Sundown Kid

I'm surprised that TGJ wasn't called up to start in CF. I assume that that was meant to be in blue.

A week ago people were freaking out, ready to bench or trade Prince Fielder for a couple of shoves. And now some people want to bring in Barry Bonds?????? Astounding.

Anyone can play first base, as Prince Fielder proves day after day. But not everyone can play the position well, again as Prince Fielder proves day after day. Sure, teams try to hide their weakest defender at the position. You don't have to run any distances as outfielders do. You have fewer difficult chances than the other infield positions do, and most of all you seldom have to throw. So when you play in the NL and you're a butcher with the glove, or physically resemble Buddha, you play first base. None of the above should suggest, however, that first base is not an important position. Due to his limitations--including a significant height disadvantage that he can do nothing about--it would seem obvious that the error totals for Hall, Hardy, Weeks, etc. are higher than they would be if the Brewers had a Derek Lee or a J.T. Snow at first. Or even Lyle Overbay. I have no statistics at the ready to prove what follows, but I was impressed with Fielder's defensive improvement last season. I thought that he had progressed from being the guy in Bull Durham who needed a chicken to becoming a below-average defensive first baseman. Not even average, but below average--which given his offensive capabilities will be sufficient. This season I think he's regressed. The question in future seasons will be how much defense can the Crew sacrifice for Fielder's offensive contributions. In the meantime, we'll live with the knowledge that every Rickie Weeks throw in the dirt will result in an error. And we'll cringe every time Fielder even looks to throw to second base. And when high throws pull Fielder off the bag, I'll remember the Richie Sexson era with fondness.

1. Corey Hart 2. Ryan Braun 3. Manny Parra 4. Yovanni Gallardo 5. Prince Fielder

Gold gloves don't go to the players with the best fielding percentage, nor should they. As you acknowledged yourself, Braun's range is still average. He has misplayed several singles into extra-base-hits, including Fukudome's triple last night. Don't get me wrong--Braun has made tremendous strides this year and I look forward to his continued improvement for years. In fact, I think if Hart were needed in center Braun could slide into right field and hold his own. But to answer the point of your post, no, Braun should not be in serious consideration for a gold glove. If we were to go through the Brewers in a gold glove discussion, it would get really quiet after Jason Kendall, and I'm not sure even that conversation would be long.

During the TV broadcast yesterday it was stated that Weeks was charged with an error on the ball hit by Tejada in the 5th. In the box score today, however, there is no error and all eight runs given up by Suppan are earned. Did I miss a scoring change during the game, or was this yet another after-the-game change (Cameron had two such occasions recently)? Yost recently criticized the official scoring at Miller Park. Has anyone noticed any changes in scoring decisions recently? I have no evidence myself; I'm merely fishing for an interesting conspiracy theory. And in regards to the Weeks play, we need the immortal Lou Brown to come in and lecture Weeks about "olay" defense.

Thanks, TSack. To clarify, I was wondering about consecutive team games (which is why I typed "games" instead of "starts" hoping to provide clarity, but I apparently didn't succeed). Anyway, I would say now that it is indeed rare, having been 33 years since the feat was last accomplished.

After six days of absolutely no bullpen activity, with everyone rested, was Mitch Stetter REALLY the best guy to run out there in a one-run game?

Here's a question for the SABR folks on the board--when was the last time a pitcher pitched complete games in two consecutive games? That has to be an extremely rare feat.

Adding Street and Ellis for Weeks + would be an excellent move on paper. And trading away Weeks would give the local sports scribes plenty of fodder given the four-alarm tantrum that Prince Fielder would be sure to unleash.

The JSOnline just posted that Haudricourt has a source in NY that says Sheets will get the start on Tuesday night!

There should be a special sub-category within this thread for everything post-92 season. Subtract Paul Molitor, Chris Bosio, Dan Plesac, Dante Bichette, and Kevin Seitzer (at the outset--it's a lucky break that they got him back) Add Kevin Reimer, Tom Bruansky, Bill Doran, and Dickie Thon. Ouch! Letting Troy O'Leary go after the '94 season wasn't very helpful.

Much has been made (and rightfully so) that the addition of a pitcher has less impact than the addition of an everyday hitter. Yet after tonight's game, the Crew should have CC on the hill for 3 of the next 7 games. The timing of this trade is astoundingly wonderful!

The key issue here is GUARANTEED. A 9.00 ERA is obviously hiddeous, but since baseball is so unpredictable any opportunity to "make a deal with the devil" to control anything would have tremendous value. Any lead over one run turns the game into an eight-inning affair. If you had a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth, you'd have no reason to play for a big inning--you'd be content with leadoff walk, bunt, single. I'm thinking 10+ million.

I really hope Jenkins doesn't get booed. He played hard and he played through pain. He suffered through nine losing seasons and was shown the door (albeit correctly) after finally reaching the good side of .500. He should be cheered respectfully. Cordero is borderline. I would want to know the bottom line--would the booing enhance or hinder performance. Some players get rattled and others don't. As a closer, I would fear that road crowd booing would only stoke his competitive fire even more. I'll join those who wonder why anyone would boo Wes Helms. No, he wasn't a great--or even good--player. But he also wasn't negative personality like an Alex Sanchez or Chuckie Carr. He wasn't a waste of free agent money like Franklin Stubbs, Sean Berry, or Jeffrey Hammonds. And he didn't spout off about the front office like Jeromy Burnitz.

It seems like there is some disconnect between Yost and Melvin. From what I've read and heard, Melvin has always wanted to go with 12 pitchers, but Yost seems to be championing 13. During the winter Melvin included Villanueva prominently when talking about his rotation (sounding as if 4 spots were basically set) and mentioned that Parra would get a very long look. While I acknowledge that Parra is getting an audition, I wonder if Yost sees things differently than his boss. There is still talk about Villanueva being optioned--a far cry from Melvin's earlier stance. And if not for the injuries to Gallardo and now Capuano, Parra would be a nice footnote to the story of spring camp. I realize that different perspectives are inevitable, and I could most certainly be reading too much into newspaper quotes and talk radio musings. But if this were New York, it would be enough to produce stories about "management discord."

I would love to be in. Thank you!

Rotation: Ben Sheets Jeff Suppan Carlos Villanueva Claudio Vargas Manny Parra Bullpen: Eric Gagne Derrick Turnbow David Riske Solomon Torres Brian Shouse Guillermo Mota Dave Bush or Chris Capuano (one moved via trade) Yovanni Gallardo takes the place of Villanueva or Parra if one gets out of the blocks slowly, or Vargas gets DFAd. I think it is obvious to everyone in Wisconsin that Yost wants Capuano and Bush to win two of the starting spots, and I don't blame him. They're veterans. Manny Parra would have to be absoultely lights-out phenomenal to win a spot. Near perfect. Well, 0.64 through 14 innings speaks volumes. If this continues, there is no way they can justify leaving him out, is there? If the Crew is "win-now" mode, aren't they obligated to go north with the players most likely to do so, regardless of contract or past performance?

who are we kidding? its not just cordero whos bad on the road but the whole team, except braun. Braun's error led to 2 unearned runs today. Despite another wonderful day at the plate, I think we can drop the "except Braun."

1. Gary Sheffield 2. Carlos Zambrano 3. Barry Bonds 4. Roy Oswalt 5. Derek Jeter

This whole emotion issue is in reality the biggest non-issue possible. Why isn't this stuff brought up when the team is winning, as in "Gee, the Brewers are 24-10 but I wish they'd laugh more when they hit a homer?" Some people are outwardly emotional, others are not. For some, getting worked up helps performance. For others, doing so would be a detriment. Tony LaRussa and Greg Maddux will have their plaques hung in the calmer wing of the Hall of Fame. Tommy LaSorda and Dennis Eckersley are in the slam the equipment section. I'd take any of the four. Some guys are emotional to a point where it truly enhances performance, but can also drive them over a cliff. We've all seen Carlos Zambrano pitch masterfully until a bad call drives him batty. Billy Martin was as fiery as they come--and it literally killed him. If you like emotional, watch Carlos Zambrano. I'll take Ben Sheets.

Pitchleague, Did you listen to the later innings Friday night? Costas went back to the radio booth with Uke and Jim (which I thought was cool--he made himself right at home) and did tell his 95 WS story. The story that Costas related is well known to Brewers fans--that Uecker told him about being injected with hepatitis prior to the 1964 world series. Funny stuff! After the seventh inning Villanueva debacle, the Bob squared show was a needed tonic.

Skip Bayless and the another panelist were discussing how the Brewers will approach Bonds this weekend. Bayless said that the Brewers should avoid pitching to Bonds whenever possible, especially with Benji Molina providing protection. When it was pointed out to Bayless that Ned Yost has said that Bonds will be pitched to, Bayless said "Ned Yost always says that, and that's dumb." I'm no Skip Bayless fan, but I was kind of thinking the same thing he was.

A lot of responses are addressing a question that was not raised by the thread--SHOULD the Brewers try to resign Sheets. The answer to that is obvious--of course they should. But the question is "will they...?" The open market for pitchers of Sheets's caliber will be astounding, unless the market is saturated in 09 (which I'll admit I haven't looked ahead to see). Assuming the Brewers payroll leaps to $80 million--and that's a fairly wild assumption--can the Crew afford to commit over 20% (assuming $16+ million per) to one pitcher? I'm sorry but I just don't see it. If this were a Twins board and the question raised was "Will the Twins resign Santana," the answer would also be, sadly, no. Teams like the Twins and Brewers can not afford to commit long-term deals in this day and age.

Thanks for the information I requested. The difference in records between Miller's and Estrada's starts is astounding. With the exception of the most recent Houston and Pittsburgh wins, Miller's bat certainly does not make Milwaukee a better team. Is his handling of the pitchers THAT much better than Estrada? Or is this just a fluky statistic?