Tag Archives: Ryan Braun

Catching Up

Posted on February 19, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Posted by Steve

After a hiatus, there are a number of things to write about. To cover some of what we’ve  missed, let’s roll out a Pitchers and Catchers Report Cornucopia of Thoughts (#ThoughtCornucopia).

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I might as well address the Ryan Braun thing first, even though I’m already tired of it. All I know is that we don’t know if Braun has used anything, and I’m plenty annoyed by people acting like they do (either way). All I know is the only “evidence” to prove him guilty is two pieces of handwritten notes. Additionally, articles like this exist.

It’s my personal opinion that a sizeable percentage of MLB players are using some sort of PED, and it’s become hard for me to care too much. My problem is the double standard that exists. Todd Helton and Tony La Russa get DUIs, something that literally endangers the lives of others, and they can still be seen as “great baseball guys” or better yet, “great guys.” Just watch Todd Helton this season. He won’t be booed at opposing parks, yet Ryan Braun will be skewered. And I’m not saying Todd Helton necessarily deserves to be booed—just trying to illustrate this strange hatred of PEDs.

A quick Google search reveals several writers mentioning Braun and Helton in the same article, and even a Baseball Nation article titled “Todd Helton’s arrest and Ryan Braun’s involvement with Biogenesis.” Might as well have been “Poker tips and the mating rituals of lemurs.” They’re just as similar, and I’m equally uninterested in reading both articles.

Same thing with the BBWA voting nobody into the HOF despite many deserving candidates. Will Tony La Russa have any trouble whatsoever getting into the HOF? Of course not, even though what he did was more harmful, dangerous, and reckless than using PEDs.

The same goes for the crazy double standard that victimizes baseball. The NFL has incredibly lenient testing, while baseball uses freaking blood tests. Yet which sport is seen as having a substance abuse problem?

Anyway, this ended up being less about Braun and more about baseball in general. Hopefully he can avoid a suspension.

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The news of the day is the re-tear of Mat Gamel’s surgically repaired ACL. You have to feel awful for Gamel, but to be honest, it’s likely that this is not a huge loss. The two options that might seem the most obvious are to either let Taylor Green, Hunter Morris, or Khris Davis have the first base job while Corey Hart is out. I have supported letting Taylor Green play third and moving Aramis Ramirez to first base in the past, but I don’t see that happening for two reasons: One, Corey Hart should be back by mid-May (don’t see them moving Ramirez for just six weeks), and two, the Brewers just don’t seem to like Taylor Green that much.

I think it’s more likely that we see Alex Gonzalez play first, which is not a pretty thought. Gonzalez as a shortstop is just fine and dandy, but certainly not as a first baseman.

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Meanwhile, the Brewers ended up not signing a starting pitcher. While I am a bit surprised, I am not disappointed. If the choice came to either no free agent SPs or three years for Ryan Dempster, I’m fine with no free agents.

The Brewers did make a couple nice, low-risk signings in lefty relievers Tom Gorzelanny and Mike Gonzalez, but relievers are not the difference makers that starters are.

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This all goes to my last post, which still holds true a couple months later. The Brewers are very likely not making the playoffs this year. The fact that they are now down to their third string first basemen (and we aren’t even sure who that is yet) doesn’t make me feel any better than I did a couple months ago. PECOTA projects the Brewers for a 79-83 record and an 18.3% chance of making the playoffs. That sounds about right to me, and in fact, I’d say they have a greater chance of finishing last than first. The awful Houston Astros added a few wins to the Brewers’ record last year, but without them in the division there shouldn’t be a truly awful team in the NL Central (I actually kind of like the Cubs’ starting rotation).

Just because I do not have the same optimism that I had the last couple years at this time doesn’t mean there isn’t much to look forward to this season. I am anxious to see how some of the young starting pitchers do, I am excited for Jean Segura, and I have hope that Carlos Gomez can build on a career year. And if they are struggling, the trade deadline should be an exciting time. Gomez, Nori Aoki, Ramirez, Corey Hart, and a number of others would all be candidates to be traded.

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And finally, just because I don’t want this to seem entirely negative, I’m a big fan of the fan-designed uniforms the Brewers will be wearing in Spring Training. The hats are okay, but the uniforms are pretty slick in my opinion. I really like the idea of combining the old logos with the more current colors, which is what I was hoping the Brewers would do a few years ago when they introduced the current retro unis instead.

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Posted in Cornucopia of thoughts, Milwaukee Brewers 2013, Projections

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Opening Weekend Observations

Posted on April 9, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Posted by Steve

At the risk of over-analyzing something that I saw in the first three games of a 162-game season, here are some thoughts I have after watching the Brewers and Cardinals.

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The Cardinals still have a great offense, most likely the best in the National League if they stay healthy. Of course, that’s a big if with the age and health history of many of their core players, but still.

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That fact makes Zack Greinke’s performance on Saturday all the more impressive. I’m not going to say that Greinke is now going to have a monster season because he had a good start in his first game, but then again, I thought he’d have a monster season before that game anyway. From the bad luck to reports of his new cut fastball to Ryan Braun saying he looks like a man on a mission, it just seems like he’s poised to make a run at the Cy Young. Obviously, you have to hope the Brewers can get him signed as quickly as possible.

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Ryan Braun is still good. This is in no way surprising, and normally, it isn’t even important that he looks good after three games. But in his strange case, the better he does early, the less of a story his suspension saga becomes.

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Corey Hart was obviously the story for the Brewers. Hard to believe up until 10 days ago or so they didn’t even know if he’d be ready to play in the first few series. He’s locked in. He reminds me of Geoff Jenkins in that he tends to get white hot for stretches and carry the offense. That was actually a conversation I had this weekend: Would you take Corey Hart or Geoff Jenkins? Based on my gut feeling, I thought that they probably had very similar numbers. Sure enough, their career numbers are almost identical, and sure enough, Jenkins is on Hart’s to 10 list of similar batters through age 29 at Baseball Reference.

Anyway, it would be swell if he kept up this hitting for a while.

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If Hart is the positive story from this weekend, the bullpen has to be the negative one. I still ask why Marco Estrada was considered a lock for the bullpen entering spring, but other than that, I am not reading into anything at all. I will wait to see how they look against a non-Cardinals offense before I get worried.

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George Kottaras is handsome and hits deep home runs. He also needs to hit higher than 8th when he starts.

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Now for my favorite part of the weekend: the Brewers’ defense. This is one where I’m not trying to get too excited after three games, but it’s clear that Alex Gonzalez is a big upgrade over Yun-E. He needs to be hitting eighth, though. Also, I was encouraged by what I saw from Mat Gamel, although a lot of that is just comparing it to how bad Prince Fielder is.

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Posted in Bullpen, Defense, Handsome George Kottaras, Player Cards

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Tidbit #2

Posted on February 27, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Posted by Steve

So much for the break from Ryan Braun stuff. This tidbit isn’t really much of a tidbit after all: it potentially could make Braun’s entire case. Yet, somehow, nobody is talking about it. Will Carroll, formerly of Baseball Prospectus and now of Sports Illustrated, is considered a doping expert and has published a book on the topic. He has been talking all weekend about his piece with info that nobody wanted to host. Apparently it was too similar to the one SI already had? Except for the fact it had info nobody else’s did, so I don’t really understand.

Anyway, Carroll decided to put his article on Amazon for 99 cents. Rather than link to that, I want to share an article that discusses Carroll’s info. It links to the Amazon article if you are so interested in splurging.

The author, Chad Moriyama, is a Dodgers blogger–something I found a bit interesting, because many Dodgers fans were calling for the MVP to go to Matt Kemp after this Braun story broke (Kemp should have won the MVP in the first place anyway, but that’s beside the point). Anyway, he’s very objective in this piece, and most of his commenters seem to be as well.

He also attacks the “technicality” angle, correctly pointing out that chain of custody is part of the science. And he highlights the new info that we’ve only seen from Carroll: Braun’s defense team was able to replicate the positive test in a new sample by following the same procedure as Braun’s handler.

This is again, a piece of evidence that should exonerate Braun, yet no national media member has run with this. ESPN sure as hell hasn’t. All the national polls at web sites show that the majority of people believe Braun is guilty, yet this hasn’t been widely reported? Asinine. People aren’t hearing the entire story.

Of course, there’s no total proof that Braun is innocent, but you cannot say there is for any other MLB player, either. All the facts that have come in over the last 4-5 days show that there is no logical way to assuredly proclaim Braun’s guilt, and that anyone doing so is ignoring evidence.

 

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2012

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Another tidbit

Posted on February 24, 2012 by | 5 Comments

Posted by Steve

I realize I’m probably posting too much here, but I thought this tidbit was too good to just add in as an edit to the last post. This is a report of what Dan Patrick said this morning on his radio show.

“According to Dan Patrick, the collector bypassed 2 open Fed Ex and then went to a 3rd and it was closed. So he went back and stored it. He is a Cubs fan, and during the appeal proccess they asked him to state his name, and it took 37 seconds for him to respond. They asked him to identify Braun, and couldn’t look at him. Braun also passed a lie-dector test.”

Whaaa? This is just getting better and better! If this crap is true, there should be absolutely no doubt anymore. And if it’s true, I can see why Braun would be getting ready to sue the bejesus out of this guy and anyone else he could.

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Braun Press Conference

Posted on February 24, 2012 by | 4 Comments

Posted by Steve

I wanted to wait until we heard from Braun before I passed total judgment. First, some other things that came out today:

-Apparently Lester Munson, ESPN’s legal analyst, said

Live Blog of the Conference: My reactions as it’s happening

-Initial Braun claims:

-Literally never gained a pound
-Didn’t get stronger or faster, has documentation
-Making all the claims we have: 9 years left on his contract, never failed a test, no performance indications, so much to lose, not much to gain

-”If I had done this intentionally or unintentionally, I would come right out and say it.” The unintentional part is what stands out. This has nothing to do with intent. In fact, if his argument was that he took it on accident, he’d have no case.

-Wow. He went into EXTREME detail about the day of the test and the process, including a near-comical description of FedEx. He really put the collector to task, naming all the stores in the area that were open until 9 p.m. and one that was open 24 hours. That’s what this has come to.

-Apparently the collector’s son is the third party involved here, as he was actually the one who observed Braun take the test.

-Awesome comment from Braun when asked about tampering. “I know what it’s like to be falsely accused of something, so I don’t want to falsely accuse someone else.” ZING.

-Not a timid press conference at all. He seems like he’s struggling to stay calm; you can tell he’s wanted to say this for a long time.

-Even discussing the detailed process once the sample gets to the Montreal lab

-He is considering legal options! Love it.

-He actually said he never has had an STD! On national television! Wow.

-”Sad and disappointing” that this has become a PR battle for MLB.

-The second questions is a fluff question: “How important is the support of your fans?” MOVING ON

-Can’t name the collector at this time because of his possible lawsuit

-Biggest challenge he’s ever faced in his life

-Baseball-wise, he’s very motivated by this. Sounds like he’s a good bet for another great season.

-Another fluff question: “What does it mean to have your teammates behind you?” How’s he supposed to answer that, other than with a fluff answer?

-He wouldn’t speak for the entire program (whether it’s flawed), only for his case, in which case he said it was (obviously) fatally flawed.

-”The players agreed to this system. MLB has agreed to this system. The system decided I was innocent.” All very valid points. MLB is honestly abandoning its own system by disputing its outcome.

Those were mostly the highlights, but that doesn’t capture the conference. It was the way he spoke. He was determined, and it looked like he was struggling to keep from losing his temper–the opposite of someone who is trying to hide guilt. You could tell he’s been waiting five months to say all this. He was composed, and went into great detail about the process, the day of the test, and what happened in the few days afterwards.

After taking a few minutes to gauge reaction from media/twitter, it seems Braun did quite well. Even curmudgeony Bob Costas was impressed with the conference on MLB Network. He believes there is true reasonable doubt. I’m actually surprised to hear that.

On twitter, there are a lot of, “Braun hit that one out like a hanging curve” types of comments. My thought is that it only would have been better if there was a door for him to kick down as he walked off the podium.

I’m feeling jacked, and I’m taking it as an omen that my Baseball Prospectus Manual and Baseball America Manual arrived during this post. Bring on baseball.

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Time to pile on MLB

Posted on February 23, 2012 by | 3 Comments

Posted by Steve

It’s only been a few hours since the news of Braun’s exoneration broke, and you can already find opinions all over the board. MLB’s representatives came out and immediately shredded the tie-breaking arbitrator, Shyam Das, claiming that Braun was found innocent on a technicality. In turn, several articles either disputing the “technicality” claim, criticizing MLB’s process, or both (like here, here, and here, for example).

Because there’s already so much out there on that, I don’t see the point in repeating it, other than to say if the process is flawed, the sample is therefore flawed. Instead, I want to make a point that I haven’t seen made much tonight for whatever reason: We have still heard nothing from Ryan Braun.

Right? Isn’t that sort of crucial? In about four hours, we’ve gone from celebrating Braun’s innocence to relating his exoneration to O.J.’s (actually saw that on twitter). Remember five freaking months ago, when this first (illegally) came out? How Braun’s only reaction was to call the results “B.S.” and say he was totally innocent? I find it pretty hard to believe he’d be talking so confidently if his only line of defense was that the sample had sat out a couple days. There still has to be some bizarre details to this story that we have not heard. Why else would it have taken so damn long to resolve it?

Adding to the fishiness of this is the fact that the report that the ruling was based not on the test results (huh? how?) and instead just on the storing process of the sample. I say it’s fishy, because it comes from ESPN’s Mark Fainaru-Wada. Of course, Fainaru-Wada is the guy who broke the Braun story five months ago in the first place…. So is he the most credible in this situation? Who’s to say he’s not just trying to defend his own original report? And how could the ruling not be based on the test results, when the handling process could have tainted the results?

I just want to hear what Braun has to say tomorrow. The only twist is that, now, I’m not really sure how much he’ll actually give us. If he would have been suspended, I imagine he’d have given us full detail into his defense in attempt to save some face. Now that he’s off the hook, he might not see that need. I truly hope he does though, because otherwise the naysayers will be that much louder. Plus, selfishly, I’m really curious to know what extenuating circumstances dragged this out so long.

As for MLB…. They’re coming off like morons. This debacle is entirely their fault, yet they’re trying to place the blame all on one person (Das). Let’s go over MLB’s errors, from start to finish:

-Letting the positive test get leaked to ESPN in the first place. It’s crazy to think that all of this, including today’s hoopla, should not be known by any of us!

-Messing up the process with the courier. Again, they didn’t intend for it to happen, but you would think they’d have a backup plan if  “the courier doesn’t realize FedEx is open 24 hours.” They should be embarrassed that even happened, regardless of whether it was the reason the failed test was thrown out.

-Having this stupid appeal process set up in this format in the first place. If you’re going to have a panel of three arbitrators, why would you have one from MLB and one from the players’ union? They’re just going to vote for their side regardless of any evidence; doesn’t that make them faulty in the first place? Have three independent arbitrators decide the case, not just one.

-Breaking confidentiality again tonight! MLB’s Rob Manfred, the arbitrator representing MLB in the case, popped off, saying he “vehemently” disagreed with the ruling and discussing details of the case. Again, this is all before we’ve heard anything from Braun? Manfred, why are you saying anything at all at this point? Again, THIS IS ALL SUPPOSED TO BE CONFIDENTIAL!

MLB made its own bed in this one, and they now have to sleep in it. I have a feeling this will get worse for them before it gets better. It’s been revealed that they were this careless in this instance, so how will players feel about testing in the future? About positive tests that have already come down? For that matter, how credible does the Mitchell Report look right now? Their entire testing process might come under fire. This is a nightmare for a league that claims to have cleaned up its sport.

It seems bonkers that we haven’t had anything other than a generic statement from Braun at this point. I suppose it’s possible that we don’t get anything more than that tomorrow, but I at least want to wait until possibly forming an opinion that he was let off on some sort of technicality.

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Priority Number 1: Zack Greinke

Posted on February 10, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Posted by Steve

By this time, you are able to tell for the most part which teams are entering the season as contenders and which ones are in rebuilding mode. The place you don’t want to be, generally, is somewhere in between (Hello Milwaukee Bucks ever since Ray Allen was traded. Wrong sport, but still).

The Brewers, clearly, are a contender this year, especially if Ryan Braun manages to get a full season.

(Allow me a brief sidebar to quickly discuss the Braun saga. I didn’t make this its own post, because there really isn’t anything new to say. My main thought is what I’m sure everyone else has right now: What the hell is taking so long? First we hear that there’s some 25-day time frame in which the arbitrator, Shyam Das (Is that a Batman villain?), has to deliver a verdict. Now yesterday TH reported that he isn’t “technically” bound by that time frame. Again, why the hell is this taking so long? This is a failed test that occurred five months ago! What on Earth could be the reason for this delay?)

Next year may not be so clear. 60% of their starting rotation is set to hit free agency. A full rebuild isn’t likely, with Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, Rickie Weeks, Yovani Gallardo, and now Aramis Ramirez (ugh) signed for multiple seasons. But if they lose Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum from their rotation, it’s going to be awfully difficult to field a good team.

The Brewers need to make extending Greinke their first priority. Of course, even if they do–and I get the impression they pretty much have–that doesn’t mean a deal gets done. Playing for a winning team seems important to Greinke; it’s why he wanted out of Kansas City, and it could be why he hasn’t signed an extension yet. We’ve already had the obligatory “Zack likes it here” story. It seems like he’d be open to staying in Milwaukee, but who knows.

My guess is he’s going to see how the first half of the season plays out. If the Brewers struggle badly enough that they’re selling off K-Rod, Randy Wolf, Shaun Marcum, or anyone else, I’m sure you can kiss an extension goodbye. If things are going well, though, and they’re over .500 and contending for the division by All-Star Break/trade deadline, it wouldn’t surprise me to see an extension around this time.

A good comparison could be the extension given to Jared Weaver midway through last season. Weaver was set to hit free agency after this year just like Greinke (and Matt Cain and Cole Hamels, for what it’s worth). Instead, he signed a 5 year/$85 million deal, which was widely considered good value for the Angels. I’d be thrilled if the Brewers signed Greinke to that deal. Since he’s now closer to free agency than Weaver was, I doubt they could get him that cheap, but I’d gladly take a 5 year/$90 million deal. And since winning seems to be so important, maybe Greinke only would want to sign a two or three year extension so he can leave if the team doesn’t stay competitive. That type of contract is doubtful, but who knows.

For selfish reasons, I’d love to see him stay. Obviously, I enjoy watching him pitch, but I also love his quotes. He doesn’t use stupid cliches, and he’s usually brutally honest. Take this quote from an article about how the Brewers would move on after Prince Fielder’s departure:

“Last year there were 5-7 offenses in the National League that were better than ours. Our pitching staff is what kind of carried us. It was the bigger part of our year.”

Translation: It’s not like our offense was outstanding last year with Prince. We won 96 games mostly because our pitching was very good.

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Aoki, K-Rod, and others

Posted on January 17, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Posted by Steve

It’s been quite a while since the last post, but that’s really because there has been virtually no Brewers news to discuss. Then all of a sudden, today we were hit with rapid-fire Brewers news.

How about an off-season Cornucopia of Thoughts?

K-Rod
I was pleasantly surprised that he agreed to a base salary of $8 million. I was expecting at least 11. At 8 mil, the Brewers no longer need to trade him. Or if they want to he’ll be easier to trade. My guess is they end up keeping him, because their bullpen is fairly weak without him. I can’t say I’m excited to watch him pitch, though.

Aoki
A possible fallout of the K-Rod deal might very well have been that the Brewers could now afford to sign Norichika Aoki, although I’m guessing this would have happened anyway. Since I’m pretty much resigned to the fact that Braun will be out 50 games, I’m happy about this signing (with the caveat that the yet-to-be-revealed salary isn’t insane). Hopefully he will be a competent fill-in for Braun for those 50 games. If nothing else, he will be a nice improvement on defense. In fact, when Hart is playing first on occasion (as Melvin recent admitted he’s planning for), an outfield of Aoki-Gomez-Morgan will be fantastic defensively. Even though two of those guys can’t throw, that outfield will rival Arizona’s or any other as one of the best in baseball because of all the ground they’ll cover. When you consider the Brewers have Alex Gonzalez over Yuni and Aoki over Kotsay, you might come to the conclusion that the defense this year could be much improved.

Mainly though, I’m just hoping Aoki can get on base at a pretty nice clip. The Brewers sorely need some OBP guys with Gomez/Morgan, Gonzalez, and Jonathan Lucroy in the everyday lineup.

Other signings
The Brewers have agreed to terms with Kameron Loe, Manny Parra, Carlos Gomez, and Nyjer Morgan on one year deals to avoid arbitration in recent days. When I was projecting the budget, I thought guys like Parra and Loe might be non-tendered. It sure seems like the Brewers will have a larger payroll than I expected; they’ll be pushing $100 million. Pretty crazy considering they were around $40 mil when Mark Attanasio took over the team.

Ryan Braun
This thing is sure dragging out. As I said earlier, I am fully expecting Braun to be out for the first 50 games. I have no idea whether he’s innocent (nobody really does), but my guess is he might be able to save some face in the public eye, but will fall short of overturning his suspension. MLB doesn’t care about intent, so whether there was intent to use a drug as a performance enhancer or not doesn’t really matter.

Craig Counsell
Craig Counsell is joining the Brewers’ front office as a special assistant to the GM. Most everyone seems excited that Counsell is staying in the organization. That’s fine, I guess, but wow is this one of those things that justifies my decision to abandon my pursuit of a job in baseball. Some of my friends have been in Baseball Ops for over five years, are really good at what they do, and are still going year-to-year on low-paying internships. Meanwhile, Craiggers waltzes into a nice cushy job with no front office experience. I’d be much more annoyed if I was still trying to make it, I suppose.

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Cool off-season, Brewers. Not.

Posted on December 12, 2011 by | 1 Comment

Posted by Steve

When the Alex Gonzalez signing broke Friday, I figured I could wait til Monday to post about it. What was going to happen over the weekend, anyway?

So basically, we have the good (Alex Gonzalez signing), the bad (Aramis Ramirez signing), and the ugly (Braun).

It seems silly to talk in depth about Alex Gonzalez, which is what I would have done a few days ago. So for now, I’ll just say that the fact I’m excited about his signing goes to show how truly awful Betancourt was. Gonzalez isn’t a great shortstop by any means. He’s an awful hitter with just as poor OBP skills as Betancourt, or at least almost as poor. The reason I’m excited is because no matter what metric you consult, the consensus is that he’s a good fielding shortstop. That means he’s a fairly significant upgrade, and he was cheap and only for one year. Not bad, all things considered.

Really, this has to be about Braun…. But what is there to even say at this point? Other than this seems like a bizarre case, not too much. At the risk of sounding like a Giants fan defending Barry Bonds, the few details we do have seem so fishy that it sounds like he could be innocent, so I’m fully willing to reserve judgment until more information comes out. Even if he does end up looking to be clean, I am fully expecting him to be suspended. MLB is trying to look tough with their new PED program, and what better way to do that than by making an example of a superstar? Short of proof that some guy spiked Braun’s sample for banging his girlfriend or something, I don’t think MLB will accept his appeal.

One thing that seems hopeful are the reports that it was not a PED, but simply a “banned substance,” whatever that means. That could mean his suspension would be only 25 games, and might save Braun’s public image a bit.

I know I haven’t really said much, but I don’t know that there is much to say about it at this point.

So, let’s talk about Aramis Ramirez. You know, the guy who threw his helmet at my favorite player of all time. The guy who hit a crippling walk-off homer against the Brewers years ago. The guy who has been criticized for laziness, can’t field anymore, and is 34 years old.

The guy who now plays third base for the Brewers. Ugh.

Even putting aside the fact that I don’t like him at all, I hate this signing. I detailed why a couple posts ago, and Ramirez ended up getting even more money that I would have figured. I hate the fact that there’s a third year. Who was Doug Melvin bidding against? Nobody else was even reported to be interested in him. Why a third year? He can’t even play third base right now; I cringe to think of three years from now.

Really, the Brewers acquired yet another first baseman. Their overall disregard for defense is really getting old, as Ramirez is  worse than McGehee at third.

If the Brewers had $36 million or whatever burning a hole in their pocket, I wish they’d have spent it in a place where they didn’t have a viable replacement already. Edwin Jackson to replace Chris Narveson would have been a better use of that money, for example.

So now Taylor Green remains a backup for the next three years. To be honest, they might as well just trade him now. They’d get more value out of him that way.

For what it’s worth, and I’m just rambling now, if Braun is out I’d like to see Ramirez at first, Green at third and Gamel in left during that time.

But anyway. Some good news: as I was typing this, the Brewers traded Casey McGehee to the Pirates for reliever Jose Veras. I’m shocked they got something in return, but I’m glad they won’t be paying 3 million bucks or whatever for McGehee.

So I guess we’re looking at an infield of Ramirez, Gonzalez, Weeks, and Gamel. Probably about average offensively, while still below average defensively. I’d love the infield if it was only going to look like that for a year, but like I said, I don’t want Ramirez for three years.

So, I guess there isn’t too much left for the Brewers. They need to sign a utility infielder–I wouldn’t mind Nick Punto as a good defensive utility player, since Green is an offensive player. They also probably need to trade K-Rod, as their payroll is now over $100 million.

The Brewers, depending on Braun’s status, should still be good next year. My problem is that they could have still been good without overpaying for an aging Aramis Ramirez.

 

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Posted in Cornucopia of thoughts, Deputy Braun, Soul crusher, Transactions, What in tarnation?!@

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Let the good times roll

Posted on August 8, 2011 by | 3 Comments

Posted by Steve

Things are looking pretty darn good these days for the Brewers. They’re on a serious roll, having won 11 of 12 games, including six over the hapless AAA team from Houston. On one hand, you could argue that it’s not as impressive coming against teams like the Cubs and Astros. On the other hand, you could say the Brewers’ brutal first half schedule is finally evening out, and they’re taking full advantage of it.  That’s the hand I’m going with.

The starting pitching has been solid, and the top 3 starters have been great. The bullpen has been great. Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun are carrying the team, although Yuniesky Betancourt, of all people, has been the one to replace Rickie Weeks offensively. All Yuni’s doing is starting to make up for the horrible impact he had on the team the first few months of the year, but at least he’s doing something now.

Baseball Prospectus has the Brewers at 75.8% to make the playoffs (that’s as of Sunday morning, so it’ll be a bit higher after yesterday’s win). They’re really in great position. The only frustrating thing about this past week is the Cardinals haven’t lost either. Pretty incredible that neither team has lost since that wacky series in Miller Park ended.

Even though they haven’t gained ground on the Cards, they’ve still improved their playoff positioning. They’re now only a game behind wildcard-leading Atlanta, so if the Cardinals somehow caught fire, the Brewers would still have a chance to get in. Likely more important, though, is that the Brewers are now ahead of every team in the N.L. West. Obviously the main concern is to just get in the playoffs, but after that, you’d certainly like to avoid playing the Phillies in the first round. If the playoffs started today, the Brewers would play Atlanta instead of Philadelphia.

First things first though. There is still a lot of baseball to go, and a three game lead can disappear quickly. This Cardinals series is huge, but the pressure is on St. Louis. All the Brewers need to do is not get swept. The Cards probably need to win 2 of 3. Anything more than one in in this series is gravy in my eyes. The Brewers will leave St. Louis either tied, two games ahead, four games ahead, or six games ahead. I’ll be fine with a two game lead, and like I said, anything more is icing on the cake.

That’s the rational way of thinking. The fan in me wants to stomp on the Cards a la 2008 when Braun pimped his go-ahead homer that gave the Brewers a 4-game sweep in St. Louis–still the most satisfying mid-season series in my lifetime. I’m so sick of the Tony La Russa, Yadier Molina, Chris Carpenter, and Albert Pujols (in that order, probably) that I want to put the division out of reach for them.

One thing I am happy to praise Ron Roenicke for is he hasn’t fallen for any of La Russa’s head games–the same ones that chewed up Ned Yost and spit him out. Here’s hoping that continues in another pivotal Cardinals series.

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Posted in Ned Yost... Sha-wuuhhh??, PLAYOFFS!?!?, Projections, Runnin' Ron Roenicke

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