Fatter than Joey

Nothing like a backdoor double entendre to class up a thread. Wow, someone has their mind in the gutter.

If Hall was traded I'd go with a Dillon/Branyan platoon at third if there are no other options. Even still you have Braun/Dunn/Cameron/Hart. -- Four OFers. I just don't see how that works.

Generally speaking, regression to the mean" isn't something you should sometimes not expect I agree, however there is nothing guaranteeing us that "regression to the mean" will work nicely in between the timelines of an MLB season -- especially for a reliever that probably isn't going to get more than 70 IP in any given season. It seems to me that a lot more posters here are assuming that regressions will fit nicely into 162 games, when in reality, they can often span 2-3 seasons. Gagne isn't an easy guy to project using a sabermetric approach because his substantial injuries have limited the innings he's pitched over the last 3 years. I agree, and really all I was taking issue with is "Gagne has pitched well so far" -- I really am not interested in trying to project what he will do the rest of the year. I would have told Melvin that he probably wasn't worth the $10 mil risk and guessed at a high 3 ERA. I think Melvin knew that he rolled the dice here. I'm not a Gagne apologist or anything, but I'm guessing that Izzy is being cut a little more slack by Cards fans because of their situation. Winning solves a lot of problems -- I think the other difference is that Izzy has been pitching in STL for 6 years now, so Cardinal fans have a better idea of what he is doing -- Brewer fans on the other hand have a much harder time discerning what is up with Gagne.

But, hey, don't let the facts stand in the way of the point you'd like to prove and the result you'd like to happen. Yost has thrown Hardy and Capuano under the bus, just to name a couple.

So the guy hates doing the press conferences. I'd get tired of hearing stupid questions day after day. Or even good questions, if they're the same questions day after day. Welcome to my board meetings. You have summarized just about every company meeting I have been to for the last 12 years. However, I get paid to answer these questions patiently and with a smile on my face so I do -- It's Ned's job, and he should be able to answer 15 minutes of questions professionally -- and I think one really stupid thing that he has done over the last 6 years is that he hasn't endeared himself to the fanbase. I don't blame him for the hitting woes, but like FTJ said, I wouldn't be upset if he was fired as a result. I agree Stevo, that losing Yo was a huge blast to the sac. At the same time there comes a point though when you have to frame the injury in its proper perspective -- Yo probably doesn't help us win many games if we keep scoring 2 runs in 2 days to the Marlins -- If we win 87 games and the cubs win 88 -- I think losing Yo cost us, however if we are 5-10 games out -- Yo only gets us closer Another point I would like to make, Ennder keeps saying 1 out of 3 pitchers goes on the DL each year -- assuming that is true, losing Yo has to be normalized in some way against other teams losses as well. Here is where a manager makes his money -- dealing with injuries. If a team's top 8 position players and top 5 starters never had injuries and played in 162 games, there probably is not a lot separating Yost and the sharpest guy on BF.net from managing the team. An MLB manager should be able to roll with some punches and deal with players getting hurt or flaming out -- it's probably why they call them a "manager" and not a "lineup card-filler-outer guy" It would be like a manager of a restaurant shutting down the grill because their top chef got sick.

I like Adam Dunn a ton. I am not opposed to the idea of swapping Hall for Dunn. If it means Braun is back at 3b, -- I'd pass. If it meant an OF of Dunn/Hart/Braun (I'm not sure where Cameron goes) -- with some other guy at 3b, I'd think about it. Ultimately I don't think it's a good match at all.

Congrats to all you guys -- Nicely done! I think Luke is right -- Ryan is on-deck -- so who is in the hole?

Everyone keeps talking about the '82 team and the similarities if Yost is fired within the next month, but I don't see them. This is a much younger team than that was, and more importantly, that team didn't lose a great starting pitcher for the entire season. I agree insofar, as the 82 Brewers were a team that would benefit from a managerial change, it's not a good analogy -- however, if Yost has lost the team, firing him is not going to hurt anything. I doubt that firing Yost is the magic bullet we need to win the WS, but if he has lost the team he should be canned regardless. I hate Ned Yost being the Brewers manager. I feel like DM is very committed to Yost, if he had any inkling of firing Ned, he would have done it at the end of last year, when Ned filled his diaper on the national stage. My guess is that you will see these things happen first. 1.) Silly Scapegoating -- Some players or managers will get tossed under the bus. Skaalen could get fired, Gagne could lose his closer job, Hall/Hardy/Weeks could get benched. I believe something like this will happen in May. 2.) Anytime the Brewers lose 6-0, we will be reminded that Yo tore his ACL -- regardless if it was Yo's turn to pitch, or the fact our bats scored 0 runs. 3.) The Brewers will bring up some pitchers and players from the minors. -- DiFelice/Weaver and probably LaPorta to buy Ned Yost some time 4.) There will be some "Linebrink" type trades. I think the fanbase is going to have to go renegade as well. If you see/hear a lot more booing, attendance drops off, more FNY.com T-shirts at the park, etc. --- that will get the owners attention. I think if we were losing some 6-5, 9-7 type of games the fanbase will be pretty forgiving -- but paying money to watch games like the last two in FL will be pretty hard to stomach. I think Yost is here for a minimum until July, probably around until the end of the season if we hover around .500. Doug Melvin should be nervous about his job as well.

Firing more underlings certainly seems like a futile excersise at this point, while allowing the head honcho to stick around all the while without any results (6 years!)\ I agree 100% -- Im just saying, some coach will be fired, they will act like that will fix everything... etc.

To fire Skaalen is ridiculous since he has been with this core for a long time. He'll be pushed under the bus

So his BABIP is .354. That explains a lot. BABip can fluctuate a lot from year to year.

I think 2 events would predicate Yost getting fired 1.) Skaalen gets fired 2.) The Reds pass us into 4th place.

Wasn't this more due to Carlos Lee turning down our low offer than going out & getting a closer? Perhaps -- we could have just tried to win with Lee though in 2006, we needed a closer badly.

Let's say that one day, Notre Dame changes their nickname to not offend the Irish... You may be right about that, however that has nothing to do with the Redskins, or another group that may be offended by another team's name.

and Jerry Hairston Jr. goes yard -- that's 4 in the inning for the Reds.

Man -- Leiber is getting rocked by the Reds... HRs by Dunn, Bako and Votto.

That Houston team had more in common with the 82 Brewers than the 08 Brewers do. Yes that is a true and great point -- The Astros were veteran heavy much like the 82 Brewers, unlike the 08 Brewers When they do get to play more at home than the road and against the teams the Cards and Cubs have been beating up on I see no reason why they would be a sub .500 team I do think the road/home arguments are getting out of line. I really do not think (overall) teams play better at home or on the road (unlike FB and BKB), I am not saying there is no advantage, but I think waiting for a team like the Cards to struggle because they are playing the Giants in SF rather than STL is a bit of a stretch. I will concede that one of my big mysteries is why the Brewers struggles so mightily on the road last year -- I think that was an anomality

Relax, Francis And I have said this once, the only people I want telling me to "Relax" is FGTH. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

I guess right now it isn't cool to be positive. I've said this a million times -- some people are hard-wired to be positive, some to be negative -- the problem becomes when one side wants the other side to change the way they are. I tend to be pessimistic -- I have no problem with people being optimistic -- just don't tell me "don't jump off a bridge", or that my reactions are "knee-jerk".

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Yes -- I think he is ill however.

It sounds like the balance of power on your roster to a turn to the dark side.

Before the season, there were several posters that said that Theriot was a Bad player, not just mediocre. If you are saying that BF.net is not very objective about the Cub's players, I think you could make a case for that, if that is your point.

I was responding to eanelson4, who seemed to be linking his expectations of Gagne to his salary. I agree with you here Russ -- Gagne's salary is a bit odd because of the one year deal.

Who would take over? As much as I dislike Yost, when the rubber meets the road, I am not very keen on a mid-season change. I don't know the answer to your question, and unless some very inspired choice became available, I am pretty content to let the season ride out, and fire everyone at the end of the year. I think the Brewers will win .500 of their games -- if we really started circling the toilet that would be different, but I don't think a mid-season manager change with a bunch of young kids is what the Dr. ordered.