TheCrew07

That would depend on the injury, did he elaborate? If it's something that doesn't impact his delivery I have no issue with it. If it's something that would impact his delivery it makes no sense... he's risking further injury and losing confidence while pitching poorly, not that he's an uber prospect or anything, but everyone has value until they prove otherwise as even my whipping boy Mercedes is trying to make me eat crow.

He'll sign before the deadline, but he's going to play for Canada until Sept, so unfortunately he's going to miss the majority if not all of short season ball. When he was drafted I would have thought he'd sign right away and get some work in AZ or Helena then take of his Canada business. You'd think by now I'd be used to being wrong....

TLB was looking for someone for an OOTP league.

I thought it was 11 but I'm not going to go back and count em up again. With that many errors I was surprised how many earned runs were given up...

I too thought the FSN crew handled that perfectly, especially Anderson who called his shot on it before the pitch and let the crowd tell the story.

Call-up Taylor Green to lead off and play 2B so he can't be traded to Cleveland... or something.

I dislike Branyan as much as anyone, and I have a hard time believing I have to defend him in a thread on Brewerfan... That being said. What I was getting at is that he is new to the position and has the skills to improve. Hall is not a superior player defensively, nor is Bill new to playing 3B, he's played it in the past. He's doing as logan said, he's doing exactly what he's done his whole career. Make the fantastic play and boot the easy one. Yes Fielder could made the play on the short hop, but that really has nothing to do with the fact that Billy doesn't have an accurate arm, if you want an accurate arm, watch Hardy, the ball hits Prince in the chest 9 times out of 10. The ninth inning today is an excellent example of why Hall is a better offensive player than BranyAn in all aspects except raw power Taking one AB from a game from a player on a hot streak (aided greatly by facing many LHP in the last 10 days) and claiming it to definitive proof of as why any player is better than another is flawed logic at best. Add in that Hall plays his best against Cincy for whatever cosmic reason... I don't feel using anything Hall does in a Cincy series as a representation of true talent is sound logic. This is the same guy that 2 weeks ago was waving at 3 pitches out of the zone and was batting .206. Is Branyan going to hit a HR every 6 PAs like earlier in the season? Aboslutely not, but he's still a very solid option off the bench. He provides power, OBP skills, and similar defense at 3B, and fills a nice niche on this year's team. The best thing for the Brewers is that Hall continues to hit until the end of the season and increases his trade value. I figured he'd be the first guy to go, but right now he doesn't have much value.

Love the shirt, but I didn't see it when I was in the store at Miller Park and I'm not buying it online, DHL will never deliver a package to my house for personal reasons, I wish consumers had a choice of carrier.

Scarpetta didn't make it out of the 1st, 2/3 of inning with 3 BBs, a WP, 2 SBs, and 1 ER.

The one fastball that registered when the graphic was up was 88 MPH. Inman has nice control, and that was a nice quick play on that line drive to end the inning. For the most part his pitches were down in the zone, I liked what I saw.

I don't think that's a valid comparison and here's why. Nelson has 3057 MiLB ABs... he's struck out 706 times and walked 368. Cruz has 2594 MiLB ABs... and he's struck out 701 times and walked 270. While Cruz's discipline has impoved dramatically the last 2 years in MiLB, they are very different types hitters. Cruz has more power and much more of a free swinger than Nelson. Cruz got a very long MLB look last year hitting .235/.287/.384 and struck out 87 times with only 21 walks in 307 ABs... that ratio is very similar to his 2003 season with the Kane County Cougars (A) in Oakland's system. Nelson has never had a ratio that bad and only had a ratio around 3:1 in 2004, his first full season in AA. Cruz may very well settle in and get comfortable at the MLB level, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for it... when there's pressure on him I see him always reverting back into free swinging mode. Nelson has been pretty consistent as a patient hitter, he just couldn't get on base after his injury, his OBP is generally 60-100 points higher than his BA. Maybe it's true that Nelson can finally grip the bat well again, I don't know, but I'm not going to write someone off who's having AAA success until they actually get an extended shot to produce and fail.

With Scarpetta(first game action), Periard, Nieves, and Hammond this should be a decent prospect day. Gulin hasn't been too shabby this year either, but it's hard to qualify him as a "prospect" edit. BTW, that's a neat shirt graphic.

Fryer is now hitting .363... my goodness.

I would submit Joe that you feel the need to say Brad will put up a 700 OPS because you hate the idea of trading Prince, which unfortunately is the most logical move to reload on pitching as he has the most value and is the most expendable. You don't have to agree about trading Prince, but give Nelson his due, he's bounced back very nicely after many us (myself included) wrote him off.

Oh my... Kemp strikes out on ball 4 at eye level, Kjeldgaard caught stealing for a strike em out throw em out... edit. Helena loses in 10.

This is a very entertaining game thus far, well from an offensive standpoint. 25 runs as I type this.

Rivas with a nice line, but he's given up a bunch of HRs lately and now 8 on the year. Wow that WV offense and team has just exploded, good for the young men and good for the fans down there. Huntsville keeps trucking along... Cain has done well in his 4 games. Jeffress with a ho-hum outing... Green is 3 for 21 since the Sabathia trade, Brewer has had a nice 10 game run. I was pretty excited by the Perez signing, but he just hasn't hit at all. Ritchie and Pascual got rocked in Helena tonight, Pascual has looked overmatched at both R and R+, by any sample size an ERA over 18 is just plain awful.

Coach did you discuss the running situation with Angel at all? A couple of weeks ago a team swiped 9 of 10 bags in 2 days off of him. I know the pitchers have a responsibility there as well, but something has to be going on as his percentage is even close to matching to his tools.

The other trade I like with TB is Fielder for Neimann and Price. Niemann is pitching much better his second time through AAA and Price is ultra talented but this will be his first pro season after being the #1 overall selection in last year's draft.. Price has had shoulder and elbow issues already, so he's a risky proposition, but the payoffs could be huge. Neimann was the #4 overall selection in 2004, he's also had some arm issues (arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder and his elbow), but was dominant up until last season when he had the worst WHIP of his career at 1.45 and ERA at 3.98, however he's rebounded nicely with a 1.17 WHIP and 3.82 ERA so far this year (he's been stung by the Home Run some). He did have a short stint earlier this season with the big club and was dominant in his first start and struggled against the White Sox in his second start. I just think Tampa Bay and Milwaukee match up very well, much better than KC. I'm not a fan of picking up Greinke at all, KC has no real motivation to move him either. I'm also not sold on Cain from SF, the more research I do the less I like him, his ERA is a full point higher on the road. Tampa's worst starting pitcher is Andy Sonnanstine with an ERA of 4.58, every other pitcher on their staff has an ERA under 4. I think the Rays have the best rotation in the game as it stands and they need offense. With Pena at 1B, and whomever DH's between Aybar, Gomes, and Floyd... all are very replacable. TB needs more offense and the Brewers will need pitching next year. I still like aquiring Fields the best as he's a sure thing in my opinion, he's a horse. However, if TB would be willing to give up both Neimann and Price I'd do that deal in a hearbeat as well. TB's window is right now, just as the Brewer's windows is now, so both teams might be motivated enough to do this. I think Tampa would be crazy to trade both Neimann and Price, but injury concerns could potentially hurt their relative value and make a deal like this possible. While Neimann isn't a sure thing, I'm fairly confident he'll succeed and he's MLB ready right now. Price is probably on track for a 2010 debut if he stays healthy. Anyway, it's good to dream.

Bruce could it be that you think how a manager/coach deals with the media is important because you're a member of the media? Don't you work for a radio station in Duluth? I would think that you'd be more sensitive to the way he handles the media because of your chosen profession, where as I could care less. It's a 162 game season and in my opinion it really is as simple as guys having a bad night. If there was a way to predict when a player would have a horrible night, everyone would bat .300 or have an ERA under 4. I honestly could care less what Yost says in a post game conference, they aren't meaningful, it's fluff in my opinion. I've been on record many times saying Yost's bullpen management is the one thing that drives me nuts. I hate defined roles (with the exception of the closer), but I do think he's very slowly learning how to manage the pen better. B- from me.

nothing like having my head in my butt... last time I looked seriously at him he was floating around .220.

I've been so consumed with pitching lines that I didn't even notice Haydel has average up over .275, not too shabby.

I hope the Brewers swap Fielder for Shields straight up, both players are hitting arby, both will get similar money, both are controlled for at least 3 more years, and finally TB needs hitting for the AL east and the Brewers need pitching. Shields is replacable for TB because Price is moving up quickly through their system. Fielder and Shields have exactly the same value, which is why I like this move, ohh and Shields has a very team friendly contract. James Shields rhp 4 years/$11.25M (2008-11), plus 2012-14 club options signed extension 1/23/08 08:$1M, 09:$1.5M, 10:$2.5M, 11:$4.25M, 12:$7M club option ($2M buyout), 13:$9M club option ($1.5M buyout), 14:$12M club option ($1M buyout) value of 2012-14 club options may increase package to $38M performance bonuses based on innings pitched, starts, and Cy Young voting may increase package to $44M 1 year/$0.3949M (2007), re-signed 3/07 1 year (2006), contract purchased 11/05 ML service: 1.125 edit. I should have removed the line about similar money, Prince is going to be more expensive. I forgot to remove it after I looked at Shield's contract.

Bulter.. *sigh*... I wonder what our scouts saw in this guy... I only remember 1 good outing from him all year. I'm sure there had to be more, but the Crew sure got fleeced in that deal.

If he could pitch 4 innings or less every time yes... for whatever reason he really struggles that 3rd time through the order. I'm not sure why... fatigue, nibbling... no idea. I do know that he puts crazy lines with 10 Ks and 5 ER in 5 IP around his starts where pitches shutouts. The Crew sure does have some young pitchers that are statistical anomolies this year. Tyson with his K to BB ratio but a zillion hits againt, Jeffress striking out 3/4 of the batters he faces and still giving up crooked numbers... just plain weird happenings.