traded until much closer to the July 31 non-waiver deadline." I get waiting until the last minute to try to get the most possible value, but these aren't players we are in position to play hardball with as trade bait. Take whatever the highest offer is right before the deadline.

Why would we keep everybody? K-Rod is a no-comp free agent after this year, it makes zero sense not to deal him. Relievers are so hit and miss from year to year, no one could have predicted the pen would be this good this year any more than they could have predicted they would be so bad last year. It makes sense to take advantage of that this year in a non-contending year to cash in on some of those performances. I will be incredibly disappointed if we do nothing before the deadline.

I like Lucroy as a player, but I question him as a game caller. There have been several pitchers during Lucroy's time here that have had significant problems with him behind the plate. To the point where they just axed Wolf ever pitching to Lucroy, and they may be doing the same with Peralta.

Here's what I think would need to happen: Gomez and Segura continue to perform as they have. Braun returns to MVP form after MLB is unable to find him guilty of anything, or he is hit with a 50 game suspension that is served out in a lost season anyway. Hart returns fully healthy on a 1 year deal, and Ramirez recovers in the off-season and rebounds to his 2012 form. Weeks avoids his major first half swoon, and the bullpen is a carbon copy of this year. Most importantly, Peralta shows that his recent play hasn't been flukey as he buds into an ace, and with the return of Gallardo to pre-2012 form and Lohse putting up his usual numbers, the rotation becomes a strength. There are a lot of variables here and it's somewhat a dangerous mentality for the organization. It's going to result in little deadline activity and is basically playing your same losing cards from this year and hoping for better results. But I think the organization may be having some of these same thoughts as the trade deadline approaches this year.

There is "talk" that MLB will try to ban Braun and A-Rod from the game for life. http://www.620wtmj.com/sports/milwaukee-brewers/215260041.html?lc=Smart

Is Roenicke really that saddled, though? Lohse has pretty much been exactly as advertised. Gallardo has struggled this year, but has always been a starter in the mid to upper 3.00's ERA year after year. Peralta is the best starting prospect they've had since Gallardo. It's not Greinke/Marcum/Yo but I don't think many people thought on opening day that Gallardo/Lohse/Estrada/Peralta/Fiers was a looming disaster. I think people were more excited than worried about the rotation. It's easy to say he's been saddled with an awful rotation now that they've well, stunk, but I think on paper most people certainly expected better than this. I'll take a 2013 Gallardo/Lohse/Peralta/Estrada/Fiers over a 2009 Gallardo/Suppan/Looper/Parra/Bush any day.

When looking at the entire big picture, now that everything is unfolded, I see the Greinke/Marcum acquisitions as huge wins for us. Marcum for Lawrie is pretty lousy value, but we DID get two very nice years out of Marcum. And Lawrie, who looked like the next Braun when he started out for the Jays, has looked pedestrian and often injured since then. It's reasonable to assume that Greinke would not have waived his NTC had Marcum not already been acquired, so no Marcum = no Greinke. And ARam certainly would have never been signed if Lawrie hadn't been traded. It's also ironically possible that we would have neither of our two All-Stars if we hadn't acquired Greinke in the first place. Segura obviously wouldn't be here, and I can't help but wonder if they would have shown the same patience with Gomez if Cain would have still been in town. Based on Segura's value alone, you could reasonable argue that the sum of Segura + Hellweg + Pena is worth more than the sum of Escobar + Cain + Jeffress + Odorizzi + Lawrie anyway. Escboar has a great glove but is an offensive liability. Cain is an average CF'er. Jeffress has been waived since being acquired. Odorizzi has potential, but slipped in prospect rankings every year.

Unfortunately they will title it, "Report: OTL says Braun suspension will actually be coming NEXT year. Really."

While it may not seem productive to play the blame game, I think that it is important for Mark A. to attempt to assign accountability for this season to gain some understanding of where to start in fixing the franchise and moving forward. So where does the primary responsibility for this season lie? There are several potential theories: 1. Players - There are the pieces of place for a winning team, but the players have simply failed to execute in key situations this year. They have failed numerous times in key situations, and the ace of the pitching staff has really fallen hard and felt lasting effects of playing in the WBC, while Estrada failed to repeat his success and Peralta took longer than hoped to develop. 2. Management/Coaching - Ron Roenicke's over-aggressive tactics have finally caught up to him. Time and time again he does, or does not do the 1 or 2 things every game that seems to cost his team in the end, with puzzling in-game situational management and questionable lineups. Rick Kranitz continues to appear unqualified to fix the problems in the rotation. 3. Front Office - The real problems of the team lie with the inability to draft and develop. Melvin's failures to properly address first base after injuries to Hart and Gamel were a huge blow to offensive productivity. The failures of scouts to develop minor league talent have left major holes in the back of the rotation. 4. Injuries - The injuries this season were too much for the Brewers to ever have a chance. With Hart and Gamel missing the entire season, and Braun, Ramirez, Narveson, and others all missing significant time, there were simply too many holes created to put together a competitive ballclub. So while I would assume that most people would agree that the problems have been a result of a combination of these factors, where does the most responsibility lie? I would say it's a pretty even combination between 1, 2, and 4. I don't entirely blame the FO for the roster because I don't think it's really that bad of a roster. With that said, there were other actions that could have been taken at first base other than a Betancourt/Gonzalez platoon, and they do of course hold accountability for a coaching staff that seems to fail at getting the most out of the talent given.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/danny-knobler/22711607/scouts-corner-a-look-at-the-market-for-starting-pitchers Yikes...Scouts see Yo as a 3 or 4 now? That's not going to net much and makes his price tag look a lot less attractive.

FOX announcers just roasting Segura for not hustling back to 1st. I love Segura but it looks like the same lethargic attitude from this team every day, even when they are winning.

Schafer is the most overrated of the young Brewer players by fans, announcers, and management. Easily. Somebody had to say it.

This team could not be any worse fundamentally.

This team is quietly closing in on the worst record in baseball. They are that bad. Even the most pessimistic of fans could not have forseen that. If significant changes aren't made, what reason is there to think next season will be any different?

2011 seems like forever ago. It's hard to believe we got this bad in such a short period.

You're just not going to give up on that contact play, are you Ron?

Well, another game I can stop watching after 2 innings.

Bad pitching + bad defense + bad management = bad team.

But surely not the last.