MNBrew

Wasn't Sexson known as being a fairly solid defender? Or at least in a much better class than Prince that way?

Al, you make a good point about the official scorer at Miller Park. And I, for one, am glad that that's the case. Integrity and historically "traditional" standards still exist there in greater supply, and I'm glad it's my favorite team that can say that. Starting in the mid/late '80s, more and more plays that traditionally had been called errors started being called hits. Scoring became more generous in favor of offensive statistics. Commentators used to bring this point up fairly often. Even if a play was a hard play, if the fielder *should* have made it, it was usually scored an error. The only typical exceptions were when a player would lose a ball in the sun. Nowadays there's also tons of home team favoritism in most parks (which really mostly favors just the home team hitters, not the pitchers), which seemed to come into play today, but that's another whole discussion. That was an error, plain & simple. Bob Webb needs to defend his horrible call. The fact that that was called a hit was completely ridiculous.

Geez, between Hall & Weeks, the .230 Brigade is having a great day!

A day on the active roster is a day of service time. It really is that simple. Don't think so hard about it. Rookie status can get a little more sticky because there are more variables. Basically, rookie status is lost at threshholds of ABs and IPs.

When Bill Hall first came up for a September, they all but admitted he wasn't big-league ready (and his play reinforced that!). But they said they wanted Hall to learn for another month of play from the big league coaches and have him be in a big league environment. At this point I don't even recall if that was Melvin at that time or still Dean Taylor. Anyway, while the team's circumstances are vastly different now, I could see similar logic for bringing up Salome if they were to do so. Simmons, Kendall, & Yost there to show/teach/pass on wisdom about being a major league catcher should be very positive (the name order was intentional, btw). Heck, just learning a few tricks from Rivera about being productive at the plate in extremely limited playing time could be a very positive thing since he likely wouldn't crack the Opening Day roster (in whatever spring that may eventually happen) as the starting catcher.

I don't normally follow the minors overly closely, but I do recognize most of the Brewers' guys names, especially at AA & AAA. I was checking out player stats tonight and noticed that Ryan Crew's status was listed as "suspended # days." If I'd heard what this was about, I've certainly forgotten the answer. Does anyone else know what his suspension is about?

Don't forget Turnbow's $3.2M or so, too. I totally agree, LouisEly. Granted, some of that difference will be gone to contract & arby-related (whether arby-ed or negotiated) increases. But it sure seems they've got the jing to sign at least one of the big two. And I'm right with you on Sabathia, much as I've loved Sheets over the years.

While the Giants are always in the hunt on big free agents when they have money to spend, I still wonder if they'd really be in on Sabathia when they're already paying Zito about $17M/yr. Then again, that's probably exactly when they'd be in it on CC. If they'd take Suppan with Hardy (pipe dream), then we'd have the jing to keep up with any offer to CC. Sabathia/Gallardo/Cain/Parra/Bush-Villanueva-McClung..... maybe not likely, but sure fun to dream!

The SS I'd much rather see the Brewers peddle in the offseason is Bill Hall. Due to his contract & performance, you'd probably have to add some other attractive pieces to the deal to net a return that would improve the Crew considerably. However, there are many teams out there for whom Hall's ability and even his track record would represent a solid upgrade. Not that they'd necessarily spend the cash without some incentive in the deal, but the Twins are the team I see the most and they get pummeled by LH pitching. Brian Buscher is hitting over .300 for them, which is no small feat. But Hall has positive offensive credentials -- not that they're guaranteed to recur, of course -- that no current Twins IF not named Morneau can match. The Twins have 5 solid OFs and a glaring need for relief pitching. Maybe there'd be potential here for a 3-way deal. I'd love to get Matt Cain. But giving up Hardy would be a steep price and I'm not so sure I'd want to do that. I still think eventually you move Hardy to 3B and Escobar becomes the SS, maybe even as soon as next year.

"I'd trade Suppan for a bag that could hold doughnuts." Shoot, I'd almost trade Suppan for the holes in the middle of the doughnuts. I'm on a diet.

I'm not sure how they'd do it, but I'd love to see the Brewers find some way to trade Hall & Suppan in the offseason. While some financial obligation would come back in the exchange, that would sure help free up even more salary. TLB & Brooklyn, you're right on. The fact is, the Brewers have the cash to pay Sheets. They also have the cash to pay Sabathia. The question is whether or not they'll choose to do so.

brewcrew00 (earlier in the thread) and yount19.u (last couple pages), you two are bringing up fantastic, thoughtful points and arguments that are both highly valid and essential to these discussions. Multiple perspectives are important. Because we live in a largely "seeing is believing" culture, for better or for worse, we've become trained to believe for sure only those things for which statistical proof exists. I don't necessarily think that approach is always the best. I agree with your points entirely. Stats tell a lot of the story and are an extremely useful tool. Certain things, however, just cannot be quantified no matter how much some on this great site object or otherwise refuse to believe something if it cannot be proven by numbers, measurement, and analysis. "Gut check" and "ace," clutch, emotion, and feel, among other terms, are perfectly legit. Please don't back down just because someone inevitably will tell you you've left the realm of the empirical and therefore such concepts can only be mythical. No matter how you slice it, numbers themselves are objective while their interpretation can become extremely subjective. Stats describe the outcome. But they often cannot explain the human reasons for the outcome.

Cubs' BA is ~25 points higher than the Brewers' BA. Cubs' OBP is ~35 points higher than the Brewers' OBP. Cubs rank 1st in the NL in both. Brewers rank 10th. The Cubs have 115 more hits and 85 more BB than the Brewers. That's 200 baserunners, and that's huge. With how well the Brewers are pitching, even halving the gap behind the Cubs in BA & OBP might make up more than a few wins. Even just being "league average" would help, and even more so in RISP. Again, the lefty-righty thing, while far from ideal for the Crew, just doesn't seem like as big of a problem by comparison.

For Sheets, one win in 1.5 months is not acceptable. He usually hasn't pitched badly, but he also hasn't pitched well enough to win. Now to the end of the year is clutch time and top-end guys need to step it up. Sheets needs to step it up and just hasn't gotten enough done. He's been the Brewers' #1 since he started except since the CC trade. Granted, CC has been pitching like Bob Gibson or Randy Johnson. But now we're seeing the difference between #1 and stud/ace. Sabathia is a better pitcher than Sheets -- 6x has had 13+ wins and reigning AL Cy Young, whereas Sheets has always been only a 10-12 game winner. Does it seem a bit ironic that, just as in Sheets' rookie year, he has a dominant 1st half and appears in the All-Star Game, then can't seem to do enough to win for the most part in the 2nd half? Granted, in 2004 he was amazing. But I put my eggs in the basket of Sabathia first and foremost, roll up the Brinks truck, then make a solid offer to Sheets and take the extra picks instead if someone else wants to top it and Sheets takes the highest bid (and when don't most high end FAs not take the highest bid?).

A guy I taught with was our HS volleyball coach for a couple decades. He was adamant about the value of dressing a few more JV players than he would otherwise when in the playoffs. When it becomes "their turn" as the varsity players in future years, they've already experienced the atmosphere and maybe even played. It's one way you help develop leadership in younger players. For that reason, I'd hope the Brewers aren't stingy about adding guys to the roster for September, especially with guys who are strong potential future Brewers and who might be able to contribute in the right situations. Cost isn't too heavy, and this would be a good year to do so in terms of revenue. pitchers: DiFelice, Dillard, Stetter position players: Rottino, Dillon, Branyan (re-activated if he hasn't been already), Gwynn, and maybe also Iribarren & Nelson Seems to me Pena hasn't earned it at all yet and Escobar, well, you don't necessarily want to start his service time clock and you need to stop adding somewhere.

I realized my screw-up in my first post of this thread. I meant to say "BA & OBP," not BA & OPS. The OPS is decent because of all the power. The OBP is what needs to improve. High OBP is one of many reasons the Cubs are having such a good year. If the Crew were hitting (BA & OBP) more like the Cubs, it's possible the Cubs would be chasing them rather than the opposite. Sorry for the mistake.

Not really. I was singling out Weeks, Hall, & Cameron's production as part of the big picture of what I believe the Brewers need to improve on for 2009. And I think the issues of high Ks and low BA & OPS -- along with BA-RISP! -- are bigger, more time-proven Brewers concerns than the righty-lefty thing. That's all.

What I think he ought to be doing and what I expect, at least in this case, are not the same. He's a career .250 hitter. Technically, Cameron's is a large enough sample that that's what I'd expect, maybe a litttle lower since he's a 30-something-year-old veteran with a little downward trend. He's hit mid-.260s and higher 4 times. I think that's what he ought to be doing. He's a veteran, hardly washed up. He should be able to make some better adjustments. I was deliberate in my word choice, which I realize means my thoughts may well fly in the face of sabermetrics. You're probably more right than I am. I just think Cameron ought to be hitting 25 points higher and getting on base 30 points better than he is. That's what the team needs. Do what Carlos Lee taught several Brewers hitters (not that it stuck): shorten your swing with 2 strikes and focus on putting the ball in play.

BAs are about the same. The OPS difference just means Hall hits the ball farther, esp. since Counsell walks at a better rate.

I totally agree, Bullox. I wouldn't condone what happened. Ideally he should've stayed "above the fray" on anything personal, which still would've left the blog door open for intelligent dialogue.

I guess I'd tend to view Hall's bat being as much of a wet paper towel as Weeks' & Counsell's. And I agree, as much as Nix should be able to do something on offense, this is the 3rd different time he's come up and done next to nothing -- not that 5 or 6 ABs is much of a sample, but sooner or later the guy needs to show that he doesn't leave 100% of his hot hitting in AAA. Wasn't that what happened last year, too?

The guy is a beat writer. Reporting always comes with a perspective, regardless of how objective the intent. (Just as they say, the past doesn't change, but history does because it always depends on the reporter/writer's perspective.) The blog is the guy's free-will contribution to Brewers discussion with updates much more frequent than the paper would carry them, no length limitations, and a chance to actually write with an intentionally personal perspective. All in all, I've been quite pleased with how timely and detailed the blog posts have occurred throughout the year. I don't usually read the subsequent threads, so I've missed some of TH's retorts to readers. I'd much rather read what BF.net has to offer. Whether he's a little arrogant or not, I don't know and wouldn't surmise to know. But the frequency and number of folks attacking and trashing him constantly, often on very personal levels, strikes me not just as silly but ridiculous and offensive. People would often rag on TH & Drew Olson for hardly contributing much throughout the offseason except around the winter meetings and immediately around a significant Brewers move. With the blog, TH & AW now give us tons of stuff and are quite prompt with it. Yet the attacks are still relentless. I'm not suggesting he's a saint or a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, either, but gee whiz, what's to be gained by trashing the guy non-stop? To paraphrase Yost, the situation is what it is. Not that TH was right for getting into it personally with readers/critics, but after hearing years' worth of unmerited crap, I'd find it hard to continue turning the other cheek, too.

The righty-lefty thing doesn't strike me as as big of a concern as a few other things: - The fact that the Brewers have too many all-or-nothing offensive players. They need many fewer Ks and significantly better BA & OPS. Weeks, Cameron, & Hall are all having years that are well below what I think they ought to be doing. Cameron's power & RBIs are pretty positive, actually, but the high Ks and low BA & OPS out of these 3 (not that others are fully innocent, either) are just killing the Crew. At least Cameron's a defensive stud, but the Crew may be better off with a Kapler/Gwynn combo platter in CF next year. Hall may be a great athlete but I'd sure love to see his $6M salary next year coming from another team and someone like Hardy (with Escobar at SS) or Dillon/Branyan/Durham/Gamel manning 3B. Counsell should start his coaching career or sign to play elsewhere next year. - Side note to above: Given the contributions he makes to the pitching staff, his SB defense, and his knack for decent if sometimes too often unproductive ABs, I'm quite pleased that Kendall's option for next year has vested. AND I'd also make Rivera a well-paid backup C, whatever it'd take to keep him. - Ben Sheets has won only once since the Sabathia trade and has had more outings where he's looked like Jeff Suppan or Dave Bush than Ben Sheets. The high hits/medium-to-low Ks thing, along with a penchant for longer, mediocre stretches, are are a couple reasons I'd rather see the Brewers sign Sabathia to a near-Santana-type contract than Sheets. Think about it. CC is a proven stud. Sheets is a sometimes stud, sometimes only a potential stud. The Crew really hasn't gotten nearly $40M's worth of production from Sheets the past 4 years. I'd love to have both of 'em back, don't get me wrong. But if the $$ are prohibitive, which it sounds like they are, then I'll take CC first by a mile. With YG, MP, DB, SM, & CV, the Brewers would already have 6 potential starters before including Suppan, whom I wouldn't mind seeing in another team's uniform (and on another team's payroll) next year, too. I'd rather not see Jenkins return next year.

I liked the Suppan signing originally but it sure looks like he can't sustain much success without the help of Dave Duncan. Given the dearth of crappy pitching the Cardinals had this off-season, I sure would think they'd be among the teams interested in Suppan next off-season even in spite of his salary. He's paid like a #2 starter and pitches like a #5 most of the time. Goodness knows the Brewers can get just as good a results if not better for a whole lot less money between Bush & McClung.

Hawkins is only marginally better than Mota. No thanks. The difference between the two is the difference in effectiveness between bailing out the Titanic with a teaspoon vs. a tablespoon - either way you're still gonna sink fast.