Monthly Archives: September 2009

Still here

Posted on September 24, 2009 by | 3 Comments

Posted by Steve

Yes, I realize the Brewers are still playing.  There are a couple reasons why I haven’t posted much.  1.  I lost most of my desire to discuss the Brewers’ 2009 season any further when Craig Counsell got a start at third base the other night.  I’m much more likely to discuss the upcoming off-season.  2.  Somehow, my internship at BIS is already winding down, and I’ve been pretty busy with job/moving out stuff.

It truly was a great “job.”  I put that in quotes because I don’t feel as though I’ve actually worked all summer.  Watching and learning more about baseball is something I’d do in my free time, so it’s been great.  I’ve had fun working with other baseball nuts from all different parts of the country.

I guess I don’t really have much more than that right now.  On with the pointless push for .500!

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What to do with Fielder?

Posted on September 15, 2009 by | 7 Comments

Posted by Steve

I can only discuss one thing for so long before people probably get tired of hearing about it.  Lately, it’s been Macha’s refusal to play the Brewers’ young players on an even semi-regular basis.  This doesn’t look like it will be changing soon– Gamel has one (!) plate appearance since being called up, and Craig Freaking Counsell started at shortstop last night–so I might as well just move on to something else.

It’s clear that the Brewers have a lot of work ahead of them if they plan to acquire enough pitching to compete again next season.  What’s not clear is where that pitching might come from.  Free agency can be a band-aid, but the Brewers need to revamp their starting rotation.  To do that, they’ll need to make trades.  There are many trade candidates, but one that hasn’t been widely discussed is Prince Fielder.  This is something I probably wouldn’t have gone over until the off-season, but in light of Keith Law’s blog entry the other day, we might as well do it now.

The blog is an ESPN Insider feature, so you won’t be able to read it without a subscription, but here’s a quick synopsis:  Law claims the Brewers have reached a crossroad and need to decide whether to blow things up and rebuild or attempt to make another run at the playoffs.  His choice is rebuilding.  He believes the Brewers should trade Prince Fielder, whose value is at its peak.  His reasoning, surprise, surprise, is the poor rotation.  He doesn’t believe they’ll be able to put together a contending rotation by next season.  He admits that trading Fielder would be a tough sell to the fans, and that admitting that one playoff appearance was all the Brewers were able to achieve with this core of players we’ve been hearing about for the last five-plus years.  He still feels this is in the best interest of the team’s future, and he makes a pretty solid argument.

Thing is, while I agree it is a viable option, I’m not crazy about moving Prince Fielder this off-season.  I’m not convinced the Brewers need to rebuild, and there’s no reason to move that process along while they still have two years of Fielder left.  While it would be good to trade a player at peak value (they would get a ton for him), Fielder is the type of player you build around while you have him.  They may not have another hitter of his caliber come through their system in the next five or ten years.

If they were looking to rebuild, trading Fielder would be the right move.  I just don’t think the Brewers need to rebuild.  They have the trio of Braun, Fielder and Gallardo for the next three years.  That’s a trio that should be built around, not blown up.

Finally, blowing it up now will be a tough sell to fans who have packed Miller Park the last few seasons.  The Brewers are ninth in MLB in attendance this year, and were ninth last year as well.  That’s pretty incredible considering Milwaukee is one of the smallest MLB markets.  That revenue has helped the Brewers increase payroll, which in turn helps the team compete.

Trading Fielder would be a good move in a different situation (i.e. Richie Sexson earlier in the decade).  Getting pitching will be an extremely tough task, but it’s not impossible.

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Posted in 2009 Hot Stove

What in tarnation is Ken Macha thinking?

Posted on September 9, 2009 by | 1 Comment

Posted by Steve

Ken Macha’s propensity to play veterans over young players bugged me at times this season, but now it’s reached a different level.  Did Mat Gamel kick Macha’s dog?  Do Casey McGehee or Craig Counsell have incriminating photos of him?  Because something like that would be the only explanation for not playing Gamel at least half the time the rest of the way.

Here’s what Macha had to say once Gamel was called up.  ”I’m sure (Gamel) will get a couple of games.  But it’s tough to get McGehee out of there.  He has done a great job.”

Ugh.  Yes, McGehee has been one of the only bright spots of this season, but we’ve seen him all year.  Aren’t the Brewers at least curious to see what Gamel would do with a few weeks of regular playing time?  They never gave him that the last time they called him up.

McGehee over Gamel is one thing.  But today, I went to JSOnline and saw this headline: Counsell at third.  This is the tipping point for me.  Playing Counsell at third over Gamel when the team has no playoff aspirations is absurd and unacceptable.  Teams do not play 39-year-olds over their top prospect when they’re 16 games out of first in September.  They play their young players.  Counsell is another guy who’s had a very good year, but there is no reason he should start at third or short the rest of the season.  The Brewers have really botched their handling of Mat Gamel this season.

While we’re at it, am I going insane, or has Corey Patterson started in center field for the Brewers the last few days?  And hit leadoff?! Perhaps I’m just having a nightmare.  Corey Patterson is not a major league player.  He’s had more than ample time (3751 plate appearances) to prove that–and his career .290 on-base percentage speaks for itself.  Corey Hart was activated yesterday, yet Macha still decided to play Patterson over Hart.  Looking at a boxscore and seeing him at the top of the lineup just about sums up this season perfectly for me: it’s a disaster.

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And after he touched home plate, we all smiled at each other, shook hands and walked off the field in an orderly fashion

Posted on September 7, 2009 by | 4 Comments

Posted by Steve

I can’t believe this is even an issue.  Apparently, plenty of people are put off by the Brewers’ awesomely original celebration after Prince Fielder’s walk-off home run yesterday.  Again, some Cardinal fans are up in arms over the crass young whippersnappers from Milwaukee who have no respect for the game of baseball.  Once again, the Brewers have ruffled the feathers of the Guardians of Baseball Etiquette: Cardinal fans.

In case you’re wondering, after hours of tedious searching, I managed to locate footage of an example of how to properly act after a walk-off home run.  Pay careful attention to the way the hitter finishes his swing, immediately puts his head down and starts his business-like sprint around the bases.  Also take note of the overall lack of enthusiasm from said player’s teammates.  This, fellow baseball fans, is the way a ballplayer should act.

God forbid anyone ever have any fun playing baseball.

I fail to see how this shows anyone up, at least any more than someone staring at a home run (Pujols does this as bad as anyone).  In fact, how was this worse than the team jumping around the plate like ANY OTHER TEAM does after a walk-off home run?  At the most miserable sporting event I ever attended (A-Ram walk-off in Wrigley against the Brewers in 2007), you’d have thought the Cubs won the World Series in the last game of baseball to ever be played.  This was nothing compared to that, and I wasn’t annoyed by that celebration at all.  You just won the game!  Why not be excited?  These people getting up in arms over this sound like the lamest, least fun people in the world.

For what it’s worth, I loved it, and so did the guys in the office.  My friend who was scoring the game said, “Can I trade in my Padres fan card to be a Brewer fan?”  As a guy at brewerfan pointed out, Alyssa Milano loved it as well.  Best two parts of the celebration: 1. David Weathers either missing the reminder or forgetting and half-falling well after everyone else, and 2. Ken Macha clearly not expecting that to happen and standing awkwardly by himself as everyone around him laid on the ground.

Between all the great defensive plays, the triple play and the walk-off, this was probably the best game of the year.  If Prince hits one against the Cards tomorrow, I hope they all do the Thriller dance.  Prince can be MJ and Macha can put on a wig and be the girl.

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2009

If you think Mike Cameron sucks, I will fight you.

Posted on September 3, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Posted by Steve

Before I get started, allow me to explain this title.  It references a couple things.  First, I was at a New Year’s party this year and a guy I didn’t know pretty much started yelling at me when I said Mike Cameron was a good player.  Secondly, I came across a Mariners blog awhile ago that said something similar about Adrian Beltre.  I liked it.

I think I’m a pretty positive person by nature.  Therefore, despite all the bad things worth talking about this season, I feel like discussing some positive news.  Today that comes in the form of Mike Cameron’s possible return.

Adam McCalvy, Brewers beat writer at MLB.com, has a blog entry that quotes Cameron saying he wants to return and that he’s willing to “make a sacrifice” to do so.

I’ve come across several fans who fail to see the value of Mike Cameron.  They hate the fact that he made $10 million this year.  When discussing next year’s team, many posters at brewerfan include Cameron’s salary among money that can be used elsewhere to improve the team.  Problem is, you won’t find anywhere else to spend that 10 mil that will give you as much value as Mike Cameron.

WAR, fangraphs’ win value stat, a attempts to quantify a player’s total value.  Largely because of his great defense, Cameron is one of the most valuable players in baseball.  Cameron ranks 32nd in WAR in all of baseball this year.  That puts him ahead of players such as Ryan Howard, Victor Martinez, Justin Morneau, Brian McCann and David Wright.  In case you were curious, Prince Fielder is 12th in WAR and Ryan Braun is 24th.  Among center fielders, Cameron is fifth in UZR (defensive metric), eigth in on-base percentage and sixth in slugging percentage.  He’s and fifth in WAR among all center fielders.

In other words:  Mike Cameron is a very good baseball player.

It’s hard to know what Cameron meant by “make a sacrifice,” but I’m happy to hear he’d like to return.  It could get tricky, because with the year he’s had, offering him arbitration would certainly give him a raise on his $10 million salary from this season.  The Brewers probably won’t be interested in bringing him back for more than the 10 mil.  Frankly, you can’t ask him to take a big pay cut after the season he’s had, so if I was Doug Melvin I’d offer him an eight million dollar deal with a mutual option of 8 mil for 2011.  That would rival what he’d get on the free agent market, yet it’s not anything too risky for the Brewers.

The Brewers do have players whose ties should be cut in order to save money next season.  Braden Looper, Jason Kendall and Seth McClung fit in this category, but Mike Cameron does not.  Anything that you could sign for Cameron’s money will bring back less production than Cameron himself.

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…Yep, it’s ugly

Posted on September 1, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Posted by Steve

Clearly the Brewers don’t read this blog (joking), because they did exactly what I said they couldn’t conceivably do: they called up J.J. Hardy one day after his free agency was postponed.  I’m very surprised and a bit confused.  This makes it clear to everyone that service time was the primary factor in Hardy’s demotion.

The only part I blame the Brewers for is the timing of this.  I don’t think they did anything else wrong.  I would have loved to hear Hardy face the music for once and own up to this.  ”I’m not happy about what happened, but I’m the only one I can blame.  I haven’t performed well enough.”  Somehow, though, I knew that wouldn’t happen.  Being upset is one thing, but holding it against the Brewers is another.

Hardy’s reaction was about what I expected.  He tends to complain/make excuses openly a bit more than most players.  He spoke out when Yost hit him eighth last year.  He then complained this year after he was sent down that he didn’t get enough time off.  I generally don’t care for that stuff, but I really can’t blame him for being upset over losing free agency.  I’d also be ticked about the timing of this call-up if I was Hardy.

I’m really hoping the two sides will be able to get past this, because I’d like to see Hardy back next year.  I’m just skeptical that it will actually happen.

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