crewcrazy

Cameron's still got some crazy range...he definitely makes Braun and Hart look better. Thanks to him we won't have to worry about this being another save situation heading into the 9th, and a solid inning for Villa. It'll be interesting to see if Macha just lets him finish it or if he goes to someone else for the 9th. Of course, I'd just prefer if they scored a few more runs so it wouldn't really matter. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Pretty impressive that Prince was able to score from first considering how that ball could've been caught. Let's tack on a few more so we don't have to worry about what happens if it's another save situation.

I was going to say Brooks Kieschnick, but when I went back to his b-ref page I was glad to see the members of Brewerfan.net already sponsor the page. All is right in the world. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Edit: You already beat me to it.

I've always considered the Hammonds deal worse, because the Brewers paid him more to begin with and barely got him on the field. The Hall deal looks bad now, but at least he's on the field and has some redeeming qualities hitting against LHP. I'd rather the Brewers never paid either of them, but I'll take the guy making $8 million to hit lefties and play utility defense over the guy being paid $8 million to sit on the DL (and yeah, I know Hall doesn't make $8 million until next year according to Cot's). Edit: The contract for production question is interesting...I'd say paying $10 million for Gagne's production last year was probably in the top three, but at least it was only a one-year deal. If you're taking it on a single-year basis, I think Gagne beats out Hall. Long-term, there's no doubt Hall's deal looks worse, though.

Well he did have a relatively easy 4th inning, so I didn't mind him coming back out. Keeping him out there in order to get a win once he got into trouble seemed kind of silly to me, but at least there didn't seem to be any negative consequences this time out. I do agree that these outings are starting to take a toll on him...he's just looked really tired in the past few outings, and he hasn't been able to hit the corners as well as he's capable of as a result. He's definitely starting to look like he could use an off day.

Considering last night was Major League quotes night, and this is the second game of the series, I think it should be Major League 2 quotes night for this game. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif This one reminded me of Cleveland's bullpen last night:

Hopefully they saved some runs for tonight. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif It'd be nice to see Yo work at least 7 crisp innings tonight after the beating everyone seemed to take last night. It'll be interesting to see what happens if the Brewers find themselves in a save situation again...do they turn to Villa to close it out?

It's probably safe to say this thread's run its course. If we get any more tips, a new thread would probably work better than digging through 18 pages, too. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Had to step away from the computer after the first few innings, but I stuck with the game all the way through...I feel sorry for anyone who didn't, although I couldn't blame them. I too have Braun and Fielder on my fantasy team, so it's a double win today for me. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Go get 'em again tomorrow, and hopefully they won't need a save situation to do it. I was nervous about using Hoffman again tonight, and ideally you'd not use him until Detroit just to give his arm some rest after seeing his lack of control the past couple days. It was a wild win, but I'll take it...good ol' fashioned AL baseball, I guess.

"Ooooh no...too high....too high." Back even...please keep hitting, guys.

This one reminds me of Pavano these days:

Braun Bomb! Nice to see how the ESPN announcers are practically gushing over Braun and Fielder...always cool to get a little respect.

Looks like a pretty solid lineup to me, considering the hot bats McGehee and Hart are swinging. Hopefully McGehee can get on for Braun and Fielder, and Hart can drive those two in if they're still on base. Let Hardy figure out his slump at the bottom of the lineup without having to worry about the pitcher hitting behind him, and Rivera's got more pop than most AL 9-hitters. Hopefully the Crew can cool off the Tribe a bit...they're playing really well right now, even if they're in last.

Looking through ESPN.com's draft tracker, these are the players on CWS teams that were drafted last week: Arizona State RHP Mike Leake - Cincinnati (R1 -- 8th overall) CF Jason Kipnis - Cleveland (R2) LHP Joshua Spence - LA Angels (R3) C Carlos Ramirez - LA Angels (R8) SS Jared McDonald - Chicago White Sox (R21) 2B Raoul Torrez - LA Angels (R32) Arkansas LHP Dallas Keuchel - Houston (R7) LHP Stephen Richards - Florida (R8) SS Scott Lyons - Kansas City (R15) 2B Benjamin Tschepikow - Kansas City (R17) RHP Michael Bolsinger - Oakland (R33) RHP Ryan Cisterna - LA Angels (R34) Cal State Fullerton (eliminated) OF Josh Fellhauer - Cincinnati (R7) OF Khris Davis - Milwaukee (R7) 1B Jared Clark - Colorado (R12) C Dustin Garneau - Colorado (R19) RHP Michael Morrison - Detroit (R29) RHP Kyle Witten - Seattle (R41) 2B Joe Scott - Colorado (R42) LSU OF Jared Mitchell - Chicago White Sox (R1 -- 23rd overall) 2B/SS D.J. LeMahieu - Chicago Cubs (R2) RHP Harold Coleman - Kansas City (R15) 2B Ryan Schimpf - Toronto (R5) OF Michael Dean - Minnesota (R10) C Sean Ochinko - Toronto (R11) North Carolina OF Dustin Ackley - Seattle (R1 -- 2nd overall) RHP Alex White - Cleveland (R1 -- 15th overall) C Mark Fleury - Cincinnati (R4) RHP Adam Warren - NY Yankees (R4) Southern Miss SS James Dozier - Minnesota (R8) RHP Jimmy Ballinger - Chicago White Sox (R11) 2B James Ewing - NY Mets (R12) OF Benjamin Davis - San Diego (R24) Texas 1B Brandon Belt - San Francisco (R5) LHP Austin Wood - Detroit (R5) Virginia RHP Andrew Carraway - Seattle (R12) LHP Jeffrey Lorick - Atlanta (R20) RHP Robert Poutier - San Diego (R29) LH[ Matthew Packer - Cleveland (R32) SS Tyler Cannon - Pittsburgh (R41)

I imagine the sudden death of Nick Adenhart was a shock to the team, and it understandably took awhile for them to play up to their ability in the weeks after the tragedy. They're currently three games out of the wildcard, but I agree that the winner of the wildcard will likely end up with the second-best record in the AL and not come out of the West. If they're not confident in keeping Lackey, he might be an interesting rental option, although he's really struggled since coming off the DL this year. They've got a few big series coming up (3 @ SF, 3 vs. LAD, 3 vs. COL, 3 @ ARI and 3 @ TEX to close out June), so we'll likely know a lot more about their "seller" status by July.

The best thing about the NL Central is that fans of every team are all expecting the worst to happen right now, but not much has changed over the past few weeks. We've all been tortured with a variety of playoff droughts and choke jobs recently that at every sign of trouble we're worried it's happening again. Pittsburgh hasn't had a winning record since 1992, Cincinnati hasn't made the playoffs since 1995 or a winning season since 2000, Chicago has the 1908 thing going on and hasn't won a playoff game since the Bartman incident (despite having the best team in the NL some years...that's indicative of how much of a crapshoot the playoffs are), the Cardinals had a horrible stretch of bad luck in the playoffs until they finally won the World Series, Houston's front office has left little hope for the future with a barren farm system and an aging big league roster, and us Brewers fans are still trying to forget a quarter century of consistently sucking. Overall, we're in a fairly battered and dejected division, no? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif It's a long season, and I have no doubt that the Brewers will be in it until the end. If they can't jump ahead the rest of the division now, they'll have plenty of chances in a Central-laden September schedule. They're likely not as good as they were in that 21 of 26 stretch, but they're not as bad as they've been playing now. The true level of talent is somewhere in between, and I think that it'll be enough to be near the top of the wildcard standings again, if not the division.

Houston does have a decent batting order lined up when Tejada's not in a huge slump, but the holes at the bottom of the rotation and in the bullpen are almost too big for them to really sustain much success. If Wandy Rodriguez wasn't so hot to start the season, they'd be in bigger trouble than they are now.

Harper will earn his GED this fall and has enrolled at a two-year junior college, making him eligible for the 2010 draft. Considering where the Washington Nationals are right now, it's conceivable they could end up with two of the most hyped prospects in recent memory. As far as the "LeBron James of Baseball" title is concerned, I think it has more to do with the amount of press coverage he's getting as a 16 year old, not necessarily what he'll be once he starts playing professionally. James landed on the cover of SI as a sophomore as well, but I think it'd be unfair for any teenager to adapt to stardom as well as he has.

Read back a few pages and you'll see that nothing is "imminent"...whether or not that's tied to Peavy landing on the DL for the foreseeable future has anything to do with the trade whispers dying is up for debate. Melvin will likely have to wait a few weeks to see if anyone goes into "sell" mode soon, because right now the teams that are in a position to deal pitching are also in a position to make the playoffs.

Hoffman was due to give up a run at some point...too bad it had to be today. Stinks to drop this series, but getting away from home is probably a good thing for this team right now.

Looking at the crowd it seems like the Brewers fans are still the majority...Chicago fans have just had more to cheer about during the series (what else is really different, other than the colors of the Chicago team?). Very nice to see that Corey Hart's had a great series, though. I feel confident about the Cleveland series if McGehee and Hart keep hitting like this.

Looking at the fan sites listed in the first post, it seems as though White Sox fans are sick of seeing Brian Anderson, too...but their frustration is more tied to the little offense he can bring. You should've seen the stink they made when Anderson was hitting 5th in the series opener. The HR given up to Buerhle was frustrating, but when you throw the pitch Looper did, just about anyone can hit it out if they make contact. For whatever reason it seems like the Brewers' pitchers are assuming that the opposing pitcher is just an automatic out, and they're grooving pitches down the middle. I'm not a big advocate of wasting a lot of pitches trying to get the pitcher out, but it'd be nice if they could get the pitchers out on a low pitch or two instead of trying to blow it past them with high heat.

Well, they're not going to get skunked. That's always a plus in games like this.

Honestly, I wouldn't be opposed to Garland or Davis if Melvin could also get Arizona to throw in someone like Felipe Lopez, too. He's been hitting very well to this point and could start at 2B, giving Counsell and McGehee a chance to stay fresh.

To their credit, the bullpen has done an excellent job today and there's been some nice defensive plays. After seeing Cameron crash into the wall and looking pretty shaken up afterward, I can't really question their effort defensively today. Offensively, they've seemed resigned to their fate since the second inning. I'd still say the Twins series was an uglier performance.