Klements Bratwurst

1. Diamondbacks 2. Mets 3. Phillies 4. Brewers 5. Cubs 6. Dodgers 7. Reds 8. Rockies 9. Padres 10. Braves 11. Cardinals 12. Astros 13. Giants 14. Nationals 15. Pirates 16. Marlins

Sheets, Gallardo, Suppan Santana, Martinez, Maine I think I like the Mets playoff rotation a bit more than ours.

I certainly agree that this is what Doug needs to do. As discussed a million times, adding Scott Rolen to third base would certainly help us negate this pickup of Fukudome for the Cubs. I think Fukudome would be slightly better than the .360 too, but I don't anticipate a .900+ OPS out of him. I can just see Northsidebaseball.com now. They probably already figure on a World Series win in 2008. Not a sure thing in my book, as there is so much more offseason to go and of course there is this thing called a season that has to be played. I would rather go to war with the Brewers youthful studs than the Cubs studs who are all at their peak or starting to move past it. Who could see an major injury to Aram or Soriano again in 2008? Something about Zambrano also screams an injury too.

I kind of came back off the cliff when I read this at his blog. He said Fukudome is Torii Hunter without the bang, but better at getting on base. The .360/.450 line that he mentions is something that Corey Hart has already blown past already at a much younger age. For sure, he will bring great defense to right field, but what if his surgery on his elbow, hampers his throwing (was it his throwing arm?) or for that matter his hitting??? He is also replacing Cliff Floyd (.373/.422) in 282 AB's and Jacque Jones (.335/.400) in 453 AB's. Jones certainly provided good defense, and Floyd some great OBP. If you believe the .360/.450 line from Dave Pinto's blog, the improvement over Floyd and Jones isn't that great. Also, a good portion of the Cubs games in April and May are played at a freezing and wind blown Wrigley Field, so I would think this would greatly hamper Fukudome's slugging number. It seemed that this past year, nary a Cub could hit one out of Wrigley early in the season (except Prince on that cold April extra inning game!) I think it is a good signing for them, but I don't see him being Ichiro.

As mentioned, Joe Dillion would have to be Blalock's platoon partner. Blalock's line of .226/.280/.349 for his career is like that of Jenkins. He wouldn't be my first choice, but depending on what we give up, I would take it. His line of .292/.358/.504 versus right handed pitchers would definitely work in that platoon role. Acquiring Blalock doesn't "Yost proof" the line up though. There is still that "flow of the game" argument he can make. I would still rather have Rolen, and deal maybe Hall for another left handed bat.

Here is a list of some left handed bats that might be somewhat far-fetched to acquire in a trade or thru free-agency, but there are also some closer to reality players at positions of need for the Brewers (OF/3B): Bobby Abreu Hank Blalock Kosuke Fukudome Akinori Iwamura Shawn Green Cliff Floyd Andre Either Adam Dunn David Dejesus Johnny Damon Jack Cust Ryan Church Frank Catalanatto Brad Hawpe Eric Hinske Kelly Johnson Kenny Lofton James Loney Rob Mackowiak Trot Nixon Luke Scott Matt Stairs Mark Teahen Brad Wilkerson

No way I trade a slugging shortstop that plays good defense for a guy that can't stay out of the trainers room. If it were for something much less, I would consider taking a flyer on him. But not JJ.

It would appear that the Astros are kicking the tires on pretty much everyone. From MLB Trade Rumors: Linebrink Cordero Hunter Rowand Schilling Luis Castillo John Lieber Tad Iguchi Kaz Matzui Tom Glavine It is kind of like Ed Wade is throwing darts at at names on the wall trying to improve that team.....

I am kind of "meh" to the idea of Winn. I mean he is fairly consistent in that he hits lefties as well as righties. Not so sure if he should be considered consistent in a season by season analysis. I would be afraid however, that he might put up this line in 2008: .262/.324/.396. Those were his 2006 stats for which he played in 149 games. Grant it, he doesn't play in a hitter friendly park, but I am not sure this is a guy I would give up a big time prospect for. Save the prospects for someone who is truely dynamic. I also agree, Matt LaPorta has not dominated the AFL like Brawny did last year. I don't know that we can count our chickens before they are hatched until he gets a little more seasoning in the minors. Early 2009 might not be the debut of the young LaPorta in Brewer Blue.

Easy solution here. Get rid of Jeff Kent. That guy seems like a real horse's behind. With that said Matt Kemp would be interesting, but at what cost?

Sparky said that Simmons should be the manager and Ned his Bench coach. Kind of funny!

I know the answer. LaRussa is going to be the manager AND the GM. Just like Mike Holmgren and Mike Sherman!!!

Jeff Sackman, over at Brew Crew Ball (always a nice read), weighs in on Braun's defense too in regards to Nate Silver's article. Bottom line, he doesn't think the Brewers are going to go the expensive free agent approach to fix 3B, but he does say at the very end of his blog piece that the Brewers seriously need to consider Braun's defensive liabilties at 3B and consider moving him to another position. He wants to do more analysis on this and how/if Braun's poor defense contributed to the pitching staff's struggles (Cappy) in 2007. I guess we will have to see what he comes up with!

FTJ, while this is a small issue (1 or 2 innings at most maybe twice or three games a week) it is a very good point. Counsell as we know is so bad with his bat, that any improvement with the glove he gives you is completed negated when he rolls over on pitch and grounds out weakly to first or flys to right with another guy in scoring position. I love Braun as a player, I believe he tries hard, but I think it is painfully obvious that he doesn't have the skill set to play the position. It may take 3 years for him to be average. I don't think we can afford to wait that long given this window of opportunity. Braun will never be a Scott Rolen, but he will be much, much better than Adam Dunn playing in the outfield. If Crede is an option, I wouldn't entertain it, however, I would certainly entertain putting Billy at 3B. Billy might be below average offensively at 3B given his lackluster 2007 campaign, but he would be lightyears better than the Counselnino blackhole. If Billy finds his stroke again, we would be OK there. However, as indicated by Melvin, he wants to add some OBP to the lineup and Bill Hall does struggle with that. Crede isn't good either with getting on base .305 OBP for his career, and couple with the surgery to repair herniated disks this past summer, is not the answer the Brewers should look for, again considering their OBP quest.

When I checked out your link and I saw the name "Little Lord Fontenot" I dismissed this immediately with his idiot thoughts. Check out this link about how the Cubs blew their best chance. They have some posters weighing in on the Brewers and the future of the division. Then "Little Lord Fontenot" makes an apperance with another stupid big market bias. Another poster did put him down though. It is classic big city rules, little city stinks mentality. Reminds me of the time I saw some Cub fans during a series at the Keg wearing a T-Shirt that read "Wisconsin is a suburb of Chicago." Funny thing is, those folks sure like to use our lakes and rivers in the summer time. Too bad they don't have anything nice down there.

Does that mean the Brewers would actually win next year in that friggin ballpark playing against Ned?

Although we know management's unwillingness to move position players to a new spot, for the heck of it, what do you think would be Bill Hall's WARP at 3B and Ryan Braun's in left (what is at least league average?) With those numbers for Hall and Braun, what would that do to our team WARP? Considering we can outslug many teams, this has to be something that is definitely considered. And yes, I think the offense that our catchers spot gives us isn't as needed as I thought it was in the beginning of the season. I would love a lockdown, "gun em out" .240/.300/.375 ish young defensive stud behind the plate to control the running games of the opponents. A 9% throw out rate of opposing baserunners CANNOT happen next year. Johnny wasn't this bad in his career, but I wonder if his years are catching up to him. But where do you find that great defensive catcher that can hit a great deal better than Chad Moeller (who had no defensive skills)?

The last sentence I believe is what the Brewers need to do for sure in 2008 and a solution that your laying out would strenghthen two spots defensively. The only concern I have is would Braun's offense struggle with a move (I don't think it would) and would having to move him again in 2009 or 2010 be a cause for concern with LaPorta coming along? Brauns WARP as a left fielder might grow from a 3.9 as a 3B now to what an 8 or 9 with his offensive production without the negatives he brings currently at third?

After Centerfielder Corey Hart ran down another hard hit ball in the gap of last night's 5-4 excruciating loss to the Astros, I said to myself, "There is our next Centerfielder for 2008." "But wait", I said. "We have Billy Hall." Now I know that Bill Hall is having a down year, but he did seem to catch on to playing Centerfield rather well by the middle of the season. However, Corey Hart is the fastest Brewer, and really looks like he is a natural out there, tracking balls properly, getting to balls in the gap, decent throwing arm, and not afraid to go all out for a ball at the fence. With that said, I believe Corey Hart has all the tools to be far better than Billy Hall at that position, and we found out about this by accident, due to Billy's plate struggles this season. With Hart in Centerfield, you would have Soriano numbers at that position, which would be far above average for that position compared to the rest of the league. So what do you do with Billy Hall and the centerfield experiment? As stated, he can play that position, but would it be best to turn him into a 24 million dollar super-sub again? Do you move Billy to 3B thus strengthening that position defensively and pray he hits for that position (ala 2006) and put Braun in Rightfield where his numbers would play well? (However, this to me would be a risk due to the offensive troubles that were caused by moving our last infielder to the outfield this season, but this IS Ryan Braun, we are talking about). Do you have a marquee trading chip in Hall for another starter, and some steady veteran relief help to replace the floundering Wise and Turnblow (That is the only way I can say his name)? I would think that many teams would love to add Billy to their team because he is a GREAT team player, can play multiple positions, can mash for a SS, and many GM's might believe that his 2007 struggles would be due to his position change. ( I personally think Billy should be playing right now, and that he might have had 15-18 HR's this season if he had.) Do you keep Hall in Center and Corey in Right and just be satisfied with the fact that your outfield defense should be rather quick, athletic and maybe above average defensively and offensively for center and right field? (I tend to think again that Corey would be the better of the two for Centerfield) I think this team can hit enough collectively to be average or slightly below average at the third base position if that is where we put Hall there and put Braun elsewhere. (I would consider LF for Braun, but with LaPorta on the horizon, that would be two moves in two years and a half years for Braun.) To me this is an interesting dilemna for the Brewers for the offseason. It is just fun to watch Corey go out there and get those balls like he did last night. I guess with Billy's infield experience and his current status as on the bench, it might be fun to ponder again where Mr. Hall ends up in 2008. It isn't like our infield defense couldn't be made better with some soft glovehands. (added tags and expanded thread title to cover broadened scope of discussion --1992)

I certainly am not encouraged, but the Cubs still have to face Harang and Gorzelony during this homestand. I would say that Cubs manage to find away to lose two games during their homestand. Unfortunately, I feel like the Brewers need to be perfect, a nearly impossible task, to survive this week, let alone next week. That is what I am saying above too. If Gorzelanny and Harang at least beat the Cubs (and maybe one more somewhere this week), the Brewers don't have to be perfect. 5-2 or 4-3 on the road trip would work if the Cubs go 4-2 or 3-3 respectively. We just have to hope the Cubs aren't perfect this week. If that is the case, then they will win it. Who knows though, they could go belly up in Florida and Cincy, just don't expect it....

This is kind of how I feel. That loss at Miller with Sheets going was tough, coupled with the fact that we are two down in the win column. But then I look at the standings and yes, we are only one back. If the Cubs somehow struggle against a Reds team (almost did last night) and a Pirates team, both of which have played over .500 since August 1st, and the Brewers can finally show us something on the road, they will be right there. Lets say, the Brewers go 5-2 on this road trip, and the Cubs go 4-2 before they hit the road, here are the standings: Chicago W82 L74 Milwaukee W81 L74 Wouldn't you feel good being a 1/2 game back with 7 home games left? The Cubs have then 6 left against the Marlins in Florida, and the Reds in Cincy. Realisticly, you are right there. But that goes with saying, this series is a "must sweep" in that winning 3 of 4 in Atlanta would be a tall order. Or coming home and running the table would be an even taller order. Key now is that the Cubs must start to cough up a couple or three would be delightful. However, with the way they have been pulling them out at the right times, makes me get that sick feeling in my stomach lately.

Now if this game ending was thrown out, would that be like the doings of the "curse of the goat"? At this point, I will take anything!

sbrylski06 wrote: How awesome would it be if they did get stripped of a win though... Is that what happens?

From MLB.com: Reds Vs. Cubs (9/17/07) Cincinnati manager Pete Mackanin filed a protest in the sixth after Cubs manager Lou Piniella inserted Eyre and catcher Geovany Soto in a double switch. Mackanin said Piniella didn't tell home plate umpire Rick Reed about the two moves first, which is a violation of Rule 3.03. I have seen other protests occur, but never really find out what really happens with them. I don't suppose the Cubs will lose this one, and if they did what happens????

Tony LaRussa to the Brewers for Ned Yost and a bag of balls? Tom Kelly to the Brewers and Ned Yost to Tom Kelly's Lazy Boy?