Fatter than Joey

Why not just take all the rosters and stats on opening day, run them through some simulation model and crown the WS winner right there and then? You lose the opportunity to sell all sorts of hot dogs.

I'm quite sure Homer was being ironical. Homer is bad at being ironical.

the classier thing to do would be to give most of it back, as he didn't earn it he didnt have to earn it, DM agreed to pay it.

And he hit for no power. You already have Weeks and everybody hates him. Weeks can't play D, and has a sub 100 OPS. Ichiro is still a decent player. The M's are still one of the top revenue teams in MLB -- largely because of Ichiro and the millions of $$ he generates in TV contracts.

If he's really that disliked, why wouldn't they at least consider moving him? He sells a ton of merch.

It's the fact that the Mariners treat Japanese players differently due to marketing concerns. Right, the other guys will get traded first.

Do runs count more in the 8th than they do the 6th? It's exactly the same argument used by believers in "clutch" hitters, that somehow, the 4th run in a 4-3 game meant more than the first. There are some relievers that never pitch in one run games, and some pitchers that only pitch in one run (or close games) -- starting batters on the other hand play in all games. Comparing this to "clutch" arguments is a poor analogy. I use ERA, as I do not blame the reliever for coming in with men on base. The relievers job is to prevent runners from scoring. Using ERA is your prerogative -- but to state that "the Brewers" have a top four BP as an authoritative statement, based on ERA is quite a reach -- They certainly are not a top 4 BP in OPS, HR rate, K/BB or other measures. Certainly they are not terrible, but I think they should be retooled. It's pretty slippery to try to base future performance off of ERA -- I think this BP should have given up more runs in all probability -- I think a pitcher who gives up 12 hits and 10 BBs in 12 IP more often than not is going to have an ERA over 3.00 -- Mota got lucky.

I wonder if pitching Yo 3 innings is so he doesn't have to bat (in all likelihood).

They were saying BOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH

Those posts that were removed were never posted by The Brew Crew Review or Scott Bartell at all. I don't understand why we are associated with those posts. It seemed to me Pudster = Scott Bartell. I wish those Pudster posts were still in the thread-- Those posts that were removed were never posted by The Brew Crew Review or Scott Bartell at all. You could have probably distanced yourself from the rickroll posts then. If it were me, I would have asked a mod to delete them. FTJ was in a rush to make sure we were held accountable if Yo didn't start, Absolutely. And if Scott new his lead was solid, he would have had no problem being held accountable. Scott Bartell worked very hard to get the scoop and confirm it before we posted it. I sincerely hope that this helps Scott in his career.

A 3.00 ERA is horrible? No it's not. However, I would never use ERA to judge a reliever's performance especially over 12 IP. In April -- Mota pitched 12 innings gave up 12 hits and 10 BBs. That's pretty crappy in my book, especially if he inherited runners. If you want to say he got lucky, then I am OK with that -- I don't think he pitched well at all though. Garbage time includes how the bullpen pitched, you know, all the time. False. There is a big difference in your BP pitching with a 5 run deficit in the 4th inning, compared to your BP pitching in the 8th to protect a lead. Using anything else is similar to using "clutch" hitting numbers, a waste of time. Again False. Team batting clutchiness is quite a bit different as every batter is going to rotate through "clutch" situations. In most BPs some pitchers will only be used to protect leads, and some will only be used in "garbage innings". Seeing how your BP does protecting leads is certainly something worth extracting and differentiating than when your BP is "eating innings". That is to say, managers can control what pitchers see what "clutchy" situations, unlike batters. The only waste of time so far is this statement: I find it odd people think the Brewers top 4/5 bullpen in the NL has been a problem. which has no qualifications.

Thanks Peavey, I was unaware of the professionalism. I've heard for months that Gallardo wouldn't pitch, yada yada. Now it happens and the same people are routinely trying to discredit it. It just gets old after a while. One of his "links" was a rickroll, and a comment about our lack of humor. I thought he was joking.

Hopefully no one will ever doubt the journalism and integrity of Scott Bartell and The Brew Crew Review ever again! It's too bad how many people doubted and mocked Scott and his report. Scott came off as a clown, as you have in the past, when he started rickrolling people and posting fake links -- what are people supposed to think? It's funny how many people were all ready, prepared, excited, and hoping to burn Scott Bartell at the stake, but no one is coming forth to credit and apoligize to Him. No one wanted to burn him at the stake, people just wanted him to handle himself a little more appropriately and professionally. Certainly credit is due to Scott for scooping the Yo start, however whatever backlash he got, I think he got fairly for the poor manner in which his scoop was published. "Apologize" has 2 o's by the way. Maybe there has been a backlash in the past or something that has them all gunshy. Yeah, there sure was a time, when people were posting all sorts of crazy things that were never going to materialize. The skeptical nature of the people on this forum is definitely a conditioned behavior. I think if any poster here has any sort of "inside information" they have a responsibility to present that information with great care.

Maybe he is trying to fly, but of course he is too fat. His flapping is futile.

BOOOO! http://media.ebaumsworld.com/picture/teeg420/BooRadley.png

(I know, you were all thinking, ooh, hawing posted in the vent thread. Now you can vent about how disappointing my vent post was.) Yeah -- c'mon step it up... I was expecting something like: "Do you know how hard it is to saw through the human clavicle"

Someone remind me......who is Scott Bartell? Scott Bartell is the guy who looked like Kenny G in Color me Badd.

I admit, I hate strikeouts. They are useless and a waste of an at bat I think that there is a lot of confusion about strikeouts -- I am hoping that this will help bridge the gap for some people. 1.) Adam Dunn Fallacy -- "Adam Dunn sucks because he strikes out a lot" -- Some players strike out a lot but provide very tangible offensive value to their team. Sure, it would be awesome if Dunn struck out 40 times a year -- but it is part of his batting approach -- he is consistently in the top 10 in K's and OPS in the NL. He strikes out a lot, but there isn't a team in MLB that wouldn't want his bat in their lineup somewhere. Certainly there are players that strikeout a lot, that flat out suck like Michael Bourn, but we cannot be quick to hate on power hitters like Dunn that K a lot but BB and mash HRs as well. 2.) Hitting Behind the Runners Fallacy -- A lot of people get excited when a guy like Craig Counsell hits a grounder to the 2nd baseman moving a runner from 2nd to 3rd with 0 or 1 out(s). As awesome as that is, it really is a situational luck of the draw. That is, if the runner is on 1st when Counsell hits his Yosty groundball to the 2b, it is likely a 2xplay, if the runner is on 2b, then Counsell moves the runner to 3rd. Now, if Counsell truly has the ability to hit the ball behind baserunners at will, then it is certainly better to groundout than it is to K with a runner on 2b and 0 outs, but my guess is that he is going to hit the same crappy groundball, no matter what, it just helps you when the runner is on 2b, and kills you when the runner is on 1b. It is more likely that there is going to be no runners on, or a runner at 1b, than a runner on 2b. 3.) A Player's K rate -- As some of you may recall, I took some heat earlier this year for giving Cameron a tough "grade". I based it on his increased strikeout rate, which was way higher than his career rate. K rates and BB rates should remain pretty constant year to year (unlike BA). If a player K's 20% more in 2008 than he did in 2007, that entirely sucks and matters. It is a good idea to keep tabs on a players K rate and BB rate -- If Adam Dunn strikes out 165 times year in and year out -- his OPS and production has probably stayed consistent -- If he strikes out 210 times the following year -- I can guarantee his OPS has taken a noticeable hit. 4.) K vs. Bad AB/Plate Approach -- I think a dude can get frustrated when he watches a K during a "bad AB", and then someone tells him "K's don't matter". We have all seen a lot of bad AB's and plate approaches for the Brewers over the last few seasons. I think you can have a great AB and K, I think you can have a bad AB and popup. Having bad AB's and K'ing does matter and sucks -- but so does having bad ABs and popping up or hitting into 2bs. If you are unsure what I mean by "bad AB" I would suggest watching Bill Hall the next time he faces a RHP. Going 0-4 with 4 Ks could mean you had 4 terrible ABs or it could mean you had 4 decent ABs against tough pitching. It would be nice if some stat guy somewhere kept track of "Good AB rates", which is what I would do if I ran a team -- that is to say, if you K'd because you had a bad approach to your AB, I would DFA you, but if you K'd but got good hacks in, I'd keep you around. In short, some K's are the result of a poor approach to an AB, and those K's suck, but not anymore than a pop-up or nubber to the P.

So wait, all this talk of lying about rumors...is the Yo pitching Thursday rumor indeed fact? It is not fact and purely speculation -- certainly a possibility though.

Some people's judgment is clouded because he had a great first two months, Mota was horrible in April -- You might want to check your stats before calling people's judgment clouded. Mota has been fine, even at 3.2 million You would resign him? I find it odd people think the Brewers top 4/5 bullpen in the NL has been a problem. The 'pen has been much better than most teams, and overall, has been a strength. Of course this is a poorly qualified statement not defined with any sort of qualifications or stats. In what regard has the BP pitched top 4/5? Certainly not in K/BB nor in OPS or BS. I'd be curious to know how you come to this conclusion. My guess is you are using stats that include how the BP has pitched in garbage time -- which is irrelevant to this discussion. Lastly, expectations need to be addressed -- certainly we have a better BP than most teams, but most teams are not leaning on their BP to get to 90 wins and into the playoffs.

I know your 16,000 posts probably give you the right...but you're certainly an expert on the art of condescension, rluzinski! ??? What did Russ say to deserve this? He certainly did not direct his comments at one poster, or any group of posters.

There is a precedent here, I believe. I think that in the past, posters have reported fake injuries as fact, and were banned. I would imagine this is a similar situation. I suspect and hope that the rickroll, and the link to the "chimps" story has already ensured that.

We are putting all of our journalistlc integrity on the line on this one. Awesome. I hope you will be held accountable.

And while I cringe everytime he heads out there, concidering that we unloaded Estrada and his salary in the Mota trade... I would say its been a postive trade. Subtraction of a below average catcher and addition of a slightly below average reliever. This just is not accurate -- We could have simply cut Estrada and not had to deal with Mota. I think the Mets did the best in this trade, unloading both Mota and Estrada. As endaround points out, we are paying 3.2M for Mota -- had he been making near the league minimum, I'd feel differently. Mota walks too many batters.

To be honest though if Branyan doesn't get hurt I think Gross gets very little playtime during the season. That injury probably cost us at least 1 win if not 2. Agreed. Branyan was not getting enough playing time before he got hurt, so I am not sure where Gross's ABs would have come from. Still if Branyan would have gotten those starts instead of Counsell, Gross could have been a great PH option against RHP.