They're trying to trick me!
by BrewHaHeather on Oct 3, 2010 5:05 PM CDT
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PrintDespite today’s disappointing loss, this last disappointing series, and a disappointing season in general, I’m already excited for next season. Over the past month, despite a mediocre record of 15-15, the Brewers have played pretty well. The pitching has been some of the best in baseball over the last month and we’ve seen encouraging performances from some of our young players like Lorenzo Cain, Jeremy Jeffress, Mike McClendon, John Axford, Jonathan Lucroy, and Zach Braddock. Mark Rogers has me particularly excited.
Even without Fielder, our offense should still be solid next year with Weeks, Hart, Braun, “Never Regress” McGehee, and what will hopefully be improved offense from Lucroy, Escobar, Cain, and Gamel. I can definitely see light at the end of the tunnel.
Unfortunately, it might be a train. I feel the Brewers are luring me into a false sense of security, like they’ve done so many times before. I keep thinking to myself “With our good offense, a good trade for Fielder, and maybe a good FA signing (Ted Lilly?) we could have a pretty good team next year.” But then another part of me thinks “Narveson will regress, Hart will probably suck again, Braun might struggle without Fielder, etc, etc…” But now that our pitching staff has proved that they actually have the ability to pitch, and pitch well, I feel the last piece of the puzzle is there. I’m not saying World-Series-2011-good, but at least competitive-or-maybe-even-contending-in-late-September-good.
So what do you think BCB? Has this last month given you hope, perhaps even tricked you into having too much hope for next season? Or are you holding your expectations low?
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Don't get to high on our pitching the last month...
All the other teams rookies were playing the last month a lot more than they did before, the teams that we beat were largely in a similar position as us with their games not mattering and many of the good teams we played also didn’t matter.
I think we have tremendous potential to be very good still but I am ever weary of regression from several players and I truely worry how effective Braun will be, in my mind he should always be a #3 hitter in the lineup but I don’t think we really have anyone suitable as a #4…
Also while I think Wolf and Yo will be solid next year I worry about the other 3 slots, I am willing to fill one slot with the winner of a position battle like Narveson or Cappy but the other two slots need to be filled externally and i don’t think we will get what we need from the Prince deal and Melvin’s history of FA signings makes me nervous as well…
I have optimism but a HUGE amount of doubt as well…
lilly sucks
braun will be effective; have you seen his track record? watched him play? hes the surest thing around and lineup positioning doesn’t mean shit; they could bat braun 8th and it would be pretty much the same. theres a lot of reason for optimism; carlos gomez is going to break out any day now.
Lilly will pitch well in a pitcher friendly park
but if and when he comes to Miller Park I think he’s gonna get shelled, mainly because he’s a flyball pitcher.
I also have some optimism, mainly because the Brewers have some young talents coming up, whether it’s for today or in a couple of years. I like what I’m seeing from Rogers, I’m excited to see what Odorizzi and Heckathorn can do in a couple of years, Braun can still hit very well and so can McGehee, Escobar can only improve, and the Brewers will at least get a good pitcher for Fielder.
Miller Park is not a hitter's park. Get that myth out of your head.
I’m not saying that it’s a pitcher’s park, but it’s pretty damn neutral, and has actually leaned towards the pitcher’s park side of things.
http://www.mlbsoup.com
by tcyoung on Oct 3, 2010 7:06 PM CDT up reply actions 4 recs
yeah, I guess
but still, we’ve seen so many soft-tossers in Brewers uniforms. I’d like to see someone who can actually throw a pitch above 91mph
by ilikeburritos on Oct 3, 2010 7:33 PM CDT up reply actions
Strikeout pitchers
I’d love to see some strikeout pitchers too but mainly because it negates one of the big weaknesses of the Brewers – terrible defense at a lot of positions.
Doesn’t matter how fast they throw (Maddux struck out a ton of batters for years barely cracking 90) but a couple of good strikeout arms would make a big difference.
With most of the bad defenders now locked into long-term contracts (Braun and Hart come to mind) it’s the only way to play off that weakness.
by kingcharlesxii on Oct 4, 2010 2:21 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
plus in the next draft
there will be a bunch of talented pitchers. And since the Brewers will probably draft 7th, they’ll be bound to get a very talented pitcher
but although we don't have the 7th pick, we DO have 2 first round picks (12 and 15)
In such a deep draft, as everyone says, hopefully we’ll get two players who will make an impact on the major league club sometime.
We have good pitching in the minors, and we just drafted a whole bunch of pitchers last year. One of those picks should definitely be a hitter (I would guess #12), and it’s possible that they’ll go with 2 hitters in the second round, as they need some hitting in the lower levels of their system pretty badly.
http://www.mlbsoup.com
no
the rule is dont draft for need, draft on best available player. doug melvin knows so much more about the draft and amateurs then anyone in your/my position could ever hope to that talking much about it is just idle.
Drafting for need
Would be drafting someone to fill a specific spot in a certain number of years.
They don’t need to necessarily focus on drafting hitting, but probably won’t go overboard on pitching like they did this year, which should even things out.
by The Left Button on Oct 3, 2010 7:40 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm thinking maybe the Brewers should get a pitcher for 12th pick
and hitter for 15th pick, other than the other way around
by ilikeburritos on Oct 3, 2010 7:37 PM CDT up reply actions
Yeah, i suppose it could go either way. Regardless, the 12th pick will be a higher upside guy, and a riskier pick.
The 15th pick will be a lower upside/lower risk pick, because he’ll be easier to sign.
If they can’t reach an agreement with #12, they get a compensation pick for next year. If they fail to sign the 15th pick, they get nothing.
http://www.mlbsoup.com
From what I've looked up about pitchers for the next draft
the Brewers have been predicted to pick either Sonny Gray, Matt Barnes, or Archie Bradley
by ilikeburritos on Oct 3, 2010 7:48 PM CDT up reply actions
Next year isn't our year.
I am thinking 2012 when Lawrie and Odorizzi among others(Rogers, Jeffress) can come up and make an impact. We won’t get much for Fielder and unless we get an impact player in return we have a ways to go until we are a playoff team.
Give him an offspeed pitch down and in. He will swing and miss.
Sad but true.
Barring some sort of of unlikely FA signing, read that as Cliff Lee, we’re going nowhere. I see many 75-83 win years in the Brewers future.
We won't be good enough to even finish the season?
(not that I’ve paid much attention the last couple of weeks)
"The Milwaukee Brewers' line score is starting to resemble an international phone number" - Pittsburgh Pirates Radio during 20-0 shutout - 4-22-10
he wasn't saying our record would be 75-83
but rather we would have somewhere between 75 and 83 wins
Cliffly's not gonna get us over the hump
and will likely set the organization back for awhile. Not that kinda team. Big names not ever gonna be the way to go.
New and improved: http://www.twitter.com/ackchooairy
Note: Improvement not guaranteed.
I'm not saying next year will be "our year," or even 2012
I guess what I was trying to say was that the last month has raised my expectations for next year. By about July of this season I already had visions of a miserable 2011. But the last month has me excited that we could at least be average or maybe even slightly above.
My goodness.
by BrewHaHeather on Oct 4, 2010 12:25 PM CDT up reply actions
don't expect Odorizzi to make a huge impact in 2012.
Keep in mind, he’s a rookie. He also won’t be brought up until mid-season, I’m guessing. I’d look at 2013, 2014, unless something drastic happens in this offseason.
http://www.mlbsoup.com
He doesn't need to be better than average to make an impact
Our pitching is so poor that even an average pitcher should add 2 wins easy. Droppin off our 32 worst starts for an average pitcher would be pretty big.
I am not saying 2012 is our year but we should at least be competitive. The Reds were only estimated at about 84 win true talent at the start of the season. I think we were at 83ish. Sure we will take a hit from Fielder leaving but it isn’t like we are worlds behing the top guys in our division.
Give him an offspeed pitch down and in. He will swing and miss.
If he is as good as he seems in the minors
then that should add some more wins.
by ilikeburritos on Oct 8, 2010 6:30 AM CDT up reply actions
He may not have positive WAR
But he could still add a couple of wins.
by BrewCrewBrian on Oct 8, 2010 7:15 AM CDT up reply actions
Sad but true.
A top pitcher will help almost any team. It is like replacing your worst hitter in the lineup.
Give him an offspeed pitch down and in. He will swing and miss.
idk why the brewers couldnt be above 500 next year
brewers had the 4th most team WAR; i dont think you should be all sourpuss on them so soon
wait...how is that possible?
to have the 4th highest overall (pitching + batting + fielding) WAR, shouldn’t we have the 4th most wins? Or at least 4th best pythag record? Or were we somehow much less clutch than average?
In other words
A .500 team.
The team has to bring in about 10 additional wins for next year to be considered a “contender” and thats with retaining Fielder.
That jives with the WAR totals
50.1 Reds
40.4 Brewers
38.5 Cardinals
31.2 Cubs
25.3 Astros
10.1 Pirates
wellll
if theyre a true talent 85 win team (carlos gomez’s 5 war next season will be a big boost ;x) all they need is a little luck to get to 90 wins and probably the division, so dont be too down beat. i realize melvin isn’t exactly aecus & midas when it comes to judging pitching but whoever replaces dave bush probably won’t suck that hard, so i am guessing the team’s talent will be improved a fair deal next year.
Eh
I figured they were an 83 win true talent team, no big difference there. But they really only played like a 76 win team.
Lets say you give everyone still in arb a .5 bump among starters and SP, that gets you to 6 additional wins, take out the 4 for Fielder, you still need probably 7 wins from somewhere, and thats not counting regression from guys like McGehee or Weeks or even Hart, or the 2 wins that Edmonds provided.
Its still a long way for next year, and they need at least two big time players to make it close, imo. If this is true, and DM continues to look for arb eligible guys in return for Fielder, Id say his reluctance to rebuild (as well as MA) probably costs the team at least 3 years. Meaning the 2013 playoff team may not come until 2016 now.
by backtocali on Oct 4, 2010 4:21 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
backtocali youre unironically my favorite poster
i wasnt always on that train but i’ve come to feel it.
i don’t think rickie is really going to regress because he totally rules and is so talented, but yeah, its true that there’s work to do and things to make up for, but i don’t know, and melvin knows so much more about this that i am inclined to trust his judgment over mine until its disproven. youre too pessimistic, i think.
You prefer backtocali to nullacct?
Is your sense of humor still in there?
Applying Simpsons and Star Wars quotes to Brewers discussions since 2009.
farteater
you’re my second least favorite poster
I kid…a bit.
by PagsBrewCrew on Oct 5, 2010 9:03 AM CDT up reply actions 5 recs
I'll rec that
"If we want to sign a Type A free agent, we would lose a second-round pick, but we don't have a way to get picks back. Our whole Draft process needs to be redone."
~Doug Melvin
by Charlie Marlow on Oct 5, 2010 5:51 PM CDT up reply actions
charlie marlow guffawed as he clicked the rec button
ah, the triumph. “pwn3d” he said aloud in a voice betraying the shrill tones of the passive aggressive. this moment of grandeur was fleeting, for soon after a clear ring was heard; dominos had arrived. as he took the warm breadbowl from the hands of the deliveryman, he jumped in sheer giddiness.
I'll flag that
"If we want to sign a Type A free agent, we would lose a second-round pick, but we don't have a way to get picks back. Our whole Draft process needs to be redone."
~Doug Melvin
by Charlie Marlow on Oct 5, 2010 7:51 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Well that settles it...
i don’t think rickie is really going to regress because he totally rules and is so talented
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
All Rickie ever does is totally flip out and hit baseballs.
by dickie_thon on Oct 5, 2010 9:23 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Tom Cruise
"The Milwaukee Brewers' line score is starting to resemble an international phone number" - Pittsburgh Pirates Radio during 20-0 shutout - 4-22-10
"If we want to sign a Type A free agent, we would lose a second-round pick, but we don't have a way to get picks back. Our whole Draft process needs to be redone."
~Doug Melvin
by Charlie Marlow on Oct 5, 2010 9:33 PM CDT up reply actions
is there any international pitching prospects coming up soon?
this year it was Chapman and Heredia(maybe some others that I’m not aware of). I’d like to see the Brewers get some top international pitching prospects
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cincinnati
|
25 | 19 | .568 | 0 | Won 6 |
|
St. Louis
|
25 | 20 | .555 | 0.5 | Lost 1 |
|
Houston
|
21 | 23 | .477 | 4 | Won 3 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
20 | 24 | .454 | 5 | Lost 2 |
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Milwaukee
|
18 | 26 | .409 | 7 | Won 1 |
|
Chicago
|
15 | 29 | .340 | 10 | Lost 9 |
(updated 5.25.2012 at 3:41 AM CDT)
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