adambr2

Now Giannis missing his FTs too.

Giannis was atrocious in the 1st half, not going to sugarcoat it. It might be the worst half he's had this year. Bad shots, bad decisions, bad ball handling. The good news is, as mentioned, it's only a 2 point game and hopefully that first half is going to light a fire under him the next 2 quarters.

Lopez looked like a 7 foot center shooting that 3.

I meant 2:45 Touche

Giannis is really having a poor game. Mirotic knocks down another!

It's not halftime of game one yet. Detroit was leading at half time of one of their games, IIRC. I'm not even saying we're going to lose. Just don't know why anyone expected an easy series.

I thought this was supposed to be an easy series and we were just overthinking it being worried about Boston.

This is a pitiful offensive performance so far.

I also would not assume that Thames will not have his option picked up especially if Aguilar does not get it going at some point. If he is closer to his 2017 numbers (31 HR, .877 OPS) than last year when he was hurt much of the year, Thames will and should have his 2020 option picked up.

Yeah I see no real need to do this. Moose is just a guy. Good at some things, not so much at others. Glad to have him this year, but not someone I'd be interested in tying up 8 figures a year for a multi year deal when he's not even a big positional need.

I agree with all this other than 'he heard rumblings' (Savage) was going soon. There shouldn't be any 'rumblings', or a team's draft room is really failing them. You can look at other team's needs and other moves, but he didn't know. It's an educated guess. I don't like it when a GM becomes enamored with one particular player. Trade-ups are best utilized to go steal a guy at a skill position who fell too far to pass up. (Example: The Redskins moving up 2 spots to get in front of us in 2005 to steal Rodgers over Jason Campbell). Not for grabbing one particular player that you love. It's the 2nd year in a row that Gute has given up pretty good value to move up from the back to the mid-back of the 1st to get "his" guy, and I'm not crazy about this strategy when it involves sacrificing 3rd and 4th round picks on a yearly basis. That said, if Savage goes on to be a perennial Pro Bowl safety I'll gladly eat my words. He traded back last year to net us an additional 1st round pick and then traded back up to get Alexander, a clear hit at this point. Not sure that's the best example. And I'm sure rather see the Packers target and get the guy THEY want rather than sit back and watch him get picked like Wolf did with Urlacher for example. More importantly, how is it a sign that your draft room is really failing if you move up because you hear that a guy is going to get picked ahead of where you're picking(a rumor that turns out to be confirmed)? Seems to me that's evidence that your draft room is working. I didn't mean it's a sign the Packers' draft room is failing. I meant a team's draft room is failing them if opponents are able to know ahead of time who they are taking and jump them in the process. Simply put I was saying you just don't really know, I wasn't literally calling any particular team out as having a failed draft room.

Claudio facing any righty in a big spot is a strategy that is pretty easy to argue with. So, what should have been done? Give up a dinger to Cano or Conforto instead? Bring in a righty for Wilson to face McNeil? If this was the postseason/must win scenario one could argue they play the matchups AB by AB, but with a 4 run lead you put Claudio in for Mcneil and let him pitch through Conforto anyway. I'm ok with letting Claudio face one righty in a 4 run game if the bases are empty, but no, not when a HR makes it a 1 run game. He's just that bad against RHP. Frankly I'd like to see them try the Joe Maddon strategy at some point where you stick Claudio out in a corner OF spot for one AB if you just need to get through one righty.

Claudio facing any righty in a big spot is a strategy that is pretty easy to argue with.

That kind of thing happens when you decide that a career LOOGY isn't a LOOGY anymore.

They are going to need Hader sooner rather than later with the way this is going.

So, uh, the reasons Alex Wilson was available for dirt cheap are becoming a lot more obvious. He should make Matt Albers feel pretty safe.

Obviously it's wayyy early to say what will happen but it's worth keeping in mind that we do have a $7.5M option on Thames next year. If he could give us a decent season and Aguilar continues to flop this badly it's not totally implausible that we could end up picking the option up.

I honestly didn't even know he still was until you posted this. Frankly I'm surprised he's lasted this long on the 40. Going on 2 years that he's been dodging the dreaded DFA.

Remember just a month ago when many looked at Thames and Anderson as dead weight that we could hopefully just drop on someone? I'm glad we still have both.

I agree with all this other than 'he heard rumblings' (Savage) was going soon. There shouldn't be any 'rumblings', or a team's draft room is really failing them. You can look at other team's needs and other moves, but he didn't know. It's an educated guess. I don't like it when a GM becomes enamored with one particular player. Trade-ups are best utilized to go steal a guy at a skill position who fell too far to pass up. (Example: The Redskins moving up 2 spots to get in front of us in 2005 to steal Rodgers over Jason Campbell). Not for grabbing one particular player that you love. It's the 2nd year in a row that Gute has given up pretty good value to move up from the back to the mid-back of the 1st to get "his" guy, and I'm not crazy about this strategy when it involves sacrificing 3rd and 4th round picks on a yearly basis. That said, if Savage goes on to be a perennial Pro Bowl safety I'll gladly eat my words.

What a wasted chance. He's out.

2020. Club option for 2021 which can be bought out for 4 million.

I think this pretty much nails everything on Braun. I think there's a group of people who still look at Braun through glasses tinted by his legacy and who he once was. To me, it's not the bat weight, it's not the launch angle, it's not anything within his control anymore. He is an old baseball player and the odds of him discovering the fountain of youth at this point and having a big rebound year are very slim. I can understand appreciation for Braun's legacy. I'm not personally a huge fan, but I can understand it. What I can't understand is the hyperbole that we still see from time to time (he's still one of the best hitters in the game, etc. No, he's not.) I agree that Santana, who has cooled off, is probably a .850ish OPS guy at best who shouldn't play in the field. In essence, Khris Davis with less power. I saw some discussion about the Mitch Haniger trade yesterday and I think one of the ironies of it is that if we hadn't, we probably are comfortable enough to pull the trigger on the Braun trade in 2016. I do wonder who the two mystery 'prospects' were on the Braun deal and hope they were no one of any significance.

Here's a hypothetical: Many people wanted to just put Josh Hader in the rotation last year and let him develop as a starter. If we had done that and just lived with the growing pains of it whether it be in Milwaukee or AAA, would we have been within 1 game of the World Series last year? We can never know 100%, but my assumption is that no, we would not have been. We would not have been division champions, we would not have been in the NLCS, we would not have even made the playoffs without the things Josh Hader did for us in the bullpen last year.

If all of Burnes, Peralta and Woodruff pitched out of the pen this year and we won the World Series and none of the trio ever started again, I'm still taking the World Series. I understand you can't guarantee things either way, I'm just saying. I get what you're saying and I understand where you're coming from. I'm just saying, they were 1 game from the World Series last year which is usually not a developmental time the next year. The spot they're in, if you're ok with losing some series' and enduring some frustration now; well, if the trio of Burnes/Peralta/Woodruff all stays down for seasoning all season while guys like Jake Petricka and Alex Wilson pitch out of the pen here, that is probably going to be enough to cost you a playoff spot.