Point Beer Is Best

It was absolutely the right call, even with the benefit of hindsight. No-hitters are personal achievements and historical novelties. He was fatigued, so pulling him protected his long-term health, as well as gave them the best chance to win (despite the fact they lost the game).

And K-Rod stepping on a cactus while running into the backyard to chase his kids. Also, didn't Corey Hart injure his knee when he ran on the sidewalk so he could hear Braun's "victory-lap" press conference? Freak injuries abound in spring training.

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What did you find disappointing about it? Are we better off taking them to a "Lego Store" in Chicago than to spend admission $$ at Lego DiscoveryLand in Schaumburg? I'd rather spend the $$ on buying a cool Star Wars Lego set than on admission for the 4 of us to something lame.

We're taking our boys (ages 4 & 5) to Chicago in a couple of weeks (looking to stay over on a Monday night). The rough outline of our itinerary is to check out the Lincoln Park Zoo, Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and then hit up the Lego Discoveryland in Schaumburg on the way home. Where would be the most convenient place to stay in relation to the Shedd/Field Museum? What's the best way to get around? Driving our car, or using public transportation? Thanks for any input.

Yes, John Mozeliak (Cardinals GM) had mentioned it as a possibility as soon as 2017, and then Manfred came out a couple of days later and said that there was nothing imminent:

Is it true that Smith & Nolin are the only lefties on our 40 man roster at this point?

Ken Rosenthal has a good write-up on the situation, and appears to be the anti-Buster Olney on this topic which is a welcome change. http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/philadelphia-phillies-milwaukee-brewers-rebuilding-tanking-021416 I'm starting to think that the grumbling is coming from the owners who have to pay into the revenue sharing system, and they don't say anything while the big market teams like Chicago and Philly are rebuilding, but if the Brewers field a team with a payroll of under $50mil while they rebuild while pulling in revenue sharing dollars, suddenly it becomes an issue for them. Nevermind the fact that if the Brewers hit on a few draft picks who become stars, those same owners will have no problem plucking them away in free agency. They can't have it both ways.

Being that he's a free agent, and it takes two to tango, why would he even consider Milwaukee if the rest of his prime coincides with the rebuild window? Depends on his motivation I guess, but if he's looking for a championship in the the next 3 years, I don't think we're near the top of his list.

Well, to play devil's advocate, another guy who would probably like Craig Counsell "because he played the game the right way" would be Jonathan Papelbon, who came dangerously close to being our closer last offseason. And he is very much NOT a good clubhouse guy. I hope that Hill will be a positive influence, and not someone who's going to tell guys to tone down their antics. I still have no idea what the "right way to play the game" mean, but a common interpretation is that it's the "white way to play the game." I hope that's not what Hill is referring to. I also like his quote, which is a stark contrast from Lucroy's view:

Cameron nails it on the head, and Olney comes off looking like a puppet for owners who are on the "pay in" side of the revenue sharing process. What irked me most after reading Olney's article was that nobody seemed to have a problem when the Cubs & Astros (both top-10 or so media markets) went through a similar rebuild. Attanasio should show up to the owners meetings and say: "I just did what I do best. I took your little plan and I turned it on itself. Look what I did to this city with a few trades and a couple front office moves. Hmmm? You know... You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan." Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, the Cubs or Astros tell the press that they're going to go through a rebuild, nobody panics, because it's all "part of the plan". But when I say that my club is going through a rebuild, well then everyone loses their minds!"

Green was the one on the PTBNL list in the Sabathia trade that we were most frightened about losing right? And we were somewhat relieved when they took Brantley instead? Or, to quote Roger Clemens, am I misremembering?

I can't remember, but I thought Kylo Ren uses the word "grandfather" in reference to Vader, so right off the bat you would know hat Vader is the father of either Han Solo or Princess/General Leia.

Isn't Bird a 1B? Or did he play some LF?

I think that sort of model is the one that may eventually be deployed in order to maintain the success of the club over a longer period of time. Maybe not to the extreme extent that the Rays have (it's basically a foregone conclusion that anyone approaching free agency is on the trading block), but the team may start looking to trade established starters for prospects to supplement the MiLB system. The trade targets (lower level vs MLB ready talent) will probably depend on what the overall system looks like and current chances of making the playoffs. Right now it makes sense to just get the best talent available, no matter the level.

Based on the thread title and this statement, it kind of sounds like you already have.

Where are you reading this? The Spotrac link you included before had no detail on this at all.

Why fix something that isn't even remotely broken outside of the NBA, which is the only league to have a lottery like you speak of. It might be talked about in the NFL by the commentators and the fans who have no vested interest, but you never actually see it. If anything, they had a problem with the GOOD teams sitting starters in weeks 16 and 17 if they had their playoff seeding set, which they've now rectified by having divisional games the final week. The NFL would also impose draft pick penalties if they felt something was up. Not to mention the fact that everyone in the NFL is basically on a one year deal. If you're the coach and you don't make the playoffs for two or three years, you're out. There's just too much at stake (personal livelihoods) due to the cutthroat nature of the business for an owner to tell his front office to tell his coaches to tell his players to tank.

No...Brewers got 12 million in the deal covering his salary They received the full amount of his contract with him? Seems highly unusual.

Not to nit pick but it's been done here before. It's how we got the Braun, Fielder era. I guess that depends on your definition of a rebuild. We more or less got the Braun/Fielder/Hardy/Weeks/Hart era by a prolonged period of ineptitude followed by some solid drafting for a change. Maybe if we used the term "accelerated rebuild", it would be a more accurate description of what they're trying to do now. The current team had the luxury of possessing assets that other teams were willing to acquire for other assets that more closely align to when our next competitive window should open. The era before the Braun/Fielder combo didn't have the luxury of having assets to trade to infuse more prospects into the system; instead they mostly had to rely completely on the draft and try to supplement that talent with mostly ineffective free agent signings. Although there are certain similarities to what Stearns is doing now and what Melvin did early in his tenure, and that's pick up guys off the scrap heap (Dan Kolb, Derrick Turnbow, Scotty Po, Brady Clark, etc.)and hope you find a gem that becomes a decent player for you and maybe can be flipped for a good return (Scotty Po for Carlos Lee trade). You could also argue that where Melvin erred was that he seemingly always wanted MLB-ready talent in return, where he maybe should have been trying to gets kids who would supplement what he had in the minors to match up the big wave that was coming. When he traded Lee & Nelson Cruz to the Texas in 2006 (about two years before our window would open), he got two guys in Kevin Mench & CoCo Cordero rather than upper level prospects that could have aided the window from 2008-2014 or so.

How would people received an alternate jersey using the retro yellow with navy contrasts with the same hat as what's being introduced now? I think that would at least look quite a bit better than the gold "cervaceros" jerseys. Can the yellow stand alone as a primary jersey color, or is it best to use that as an accent like this new jersey is doing?

That's what I thought when I saw these as well. Someone had drawn up the retro cap but used the modern color scheme and it looked sharp. The only difference here is that they are using the retro yellow instead of the gold, but I think I like the contrast here with the yellow and navy better anyways. It looks pretty good.

Question: If Davis is currently looked at as a valuable trade chip rather than a building piece because of his defensive limitations, does the Stearns front office do a 180 and view him in a new light if the NL adopts the DH in 2017? Does the 2017 OF become Braun/Phillips/Santana with Davis entrenched as the DH?

I thought this thread would end up debating on the best use for Smith (high-leverage relief pitcher vs the rotation, or if he's a core piece vs. being a trade chip) but it ended up being another Segura thread. You guys rick-rolled me again!

I guess the best way to find out is to ask someone who was around in the 50's/60's what they did between the time the Braves left and the Brewers arrived.