sbrylski

I also want to say I disliked the Baseball Prospectus Handbook. I won't be buying it again.

When the optimists don't seee them losing many more than 100 it doesn't bode very well does it? My post kindof started fairly optimistic, then ended with a resounding, "They suck."

I'm with Jopal. I don't think they'll be as bad as some think. I really like Church and Kearns, together with Johnson and Zimmerman they should be somewhat okay on offense. Pitching may be helped some by RFK, though they still will be really bad. I'd put the over under at 60, so I don't see them losing too many more than 100.

Really? I don't get why Startup is considered a good name. Honestly, I think its one of the worst ones on the bracket.

i do believe the brewers need a crafty veteran left handed reliever. I agree, but he has to be better than what we already have.

Very nice graphic.

You have to realize at this stage in his career, he's a lefty specialist brought in to face 1-2 batters. I guess the question would be do the brewers have a need for a lefty bullpen specialist? or do they have confidence in Shouse? Matt Wise gets lefties out better than Cormier.

We still want Lieber?

Cormeir is a lefty who is a veteran who has had some success in the past. and he 's had an ok spring. Past as in three years ago. And ST means nothing to me. He's old and declining, IMO, and I don't want to give up anything for him.

Pass. .818 OPS against LHB the last two years, .775 over the last three. Not that good.

Sabermetrics is the analysis of baseball through objective evidence, especially baseball statistics. The term is derived from the acronym SABR, which stands for the Society for American Baseball Research. It was coined by Bill James, who was among its first proponents and has long been its most prominent advocate known to the general public. per Wikipedia

Crap, I was pulling for Matthew Manship from the beginning. I'd say Boof Bonser is the favorite at this point. And how is Will Startup beating Henry Henry so bad?!

His secondary stats don't really indicate he should be doing as well as he has been, which is weird because he's been consistently above that. I'd rather not give up much for him.

There's a reason that Macias is available as a AAA backup and Counsell is making big bucks. Craig is simply a much better player. I guess it was more of a sarcastic comment, I definately don't think Macias should really take Counsells roster spot.

Nice veteran backup for the Sounds. Hell, I'd take him over Counsell in the thirdbase timeshare.

I wouldn't want to give up much at all for a 60 innings pitcher. Simply put, I agree with Melvins "scrap heap" bullpen philosophy.

I'm not a big fan of new poster hazing, but there's a difference between a noob and a noob with attitude problems. Yes. When I first joined, I don't remember any hazing. I believe my first post was about targeting Kelly Shoppach or Brian McCann to fill our organizational hole. But anyway, I wasn't too loud, and I came it without severe attachments to my own opinions. I learned a lot in just my first month here, and I felt welcomed. All I had to do was be nice, and listen to facts.

Here was my response...(I suppose our discussion can be taken public here, it pertains to everyone) As for what I want BrewerFan to be...I guess I come here to learn. To learn about the Brewers, and to learn about baseball. I've also always been mathematically inclined, so naturally I gravitate toward statistics. When I see a new poster get met with cruel sarcasm, I feel bad. I personally never specifically use sarcasm with new posters, or at least try not to. Instead, I suppose I try to ask why they feel that way. Then I present why I feel the opposite and try to create a constructive discussion. Why? Because that's what I'd want someone to do with comments I make. I want to learn from everyone else here. Maybe its in poor taste to assume that the other poster wants that type of learning experience. Like you said, some visitors to the site just love baseball and want an avenue to express their thoughts. So yes, it was not a good move on my part to suggest a "tutorial" for new posters. I just assumed that they, like me, would want to learn. I suppose I was being alittle close-minded. Then, my question is, do you feel these different types of posters can co-exist? Obviously, newbies get scared away, so the "educated" posters are probably going to continue to win the battle, and I suppose that's in my favor as these are the people I want to learn from. But how should I treat newer, venting posters? It is my nature to attempt to debate, and use all the knowledge I have. If they aren't looking for constructive critism, why are they here posting? I've got a guy in my apartment building who shares the same passion for baseball as I do and often approaches me to discuss baseball, however he's the venter, the "uneducated" fan. (Is there a better term I should be using here?) But that's not what bothers me. What irks me about him is I don't think he's ever heard a word I said about baseball. Its a one-sided discussion, he's not there to hear my opinion, he's there to talk at me. I really don't know how to handle the situation. I just tune him out and wait until he's finished. But I hate these "discussions". If this was BrewerFan, I wouldn't visit. ---------- If you want to take me to task about stats go ahead. I just showed you three examples. Careful not to lump all stat users together. Many stat people acknowledge that some stats are worthless, and some are better than others. In fact, I've argued against platooning Clark with Jenkins. (Actually, I'm beginning to see your point about using the same stat to argue two different things. Doesn't mean I'm going to not be a stat guy though.)

Ennder, I agree that Nix is a bit of a dark horse as a '08 starting outfield candidate. It's the fact that he's number 7 or 8 on the outfield list suprises me that he'd be holding up a deal. Its not like we'd be need him right away, or even soon. We may not need him healthy at all. And he won't be out that long. Just seems odd.

But one club that has been speaking with them says they've pulled back their efforts to deal Clark, Mench or Jenkins until Laynce Nix recovers from an oblique injury. Wha!? Layne Nix might be holding up a potential deal? I sure hope Melvin is just trying to squeeze a little more out of someone.

Here is an excerpt from the PM I sent to Reed: ---------- sbrylski - now you are admitting in your last post you are closed minded. Were you just being sarcastic ? was that a form of your humor that i just didn't understand? or did yo u actually say what i thought you said? look at your last paragraph. You are starting to place requirements of who you believe should and should not post here. You don't want closed minded people to post here. Asking people to have an open-mind means I have a closed mind? I always respect the opposing opinion. If it contradicts mine, I want to know more about why the other person feels about it. I don't go on a rant saying they are wrong and throw complicated stats at them, at least I don't try. Look at my 4.00 ERA posts, I tried to ask why he felt that way and also presented why I feel the opposite. And like I said above, he never changed his opinion, but acknowledged that he learned from some posts, I can only hope from one of mine. And I love debating with Geno, because he just completely picks apart any stat thrown at him. Doesn't mean I end up agreeing with him, or him with me, but they are fun discussions non-the-less. because for every stat in baseball that a conclusion is based on, there exist at leasts 10 other stats and formulas that can prove that stat wrong or predict a totally different outcome. Like said, that is simply not really true. I've heard you use this argument in the past, and while I have never accused you yet of being close-minded yourself, the fact that you've hung on to this falacy does hint that you have some stubborn tendencies. Not that you have to like stats of course, just that you should recognize there is some worth to them. Baseball teams have statistitians working for them, it would not be if they didn't have at least some value. there comes a time when there are just too many stats and it takes away from the fun of the game. For you. To me, it adds to it. We can coexist: I'll point out here that many stats agree with many subjective opinions. I got jumped on a few weeks ago when I used a "stat" to agree that Jenkins has a very nice arm. (I never actually used a number, just mentioned the numbers confirm it.)

Blazer, can you enable your ezInbox? I want to send a quick PM.

I don?t think we need to force new posters into a certain way of thinking. We don?t want all posters to be similar thinking robots that only espouse WHIP, VROP, etc. That wouldn't lead to much discussion would it? No, no, I agree. That's why I said "A more diversified group of posters can make for much better discussions anyway, provided it is kept civil" in the original post. But we as a group throw around a lot of stats in discussions. People who don't at least understand where these stats are coming from won't be able to fit into the discussions. And I'm not even talking about VORP and FIP, I'm just talking about the basic use of statistics. It's the "I watch games" argument that we got in the 4.00 ERA thread that really irks me. Its the basic understanding that stats are a record of every thing that happens, not just a select few preformances. I was actually playing the game of Risk a few weeks ago with some friends, and one of them could not understand that the odds of me rolling a 6 were the same as any other number, despite the fact that I had just rolled consecutive 6's. (I won, btw.) There are plenty of baseball fans that simply have zero exposure to stats, odds, and numbers. Its like one person verbally arguing in English and the other one using Spanish. How can I defend myself if he doesn't speak my language, and vice versa? a problem with the tutoring idea is that yes, it would be nice if you tried to teach the newby a few tutorials about stats. but what if the person doesn't want to learn stats? this is not about a person buying the new microsoft office and asking for help on how to use it. what if he /she just wants to be a fan? not an informed stats fan, but just a normal fan? can't we accept that without trying to change him into a rotissori geek? Again, I'm not talking an advanced knowledge in stats, just some basic concepts. And the person you describe sounds very close-minded, someone who thinks only their own opinion matters and counts. I'd rather they just not be here. My criteria for becoming a constructive poster would be a civil tounge and an open mind, thats it. And speak English.

I think people jumped on him a little early in that thread, but he burned bridges before when he said that he "only speaks the truth". This is true, and TooLive pointed it out to me within that thread. His attitude wasn't the greatest either. Still, we should always strive to be above that.

Any gurus care to agree/disagree? Like I said, I don't know what to make of him anymore.