Robideaux

Sign Dunn. 4 year/60 mil Sign Sheets. 1 year/17 mil Sign Juan Cruz 3 year/23 mil Convince Torres to come back. Let CC walk. Trade Hart + good prospect for Cain Bring back Branyan. Lineup: Weeks 2b Dunn LF Braun RF Prince 1B Branyan platooned with Durham? Hall? Somebody else who can hit lefties? 3B Cameron CF Hardy SS Kendall C Pitching: Sheets Yo Cain Bush Parra Closer/high leverage reliever (yeah right): Cruz I have no idea how to guess salaries, but the Sheets salary shouldn't be much more than this season (given the injury). Gagne off the books will relatively equal Cruz on the books. Dunn's and Cain's salaries would add payroll, but CC and Hart would be off the books. It might be too expensive and there is still a big hole at C (at least offensively) and potentially 3B if Branyan can't replicate last season's lighting in a bottle, but Dunn, Prince, and Branyan in the lineup should help against lefties. Dunn adds much needed OBP to the lineup. I think the scenario I highlighted would be better than the 2008 Brewers, though it remains to be seen how good the prospect would need to be in the Cain package.

Twobrewers I don't get what your saying exactly. Yes, Laporta's 60 ABs after the trade were less than impressive(at first, but I think you can agree that a 60 at bat sample size right after a trade is pretty meaningless in the scope of his career. He was OPSing almost 1000 in 300 AB prior to the trade. What is more reasonable? (1.) The AA Eastern League is that much tougher than the AA Southern League and he couldn't handle the pitchers there or (2.) He had a rough 17 games? By the way, Nelson Cruz is currently putting up a .328 BA/.430 OBP/ .627 SLG line for the Major League Texas Rangers. He has put up those numbers in roughly 60 at bats.

Booing the home team is counterproductive and reflects negatively on the fan base and the city in general. I've always considered Milwaukee a baseball town. Even during the lean years when you could have whole sections to yourself if you so desired, I felt like the fans who came were knowledgeable and (relatively) well-mannered. But right now for the first time in my life I'm embarrassed to be a Brewer fan. People are mad at Corey because what he said was honest? I guess the players are supposed to have thicker skin than the fans. Sure you have a right to boo...blah...blah...blah. You also have a right to scratch yourself in public, burp loudly upon meeting your future in-laws for the first time, yell at small children if they walk onto your lawn to retrieve an errant ball, and point and laugh at people with physical or mental disabilities. So what. The legal right to behave in a childish and boorish manner doesn't make it any less dumb. Or, trying a different tact, ask yourself this question: Why am I booing? For those of you who are spending your time on a Brewers-themed message board, my guess is that you are booing because you have all those years and years of frustration pent up (like we all do) and you are deathly afraid of this team ultimately disappointing you like all the others that came before (I know I am). But what if your actions are actually contributing to the thing that you ultimately want to avoid?--another collapse. Why continue booing if the players indicate that it is affecting them negatively, whether you think it should or not? WARNING! Long vaguely-related non-baseball tangent: read at your own risk. My mom taught me how to drive. Unfortunately (for me) I was the oldest and the first to get behind the wheel and my mom was deathly afraid that I would get into an accident. When we went driving together while I had my learner's permit she would absolutely freak out every time every time I had to brake, merge, pull out into traffic, etc. She would yell things like 'look out' and 'watch out' and repeatedly slam her foot into an imaginary brake pedal located on the floor of the passenger side of the car. Pretty soon I was an emotional wreck behind the wheel--jumpy and overly cautious and I would flinch every time her foot hit that non-existent brake pedal. Finally (in probably not the nicest way) I told my mom that her constant criticism and overall freaking-out behavior was not helping me get to the point where I would pass my driving test. Her response: if I can't deal with her, how will I handle all the other distractions I will encounter as a driver. Or, to borrow from the vernacular of this thread, that I needed to sac up and drive. So what happened? My laid back dad took over driving instructor duties and within a week I was a much more relaxed confident driver (and ultimately passed my driver's test). My mom wasn't wrong in saying that I should have been able to tune her out, but the fact of the matter was that I couldn't and it was affecting me negatively. Rant over.

Cameron is terrible. He will never get a clutch hit. Yup.

There is no cheering in the press box, but the radio and tv guys don't work out of the press box. They've got their own little rooms down the hall where they can pontificate without bothering the herd of print guys feverishly trying to finish their game reports by the 7th inning (I kid...sorta). Homerism is not out of bounds for the broadcast media guys...in fact it goes back a long way. For example, Russ Hodges, the Giants announcer, 'shot heard round the world' in 1951, perhaps the most famous call of all-time: "Branca throws. There's a long drive. It's gonna be, I believe -- The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! Bobby Thomson hits into the lower deck of the left-field stands! The Giants win the pennant! And they're going crazy! They're going crazy! Oh-ho!" Not a whole lot of restraint there. No, it's only us print guys who are supposed to be emotionless automatons during the games.

Did Prince Fielder eat somebody's puppy or something? Wow, the level of vitriol in here is just plain weird. I know, in general, we as sports fans are a reactionary bunch---nature of the beast and all, but it's odd for fans to be turning on one of the stars of a team that will most likely make the playoffs for the first time in a few generations. Sure, he hasn't been as good as last season, but expecting 50 homers every year is simply unrealistic. Outside of the steroid-enhanced 1990s, only a few players in the history of the game have hit 50+ more than once. Prince shouldn't be batting 4th? Why? Because the #3 hitter is having a better season? He deserves to be booed? Why? Because despite what the statistics say (aka the people who recorded what happened on every single play not just the most recent ones we happened to see) , we know he's a bum in pressure situations?

I don't mean to nitpick because I agree that Reilly is a nitwit, but I'm pretty sure his contract is well into the 7 figures. Yeah, just looked it up...10 mil over 5 years. Yikes! http://awfulannouncing.bl...ct-with-espn-its-umm.html

In a rather speculative article for ESPN.com, Eric Karabell identified Joe Bateman (currently on Nashville) as an "Under the radar saves guy for 2009." Can anyone give a scouting report on Bateman. Aside from his stats, which look pretty impressive by the way, all I could find out about him came from some website called sfhardball.com, which ranked him as the Giants #11 prospect in 2006 and wrote the following about him: "There's something about having a sidearm reliever. He brings a different look to the mound, and can throw off a team that's gotten into a hitting groove. The Giants have found a promising one in San Jose's closer Joe Bateman." Is there any chance the Brewers would call him up prior to September 1 or at all this season? Based on his MLE, it seems like there is no way he is any worse than Mota at this point--why not give the sidearming guy a chance--look what happened with Ziegler from the A's. Maybe lightning can strike twice. Lord knows the Crew could use another solid bullpen option down the stretch.

Cameron has a higher On Base %... Cameron has a higher Slugging %... Cameron is a better fielder... Yeah, let's bench him.

My vent is with the vent thread...there is too much venting.

Sheets Weeks Fielder Sabathia (I know he's as good as gone, but, right now, every start is must see tv Gallardo

How about Hart + Weeks + Brantley for Manny + Pedroia Yes, that would never happen, but if Mark A. and Doug really wanted to go for it this year, that would give us a better shot.

I have two tickets in section 213 row 7 for the game on Thursday. They are great seats (part of my 20 game pack). I'd love to go, but my wife has to work on Thursday. We'd really like to go to a game this series and if anybody has extra tickets for Wednesday's game I'd be happy to make a trade. My other option is selling them on craigslist or something, but then they will probably get scooped up by Cubs fans. Thanks.

I don't get the fascination with Teahen here at BF.net. Simply put, he is not very good.

George Sherill isn't good; he is slightly above average. His closest comparables (as per baseball reference) are as follows: 1. Kelly Wunsch (989) 2. Fred Green (974) 3. Scott Ruskin (974) 4. Jim Faulkner (973) 5. Kevin Hickey (971) 6. Gary Wayne (970) 7. Dave Leiper (970) 8. Tony Castillo (969) 9. Ken Lehman (969) 10. Mark Lee (968) Not exactly an awe inspiring group, huh? His WHIP is 1.42 this year! That's not good--that is a almost a baserunner and a half per inning. His ERA, which is approaching 4 these days by the way, figures to go up, not down, given his peripherals. Yes, he is better than Mota, but so what? There are probably 4-5 relievers on every major league roster that are better than Mota. I really, really, hope the Brewers are smart enough not to give up a legit prospect (or Weeks like one of the guys on the pregame showing was throwing out there) for a guy whose value is inflated because of one meaningless stat--the gross number of saves he has accrued this season. I'm not against going after a reliever, but unless the asking price is next to nothing (which it isn't) I don't want it to be Sherrill.

He was lights out last year for the last two months of the regular season. August ERA: 2.57 September ERA: 2.37 He had a bad postseason (8.80 ERA in 15 IP). He was mediocre in two of his postseason starts: Oct 4, 2007: 3 runs in 5 IP, 4 hits, 6 BB, 5 K Oct 18, 2007: 4 runs in 6 IP, 10 hits, 2 BB, 6K And he was awful in one start: Oct 12, 2007: 8 runs in 4 IP, 7 hits, 5 BB, 3 K Overall, in the playoffs his walks were way up from career norms, and he gave up way more flyballs (51% groundballs) than during the regular season (57% groundballs) resulting in surrendering more home runs(1 every 5 IP) than typical for him (1 every 12IP). I guess there are a number of ways to read this data. 1. He was worn out. Lost command, couldn't locate, etc. 2. His three postseason starts were against the Yankees, @ Boston, and Boston. The 2007 Yankees led baseball in runs scored with 968 (the most by a Yankees team since 1937!). Boston was 4th in baseball with 867 runs scored. Good offenses=more runs scored than average 3. Some mumbo-jumbo about wilting under the intense spotlight of the playoffs. 4. Our good friend Small Sample Size. 5. Some combination of all/some of these factors. In summation, I guess I'd pull him if the game is in hand (or if he is hitting 120+ pitches), but I'd roll the dice that his postseason last year was simply an anomaly, and not indicative of the beggining of a trend or pattern.

Latrell Sprewell in NBA Live 95 (or the year before) --pretty much Jordan-esqe in that game In early 2K football games (NFL 2K and NFL 2K1), the only thing you needed was a running back with speed. Warrick Dunn was pretty much unstoppable. Just for fun one time I ran with Dunn every single play for 1 game against my roomate. Dunn ended up going for many hundreds of yard in that game (600-700?). The game ended when my roommate got so frustrated in his inability to stop him that he flung his dreamcast controller against the wall. Out routes were also nearly unstoppable, as was Randy Moss--though as a Packers fan that didn't seem all that unrealistic at the time. In MVP baseball 05, any righthanded batter with any semblance of power could hit home runs at will. I remember racking up absolutely sick numbers of homers with Wes Helms (and Carlos Lee). For whatever reason, the game did not seem to let me hit many homers with lefthanded batters. Even though Jenkins was way better than Helms, Wes Helms was way better in the game. In NBA 2K5, Steve Nash could pretty much take over every game. He never turned the ball over and he could knock down threes from anywhere. Of course in all the 2K basketball games, any jobber with 3 point ability was arguably more valuable than superstar big men. My personal list of favorites over the years: Erik Piatkowski, Dell Curry, Matt Bullard, Steve Kerr, Dana Barros, Fred Hoiberg, Hubert Davis, Wesley Person, Reggie Miller (even at the very end of his career when his overall rating was in the 60s) etc.

If he was going to be a Brewer next year, maybe I'd be a little more concerned about the innings starting to pile up. As it is, we paid a premium for him and I'm happy to get my money's worth.

Yeah, but the home run was prior to the two strikes. Why throw 4 or 5 pitches before hitting him. Plus, if your going to hit him, you use a fastball and get your money's worth. I could be wrong, but that pitch seemed like it had a lot of movement on it.

It sure looked bad, but usually you don't hit a guy when you already have two strikes on him. If the count is 3-0, different story.

Wow, it sure seems like the ump is calling a really low strike. edit: only sometimes apparently

First of all, Marcel is not a guy sitting around in his basement, he's a monkey. I'm not sure if the basement is his preferred simian hang out spot, but at least he'd never be lonely...you know, with all of those dorks sitting down there in their underwear and such. Second, those dorky stathead guys are advisers to GM's across the league. Almost every club has someone employed in this capacity. Of course, some baseball teams still make them work in the basement and never listen to them. And, get this, when nobody's around some GM's secretly look at numbers that describe how effectively their employees are doing their jobs. Crazy huh? As far as the Marcel Projections for Durham, I take them with a grain of salt. Marcel's methodology is pretty crude. 2007 pulls down Durhams projection for this season too far. He's not great, but 350/415 wouldn't seem unreasonable given his track record. Not a bad bench guy.

Maybe, but I'm more inclined to think that the whole "hometown discount" thing is little more than a pipe dream perpetuated by Pollyanna-ish fans.

Does it make me a terrible Brewers fan if I hope Hart doesn't make it? If he was locked up longterm like Braun, I'd be voting until my fingers bleed, but with arbitration looming, and the fact that the All-Star game is meaningless (yeah, home field, whatever), it seems like if he makes it, it will just make him more expensive to sign longterm or more expensive in arbitration.

Wow, Prince would have been meat if they went home with that throw.