RobertR

Maybe the fanbase is sick of the Astros averaging 100 losses a season over the last 4 years. Tanking is one thing, but what the Astros pulled is reaching ridiculous proportions and it risks alienating a fanbase. Given that it's not costing them draft picks, it helps them win some games for the paying customers, and it might help the attitude and confidence of the young prospects, I think it's fully defensible.

I wouldn't mind seeing if you could pry Kyle Parker away from the Rockies. He'll never be great, but he's right-handed, can play 1B and corner outfield, and is blocked.

We'll need a post-installation report at the least.

Between Reynolds, Overbay, and Francisco can "none of the above" be a choice. I really wish Melvin had pulled off a deal for Morneau.

Lynch is heavily into transcendental meditation, fwiw. Twin Peaks fell off the rails in the second season, as solving the mystery of Laura Palmer basically took all the steam out of the series, but at its best it was absolutely groundbreaking. I'm hoping with one story that they can remain focused throughout. I like Inland Empire and Mulholland Dr., but I'd rather the David Lynch that tells a straightforward story, with touches of weirdness.

For me, it's not that I do not see value with Parra considering our injury problems with our OF, it is that I feel we could get close to the same production from some guys that cost us quite a bit less than he will. If winning is truly about the pitching, that we could use that money to get our pitching where it needs to be. Just my two cents. (not really complaining that we have him, just more so see it where we could use the resources elsewhere.) Who do you think will provide close to the same production as Parra for less? I don't see it in the Brewers organization. I get the idea of taking an area of strength and using it to shore up an area of weakness, but I'm not convinced that moving Parra won't create a problem in the outfield.

It's not unexpected for your 5th outfielder not to be able to hit. I'd like my 4th outfielder to come in and not be at or below replacement level. There are probably 40 to 60 starts in the outfield that I don't want to just give away, and that's assuming no injuries. Frankly, I think starting 1/3rd of the games, and probably coming off the bench in 80 or 90 more to at least pinch hit, is likely more valuable than a middle relief arm. I'd put a good utility infielder in team needs above a middle reliever as well. I know coming off the bench is a tough job. But, that's the only job available to Schafer and he's shown no indication that he's capable in that role. He's probably a nice guy, but "my job is tough" isn't an excuse. There are hundreds of guys that would like a shot at a major league job, some of whom would perform in Schafer's role. Many of them are nice guys too.

Is Garbage still together?

I'm all for adding depth and competition for a spot on the roster. Especially considering what a disaster Schafer was offensively this year. Improving the bottom of the roster is absolutely something that this team should be doing, especially if you can do it with young, cheap players.

Honestly, I'd be happier if the Brewers were more cutthroat in cutting deadweight than if they had signed Sabathia or Fielder. Yeah, Grienke would have been a good signing, particularly because of his age and lack of any red flags due to body type, but I kind of think that the Brewers probably came out ahead in Lohse plus Garza over Grienke plus ????.

I'm actually okay if the Brewers simply concentrate on shoring up the bench and bullpen this offseason. They have stars in Lucroy, Gomez, and, presumably, a healthy Braun. They appear to have a solid and deep rotation. Upgrading the likes of Schafer, Herrera, and Bianchi shouldn't be particularly expensive. Nor should filling out the rest of the bullpen. None of that should cost you a draft pick or the services of a future young contributor. Sometimes I think we overthink things. The key to winning more games, especially when you already have stars, is to minimize your team's weaknesses. How many stars do the Giants really have, besides Bumgarner and Posey? Depth was one of the reasons the A's have been getting by against teams with bigger payrolls, simply because they don't just give away games when their players need days off. Heck, it may help your best players stay healthy and productive if you're not afraid to give them a day off when they need it. I think there's a lot to be said for the notion of simply not giving away any of 162 games. It might be that solid bench players are a market inefficiency. If so, that's something the Brewers can exploit.

They tried to trade Fielder. There was no market.

I think it's fine to say that many of us have no issue with Rickie Weeks as a person, even if he only occasionally lived up to the potential of when he was drafted. And noting that he had a good year in his final season with the Brewers seems to me to merely acknowledge the reality of the situation. Yeah, the last contract didn't work out as intended and he won't be back, but I think a lot of us have more positive than negative memories of him. Obviously, the Brewers need to look elsewhere for the future. I'm sure Rickie will have some team with a black hole at 2B take a flier on him in 2015. Meanwhile, the Brewers will want to find a player that can platoon with Scooter (even if just as a fallback) and cover at least SS if Segura doesn't bounce back in 2015. They'll also have to figure out 1B and 3B in the offseason. Rickie doesn't help them at any of those needs. I wish Rickie luck, but he'll be fine.

Other than Matt Adams, the Cardinals are a pretty punchless team right now. They'll probably still hang in there, but they're not at all scary offensively.

FWIW, I've heard nothing but bad things about Moran's makeup. Maybe he'll get his head on straight and the Marlins will end up regretting that deal, but this looks like it might be a case of a team selling on someone that still has high draft pick shine but who they think could be a bust.

I'll agree that I don't see the Rockies having any interest in Morris. Heck, Kyle Parker isn't a great prospect, but he certainly projects out better than Morris and it seems like the Rockies need help elsewhere.

Mothra vs. Godzilla Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster Invasion of Astro Monster Probably the peak of the classic Godzilla movies, save for the first which is clearly above anything that came after and maybe King Kong vs Godzilla. Colorful, some fun plotting, lots of great miniature work, and at least they're trying with the human side of the story. I'm amused that Ghidorah is basically The Avengers. Portrait From Life Marry Me Spaceways Night of the Big Heat I've been digging through the lesser known works of Terence Fisher, most famous for his Hammer gothics. Spaceways is the only one that's readily available and it's pretty bad, based on a talky radio play and showing it. Night of the Big Heat is a monster invasion film from the 60s, and may show up on Svengoolie at some point, but it's okay at best while clearly recycling Island of Terror and throwing in an adultery melodrama for the human part of the story. Portrait from Life is a post-WWII mystery thriller that's quite good and has a lot to say about human refugees, obsession, British indifference, etc. It should be more readily available. Marry Me is essentially an anthology film, centered around a marriage bureau, of which only one story really stands out and which Fisher was invested in. Alan Partridge I enjoy Steve Coogan a lot, so this had a lot going for it as he basically ends up as a go between for a hostage situation at a radio station, now going corporate, that he inadvertently caused. Unfortunately, it doesn't really go to anywhere really interesting and only Colm Meaney makes much of an impression among the supporting cast. Maybe if it was directed with a bit more verve or if I was more familiar with the television work that inspired the movie, but it's fairly one note on first impression. Frozen I wanted to see what the big deal was and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. It's definitely a film that works best in context with classic Disney animation as they play with the formula to give the female characters power and agency. I don't need to hear "Let it Go" out of context again, but it works really well in context. The ice animation effects are quite good. Lots works. It's not an adult film, but as an all ages film it manages to say enough to keep it interesting and worthy of analysis. It also feels about 10 minutes could have been shaved off as the trolls feel completely unnecessary to the film. I was kind of enjoying the fact that it was a film with no real villain and what looked like a climax where people talk it out (or perhaps sing it out), so of course they have to shove in a villain and a big, bombastic climax. I'm also a bit disappointed that they seemed to forget that they were a musical near the end and they really could have used a number on the level of "Let it Go" for the climax. It plays with the form up to a point, but doesn't always follow through. Still, I can fully understand why it struck a chord with its target demographic.

That may be the worst play I've ever seen. Wow.

It should be pointed out that our bench 2B-only guy is the best reserve on the team offensively. And he's not preventing the Brewers from carrying a good 4th or 5th outfielder.

I thought they really nailed the season finale of Silicon Valley. They saved their best gag for when it counted. It's a shame that the first season was only 8 episodes.

Yeah, Overbay shouldn't make it through the year, but at least he can play defense. And he's still quite the improvement on Yuni B. I agree though, Morales, Morris, or trade will need to happen, but I never was expecting Overbay to be much more than a Band-Aid in the first place.

Looks like Votto is headed to the DL. Combined with Bruce, the Reds are going to struggle to score runs.

Apparently the Cardinals are more concerned with a couple hundred thousand because of Tavares potential Super Two status than making the playoffs where every game could matter at this point given their start. Good.

Josh Harrison made a pretty good case for Rickie Weeks not trying to pickup outfield tonight, basically giving 2 runs to the Brewers.

I think you could argue there are 3 teams in our DIVISION with more pure talent than the Brewers. Especially when the Pirates bring up Polanco and have one of the most physically talented OF's of the last 30 years. We have exactly ONE star player in Ryan Braun and he's dealing with a thumb injury that has changed his approach at the plate. Wait, Carlos Gomez and Jonathan Lucroy aren't stars? You have a different definition of star than I think most people do.