Raw Biz

I'm headin out to Vegas Friday morning. First stop is O'Shea's for 10 am beer pong.

I don't like watching Lopez play defense. However, it seems to be more a matter of effort than ability. He has the ability to play average to slighty above average defense but he just doesn't put the effort in. But I will say that I love watching him at the plate. This year could be a fluke but he's been getting hits and getting on base.

I questioned the Castro hiring when it happened. As much as I wanted him to succeed, I just didn't think he would. Like some said, there was a reason he was a bullpen coach for so long. And while I also don't blame him entirely for the pitcher's struggles, just about every starter is having his worst year (ERA-wise) in a long time (from Brew Crew Ball). I don't know if it's just bad luck that all guys are pitching worse than their career ERA or if Castro has something to do with it. Probably a bit of both.

I also don't like bringing in Hoffman with men on base. I know our closer is supposed to be our best relief pitcher but he always seems to struggle with men on base. It just seems like his stuff is best with nobody on. I don't know who else we would've brought in there (Coffey pitched past couple of games) but I would much rather have just had Hoffman start the inning. edit: guess it doesn't matter.

Does anyone else think Manny should have been out of this game after the 7th (pinch-hitter) or definitely after the 8th? Sure he was pitching well but he got a lot of help from defense tonight. It was bound to catch up with him. I have questioned Macha's bullpen (and pitching in general) management all year.

Whether he is replaced or simply used to mop up games, he should not be allowed to pitch unless we are up or down by more than 5. Sure his May was great but that's about the only time he's been good the past 2 years. He just cannot be trusted in close games. On a side note, I wish Macha was mic'ed up so we could hear his explanation for his bullpen management the past couple of games (specifically, not using Coffey yesterday until CV created trouble and using CV today when he pitched so poorly yesterday [and the previous month]).

So basically our entire roster with the exception of about 4 guys are going to be homegrown? I don't think there's many teams that have rosters like that. Two years away is simply too far to determine because so much can happen. Plus, even if guys seem like they will be everyday players right now, injuries, trades, and other unforeseen things occur. Without adding a player or two to that roster via trade or free agency, it probably isn't enough to contend anyway (at least pitching-wise).

If Gamel were to play the outfield, he would definitely need some practice first. You can't just throw him out there in the middle of the season after never having played there. But I don't think the Brewers envision him there. He will either stay at third (where he hasn't been all that bad) or start working at first when Prince is traded in the offseason.

I know he's 38 and not a flashy name but what about Paul Byrd. This article says he would still need a few weeks in the minors to get his strength up but he could be interesting. He may be another Suppan type but maybe he could be had for relatively cheap. He could provide an option in the rotation if somebody struggles and maybe he would be willing to come out of the pen. I'm sure he would be more effective than Julio at this point (although he will most likely be gone once Hoffman comes back).

The difference is who the walks are to (opposing pitchers) and the situations (bases loaded, 1-2 counts, 4 pitch walks, etc.).

I was going to mention Wright last week when he was first designated but thought for sure that he would be sent back to the minors. I think he would be a solid addition depth-wise.

TH mentions in his new blog that Rich Hill may be available and he wonders if the Crew would pursue him. I realize it would be a trade with the Cubs but it really seems like Hill is done in Chicago. What would it take to get him? I think he would be a solid addition depth-wise and he's proven he can pitch in the past. Last year he had some bad control problems but maybe that was just a fluke. He probably wouldn't improve our current rotation but would definitely improve our depth.

http://www.nj.com/yankees...athia_whats_the_hold.html It looks like the Dodgers may indeed be getting in on the bidding. If they offer something between the Brewers and Yankees (6 for 120ish), I definitely see him taking their offer to play closer to home. It might suck but it could be better in the long run so we don't have 1/4 -- 1/5 of our payroll locked up to a guy who plays once every 5 days.

Session 9 was pretty solid. It deals with an old abandoned building and definitely a creep factor. The Descent was one of the best horror movies of the past ten years. I don't know if I'd call Frailty a horror movie but it's got that vibe and it's a really good movie that not many have seen. Ravenous is another good one that people probably haven't seen. A few others: Last House on the Left Funny Games Near Dark (not really scary but good vampire movie) Dagon

My friend was housesitting once in high school and decided to have a party. We were all drinking but I don't think that had any effect on what I saw. Another of mine and I were in the den, which had a few chairs and bunch of family pictures on the wall. I noticed one picture of a woman and suddenly the room got really cold. It's hard to describe what I felt but it was almost like the woman in the picture was staring back at me, as if she was watching me. My friend looked at the picture too and noticed the same thing. We started to get freaked out so we went to the friend who was housesitting and told him what we saw. He told us that the woman in the picture was the daughter of the old lady who owned the house and she had died a few years earlier. Later that night, when we were going to sleep, I got a weird feeling like someone was watching me. A few minutes later, my friend (who was trying to sleep in the other room) came in the room and described the same feeling. Might have just been our minds playing tricks on us but I definitely believe that stuff. Another story, a couple of years ago I was just laying down to go to sleep at home when I noticed an old lady standing at the foot of my bed. My grandma had just died a week earlier so I thought it was her. My aunt and uncle lived in my house for 10 years before me and my aunt noticed someone standing at the foot of her bed on more than one occasion. Another: In my apartment in Madison, I share a bathroom/kitchen with the person in the efficiency connected to mine. I went to the bathroom and came back into my room and tried to close the connecting door behind me. I usually close the door really fast and I did so again this time and it was like I hit a brick wall. It was as if someone had grabbed the door while I was closing it and stopped it. Right away I thought it was the guy who lived next door but he wasn't there. I looked to see if the door got caught on something but it didn't. I tried to recreate it but I couldn't figure out how the door would just stop closing so suddenly. Also, about a month earlier, I was falling asleep when I heard noises as if someone was turning the doorknob trying to get in (or out) of the apartment.

I don't think that's ever going to happen. It's not like the Super Bowl where it's only one game and fans of each team can spend a ton of money knowing they will see the game that matters. The World Series is a potential 7 games and it wouldn't be fair to the fans of each team to do that. Not only would they have to spend money to travel, they'd probably have to take off work and make other arrangements since presumably they would be traveling far from home. Additionally, each of the teams in the Series would lose a ton of money from not having games played at home. I believe this is the first year where a WS game has been delayed mid-game and the first time since the earthquake 20 years ago where there was a long delay between games played.

What would our equivalents have been to get Harden/Gaudin?

Mario Batali always wears them and I can't stand it. They just look awful.

All Influence, All Fate The new album from Tangomarkkinat http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3268/2563708537_d74068a5dc_m.jpg

Obviously the 7 innings in 5 outings is because he's in the bullpen now, where he has been the most effective (going back to last year). I don't think you take into account his starts this year in assessing whether or not he should have pitched another inning last night because starting is different than coming out of the pen. And if you do take into account his starts, he usually pitched well the first one or two times through the order. It's when he got to the 4th or 5th inning that he started to have problems so keeping Villy in for the 8th should have been the most obvious decision. But then again, we all know Yost doesn't stick to the obvious choice and has to do something stupid. And then when he does do something stupid, he doesn't admit he was wrong. I almost want to say that I wouldn't hate Yost as much if he would just admit that he made the wrong decision sometimes. But he never does, in his mind, he always does the right thing and it just never pans out. At this point, I think we should just let Kapler be a player/manager. I'm only half-serious on that but it would be pretty cool if it happened. He couldn't do any worse than Yost.

The downtown is great and there's a nice disc golf course about 15 minutes away if you're into that.

Raging Bull is easily the best ride there. I love Superman too though. For some reason I feel safer laying down (looking at the ground) going up on the ascent than I do sitting down (looking at the sky) on most other ones.

I definitely agree here. Prince can eat whatever he wants, so long as he maintains the right balance in his diet and stays healthy and keeps the same figure/composition that he was at last year. I think the problem is that he hasn't been able to do this. He might not be eating meat but that doesn't necessarily mean he's eating healthy. I've mentioned it before and I know I'll take a lot of crap for saying it again but I've heard a guy who works in the clubhouse say Prince doesn't eat very healthy (lots of doritos, cheese, Ranch dressing etc.). If he doesn't want to eat meat, fine, but he needs to start eating healthier one way or another.

I'll agree with the fact that it's a combo of his diet and mechanics. His diet has caused his body to become bigger/flabbier which has affected his mechanics. He may still have power but he isn't making the same solid contact as last year. Regardless of the reason, I think we can all agree that Prince is nowhere near the player we saw last year. Now I didn't expect another 50 home run season but I would say that Prince should have at least double the home runs he has so far and a lot more RBI. Hopefully he can figure whatever is causing this dropoff and fix it.

Jay Bruce could very easily become one of my most favorite non-Brewers. Lance Berkman is still number one but Bruce could very well climb the list fast if he does what he has been doing.