Tuesday's Frosty Mug
by Kyle Lobner on Oct 20, 2009 9:27 AM CDT
in Milwaukee Brewers News
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PrintThe Brewers are expected to hold a press conference later today to officially introduce Rick Peterson as their new pitching coach (FanShot). I'll give the Brewers at least this much credit: I'm still not sure how I feel about the move, but at least they acknowledged a problem and made one.
The Hardball Times has Part 2 of their 2009 awards up, this time focusing on the hitters, and Prince Fielder is acknowledged as both a champion of the three true outcomes and a runner up for the NL's Best Player Award.
Meanwhile, it's tough to find a pitcher who was less consequential in 2009 than Chris Smith. Smith had the third lowest average leverage in FanGraphs' list of 2009's top mop-up relievers.
At least Smith was pretty good in that role, though: Brew City Sports is down to four competitors in their tournament to determine who sucked the most in theirs.
At the moment he's probably the most likely candidate to open next season at third base, but The Junkball Blues makes the case for trading Casey McGehee this winter, and I still think that would be the best decision.
The Nashville Sounds' website has a look back at Josh Butler's unlikely season. In just a matter of months, Butler went from repeating Brevard County to earning a surprise September callup from the Brewers, and now is continuing to pitch in the AFL this fall.
Beyond the Box Score has a look back at the 2009 NL Central, and what went right and wrong for the Brewers and their divisional rivals.
There's only one transaction note to pass along today:
Mariners: Kenji Johjima has decided to forfeit the remaining years on his contract with the Mariners and return to Japan.
Speaking of catchers, The Crawfish Boxes noted a story glorifying the "game calling ability" and other unquantifiable attributes frequently attached to Brad Ausmus. At least Ausmus has a sense of humor about his offensive abilities, though:
Ausmus is hitting .293 this year. When asked to explain why he is hitting so much better this season, the Ivy League educated Ausmus replies, "Small Sample Size."It's mean, but I'll admit I laughed when I learned Stubhub accidentally sent an ad for playoff tickets to Cub fans. Apparently the ad was unintentionally sent to fans of several teams, including the Mets.
Yesterday I mentioned a blog post from minor leaguer Garrett Broshuis, detailing some of the financial challenges minor leaguers face while trying to earn their way to the minor leaguers. Today he details what he'd like teams to do about it, and I think his requests seem pretty reasonable.
I've brought it up before, but I'll mention it again because I've got a new great read on it: Aaron Gleeman has a link to a story on the 35th anniversary of Tommy John's ligament replacement surgery.
Apparently I missed the story when it was unveiled in June (I was in the middle of wedding/honeymoon/move month), but Seamheads has a nice look at a monument built to honor the original Milwaukee Brewers, who spent one season playing at the corner of Lloyd and 16th St. before moving to St. Louis to become the Browns, and eventually the Baltimore Orioles. On this day in 1901, seven players, including future Hall of Famer Jesse Burkett, left the Cardinals to join the Browns, who went 78-58 in their first year in St. Louis, finishing second in the American League.
And, of course, on this day in 1982 the Cardinals came from behind to beat the Brewers, 6-3, in Game 7 of the World Series.
That's all I have for you today, unless you wanted to read a joke about Yankees fans or hear about Joe Posnanski's rough day.
Drink up.
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StubHub
They sent the same email offers to Brewers fans, too.
Re: the Peterson note, what’d the Brewers do to the problem they acknowledged?
Sign Corky Miller
Well, they had a problem with pitching
So they brought in someone who could help their pitchers achieve their full potential.
That's all I've got for you today, unless you're interested in some Chris Capuano/Tom Haudricourt Fan Fiction.
by Kyle Lobner on Oct 20, 2009 11:17 AM CDT up reply actions
I know it may be a depressing idea
but should we get a community prospects list going soon? I know I need something to look forward to
"That's not a weird stat. Rickie is a run-scorer," Yost said. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter," Yost told reporters. "See, you guys have no concept. He's a run-scorer. So there's nothing weird about it. That's what he does."
I'm planning on waiting until the same time we did it last year
I think we did it after the AFL last year, when we had access to an offseason Power 50 and Sickels’ rankings to use as a starting point.
That's all I've got for you today, unless you're interested in some Chris Capuano/Tom Haudricourt Fan Fiction.
by Kyle Lobner on Oct 20, 2009 11:18 AM CDT up reply actions
Community is a pretty good show
and I really like that Brita chick.
2009 Brewers: Pass the liquor.
by molitorfan on Oct 20, 2009 9:44 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
She's not a water filter.
Cards Announcers On Gamel's First Career HR, "That’s all they need is another home run hitter".
yep. i've made sure to watch every episode
agreed…and agreed.
of course, I like just about any young adult female lead in a sitcom. Universally hot and funny. can’t miss.
by PagsBrewCrew on Oct 20, 2009 11:05 PM CDT up reply actions
My hopes for Peterson
I expect to see 1 or 2 guys in the system each year that Peterson thinks he can ‘fix’. And really, I don’t mind that. But I really hope we aren’t building major league staffs out of players who have injury-ridden pasts, simply because we have the pitcher-injury guru. Peterson’s strengths seem to lie in preventing injury, but if you have a guy who’s been throwing with bad mechanics his whole life, the damage has been done.
I’m hoping that he will use his knowledge to help us stay away from injury risks, rather than gravitate to them in hopes of fixing them.
Cards Announcers On Gamel's First Career HR, "That’s all they need is another home run hitter".
by tcyoung on Oct 20, 2009 10:09 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Interesting Trade
Dave Cameron wants to see Brandon Morrow traded for JJ Hardy
Cards Announcers On Gamel's First Career HR, "That’s all they need is another home run hitter".
I thought Dave Cameron liked the Mariners.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Oct 20, 2009 12:15 PM CDT up reply actions
Morrow's stock has fallen quite a bit, they way they've bounced him around in the bullpen
I’d certainly make that trade though. And I think something like that has a good chance of happening.
E: George 4 (5, throw, throw, throw, throw).
Yeah
but I think we can all agree that Morrow would be a better setup man than Hardy.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Oct 20, 2009 2:15 PM CDT up reply actions
I concur
I don’t have a category for "washed-up guys who may or may not be dominant big-league closers sometime soon."
~Jeff Sackmann
by Charlie Marlow on Oct 20, 2009 2:35 PM CDT up reply actions
I am confused with this statement and maybe TheJay is too.
I’m still not sure how I feel about the move, but at least they acknowledged a problem and made one.
Are you saying they acknowledged the problem and then made another one? Or are you saying they saw a problem and made a change?
Looking to buy: General Manager Deputy Badge
by Bush League All Star on Oct 20, 2009 11:05 AM CDT reply actions
I think he means “I’m not sure how I feel about it, but at least they saw a problem and made a move.”
Bingo
That's all I've got for you today, unless you're interested in some Chris Capuano/Tom Haudricourt Fan Fiction.
by Kyle Lobner on Oct 20, 2009 11:18 AM CDT up reply actions
Ah
I was reading it as “…but at least they acknowledged a problem and made [another problem].”
Oops.
Sign Corky Miller
That's what they did when they signed Suppan.
Personally, I don't give a crap about Brett Favre.
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Oct 20, 2009 7:33 PM CDT up reply actions
You missed this one
Craig over at THT has an interesting article about Mariano Rivera. It includes this video. It appears as if ol’ Mo is adding a spitball to his repertoire.
I don’t have a category for "washed-up guys who may or may not be dominant big-league closers sometime soon."
~Jeff Sackmann
by Charlie Marlow on Oct 20, 2009 11:09 AM CDT reply actions
Crisco.
Bardol.
Vagisil.
Any one of them will give you another two to three inches drop on your curve ball.
(BTW: how weird that the guy who played Eddie Harris is now Connie Hilton on Mad Men.)
by Rubie Q on Oct 20, 2009 11:40 AM CDT up reply actions 2 recs
KY ball to third
Nice pick by Dorn!!!
<a href=“http:// ”http://bit.ly/uvZYg" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/uvZYg" target="new">here’s the video
"That's not a weird stat. Rickie is a run-scorer," Yost said. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter," Yost told reporters. "See, you guys have no concept. He's a run-scorer. So there's nothing weird about it. That's what he does."
let's try that again
"That's not a weird stat. Rickie is a run-scorer," Yost said. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter," Yost told reporters. "See, you guys have no concept. He's a run-scorer. So there's nothing weird about it. That's what he does."
Ooooh
my linky wasn’t good enough for you, hm?
I don’t have a category for "washed-up guys who may or may not be dominant big-league closers sometime soon."
~Jeff Sackmann
by Charlie Marlow on Oct 20, 2009 1:44 PM CDT up reply actions
I love that Ueck calls all of his pitches some sort of greaseball.
Cards Announcers On Gamel's First Career HR, "That’s all they need is another home run hitter".
I guess I could buy the minor league housing stipend argument
It’s still asking the owners to give the players money out of the own pocket and that’s going to be a hard sell.
Sheets can be had for 1yr/$7 mil per Dave Cameron?
Sheets’ salary=Looper’s salary? For Melvin, this should be a no-brainer on who to sign. Choosing Looper in this scenario would be akin to you could go to Ruth Chris or Golden Corral for the same price, and you go Golden Corral because you get more food.
The only excuse Melvin has for not signing Sheets to a 1yr deal under $10 mil is Sheets refuses to play in Milwaukee.
Someone do a study... multivariate analysis
Variables:
- Pitcher Ability = x
- Pitcher Durability = y
- Pitcher Salary = z.
At what point z do you change your preference between x and y?
x and y are both positively correlated with z.
There has to be some point where you’re not willing to pay for the risk, where you’re more willing to pay for the sure thing, even if the ability isn’t as high. My guess is this occurs as the salary decreases. At low salaries, you expect more durable players, at higher salaries, the reward goes up, but so does the risk.
I’ve lost track of my point.
I think my point is that I agree, but Sheets doesn’t want to play here. So, moot point.
I would say,
with Prince maybe only here for one season, and next year maybe being our last solid shot at the playoffs for a time, x outweighs y 75% to 25%.
by Braunstalker on Oct 20, 2009 1:22 PM CDT up reply actions
You make it too complex, me thinks
At least in this example. You can pencil Looper in for 200 innings at 4.50 ERA, over 35 starts while Sheets will go 145 innings with a sub-3 ERA over 20 starts. How bad does your AAAA pitcher(Narveson/Burns/whoever) have to perform in those 15 starts/55 innings to make Sheets a worse option than Looper?
I agree that Sheets won’t resign with the Brewers, and I don’t really blame him. The way he was booed off the field after his last start in 2008 was one of the most classless moments in recent baseball history, non-Steinbrenner category.
by Getting Yosted on Oct 20, 2009 1:39 PM CDT up reply actions
Man, that was embarrassing and angering to witness.
by Braunstalker on Oct 20, 2009 1:42 PM CDT up reply actions
Agreed
Sheets doesn’t want to play for The Mustache.
I don’t have a category for "washed-up guys who may or may not be dominant big-league closers sometime soon."
~Jeff Sackmann
by Charlie Marlow on Oct 20, 2009 1:42 PM CDT up reply actions
Go where the money is
That said, if the Rangers are the only other team with serious interest (and maybe Mariners given their GM?), the Brewers very well could outbid them. The manager is new, the pitching coaches are new, the stadium is still incredible, the division is relatively weak, the team is good and I don’t think he had a beef with the owner or his teammates. If the only thing standing in Sheets’ way is the GM, he’ll be able to get over that for $250k.
It’s amazing what people can tolerate for $250k.
If durability could be reliably projected
someone (me, for instance) would’ve done that by now.
Guys like Sheets often end up with the team whose staff is most optimistic about projected reliability. The projections can vary wildly between teams. Somebody’s going to think it’s a no-brainer to pay him $10MM (or whatever) and the reasoning behind that decision would get that person laughed out of 20 other front offices.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Oct 20, 2009 2:17 PM CDT up reply actions
I don't know that you need a fancy math machine ...
to project the durability of a 31-year-old pitcher who missed all of last season and is notorious for not taking care of his body.
I did it on my TI-BA2+.
It’s .54
Not sure of the units.
Or what that means.
Or if it’s good.
But I put in a few numbers, and hit the “DUR” button, and that’s what I got.
by Mykenk on Oct 20, 2009 2:24 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Dammit, Mykenk.
If you keep asking them questions, they’re going to keep giving you answers (even if they’re indecipherable). And when they keep giving you answers, they move closer and closer to self-awareness. When the machines rise and overthrow us, I know who I’m blaming.
I only have the TI-BA2
They must’ve added the DUR button in the + model.
Fortunately the GRIT button was added back on the old TI-BA model.
You math guys are slowly working through the Morgan Hierarchy of Gibberish.
Reliability is stuck behind the “consistent” calculation, which is held up by “clutch” which is being held up by “confidence”. I have great faith that we will have a confidence quotient by the end of 2010, now that the kinks have been worked out of the GRIT formula.
by Getting Yosted on Oct 20, 2009 2:44 PM CDT up reply actions
I would love Sheets back!
People are far too unfair on him for I don’t know what reason. Yes, he was oft-injured, and yes, there was some question over how much effort he put in (whatever that means), but his worst year as a Brewer he was still worth $9 million – and that was in 2007 when he didn’t even pitch after August.
At a certain point you have to acknowledge that even with the significant risk of him getting injured for a period of time, he’s still worth his salary for the games he’s starting (unless you bring back Turnbow to start for him when he’s on the DL – that might skew the total value negative)
That said, I have no idea how much his surgery effected his stuff – though 2008 was one of the best years of his career and as Carpenter has demonstrated, non-steroid-using elite pitchers are sometimes able to come back lights out.
Ryan Braun: He loves it.
by SRB on Oct 20, 2009 5:46 PM CDT up reply actions 2 recs
I would absolutely welcome Benny back
Be cool, and relax. Take a breath, take ten paces back.
The coolest motherfunker on the planet.
by Dikembe Meiztombo on Oct 20, 2009 5:53 PM CDT up reply actions
As would virtually anyone.
My guess is that even those that booed him in 2008 would like to have him back now that they’ve seen the alternative.
But it ain’t happening. Melvin appears to have mistaken the fact that Sheets doesn’t tell him to get bent and hang up on him as mutual interest.
Personally, I don't give a crap about Brett Favre.
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Oct 20, 2009 7:38 PM CDT up reply actions
Oh, I think you're mistaken.
There are a lot of people who would loudly bemoan a move to bring back Sheets, citing all the injury/conditioning problems listed above.
Not that they’d be right, but they certainly would exist.
That's all I've got for you today, unless you're interested in some Chris Capuano/Tom Haudricourt Fan Fiction.
I certainly could be wrong...
… but I think you’re talking about a vocal minority, and a relatively small one at that.
Personally, I don't give a crap about Brett Favre.
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Oct 20, 2009 8:54 PM CDT up reply actions
How terrifying.
Personally, I don't give a crap about Brett Favre.
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Oct 21, 2009 7:12 AM CDT up reply actions
I think you're right that it's a minority
I just don’t think it’s that small of a minority.
Cards Announcers On Gamel's First Career HR, "That’s all they need is another home run hitter".
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
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Cincinnati
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Houston
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
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Milwaukee
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
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Pittsburgh
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0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
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St. Louis
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
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