Schlitz001

This trailer for the new Moneyball movie just came out. It seems to already be getting a lot of criticism, but I'm looking forward to it. I love a good baseball movie. The release date is September 23rd.

Betancourt=win

And then the next one almost takes out Braunie, lol.

Zambrano strikes out Braun, Fielder, McGehee. I don't like boosting his confidence early.

Hmmm. Do we have any upcoming games in San Juan?

I don't know what value Josh Wilson brings at SS, but it can't possibly be that much worse than what Betancourt is providing. The Brewers need to reduce Yuni's role as a starter on this team.

I love watching Bob do "Take me out to the ballgame". It never gets old.

McGehee was a foot away from a 2 RBI double on that last AB. He seems to getting more 3 ball counts lately and hitting the ball a little harder.

Let's bench Betancourt for 2 weeks and give Wilson and Consell some starts. What's the worst that could happen?

Oh Betancourt. You truly are as bad as advertised.

2nd and 3rd with 0 outs. Let's get a couple of runs.

Randy Wolf stats this year with.... Wil Nieves - 51.1 innings caught - 2.45 ERA Jon Lucroy - 17.0 innings caught - 4.24 ERA G. Kottaras - 16.0 innings caught - 4.50 ERA I understand these are very small sample sizes, but WHAT IF like Dumbo and his magic feather Wil Nieves catching Randy Wolf somehow gives Wolf the ability to pitch a ballgame in which he gives up 2 less earned runs per 9 innings pitched? Does it then justify Nieves being on the roster and catching every 5th game? Every 5th game, where Lucroy would need an off day every 5 games anyway and our next best option is George Kottaras? Every 5th game which amounts to about 2% of the PAs in a week? I'm not saying that I don't hate Nieves as a hitter, but what about the rest of this lineup? To not score a run against Dempster who has been one of the most hittable pitchers in the league this year should fall largely on the shoulders of Nieves?

I like to blame the offense too. We can't score 2 runs? Is that too much to ask against a guy with a 5.96 ERA? Huh, Wil Nieves? Well we still have an inning to go.

Congrats chickinbrickin. I still would have went with Yuni though http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

The only thing that makes that possibly a good idea is the fact that NOBODY with any baseball sense could foresee that play being called. But there is a reason that nobody could predict that play....because it's not a good play.

That was not a good managerial decision.

Anyone else catch Todd Coffey's throwback uniform the other day? http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/0d21569a8a6dc036a735e7195c89e348e9727e1.jpg

YuniB AB #1: Swing Nieves AB #1: DP Tie! Yuni not swing at the first pitch? lol

That was a good approach by McGehee, working the count full and going the other way. Unfortunately right at the RF.

Wow, looking at that lineup for the Cubs, I guess I know what Big Z was talking about when he said they were playing like AAA Iowa. That said, I'm always afraid of the Cubs and I hope the Crew doesn't take this series lightly.

That was my first thought too. Kotsay's a lefty, he had a good game yesterday and he hit a home run off of Dempster one time in 2002.

I've always liked the idea of putting teams that are geographically close together in the same division. Jim Bowden does just this in his article on espn.com. I don't like his playoff system or schedule shifting, but I do like the idea of teams in the same city playing each other more often. I think you could take this model and increase the playoffs to 3 division winners and then 2 wild cards.

Leinenkugel made it's first appearance on grocery shelves here in Montana about 4 years ago. I'm happy to report that for the first time ever Lakefront Brewery has beers on shelves here. While I usually go very local with my beer buying, it's nice to know that I can get a small taste of Wisconsin when I'm looking for it.

If Gamel comes up, here's what I'd like to see for interleague play: RHP Weeks Morgan Braun Fielder (DH) Hart Gamel (1B) McGehee Lucroy Cousell LHP Weeks Hart Braun Fielder (DH) McGehee Lucroy Gamel (1B) Yuni Gomez

I can't take the lack of offense from Yuni. It's so frustrating to know that he's going to be swinging at the first pitch no matter what the situation. His defense would be somewhat forgivable if he at least got on base at a .300+. DM has to be on the phone trying to remedy this. The Brewers don't have much to offer in a trade, so their best chance is to get a player who is in the last year of his contract, probably older, and owed a larger salary. The shortstop must also be on a team that is not in contention or one with excess SS. Here is a list of players who fit that mold, along with their career batting lines and money owed in 2011. 1) Rafael Furcal - .285/.350/.410 - owed $12M in 2011 - 33 years old Furcal would be a nice pickup, except that he might be out until mid July with a strained side muscle. And even when he comes back there is always the threat that he will head right back to the DL. He's been on and off the DL several times in the last 4 years. He might be the best option for the Brewers since the Dodger will want him traded out of the division and given that he is owed a considerable amount of money this year. With Jamey Carroll doing a nice job for the Dodgers this year at SS, it shouldn't be hard for the Dodgers to forget about Furcal. 2) Marco Scutaro - .267/.336/.384 - owed $5M in 2011 - 35 years old It would be fun to see Scutaro come back to the Brewers after his history with the club. (See the movie "A Player to be Named Later") His defense can be a liability, but he's a definite offensive upgrade from Yuni. With Jed Lowrie being the Red Sox' primary SS, they might be enticed to trade Scutaro, and especially so if they decide to make a play to trade for Reyes. Scutaro has been injured this year and so has Lowrie, making the Sox thinner at the SS position. 3) JJ Hardy - .263/.325/.426 - owed $5.85M in 2011 - 28 years old We all know that Hardy is a superb defender, and an above average hitting SS with an injury history. I think that JJ will probably get moved at the deadline, just not to the Brewers. Melvin really screwed Hardy over in 2009 by sending him back to the minors at the end of the season. Even with Escobar ready to take over at SS, Melvin was a little overeager to move Hardy and now he's set up perfectly to be ridiculed by the fans/media if he brings Hardy back to the organization for prospects. I don't see this happening. 4) Jose Reyes - .289/.338/.439 - owed $11M in 2011 - 28 years old Reyes has a .904 OPS this year so far, way above his career average of .777. He's already been labeled as THE trade deadline player to get. The Brewers would need to compete against the Reds, Giants and Red Sox, who all have better farm systems than the Brewers. The Mets are rumored to be in negotiations with Reyes to resign him. Those are 4 reasons why the Brewers probably don't have a chance at Reyes. On the other hand, he is clearly the best SS available and if the Brewers stay on their hot streak, who knows what DM will do. 5) Jack Wilson - .267/.308/.369 - owed $5M in 2011 - 33 years old I stuck Wilson in here because his defense is so damn smooth. He would probably be an easy trade from Jack Z and it would be fun to finally hear Uecker gush over Wilson as a Brewer. On the other hand, he sucks at offense, even more so this year with his .546 OPS.