colbyjack

You can say that Title IX is just an excuse and that it really boils down to money, but I think that is somewhat of a redundant statement. If they could just add the Baseball program without having to worry about offsetting it with women's scholarships, then it might not be as big of a financial hurdle. I do understand what you're saying, but Oregon added competitive cheer and dropped wrestling to make baseball happen for the Title IX ramifications. Seriously, getting past those parameters is the easy part if the university was serious about bringing baseball back (which unfortunately they're not). And ask anyone that was actually part of the baseball program back in the day and they'll tell you the Title IX excuse is a crock. However, I did not really get to know him, so I guess I am not really helping your cause, colbyjack. But thanks, FTJ! My story is going to require quite a bit of research if I do it the way I want to, so in an indirect way you may be helping me. It may even include a field trip to your place of employment.

Thanks FTJ. I may hit you up for some contacts when I get the ball rolling a little better. I definitely want to speak to former players. Zachlaka, I would gladly reimburse/reward you for a copy of that tape. And yes, the program would definitely need a major donor, as it is going to take someone with a lot of money to support the return of baseball. I remember Alvarez mentioning it as well when he took over, although I seem to recall his response wasn't all that serious about bringing the program back. Bud Selig is the most obvious alum that has a vested interest in baseball, Terry Ryan could be another, and of course Herb Kohl has already dropped quite a bit of $$$ into the athletic dep't. Are the Zucker brothers big baseball fans? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif The Title IX excuse is beaten to death, when in reality it boils down to money.

I'm currently working on compiling information for a very long feature story focusing on the Wisconsin Badgers baseball program, particularly now that Oregon has brought back their program, with quite a splash I might add (luring Cal State Fullerton coach George Horton). I have a few leads on people involved with the Badgers athletic dep't. and a few former players (I hope) that could help give some insight on what it would take to bring the program back. This is extremely unlikely, as the Badgers clearly have shown no interest in doing so as quite a few people have already gone out of their way to prove that bringing baseball back is feasible. Anyway, I know Brewerfan.net is a wealth of knowledge, and I welcome anyone that could provide anything that could add to this story. Links, stories, contacts, anecdotes, etc. Feel free to PM or email me (pebert@brewerfan.net), and thanks in advance for any and all help you can provide.

As RyDogg points out, if you go by the numbers, if Braun gets moved Hall should be moved as well. And unfortunately Fielder has nowhere else to go, except for the American League. When I saw Braun play in Nashville it was interesting as he warmed up he would squat down to the ground, yoga-esque (I believe he took yoga last offseason to improve his conditioning and concentration), with his shoulders pointed towards first base. It was clear he was trying to get himself in a better routine fielding his position. When he came to Milwaukee, he ditched that routine, likely so he could avoid being ridiculed. I'm not saying that was why he was horrible or anything like that, but again, it was clear he was taking very obvious measures to try and improve himself at the position, and hopefully that continues over the offseason. I seem to remember Fielder being not as bad last year, and Hall of course is going to have some learning curves figuring out a new, and demanding, position. I do think it would be in the Brewers best interests to do some drastic position changes (I felt they should have done them last year, keeping Hall on the infield), but I have a feeling (as many have pointed out) that the Brewers are sticking with what they have, where they have them.

I was looking for AFL archives a week or two ago and couldn't find any. MiLB.com doesn't do a very good job archiving their stat pages, although I can't complain, since they do a pretty good job with their stats overall. I can tell you that both Ryan Braun and Rickie Weeks performed extremely well in the AFL the past few years on their way to being named among the league's top prospects their respective years (I want to say Weeks was second to Delmon Young the year he participated, while Braun was second to Tulowitzki IIRC the year he played). I'm not sure if that helps, but performing well in the AFL does often lead to success at higher levels, and as Steve Hammond pointed out in his AFL journal, roughly half of AFL participants do often move onto having a big-league career of some sort.

Nice story on BA today (subscriber-based content) featuring Mat Gamel and how he is trying to focus on improving his defense in the Hawaiian League: http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/features/265040.html Basically it says that he has mechanical issues to work on defensively, but most believe his bat is going to be pretty special, with power to all fields and the ability to hit for a high average.

Bob Elliott of Slam! Sports recently provided a list of the 70 most influential Canadians on Canadian baseball: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/Canada/2007/08/03/4392017-sun.html Doug Melvin #3, Gord Ash #20, Brewers Canadian scout Jay Lapp #42. My PG associate Allan Simpson checks in at #13.

That sounds like a bunch of Rangers fans making weak excuses as to why their pitching sucks http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif. I don't think I've ever heard of reverse framing.

Hammond now has over 215 innings pitched at AA, and turns 26 in April. I don't see any reason for him not to be at AAA to open the 2008 season. I'm sure the Brewers would have liked for him to earn that promotion during the season this past year, and hopefully he straightens himself out this fall in a league that clearly favors offense.

Nice stud players picked that late. Is that coaching, high altitude, pure luck or something else? I'm sure Colby or someone else knows better than me, but I'd say having that many low round players not only start but play at darn near All Star levels (MVP in one case) is extremely lucky. Althought the altitude may have something to do with it given their home/road splits. I'm not really sure what the point of RoseBowlMtg's comment was posted in bold just above. The Rockies have done a tremendous job procuring talent the past several years, both via the draft and on the international free agent market (Morales, Jimenez, Corpas). I would give the credit to the organization's scouting dep't. for finding those players and then to the player development staff for making them into big-leaguers. Good point on the bullpen, although Affeldt, Hawkins, Herges and Julio are all going to be FAs (a mutual option on Hawkins, those rarely seem to be picked up), so its not like they have tradable depth.

Robert identified Benoit as a possible target to replace Coco within the last month or so on the MLB forum, and if he is indeed going to be dangled, he makes perfect sense for the Brewers. I like Laird as well. He's not going to wow anyone with his offensive numbers, but he's a big-bodied catcher that guns down the opposing running game a la John Buck or Jason LaRue, and has that kind of power potential as well.

You can follow LaPorta and Heether, who started in LF and at 3B respectively, this afternoon via MiLB.com's Gameday: http://www.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/y2007/gd.html?2007_10_16_msswin_perwin_1 The game just entered the third inning. Heether is up 2nd in the top of the 3rd, LaPorta 4th should a batter reach. EDIT: A batter did indeed reach ahead of LaPorta (unfortunately not Heether, who struck out), and LaPorta answered by hitting an RBI double. The runner ahead of him (Jon Still) scored from first.

I don't know how they break down statistically, but I was under the impression that Holliday and Hawpe weren't exactly the rangiest defensive outfielders. I know part of the reason they wanted to get Taveras was to get a guy who had the speed to cover a tremendous amount of ground in their already spacious outfield. Troy Tulowitzki obviously has made a huge impression with their infield D'. The Brewers do have some room for improvement, but I think the two biggest culprits on defense with the biggest margin for improvement are Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. RoseBowlMtg made a good point about Fielder's height. Remember when Richie Sexson made Jose Hernandez look like Ozzie Smith? If Fielder were better overall he may make the entire infield defense look that much better, but clearly he isn't going anywhere. Todd Helton on the other hand for the Rockies has always been a solid all-around player and has stabilized their infield defense the past 10 years. Sam makes a good point about how the Rockies scored more runs this past year, so it's not like they're all about pitching and defense.

All good teams, in any sport at any level, have to be good in all phases of the game to ultimately be successful at the highest level. This really isn't anything new, but to get to the promised land the Brewers are going to have to hit, pitch and field well to win it all. However, given the way the Brewers have procured talent, I would much rather see the team target on player that have the natural abilities to hit and hit for power (Braun, Weeks, Fielder, LaPorta, etc.) than their abilities to field a baseball. Fielding can be improved upon a lot easier than one's hitting ability IMO, and I hope the Brewers make that point very clear this offseason with a few of the more notable culprits.

Thanks casey, I did find those as minorleaguesplits is a great reference, but I was disppointed that they don't have the ER and overall ERA month-to-month. I know ERA isn't as big of a stat as it once was, but it is still the easiest way to gauge a pitcher's performance IMO. The chart definitely illustrates just how dominant Hammond was during June and July, and how poor he pitched the rest of the season. I know BABIP helps give an idea of just how lucky or unlucky a pitcher may be given the number of batted balls put in play, as his BABIP for April in particularly seems really high. I'm not 100% sure of how BABIP works (isn't .300 about average?), but it would seem that he may have run into some bad luck that month in particular. I'm not trying to make excuses for Hammond, but instead trying to give hope for an improved year next season.

Steve Hammond did have a disappointing season given how successful he was in previous years. However he did have a two month stretch, June and July I believe (MiLB's stats page don't show his Huntsville splits now that the AFL season has begun), in which he was very productive, and he finished both the regular season and the playoff season on a high note. So while he wasn't as good as he has been in the past, he did show flashes of being a more than competent starting pitcher, and its nice to see him pitch well so far in AZ. One thing I remember about Dave Johnson when the Brewers drafted him was that he had a very good slider. His fastball velocity wasn't that great, and his college numbers as you noted Toby were never very good, but maybe he could become the next Chad Fox. I noted in another thread that given the Brewers need for competent relievers, I wouldn't be surprised to see Johnson added to the 40-man, particularly given his success in the AFL. LaPorta is a monster. As everyone has noted, it is so incredibly encouraging him to see him continue to mash, and I agree that the reduced strikeout numbers are the most encouraging part of his impressive numbers. I'm still not convinced that he will begin next year above BC given past tendencies, but that is somewhat inconsequential at this point in time.

Thanks for chiming in on Zarraga Blazer. I really think Seidel could be the organization's next big pitching prospect, and I'm excited to see how well he pitches at WV next season. As for Salome, not being on the instructional league roster is very interesting considering that Jeffress is. If one is suspended and the other is not, I don't see the difference in suspensions being the difference as to why one can attend the instrux camp and the other can't. I was also surprised that Salome was initially listed to attend the Hawaiian League, as I thought that announcement came after his suspension. This all leads me to believe that there may be an injury, or something else involved.

While I agree with you Mass that Hinton certainly isn't ready for the big leagues, teams are usually more than happy to take chances on live arms like Hinton's. I wouldn't be too confident about him sneaking through the Rule 5 without being picked up. And given the Brewers bullpen woes, they may have a hard time not adding Hinton, Bray, Dillard and even Dave Johnson.

Thanks mc, I thought I read somewhere that Pena was a FA and was likely to be one of the bigger big money surprises this offseason, and after looking at his contract situation (he was arby eligible in both 2005 and 2006) I just figured this season factored into his last year of arby. Good for the D-Rays.

Thanks for sharing Madtown. Rumors are just that, and regardless of how much truth there is to what you heard today, it's still fun to read through. Oakland could be looking to trade Dan Haren but would require 3 Billy Bean moneyball impact players...whatever in the hell that means. Whatever that means I would be on the phone with Beane trying to find out. If Dan Haren could be had, I would put together my best prospect package. I don't see that happening though, as Haren is signed insanely cheap through 2010 ($6.75M team option for 2010), and has been incredibly solid since being acquired in the Mulder deal, not to mention durable. Interesting note on Prior. I agree, he's the perfect reclammation project. I don't buy the Brewers trying to re-sign Jenkins. I'm sure Jenkins at this point in his career would probably put more value on years in a contract than money per year, but I don't see him getting more than a 2-year deal. My guess is that his career starts to wind down similar to the path Jeromy Burnitz took, jumping from team to team, year to year until he calls it quits for good. I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up with the Cardinals. And Gopher, no one is saying that they don't expect Melvin to give the ole' college try in trying to re-sign Cordero, I just don't think many expect that college try to be good enough to make it happen.

I think a lot of people have expected Upton to break out for a couple of years now, but Jamie Shields and Carlos Pena were definitely the two most surprising to me. Tampa Bay has a ton of young pitching talent on the way up, and if they can just keep the talent together that they already have at the big-league level (particularly the bats) they might just have a chance of taking down the mighty Yankees and Red Sox. Unfortunately for the D-Rays Pena's monster season is going to land him a huge pay-day this offseason thanks to a lackluster FA crop at 1B and one Mr. Scott Boras.

Rolando Pascual is now listed at 6'6", 245. The Brewers listed Pascual at 218 in their spring media guide. So now we know American food agrees with him, and how he spent a good part of the summer. I've heard for several years that this is a big concern with international signees, in that they usually come from meager backgrounds and haven't enjoyed gorging themselves pretty much their entire lives. The bonus babies quickly get a taste of life in America and for some of them it's hard to slow down and/or stop. Many Latin Americans get the unfair "soft" label (Manny Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera come to mind) quite often because of this. Of course that doesn't mean what is really happening to Pascual, and even if it is his 6'6" frame can handle added weight better than most. Livan Hernandez seems to be doing quite alright for himself http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif. Anyway, Shawn Zarraga's name reminded me just how big of a sleeper prospect he is in the system, and Mass mentioning that he is a native of Aruba reminded me that he is a relative of Sidney Ponson according to his Perfect Game profile: http://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerprofile.aspx?ID=29716 He received a 9.5 (out of 10) ranking at the 2006 PG National, and a perfect 10 ranking at the '06 PG Sunshine Northeast Showcase. His scouting reports are available in the above link, as he received praise for his receiving skills, his power potential and his overall athleticism. I'm anxious to learn and hear more about this young man, as he's one of the most interesting prospects in the system IMO.

I couldn't find anything on Sanchez from the few resources I have to check on some of the more appealing names on the market. Trying to do a search for "Jose Sanchez" isn't exactly an easy thing. Its like searching for Joe Smith. I do wonder if he turned 16 in the last month or so. The international free agent signing period is goofy, as I've read some comments that the second phase has recently been opened after being shut down in late August or September at some point. The current period should be open until the end of the year, and it is in this time period that we may see Salcedo get signed. Anyway, thanks for sharing that Mass.

Omar Aguilar rights himself rather quickly, tossing a scoreless 10th inning while picking up the win as the Honu win in the 10th as Mat Gamel scores the winning run in the bottom of the inning to break a 2-2 tie. Gamel goes 1-4 overall, as does Stephen Chapman (Gamel also walked once). Jonathan Lucroy pinch ran in the bottom of the 9, and stood at third base with one out before being part of a double play to send the game to extra innings thanks to a sharp line out. Here's the game story: http://www.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071009&content_id=2258247&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb Sinkbeil subdues Sharks for a while Tosses four no-hit frames, but Honu have to win in 10th Brett Sinkbeil pitched four no-hit innings and Shintaro Yoshida belted a walk-off single in the 10th inning to lift North Shore over visiting Honolulu, 3-2, on Monday. Sinkbeil, the Marlins' first-round selection in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, struck out five and walked one in his second start of the season. The 22-year-old right-hander went 6-4 with a 3.42 ERA for Class A Advanced Jupiter this season, but did not make a start after July 27 due to tightness in his forearm. He won his last four decisions for the Hammerheads and has allowed just one run through six innings for the Honu (6-2). North Shore reliever Omar Aguilar (1-0) tossed a scoreless 10th for the win. The Brewers prospect gave up a hit without a walk or strikeout. Takashi Kamoshida surrendered two hits and fanned five over three innings, and Charles Benoit (Pirates) allowed two runs on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts in two innings. Mat Gamel (Brewers) ripped a one-out single, advanced on a groundout by Jamie Romak (Pirates) and scored on Yoshida's liner to left in the 10th. Jeramy Laster (Tigers) put the Honu on the board with a homer over the left-field wall in the fifth. The 22-year-old center fielder, who led the Midwest League playoffs with three homers and 13 RBIs in nine games, hit .276 with 16 blasts in the regular season for the Class A West Michigan Whitecaps. Yankees relief prospect Anthony Claggett (0-1) gave up a run on two hits and two walks with one strikeout in 1 2/3 frames for the Sharks. Starter Ryohei Tanaka yielded two runs on six hits and a walk with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Argenis Diaz (Red Sox) and Austin Jackson (Yankees) each belted run-scoring base hits in the eighth for Honolulu (3-5). The Sharks had a prime opportunity to take the lead in the ninth, but Michael Griffin (Reds) lined into a inning-ending double play with runners on second and third.

Today's Honolulu 15-1 defeat over North Shore made me hope no Brewers were involved. When I notice the 11 run eighth inning, I especially hoped no Brewers prospect was involved with that madness. When I saw Omar Aguilar's and Kevin Roberts' lines I almost turned the other way and hoped someone else would post the Honu's results from the evening: Aguilar: 0.0 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 1 BB Roberts: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 7 R (6 ER), 3 BB Egads! That's the 11-run 8th inning folks. Stephen Chapman and Mat Gamel each went 1-4.