TheCrew07

I wasn't overly excited about the Brewer's start last year, and I'm not overly excited this year about the below .500 record. If the season is still going this way at the end of the June I'll change my tune. The Cubs are playing better than I had expected, but my hate for them will not allow me to say something positive about the team.

I hope they are leaning that way because they make very good selections when they go positional players. I'll grudgingly admit that they reached on Rogers in hindsight, though I'm still holding out hope that he can pitch again. X's idea of continually drafting bats and flipping them for pitching is something that I think can have quite a bit of merit. It's so difficult to get quality pitching through a system healthy, let other teams flame out the arms and trade for the best of what's left.

Balfour... I've always thought that if he didn't get squeezed for the walks in that first outing that things would have been much different for him in Milwaukee... It just snowballed him after that. Maybe he's a 4A type, but I really liked his stuff, and I still root for him. Then again it's possible I'm just a sucker for a good story.

I'm still captivated everytime I look at a Huntsville box score with the regular 8, I don't recall a team ever having 2 guys hitting .370+ and everyone else .300ish this late in the season... I'm sure it's happened, but I've only followed the leagues in which the Brewers affiliates were playing.

While I agree, Rluz, it's no worse than a certain person whining about Hardy and Weeks everytime Hall's struggles are brought up. Hall isn't a longterm answer anywhere, and debating it endlessly is getting old. It should be obvious that Hardy and Weeks don't have a platoon option, and Hall isn't going to play SS for the Brewers ever again. It's been documented/discussed many times that if Hardy gets hurt management has already said that Escobar would come up... it's time to let it go and just appreciate that we have another LH power option which the team needed. My disdain of Branyan's style has been well documented over the years, and even I don't have anything negative to say about this move, it was that obvious.

Seidel has given up 2 ER in 4 IP thus far, a walk and 2 doubles did the damage. edit. 6 IP, 2ER... one of his better outings of the season.

When I was in middle school I really like all of his nicknames for the baseball players and many of his other bits. By the time I was graduating high school I was indifferent to him, by the time I was done with college I loathed him, and still do to this day. He helped get ESPN off the ground, but like everything ESPN has become, he's overdone and I find him mostly intolerable these days. My ESPN viewing has steadily declined the last 6-7 years. Maybe I'm just getting old and bitter in my early 30s, they ruined MTV, they ruined VH1, they ruined ESPN... I feel like my grandparents... "Rock and Roll is going to ruin the country!"

You know I've always been high on him too, but only 2 Strike Outs, which worries me some as he's difficult to project. He doesn't walk anyone, but he doesn't strike anyone out either. He's got plenty of potential though.

Torres pitches with quite a bit of passion... I've been really pleased with him this season, he's my kind of guy.

Prince, that was post worthy... where has that been the last couple of weeks?

Normally I don't have much sympathy for guys like Turnbow, guys who I think don't have much mental toughness (ya I know mental toughness is not a popular sentiment around here). However I feel absolutely horrible for the guy, today's line.... 1.2 IP 1 H, 6 BB, 1 SO, 2 ER His ERA now stands at 13.5 in AAA for a guy that once converted 51 of 55 (or something very close) save opportunities in the bigs.

Come on Periard, tonight's the night you get on track. edit. A quality start at least, he gave up 3 doubles and they all came around to score, not many SO though.

That Escobar sure can hit eh?

I might not have been clear... Green's numbers for some reason screamed Corey Hart to me, probably because the OPS were in the general neighborhood. I like the Overbay and Cirillo comparisons as well, he's going to hit for average with decent power. My main point was supposed to be he profiles like a starter, rather than a utility guy... which is why I included Crabbe and Counsell, those lines are what I expect out of utility infield guys.

On Fielder I would think it has more to do with fans being fickle... he's made some horrible plays in the last 2 weeks, isn't hitting home runs at a 50 HR pace, and didn't sign a contract extension. I think sbrylski06 nailed it, Braun signed so he's the good guy... Fielder didn't so he's the bad guy. Like I said, my only complaint about him is the fact he can't hardly dig a ball out of the dirt. His stat line isn't horrible, he's just not carrying the team. I would think that Gamel gets hurt on this list because he wasn't a high draft pick and has glaring defensive issues in his past. Good for Laporta though.

I wanted to post something other than "why?", but much like Jackson that's the only thought I have, and it's difficult to get it out of my head.

I've never been a Hall guy, not even close. I agree with the statement that he's not fundamentally sound, and I think it's true that he'll make the fantastic play and boot the easy one. Let's be honest, it's not as if his errors come when he ranges to a ball in the hole, it's when a ball is hit right at him and he pulls a Roger Dorn. Since I've come to BF.net years ago I keep seeing that guys with more range have more errors... and while that may be true, I don't think that applies to Weeks or Hall. At the plate he's always been feast or famine, and this year it's been more famine. I know he's better than his current BA, but his average is a direct result of his HR total. It looks to me like he's always swinging for the fence, trying to prove that last year's power output was a fluke. As far as attitude goes, it's never a good thing when players start comparing themselves to other guys when they want to make a playing time arguement, that's a slippery slope. In my experience with football players, the kids that do this are typically the kids who will work just hard enough to hold down a starting spot, but not push themselves to be the best they can be. These kids usually get passed up by younger kids by mid-year as the kids behind them will keep working to get better. I have no idea what Hall is thinking, but I truly hope he's focusing on what he needs to do to be a better player than worrying about who on the team he's a better player than. I'm not big on talent guys, I'd rather see results... 6 years ago I listened to Bob Stoops talk about coaching and in his presentation he talked about how most coaches fall into the trap of playing talent instead of playing results, and I feel I was guilty of that at the time. His presentation had a huge impact on me as a coach, and I think back to it often, especially in regards to Hall and Weeks conversations on this message board. Hall's talent is obvious, as are his results. He had a good year and a half run, and that may have very well been the high water mark for his career. While JJ's range may be better suited for 3B, his offensive statistics are not, even last year he was below average for a 3B. His offense would be devalued much the same way Hall's was by moving from CF to 3B. JJ is a middle infielder and nothing more.

Utility? Why pigeon hole a kid in A ball? If he keeps hitting there's no reason why he couldn't be the 2B of the future if Gamel sticks at 3B, or play a very servicable 3B if Gamel gets moved... AA will be the test for him, like most everyone else, but to this point in his career he's done nothing to suggest to me that his ceiling is that of a utility guy. Utility guys are generally players like Crabbe, who don't do anything exceptionally well, but have decent game. It seems to me that most of those infield utility types have SLG that's lower than their OBP, or right in that general neighborhood. Taylor Green's Career Compared to Corey Hart's Minor League Career Callix Crabbe's Career Compared to the current utility man Craig Counsell In my opinion nothing about Green profiles as a utility player in any way.

Some guys make their time at the start, some at full speed with stride... very few do both well unless coached to... and that's mostly a track thing... coaching the entire range of speed. I'm not sure where Hardy gets his speed, but just from watching the 150 or so games I've seen him play in I'd guess he's a slow starter with a good top end. He doesn't have anywhere near the range of Escobar while he gets good jumps on the balls, so he's not very quick in my opinion.. That's probably why JJ doesn't steal bases, he doesn't get out of the gate very fast. I fail to see what a shoulder injury would have to do with how fast you run? I've had a chronically bad shoulder since my junior year in highschool and it didn't slow me down at all, except when it popped out and the whole side of my body went numb so I couldn't get up off the field or floor... The back problem might have slowed him down some, but that should have a greater effect on his fielding than how fast he runs to first. He showed a real nice burst in Saturday's game when he scored on that play, I thought the throw from Left was going to beat him by a mile, but the play at the plate wouldn't have been close with a good throw. He was already sliding on the short hop. While his 60 yard time was pretty good, that doesn't necessarily tell the whole story. Hardy has never gotten a whole lot of love round here, he was pushed too quickly, he's not a super athlete like Hall, and so on. When people talk about the infield, it usually seems like Hardy is the first guy people want to get rid of. Obviously I'm biased, hence my name, but while he doesn't have great range, he takes care of the balls he can get to. Hall made the fantastic play and booted the easy one at SS (does the same at 3B imo), Rickie is hit or miss, Fielder... is generally on the poor side. If not for JJ who do we hang our hat on defensively in the infield? JJ's game is steady all the way around, as a coach and a fan I want consistentcy, that's JJ, and that's why he's my guy. I'm really high on Escobar, I have been for a long time, but I'm not ready trade Hardy because Escobar has had 3 good weeks with the bat... It's a long season, lets see where the 2 players are in July. For Escobar to be valuable as a starter in MLB his SLG needs to be higher than his OBP, this offense doesn't need another hole, those are the only 2 numbers I've been watching of his all year.

While Big League club puts up a 6 spot, WV (Etheridge) has a disasterous 5th and gives up 6. BC with a nice comeback win, Braddock was OK with the start.

Well had this happened in the 1rst week of April I would have been bickering, hell even the first week of May. However after Ned continually runs out Gwynn to PH when it should be Dillon, I'm resigned myself to the fact that anyone on the roster is better than having TGJ at this point. Nothing against Tony, just doesn't offer much. Branyan has done so well offensively at AAA that this was a very obvious move. I can accept Branyan at this time, but this doesn't mean I'll be posting sweet nothings about Ginter anytime soon... I feel dirty for posting kind words about Branyan... *sigh*

Mercedes with another forgettable outing, I wish someone who'd seen this guy pitch could give us some insight, because his stats sure don't justify the chances he keeps getting.

On Cody I found a link from Mass, which linked to an older Transaction thread http://forum.brewerfan.net/viewtopic.php?t=865

When things go bad, they really go bad. I caught your Winklesas referrence, I just like him, so it didn't make me laugh, it made me sad. What was so good about Jackson since he's been up? He's been exactly what he was in Nashville... None of those guys except Pena excite me at all, and he started slow or I wonder if he'd already be up.

I was watching a game 2 weekends ago with my parents and extended family up at the lake property, and Prince failed to scoop what I though was relatively easy Sunday hop throw. I went on a miny tirade about it, saying that I'd throw him so many short hops he'd look like Roger Dorn in Major League when he took his shirt off. I had been drinking at the time, but the more I think about it, the more I wish I could do that. However, Rickie continues to make some of the weakest and poorest throws I have ever seen from a Brewer 2B on those turns, but I agree with the general point that if Prince could dig a ball out of the dirt, the infield defense would be drastically improved. Quite honestly, I saw our 1B at the highschool level dig out tougher balls than Prince on back to back balls Tuesday. I don't have many complaints about Prince, but his lack of aptitude for the short hops drives me absolutely nuts.