Milwaukee Brewers

Cleveland Indians vs. Milwaukee Brewers - June 17, 2009

David Huff vs. Jeff Suppan

Progressive Field - Cleveland, Ohio

Well so much for my 7-2 homestand prediction. The Indians will have to win this game just to go over .500 at 5-4. Every time I say something positive the Indians give me two reasons to be negative. Carl Pavano is suddenly terrible, and the bullpen has been atrocious again. The offense is averaging 8.5 runs a game vs. the Brewers in the frist two games of the series and has won neither.

Continue reading "Brew Crew gives Wahoo Blues x 3. ..."

Unfortunately that goes for both teams.

Screw it, I'm not going to edit this, this was how things were going to appear as late as the top of the 8th:

The best thing that can happen when you're team isn't getting the best pitching performance in the world is for your opponent to be having the worst pitching performance in the world.  Ok, it wasn't quite the worst in the world, but the Brewers pitching was worse than the Indians tonight.

Continue reading "If you can't pitch, swing for the ..."

The Seattle Mariners picked up injured closer Chad Cordero in the offseason. Cordero was a solid major league closer with the Washington Nationals for years. Foxsports reports that the Mariners are likely to use Cordero as mid season trade bait if they are out of contention early as they are expected to be.

Continue reading "Speculation: Mid Season Trades"

Last season in late September the Brewers picked up Mike Lamb, to be used as a pinch hitter and reserve player. Lamb went 3 for 11 during the stretch run, but was not put on the post season roster. On tuesday the Brewers decided to essenially release Lamb, by not putting him on the opening day roster. He has the option to play for AAA Nashville, but will likely hold out for another major league gig.

Continue reading "Brew Crew clears spot for McGehee"

After playing their first meaningful October baseball games in a quarter century the Milwaukee Brewers have a tough road a head of them. They will dearly miss all 6 feet 7 inches of CC Sabathia, as well as injury plagued Ben Sheets. The 2009 Brewers will rely on young talent in their pitching staff, which is generally not a recipe for success. Maybe they should give the Rays a call.

Continue reading "Milwaukee Brewers 2009 Forecast: ..."

e MLB review a tape last year to give a great pitcher the benefit.

Last season CC Sabathia of the Milwaukee Brewers threw a one hitter against the Pirates. The one hit was a questionable dribbler which Sabathia bobbled. Many believe this should have been charged as an error for Sabathia and he should have finished with a no-hitter, an even more prestigous accomplishment than a triple double.

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With the MLB playoffs set to begin, there is a subtle difference in the air compared to start of any other postseason. In the NHL, fans can potentially look forward to a great Canadians/Bruins series that is not only exciting, but has a historical kick to it. Likewise basketball fans always have the chance to see if the Suns can finally get past the Spurs and football fans love seeing the rivalry of the Eagles Vs the City of Philadelphia when the Eagles so much as get tackled for a loss.

Continue reading "The Ups and Downs of the MLB Playoffs"

I'm sorry I haven't been on here rigorously for some time. Life has caught up with me so to speak. I got a job at the local office supply store, I'm back in school, and so it pains me that my love affair with the Chicago National League Ballclub has been almost on hold.

Continue reading "No, not again. Please tell me I'm ..."

If ever there was a sign that the Brewers’ future is now, it’s in their recent acquisition of veteran Ray Durham, who should shore up their leadoff spot, as well as allow Rickie Weeks the time off he sometimes needs when mired in a slump. Since they’ve already gambled their future on C.C. Sabathia—who’s looked amazing so far, winning all three starts and throwing complete games in two of them—it only makes sense for them to do whatever they can to push for the pennant this year.

Continue reading "Brewers Grab Durham"

It’s the annual midpoint of the baseball season, and for the brief span that is the All-Star break, all eyes are upon the Bronx. As everyone is well aware of, this campaign is the last go around for the world’s most famous, largest, and most prominent ballpark, Yankee Stadium. It seems hard to believe, and even more sacrilegious that this living legend’s days are numbered. Built in 1923 and christened by the greatest ballplayer to ever live, Babe Ruth, the cathedral of baseball will never truly be replaced. Although the Bombers will move a block to Yankee Stadium’s heir, the Mecca of America’s Pastime will still live on in our hearts. Whether you’re a diehard Yankee fan, or Yankee-hater, you still can respect the history and awe that the stadium brings. So when the All-Stars take the field Tuesday night, sit back on your couch, crack open a cold one and soak up the history of Yankee Stadium, as its final chapter is unveiled to all of us.

Continue reading "National League Looks to End Rut"

One of the All-Star Break traditions: Reassessing our predictions from the first half of the season. Some of mine have changed, some have stayed the same—and some were just damn wrong. Living in the West, I will take the contrarian position and roll from west to east in my choices.

Continue reading "Second Half Predictions"

The other big trade that happened recently was the Cubs’ acquisition of the oft-injured Rich Harden from Oakland. This move is typical of Oakland’s business model, which involves shedding young stars before they get too expensive, often in exchange for other young or undervalued stars. In this way, they’re similar to the Florida Marlins, except that the Marlins tend to load up for concentrated runs at the championship (they have as many championships in the last decade as big-market Boston, and more than the Cubs have in the past hundred years), while the A’s tend towards consistent competitiveness.

Continue reading "NL Central Trade Analysis, Part Two"

Still playing ketchup here, trying to make up for a four-day absence from the blog, so I want to start with the big trade of last week, the CC Sabathia swap. The usefulness of this deal to the Brewers is a little dubious, as CC is likely to be a half-season rental, but let’s break it down:

Continue reading "NL Central Trade Analysis, Part One"

The Dodgers chock full off their season of mediocrity (wait, you mean the season is still going on?) passed on CC Sabathia. According to multiple sources (including Ken Rosenthal http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8328148/Notebook:-Will-Dodgers-ever-make-a-move??CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=3498) the ace pitcher could have been had for middling prospects that were not contributing at the major league level. Granted this is all here-say, but it is a rumor for a reason, and the big problem here was not Ned Colletti (for once). It seems as if frank McCourt vetoed the trade for strictly financial reasons as the Dodger payroll would have increased by $7-9 million this year with the addition of Sabathia, Jamey Carroll and Casey Blake had the trade gone through. I don’t even know where to start with this. This is the same moron who tosses $19 million to Andruw Jones, $16 million to Jason Schmitt, $9.5 million to Nomar Garciaparra and he is terrified of a trade that would increase payroll by $9 million? Granted he would have tried to sign CC to an extension and what not (and that would be about $25 million/year), but this is for the best pitcher in the game, not to mention a platoon player (who can play short) and a 3rd basemen. Everything the Dodgers wanted all in a package, and he vetoes it. It’s go to mean something when other teams won’t take on any of your high paid players because all of your high paid players are broken down and useless. So instead of moving towards a winning franchise, McCourt seems to love to meddle in mediocrity because we are dumb enough to keep going to games and to watch a bunch of turds in Dodger Blue “play baseball”. The best part of this trade was that we would keep ALL The high end prospects and could unload all the crappy players (Schmitt, Lowe, Nomar, Andruw, Kent) after next season and it would all be good. We are not a small market team, but apparently that is how the owner sees it. He is ready to try and turn Dodger stadium into a revenue service year round with his renovations and he is willing to increase prices to watch crap on the field but unwilling to make any moves of consequence to make the team actually look professional.

Continue reading "IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY 07.10.08: Dodgers Fail"

The C.C. Sabathia deal is dead. The proposed deal that would have seen the Dodgers send Matt Kemp, James Loney, Andy LaRoche, Andre Ethier, Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershw, Vladamir Guerrero, the letter “L”’ from the Hollywood sign (the one on the left, not the one on the right), Kobe Bryant, and DJ Mbenga to the Indians for C.C. and Casey Blake is no more. The Brewers, in a possible drunken haze traded four minor leaguers (including the perpetually well traveled “player to be named later”) in what appears to be a great move for the Brew Crew. They have no interest in keeping C.C. outside of this year if it is going to cost them a lot (and it likely will) so they will be able to pick up a couple of draft picks from the next team that signs him, and get to use the skills of a man in a contract year who is trying to make a good impression on any team that’s courting him. Smart move by the Brewers that is pretty much win, win. The Indians got a good package, but one has to wonder what they could have fleeced from the Dodgers if their deal went through. My exaggeration from the top is probably not too far off.

Continue reading "IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY 07.07.08: ..."

Before Wednesday’s game the Dodgers sent rookie pitcher Clayton Kershaw to Triple-A Las Vegas to make room for Hiroki Kuroda, who was coming off the disabled list. While Kershaw has been inconsistent throughout his first major-league stint, Kuroda has been even more so in his first season in the America. Kuroda has had brilliant games, such as his start in May against the Astros, and some horrific outings, such as his last start before the injury, when he gave up six runs in less than three innings in San Diego.

Continue reading "All 4-1 and Kuroda for All: Righty ..."

And probably not your own Braves, either. I watched them boot the ball around last night with a long-time Braves fan; three first-inning errors led to three runs, and they never recovered, losing 4-3, in a game without Chipper and a host of others.

Continue reading "Not Your Daddy's Braves"

On the eve of the Dodgers winning three games in a row (Joe Torre: “We won a game today, if we win again tomorrow, that’s called a ‘winning streak’”) for the first time roughly a century, the great Jeff Passan over at Yahoo! Sports has his annual “All-Overpaid and Underpaid Team”. He is spot on with his selections that I can see, but this seriously should have been labeled “The Los Angeles Dodgers”. Out of every player in the league mind you, the Dodgers manage to crack this list a whopping 4 times out of an available 9 positions. Jeff is right by stating what the Dodger contracts lack in length, they make up for in girth (how many guys have actually tried to claim that, by the way?), and that in no way makes them better. The Dodgers have the enormous problem of overpaying for mediocrity, and a glimpse further on this list shows that the Dodgers already added, or tried to add (if you believe the rumors, and of course I do, for this argument) another 6 of these players. While Dodger stupidity with the pocketbook is nothing new, let’s look at these players and see why they aren’t Dodgers or won’t be for long. Since Jeff already astutely pointed out the flaws of Andruw Jones, Nomar, Kent, and Schmitt, I’ll avoid rehashing his points and add anything else I can to the conversation. 

Continue reading "IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY 06.20.08: ..."

For many baseball fans, last night wasn't a great night to watch baseball, as blowouts predominated early on. But, because of the beautiful game that is baseball, only three of them continued in their lopsided fashion, with the best of them highlighted by a homer from Micah Owings, the best-hitting pitcher in baseball, whom teammate Conor Jackson said had the "best pop" of anyone on the team. And all of them showed something about the winning and losing teams, proving that any baseball game is worth watching, even when it doesn't seem exciting.

Continue reading "The Night of the Blowouts"

ng his green card in light of the federal investigation, will probably lead to another down year.

Milwaukee Brewers

Can Ben Sheets stay healthy?

Sheets always seems on the verge of becoming one of the best young pitchers in the game when he is healthy, but his seasons always end up broken up by frequent stints on the DL for one thing after another. The Brewers have some young pitchers with tons of potential in Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra as well as some serviceable veterans, but they really need Sheets to become the ace of the rotation and innings eater that he is capable of. Unfortunately it is tough to predict if he is past his injuries as they have so often been the unforeseen and freak variety. With him in the rotation, a middle of the road staff becomes one in the top third of the league, something Milwaukee will need in order to compete with the Cubs.

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Season Preview: NL Central"

I am thoroughly looking forward to the Hank Steinbrenner Era. It seems he is hell-bent on replacing his father as the most obnoxious loudmouth, know-nothing owner in baseball. After watching the display he put on this winter in the Johan Santana Sweepstakes and his recent comments about the existence of Red Sox Nation, I don’t believe there is a bigger blowhard in sports today. All we need is for him to revive the Billy Martin routine with Joe Girardi, a possibility that may not be that farfetched as it appears Girardi not necessarily that easy to get along with. Little Stein seems to be unpredictable and impatient and not only expects the team to win now, but to do so in spectacular fashion. Earlier this year, Hank implied that general manager Brian Cashman would be on the hot seat if the plan to hold on to their young pitching instead of going all in for Santana didn’t pan out. If Steinbrenner allows his arrogance and impetuousness to take over the organization, I envision a return of the Yankees to the "glory" years of the 1980's when George was the show.

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