Wednesday's Plastic Cup

by Jeff Sackmann on Jun 25, 2008 8:30 AM CDT in News Comment 20 comments

The Cardinals won but the Cubs lost: Still 1.5 games out of the wild card and now five games behind the division lead. Last night's outing also brought Dave Bush's ERA down under 5.00. That kind of number usually isn't much to get excited about, but it's a huge improvement from where he was, and one more start like the last two will move him comfortably into the realm of the average starting pitcher.

Battlekow found a great post-game quote from Torres:

"Even with (McCann’s) hit, I was back in control. I was able to settle down. … After (Teixeira’s homer), I was able to be the Salomon you all know and love."

You can also find this in the FanShots, but I thought it deserved a mention here: Julian Tavarez is a free agent again. He doesn't want to start at Nashville. Odd how bad players (Tavarez, Weaver) don't want to start there, but good players (Branyan) don't seem to mind. Oh well, at least no one's going to take Turnbow's rotation slot.

Dave Fultz has another update on the Brewers ASG chances. Braun is still in fourth, but with Soriano on the DL, he's likely to start. (He would seem like a good bet to DH even if he didn't start.) Kendall is up to third, and Cameron has cracked the top 15 in the outfield. Hardy is the only starter not to be in the top 5 at his position.

Get ready for non-stop chatter about the future homes of Ben Sheets and Prince Fielder. Just yesterday, we find out that Sheets is going to test free agency, and here's a Braves blogger who doesn't want him. (I suspect that with the way he's pitching, I'm not going to want him at the market rate, either.)

You have to scroll way down, but Ken Rosenthal chimes in on the possible offseason Fielder sweepstakes. Think back to what we netted for Richie Sexson, consider how much better and younger Prince is, and start dreaming about a trade package to end all trade packages. This guy at Dugout Central thinks Fielder is the Yankees first baseman of the future.

The Brewers finish up in Atlanta today at 12:05 CT. Let's hope Jeff Suppan can make it out of the second inning...

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That quote from Torres is awesome

This is also an interesting note, from Brewers.com:

At 23-10 since May 20, the Brewers are the hottest team in the Majors

So with a win today, the Brewers would have a stretch of 24-10. Does that specific number ring a bell to anyone else?

And, grammatical nitpicking:

Think back to what we netted for Richie Sexson, consider how much better and younger Prince is, and start dreaming about a trade package to end all track packages.

I assume you weren’t referencing this. Also, could a track package be a hospitality pack that Ned Yost brings to the racetrack when he watches NASCAR?

by Jordan M on Jun 25, 2008 8:43 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Nice point about the 24-10 thing

The team is 19-24 while not in this stretch, so something’s still wrong.

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Jun 25, 2008 10:00 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

re: track package.

it was early. i think i wrote it at 7am, so leeway should be granted me. amazing I composed a single grammatically correct sentence, let alone most of the ones in this post :).

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Jun 25, 2008 12:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Heil Sackmann!

"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"

by roguejim on Jun 26, 2008 12:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

that's better, thank you.

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Jun 26, 2008 7:33 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Trading Fielder

I like him as a hitter, and I’ll be sad to see him go, but I think his defense at 1st hurts the team a bit. If someone like Laporta proves they can play first and hit like 75% of Prince at the major league level, I’d be fine with trading him though.

Coffee is for closers

by drezdn on Jun 25, 2008 9:57 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Prince

It seems to me that Prince has lost his opposite field power this year. If I were a pitcher I would throw every pitch to prince on the outside corner, because he seems to have to reach for everything and ends up losing his balance. His home runs are typically on inside pitches.

I bet dixieflatline probably has some type of perfect graphic representation that would demonstrate this well.

by brewfan2 on Jun 25, 2008 10:02 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pitches Prince has homered on

From baseball.bornbybits.com

by Jordan M on Jun 25, 2008 10:13 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

hehe

Linking to fx.gif on that site is probably not the best idea as it will always just show the last query’s results.

by warwick5s on Jun 25, 2008 10:38 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

hmmm

let’s try this…

Pitches Prince Fielder has homered on:

by Jordan M on Jun 25, 2008 11:24 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah sorry about that.

I can only keep one .gif on the server though because of space issues.

Visit my baseball blog ...or else!

by dixieflatline on Jun 25, 2008 9:59 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nice article on Zack Grienke for the Hardball Times, by the way

I wouldn’t offer LaPorta or Gamel for Sabathia, but I would for Grienke.

And neck size to baby eating ratio.

by Jordan M on Jun 26, 2008 8:37 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

From Dugout Central...

“The Brewers can rid themselves of the money headache and boost their starting pitching depth by dealing Fielder to the Yankees for a pitching package of four including Ian Kennedy (or Phil Hughes), Jeffrey Marquez, Dan McCutchen and Mark Melancon – projected to be Mariano Rivera’s successor at closer.”

That’d be pretty hard to turn down…

by warwick5s on Jun 25, 2008 10:14 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Sheets in free agency

Two sites with comments have posted about Sheets going into free agency: MLBTR and BBTF. The near universal opinions are that he isn’t going to get a huge contract, usually because he is injured so often or that he isn’t as elite as the likes of Zambrano or Santana. Personally, assuming health, I’d take him easily over those two.

I wonder how much more time he has been injured than an average starter.

by ol Pete on Jun 25, 2008 11:41 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Take him easily?

Did you coat him with peanut butter first?

He's extremely quick and good.

by battlekow on Jun 25, 2008 12:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The recent trend seems to be towards

more performance bonuses, even with elite players. Sheets would be the perfect player to give something like $15m per year + $5m more if he makes 30 starts. I find it hard to believe that no team will be willing to get creative like that and give Sheets a contract that could approach 5/100 if he holds up physically over the duration of the contract.

by Zeyes on Jun 25, 2008 12:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

sheets

if anything, this season is proving why we need to re-sign Sheets. I can’t help but imagine how good we would be if we only had a healthy Yo.

"You guys know me. I take a long time to analyze things."
- Ned Yost

by SunglassesAtNight on Jun 25, 2008 12:30 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

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NL Central Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
St. Louis Viva El Birdos	91	71	.561	0	Lost 6
Chicago Bleed Cubbie Blue	83	78	.515	7.5	Lost 1
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Cincinnati Red Reporter	78	84	.481	13	Won 2
Houston The Crawfish Boxes	74	88	.456	17	Lost 3
Pittsburgh Bucs Dugout	62	99	.385	28.5	Lost 2