JJHardy7

I think he's saying that SS and C were not offensive threats that they are today so instead of just one automatic out you had three. I don't have the time to research that (and it seems a bit simplistic) but I don't think he's saying all players of that era were worse than those today. I agree with what you're saying homer. I have to say I'm only 24 so I obviously don't know a ton of first hand things that JohnBriggs does, but hasn't the SS position completely changed in the past 15 years or so? I know a guy like Ernie Banks was great, but wasn't that an exception? The A-Rods, Nomars, etc. changed the position quite a bit in terms of having bigger and stronger players play a position that was normally a 'smaller guy' position where defense usually was better than the bat. I'm sure there were exceptions (like Banks), but I thought that SS was much more of a power position in the past 15 years than it is now. I may be wrong there, but I thought that's what has happened in regards to SS.

Counsell's walk rate this year was superb, and he never hit 8th. It's about plate discipline. Well hopefully you get my drift. When you're hitting where he has over the course of his career and not just this year he's going to be pitched around because when at the bottom of the lineup there isn't really too many teams that are afraid of Counsell, Kendall, pitcher, etc. You walk Counsell and try to get Kendall to ground into a double play. I'm not saying Counsell has a terrible approach. He's very good at what he does and I don't want to discount that. He does have tremendous plate discipline. I think it does help to hit in front of Kendall (IIRC he grounded into quite a few double plays) and the pitcher. I may be way off base here, but I'd be interested in seeing Craig's OBP based on where he hit in the lineup. I quickly looked at baseball cube and baseball reference and didn't see it. I thought there was a way to do that, but I'm not a pro on those sites obviously. I might be way off, but my guess is when Craig hits lower in the order his OBP is better. I apologize in advance if I'm way off.

As long as Nelson stays on the 40-man roster, he's not a free agent. If he were to be DFA'd, then IIRC he would be free to go. I thought he has put enough time in the minors and would have to sign a minor league free agent contract/mlb contract in order to still be a Brewer. I must be wrong in that logic since I thought he put in the 7 years or whatever and chose to re-sign with the Brewers in the off-season as a minor league free agent. http://blogs.jsonline.com...nelson-back-in-favor.aspx "He's still young, he has a (minor league) option left, and if we didn't sign him, we'd have to find another first baseman at Nashville. It all seemed to make sense. He earned his way back on." This seems to indicate he'd be a free agent, but again I'm not 100% on this and anyone who knows for sure thanks in advance for your help.

Counsell makes that argument seem ridiculous. Guys that walk do so because they take balls, not because the pitcher is afraid to pitch to them. Counsell hitting 8th in the National League is going to lead to more walks because pitchers would rather face the pitcher than Counsell. I've seen Brantley more than a few times (again I can't comment too much on his defense because I don't know all that much abaout it in CF) and if he develops power he could be a real nice player. I have no clue if he will or won't, but playing in the AL he's going to struggle IMO if he doesn't develop power. MLB pitchers will be going after him and comparing AA pitchers to MLB is night and day. Brantley was facing guys that will never get to AAA and will continue to struggle with control issues. This isn't a knock on Brantley. I just think it's very hard to project him in the MLBs as being great at OBP or anything else. If he can't stick at CF, he's a really weak hitting 1B. I personally don't know who I'd rather have seen gone. I just hope both Brantley and Green develop and get to the bigs.

I believe he's a free agent. I don't think it's a matter of what the Brewers do with Brad Nelson as much as what types of offers Nelson gets from other teams. I honestly don't know for sure what he's thinking now, but I know there were rumblings during the season that more than a few MLB teams have scouted him in Nashville. My guess is he's on a 25 man roster, but I don't know if it'll be the Brewers or not.

Again if you go look at the research in the 50's the average number of pitches per game for the 'horse' style pitcher was in the 105-115 range. It has slowly gone down to where it is now in the 100-105 range. The biggest difference is it takes more pitches per inning so the innings has dropped a lot more and teams don't skip the 5th starter as often anymore. The pitches per game really hasn't changed all that much. Parra threw 2704 pitches this year, if he can pump that up to 3000-3100 next year he is looking at 200 IP if he doesn't BB a ton of guys. If his BB stay high that is probably more like 190. Ennder, you seem like you've done a lot of research and are one of the better 'stat' guys. That being said, do you have any stats detailing pitches per at bat by decade or anything? I think batters being more patient and taking more pitches could be a huge reason why guys back in the day were able to throw more innings, but similar pitch count numbers.

I just can't imagine why anyone would want Braun back at 3B. He made a ton of errors at 3B and already in hist first season ever playing the OF is an above average LF who I believe will one day win gold gloves in the OF. I was in the camp and still think Braun should've never been removed from 3b. The main problem is that he was rushed. That being said now that Braun is a year removed from 3b he shouldn't be playing there. Anything he could've developed this year is gone and he's probably gotten worse. The only situation I see him playing 3b is in a 18 inning game and there's some freak injury that forces him there. I'd be more interested in moving Braun to CF, but I think I might wait a year or two on that. He was pretty good in the OF this year given his position change, but like others have noted he did play somewhat deep. If Braun is ever able to play an above average CF and stays healthy he will be a Hall of Famer and possibly one of the best to ever play CF (in terms of the total package).

agent39, any clue where Jeffress may start next year? I'm hoping to see him at some point and time next here in Nashville. Is he going to start the year in Huntsville?

I must ask this question since I didn't see Brantley play a ton this year because I happened to be at quite a few games when he was hurt. Can he play CF? I know that's a huge question, but from those in 'the know' what are the chances he can't? Brantley at 1b or an OF spot doesn't excite me at all and chances are he may have had to be moved eventually depending on how the current MLB spots shake out. Brantley improved his ISO power this year but he is still very weak in terms of power, so weak that it will be much more difficult for him to draw walks in the major leagues. Pitchers will not be afraid to throw one down the chute if they know Brantley cannot hurt them big. This to me is one of the best points in the thread. Pitchers aren't going to pitch around him if he doesn't develop power. Why would they? You need to at least be a threat to draw walks at that high of a rate. IMO from what I did see him I think his walks were more about teams being afraid of putting guys on with the other guys on the Huntsville team and AA pitchers just not having control. This isn't a rip on Michael and he's a good guy. He'll be dangerous if he develops power, but I have no clue if he will or won't.

We saw a lot of the same complaints last year about how Weeks wasn't a good lead-off hitter. I'm not a Weeks guy, but I don't think he should be traded. I hate having him lead off because I wonder if that's the reason why he looks clueless at the plate sometimes. I know Hart is struggling and I wouldn't do this now, but I wouldn't be opposed to having Hart lead off next year and Weeks hitting 6th or so (of course this all depends on how the off-season goes). 'Forcing' Hart to have a leadoff approach may do the trick and in the 6th spot Weeks should have more opportunities to take a pitch and drive it and not worrying about taking xyz pitches. Just a thought.

I've mentioned before that IMO Hardy defensively is a much better fit at 3B than 2B. I think he could be Gold Glove quality at that position, and I really hope the Brewers place a greater emphasis on team defense moving forward. Agree. I'm sick of the Hardy to 2b talk. It would somewhat negate his strong arm. Hardy to 2b doesn't make much sense to me. We have a need like you mention at 3b with no prospects on the immediate horizon to fill in. I'd extend Hardy if the contract was reasonable and put him at 3b. I would prefer to do this in 2010 than 2009 though. Give Escobar more time to develop. We really need a stop gap 3b next year IMO that is a high OBP guy.

You are ignoring some important facts with that statement JJ. Hardy missed almost the entire 2004 season prior to his stuggles the first half of 2005, his rookie year. Escobar has nearly double the minor league AB's that Hardy had (2,141 to 1,142). Hardy never hit over .300 in any minor league season. Escobar is coming off back to back season's where he's hit over .300. Every player is different. Hardy is a fine player no doubt, but Escobar might well be capable of being good next season. That Hardy wasn't for a few months doesn't mean Escobar can't be. Escobar also adds the dimension of speed that Hardy doesn't possess. I understand the circumstances. I just think that's what you'd get out of Escobar his first year. Can he play defense? Of course he can, but we have enough issues at times with Hall, Weeks, Cameron, and Kendall that Escobar would fit right into. Why rush Escobar? If Escobar was anywhere near the plan for next year, he would've gotten at least one start in September. I understand Hardy was banged up, but he was rushed. Why risk similar things with Escobar? Escobar's frame isn't ready and I'd be shocked to see him hit for power in the bigs right now. Maybe he gets in the weight room and grows, but moving a guy from AA to the bigs is a huge risk and one that shouldn't be taken if the team wants to compete. Again, if the team isn't really looking to compete go ahead with Escobar. He's going to make plenty of mistakes batting and on the basepaths like he did in September that will be frustrating, but can be lived with if we're not trying to be .500. Now if we answer 3b with Hardy, get someone competent at 2b, and live with the fact that our 7, 8, 9 hitters (Escobar, Kendall, pitcher) will produce little runs that's fine and it's probably not going to win ball games. I just don't think this current lineup can risk adding Escobar if the team wants to be .500 next year. It's way too big of a jump and a year ago everyone was questioning Escobar's power and one year later there's no questions? The entire Huntsville team had a pretty darn good offensive year, which leads me to believe some of the players may have had better years than their actual skills.

I just don't see Escobar being the answer. Yeah he would help the defense but he'd be lucky to put up Counsel's numbers offensively. Kendall, Escobar, Pitcher would be just ugly at the bottom of the order. Escobar isn't major league ready and a year of inflated BABIP in AA doesn't really change that. I agree. I've seen Escobar quite a bit and he's going to be a very good major leaguer someday, but asking a guy to go from AA to the bigs and make a big impact is not the best way for a team that wants to compete. If we sit back and say we're not going to make the playoffs or be .500 next year, then Escobar maybe should be called up. Escobar and Gamel (Escobar especially) need more experience and need to bulk up a bit. I've said this before and I'm not saying they need to pack on 40 pounds of muscle, but they're both young guys and they're still developing. They just are small for your average major leaguer and I think if we give them another year in the minors they'll come in more experienced and physically ready to handle playing 140 - 150+ games and be able to maintain a powerful swing all year. I think the best comparison to Escobar playing next year is Hardy's first half of his rookie year. This team doesn't need that if they want to win next year. The solution for this team is not coming from an AA player.

It was a private party. Cameron gave a long, awesome speech about Milwaukee having to wait 26 years for playoff baseball. Prince was behind the turntables. Even the owner was on the dance floor. Everyone was in quite the celebatory mood. Quite an unforgetable night! Thanks again to the Milwaukee Brewers (especially for the open bar)! How many Brewers players were there about? The whole team?

They don't get to the NLCS unless they win the NLDS. They have a better chance, imho, with Gallardo pitching than Suppan to make the NLCS. I think they have a better chance with Yoga if game 3 doesn't use the bullpen too much. If Bush pitches well in game 3 I'm fine with Yo starting game 4. If the bullpen is used a ton, I guess Suppan gets some consideration. We could piggy back them both depending on the outcome. Who would be better out of the pen...Yo or Suppan?

Toby at the end was a huge buzz kill. I don't know why they needed to show that. I think it all depends on why they did it. If he's barely on the rest of the season, it wasn't a great idea. If it's just a scene to show he might be back on the show in some role, I like the move. We'll have to see what happens.

After making that ridiculous error and being yanked in the middle of game I dont think Weeks will make another start in a Brewers uniform. Moyer starts game 3 but I think Durham will play that game and Weeks will only be used as a pinch hitter. I have been one of Rickie's biggest supporters but even I realize he may never live up to expectations. I think we dump him in the offseason for whatever we can get which probably wont be much. If this does happen I think Rickie will go down as one of the biggest disappointments in Brewers history. I'm not a Weeks guy by any means, but I just wouldn't dump him for nothing. Someone here will have to let me know, but is he out of options? I'd like to see him 'start over' and start the year in AAA unless he comes into came and has found it. I would do that or possibly have him as a backup. I'll admit the main problem with having him as a backup is you'd like to see your backup play some defense. I think if trading him is the end result his value is low and I'd be against that.

Hall and Weeks combine for an error and Cam takes a bad angle. Defense losing games? Sounds familiar. Cam's play was tough I'll give him that, but it's the playoffs.

If Cleveland made their choice you'd think they would announce, so by saying they havent made a choice, thats not really inside information. WHat do I want him to say? I dont want him to say anything. But like I said, dont go bragging about how you know so much if you're not going to tell everyone else. Its childish. But I do apologize, I dont want to seem like the bad guy so i will drop it. Well if agent it is saying it's one of his clients and it turns out that way I'd say he had insider information. From day one it's been limited to a select few prospects and from all accounts one of those prospects will be agents. I'd consider that inside information. I'm sure agent will inform us of all the going ons as he can once a decision is made.

Arby is a no brainer. Why you'd offer him a long-term deal with yet another injury is beyond me. I don't know what you consider long-term Al. I'd do 3 years...if the money was right (ie Brewers potentially get a type of bargain and Sheets gets some type of security). It's all speculation know, but a 3 year deal under $30 million would be fine by me if he's going to recover in a decent amount of time. Is there a chance of this? Who knows.

When are/were votes do? Is it after tonight or before? MVP Will win: CC and Pedroia (I think Mauer and Morneau 'hurt' each other being on the same team) Should win: CC and Mauer Cy Young Will win: Webb and Lee Should win: Lincecum and Lee

I think we can still safely offer arbitration (without being a doctor who fully understands his outlook) as someone with deep pockets will want to lock him up and offer a multi-year deal which pays much less in 09 than in subsequent years. I'm starting to wonder if there was some type of 'agreement' between Sheets and the Brewers about at least getting offered arby. I haven't heard it from any of the players yet, but my gut is telling me the Brewers gave Sheets some level of security pitching with this. Again, I have no clue if him pitching 'hurt it more' in terms of a recovery. I'm down with offering Sheets arby or even a 3 year deal.

Have you seen Nelson. He's big, it looks like has been stung a nest of bees. I have watched him play outfield in Huntsville & Nashville and as long as the ball is hit within a 10 foot circle of him he has a chance. I've seen him and met him. I'm not saying his future in the bigs is in the OF. I just think carrying 4 OFs is a risk, but looking that Nelson has some experience this year there he could do it if need be. I don't expect him to start unless there's an injury. He moves pretty well for his size, but I do agree with you he's not going to get to every ball. He's a nice insurance policy to have should one of the OF go down. As far as replacing Fielder, who knows. I do think it's fitting that he's on the 25 man roster giving his high prospect status at one time and then battling through injuries. It'd be a 'feel good story' should he come up with some clutch PH.

Brad Nelson in the Outfield would make Chris Duncan look like a gold glover. Have you seen him actually play OF? I've seen him many times and he's not bad. He's probably below average and maybe one day he can be average. I don't know if I'd keep in him the OF the entire game, but should there be an injury he's not the worst option.

So they knew he was hurt and Yost sent him out for 120 pitches and then 113 pitches(in only 6 innings so they were high stress pitches) and then he wasn't able to finish another start. Is this a smart game plan? I'm so glad Yost is gone. Did him pitching hurt him more? I'm not a doctor and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night so I have no clue. If it did hurt him more (ie went from a minor thing to a career type thing), than we need some new trainers/medical staff. I don't blame Yost for it too much because my guess is he just asked Sheets/training staff what the deal was. If he was told it could potentially ruin his career, he's an idiot and to a certain degree Sheets is too.