MessiahRp

Russ, I have to say I absolutely love it that you have even found a statistical value to follow to cap your disappointment levels. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Rp

Thought this was interesting: The Ballad of Bill Hall Hall's Post game comments:

This is definitely a better team than 64 wins but how much better remains to be seen. Braun has played to form, McGehee has been very good his sophmore year here and even Corey Hart is playing above expectations after the Spring he had.. but practically every other position has played worse than last year. (Well minus Catcher because anything > Kendall) Personally I think we would be fools not to get Capuano in the rotation immediately and there is no reason to keep Suppan or Vargas at this point when it could cost us a hot Cappy or even a slight upgrade in Loe. If you play Suppan because of money even when he's consistently getting shelled it means you don't want to win. At some point you cut your losses and try to win. Rp

I'm probably crazy but I'd rather have Kevin Youkilis over any of these guys. He is a pretty darn good hitter and a terrific defender... also a team player who will switch to third or whereever he can help the team if need be. Some of these guys aren't really very good defensive players so while they have more power than Youk I still would prefer Youk as an overall package.

Unlike Turnbow or even Gagne by that point Hoffman's been pretty reliable over the course of his career and while most knew his stuff was on the decline, it was probably fair to think he could put forth another solid season. I sort of think the long term reliability of Hoffman and Rivera put them in a totally different class than the ride em and dump em closers that most think about when they read into the references in this thread. Nobody that watched Hoffman last year could have seen him struggling like he is this year. This is a pretty rapid and steep decline.

A 3-team deal involving the Red Sox, Brewers, and Mariners would fit. The Mariners need a DH and it would fit. The Brewers or the Red Sox would probably get a low A ball prospect in return for Ortiz and maybe a AAAA type player in return for him. I'm not sure the Mariners or anyone at this point will touch Ortiz and to move him at all the Sox would have to eat his entire salary if they pray to get anyone to bite even for a low level prospect. With the way Fielder has hit this year and the cautious nature people have for larger 1B who field particularly poorly I actually think Boras and Prince may find a much colder market than they are expecting in FA and that might carry over to what we could get in any trade offers as well.

I don't miss Daron Sutton but it sure would have been nice to have the Buckethead Brigade stick around. They were the loudest most energetic parts of the game most nights and even on weeknights they almost always sold out that corner OF section's seats. It's very similar to what Bogut put together this year for the Bucks and I have to say it made the games more fun and the Bucks fans seem much more into their team. We need unique experiences like that here that really make our fanbase stand out even more and provide that much more of a home field advantage. Why we didn't hang onto that gimmick, even if we had to rename it, was beyond me. Rp

I don't think he'd work well as a starter especially right at the moment. Right now he's struggling because he's backed off of using his splitter and seems to be trying too hard to get his fastball by everyone else. As a one pitch pitcher he's way too hittable. When he was using his splitter with confidence he was practically unhittable.

Yeah but Torres was a pretty effective closer for that year. The last thing we need is another year where we have a Turnbow/Gagne-like implosion and we are scrambling to find a back end solution. Also Bush isn't just inconsistent... he's maddeningly so. Because few regular inconsistent pitchers go from the flashes of brilliance he tends to show to absolute crap which he does in his bad starts. That's a far more stark contrast than most pitchers' inconsistencies.

It's easy and probably very fair to be depressed about the start to the season though I would really be waiting until the halfway point to let any "give up the season" thoughts creep in. I think a lot of us weren't very psyched about signing Davis or Wolf and keeping Suppan on the roster has been pretty universally panned. Hoffman had a pretty good year last year so I had no problem with bringing him back (let's check these past few years to see how difficult it is to win without a solid closer). I am still not sold that Gomez will be a great player but thusfar it's not as if he's been all that bad. I just think that the part of the team Melvin claimed to improve in the offseason was spending a bunch on some very average pitchers who have at some point had an above average year or two that made us feel we needed to overpay for them. Randy Wolf might be a #3 at this point of his career. We gave him #2 or better money. Doug Davis had a nice little run in AZ but he's backend of the rotation material now and he's really always been a slightly better Jeff Suppan who gives up a lot of walks. Suppan should have been let go last year. He adds zero value to this roster and I doubt a single team in baseball would touch him with a 10 foot pole even if we ate his entire salary. Well, maybe his entire salary. That leaves you with Gallardo... Bush who is decent when healthy but not consistent.... Manny Parra who you have to pray could turn it around finally as he's starting to get up there age-wise (no longer a prospect at this point).. and Chris Narveson? Yikes. Now you have to bank on Wolf being healthy all year (not always something you can count on) or Davis playing like he did in AZ, which is probably not likely. I just think this rotation is probably not good enough for a playoff run and we're ultimately going to have to look for a better #2 in the offseason again.

I would have taken a washed up Liriano during this offseason over Doug Davis or another year of Suppan in the rotation. Of course, I was never a fan of the Davis signing (I thought too many people forgot how many walks he gave up his first time around and just looked at some of his better numbers in Arizona to think he was going to be a success here)... I don't know though that Minnesota was certain about giving up on him yet. It would be a shame if we actually could have had him though.

I'm of the belief that Milwaukee would make more money if they were in the AL. Red Sox and Yankees fans travel and those games sell out pretty fast. Same goes for Twins fans. The White Sox would give a Chicago team for Milwaukee to feud with and you'd most certainly get the Cubs in Interleague. Boston, NY, Detroit, CWS, Minnesota (not to mention Cleveland) would easily outdraw CHC, Houston, Pittsburgh, Cincy, St. Louis IMO... And I still think we'd get the Cubs and Cards in most interleague scenarios. So by that theory we should be able to afford another bat with the extra revenue we'd draw. Rp

Most Sox fans actually prefer Ellsbury in CF but at the moment he's not available either with his bruised ribs not healing as fast as they had hoped. Looks like they might have to make some sort of move to bolster the roster while both guys are out... and I suspect Hall playing CF is going to wear very thin on Sox fans since the guy has serious trouble catching the angles in which the ball comes off the bat out there.

Does anyone have a number as to how much the Brewers have received via revenue sharing and how that has figured into the team's finances over the past few years? Obviously I think teams like KC, Pittsburgh, Cincy and the Twins have probably taken more of that money and sat on it considering the Brewers payroll the past few years but I'm curious as to exactly how much Milwaukee has received. I know we don't like to spend or take chances (except on way overpriced sure to fail signings like Suppan was a few years back) and I know our media market is smaller than most but you'd think with the boosts in attendance and merchandise sales and such we could afford at least one big contract. The Packers are in a much smaller market and they make it work for them... and even though the Packers are sacrosanct here in this state I can't imagine a competitive Brewers team wouldn't draw a similarly loyal fanbase to make it work for them. Rp

Per Ian Browne, the Red Sox signed Schoeneweis to a minor league deal with an invite to camp. Also they released Brian Shouse last week. http://browniepoints.mlblogs.com/

Yeah the link address goes to the inbox but if you copy the text to the link that brings up the ticket page. Nada available for 2 tix on Tuesday though... shame. Day games are a no go for me. :-/ Rp

It links me to an outlook email box login screen... Man it would be sweet to pick up some tix. Anyone know if these are still available? Rp

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Houston in the Central Time Zone? The only division games out of the Central Time Zone for Houston is Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and that's only 1 time zone over, not two.I think he means unfair to Texas Rangers fans.. whose games are all two times zones over. Houston being in the AL West would give them a local time zone opponent.

BTW did anyone manage to see this? ESPN's Eric Karabell on Corey Hart

If Orlando wants a team there are already two teams in Florida that don't draw for nothing all year long that would be easier to get to relocate (not to mention cost less to move as a whole). I am not sold that Florida fans really care enough about Baseball to sustain a single MLB team, let alone three. Rp

As I am not yet sold on Escobar as a serious MLB hitting threat (yes I know he did okay in the call up but as BF.netters often preach, I am going to use the sample size argument here for a second and hope Escobar proves me wrong quickly) I think there's the distinct possibility that whatever defense they provide is going to be negated by the giant hole in the lineup we have. Think of this. If Escobar doesn't hit and hit well and Gomez continues not to hit and Zaun struggles at the plate (always possible) you have four complete black holes in the lineup with the Pitcher spot. And it could get worse if Corey Hart doesn't turn it around or McGehee comes back to earth (or Gamel's still not ready). There's just a ton of negative scenarios with this lineup and I honestly think whatever defensive and financial upgrade Gomez is over Cameron, the difference in their bats will be so gaping that it will negate all of that and we'll have a negative gain on the move. Maybe I am being pessimistic but this lineup outside of Braun and Prince does nothing to make me fear it. Hell I'd contemplate IBB both to get to everyone else if I was an opposing manager. Rp

I guess this is even less surprising than the Rose gambling admission, however I actually think the manner in which McGwire has gone about it will help him. He didn't deny it and get caught lying, he wasn't forcefully wagging his finger at Congress (And I think Raffy is the one guy out of the roiders, aside from Clemens and Bonds, who probably most deserves to get in)... he abstained from talking about it at the time on the advice of his attorneys and came clean in a manner that shows contrition. I don't think it makes him a HOF lock but with that entire generation of players now tainted as probably roid users, I can't imagine none of them get in and after Clemens and Bonds McGwire has to be right around that next tier of guys. Rp

It would stall the HOF voting by 5 years but according to Jerry Crasnick on Twitter, it doesn't reset. He would be ineligible for the HOF voting next year and would start again 5 years from re-retirement with 4 years of eligibility used up. I'm more curious to see if he can even hit MLB pitching at this point. Rp

I'd probably have given the '87 NL MVP to Eric Davis myself. But I am biased. Anyway, Dawson really doesn't belong in the Hall. I have a very hard time seeing how Alomar and Blyleven don't get in this year. Blyleven being 13 wins short of 300 and that somehow is a reason to keep him out is crap IMO. The guy had 15 losses when he allowed 1 or 0 ER. He had more shutouts in his career than the entire American League for the past 18 years combined. Those are sick stats. Get him some more run support and he's well over 300. Alomar's one of the best 2-3 2B in my lifetime. I saw one pathetic writer, Marty Noble, explain on mlb.com that he was not voting for Alomar because of the Hirschbeck incident and because he "spit in the faces on NY Mets fans" during his time there with his "apathy". That guy deserves to have his vote taken away. Along with the morons that voted for David Segui, Robin Ventura and Eric Karros. My HOF ballot would look like this: Blyleven Alomar Larkin Raines Trammell To me Lee Smith and Jack Morris are the next level fringe guys I can't really justify getting in. Rp

Maybe overpaying on the first year but even if they overpaid by $2mil on year one, if last year was not a statistical outlier and he continues to perform well, buying out one or possibly two years of Arby isn't a bad deal. Jack Z has looked pretty darn good so far in almost all of his moves. I think even the little stuff, like Hall for Kotchman has positive possible ramifications for the M's. I can't remember a new GM changing over almost all of the MLB personnel in such a short time and doing it with such shrewd deals across the board.