Monday's Frosty Mug
by Kyle Lobner on Jan 24, 2011 9:00 AM CST
in Milwaukee Brewers News
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PrintSome things to read while making a deposit.
Long before the first robin of spring, we get this harbinger of things to come: Jeff Passan of Yahoo has the first Brewers Spring Training preview. It's heavy on credit for Doug Melvin for putting together a potential contender in 2011.
The Baseball Opinion, though, has the opposite side of the coin. They say Doug Melvin is on the hot seat, and "if things don't work out well for the Brewers this upcoming season, it's probably an easy bet that the team will have a new GM by this time next year."
Once the Brewers report to Maryvale, a fair number of eyes will likely focus on Shaun Marcum. Vaughn's Valley listed him as the #6 Brewer Critical to 2011 Success. Baseball America has a look at the trade that brought him to Milwaukee, but it's subscriber-only.
This weekend we learned that Jeremy Reed will also be in camp: The Brewers signed him to a minor league deal with an NRI (FanShot).Reed is 29 and a very good defensive outfielder, but pretty poor offensively (.253/.311/.356 over seven major league seasons). I'd guess he's a long shot to make the team at this point, and will most likely patrol center field in Nashville.
It's unlikely Reed will factor into this conversation, but Satchel Price of Beyond the Box Score has a somewhat skeptical view of Carlos Gomez as an everyday player. He says "don't be surprised if (Chris) Dickerson is Milwaukee's primary center fielder by the middle of the summer."
Elsewhere in transactions, the Brewers avoided arbitration with Kameron Loe (FanShot). He'll make $1.25 million this season with an extra $115,000 in incentives that could be reached if he makes 78 appearances.
Here's an interesting note on Brewer pitching: We all know that the staff was pretty bad last season, but the B-Ref Blog notes that they tied for third in all of baseball with five pitchers averaging more than a strikeout per inning.
A big season from Ryan Braun would go a long way towards pushing the Brewers into contention this season. Braun was the only Brewer to make Jayson Stark's All-Underrated Team.
For the first time in a long time, it seems relatively likely that the Brewers won't be able to sign Rickie Weeks to a long term deal before he becomes a free agent following the season. The Beer Pen thinks Weeks will be gone next year. Here's what Jack Moore of Disciples of Uecker had to say:
Personally, I think the ideal contract extension for Weeks would go three seasons, which would take him through his age 31 year. Of course, that might not be enough to keep Rickie around.
Here's another reminder of how far the Brewers have come: Jaymes Langrehr of The Brewers Bar has a season preview from 2002.
In the minors:
- The Journal Sentinel has a nice look at Mark Rogers and his resurrection as the Brewers' #1 prospect. Rogers is also #1 in Brewerprospects.com's annual ranking of Brewer farmhands.
- When I went to bed last night, Khris Davis and Eric Arnett were neck-and-neck in the race for the 17th and final spot in our BCB prospect rankings. Between then and this morning, Cameron Garfield picked up roughly 100 votes to take the spot. If anyone knows anything about how that happened, I'd love to hear it.
I know we're all over the map on the Packers here: some of us are fans, some of us aren't fans, and some of us don't like football, but at least there's this: In-Between Hops notes that there will only be nine days between the Super Bowl and the day pitchers and catchers report.
Around baseball:
Angels: Acquired outfielder Vernon Wells from the Blue Jays for outfielder Juan Rivera and catcher Mike Napoli.
Blue Jays: Designated pitcher Rommie Lewis for assignment.
Cardinals: Signed infielder Nick Punto to a one year, $700,000 deal.
Mets: Signed pitcher Blaine Boyer to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Avoided arbitration with pitcher Darren O'Day ($1.215 million).
Rays: Signed Johnny Damon ($5.25 million) and Manny Ramirez ($2 million) to one year deals.
Rockies: Avoided arbitration with pitcher Jason Hammel (two years, $7.75 million).
Royals: Signed first baseman Billy Butler to a four year, $30 million contract extension.
White Sox: Exercised manager Ozzie Guillen's club option for 2012.
Today in former Brewers:
- Bill Hall is predicting big things for the 2011 Astros.
- The Nationals Enquirer wants Todd Coffey to run with the Racing Presidents.
- Minor League Ball has a look back at Trevor Hoffman's career.
- The Golden Sombrero ranks Jake Odorizzi as baseball's 35th best prospect.
- Frank Catalanotto is on Twitter. (h/t @wezen_ball)
- Felipe Lopez is still on the market.
- Former Brewer third base coach Rich Donnelly will manage the Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets, Low A) in 2011.
Today in sabermetrics:
- Once upon a time I tried a project similar to this myself, but Joe Posnanski did a better job of tackling the value of a walk.
- Jeff Zimmerman of FanGraphs has the third and final installment in his look at starting pitchers and the disabled list.
Relevant to nothing, but we have a new candidate for the minor leagues' best name: I'd like to introduce new Marlins prospect Jean Carlos Batman.
On this day in 1973 Warren Spahn was elected to the Hall of Fame, appearing on 316 of 380 ballots. In twelve seasons as a Milwaukee Brave Spahn went 234-138, pitched complete games in 232 of his 399 starts, won a Cy Young Award, finished in the top five in Cy Young voting five times, finished in the top five in MVP voting four times, and was a nine time All Star.
With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday over the weekend to:
- 1995 Brewer Rob Dibble, who turns 47 today.
- Seattle Pilot and 1970 Brewer Sandy Valdespino, who turns 72 today.
- 1999 Brewer Charlie Greene, who turned 40 on Sunday.
- 1975-76 Brewer Kurt Bevacqua, who turned 64 on Sunday.
- 1971-72 Brewer Paul Ratliff, who turned 67 on Sunday.
- Brevard County Manatee Brock Kjeldgaard, who turned 25 on Saturday.
- 1977-84 Brewer Mike Caldwell, who turned 62 on Saturday.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find some figs.
Drink up.
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someone was clamboring for garfield to be added a few days ago.
..and I was wondering if they were really pro comic-cat or assassinated president.
by PagsBrewCrew on Jan 24, 2011 10:24 AM CST up reply actions
Garfield votes
Mr. Lobner, and all you haters, apparently adding Garfield to the list late like you did didn’t afford his followers/well wishers much time to vote, so obviously they made yesterday and last night count. The site was set up to only allow one vote per. computer, right? If so, it sounds legit, so let’s give all the Garfield backers a big round of applause !!!!!!!!
"one vote per computer"
someone must have used an IP-masking service then :P
by PagsBrewCrew on Jan 24, 2011 10:28 AM CST up reply actions
or has access to a 100+ computer
computer lab
by PagsBrewCrew on Jan 24, 2011 10:28 AM CST up reply actions
If I haven't made it perfectly clear already
I’m pretty sure someone (and now we have a candidate) went out of their way to rig the vote.
And if they did, congratulations. I hope the #17 spot in the prospect rankings was worth the time you wasted on it.
Now that's great tasting chicken!
by Kyle Lobner on Jan 24, 2011 12:21 PM CST up reply actions
Again, just hateful
I’ve said it from the beginning, there was absolutely no rigging of anykind in regards to the voting. Just good old fashion love and support for someone in good standing within his community. All it boils down to is that if you run a poll correctly and list everyone from the beginning, you will truly see who the fans vote for. Throwing someone in there at the last second was just wrong and when the troops are forced to rally, you don’t like the results. He is not away at some winter league, he is home working his rear end off at an elite fitness center getting ready for spring training. He is in contact with his church, friends, teachers, former coaches, family, extended family, strength coaches, speed coaches, hitting facility staff, etc…. almost daily (of course someone texted me with this info :) ), and you wonder how someone get’s votes in a day. Bottom line is he has excellent character/makeup (one reason the Brewers liked him so much) and is very well liked in the community and it makes support easy to attain when there is something simple like a poll to vote on.
by Brewer Manure on Jan 25, 2011 10:43 AM CST up reply actions
in any case, you misunderstand the point of a prospect list
it’s not to say who the greatest guy is, but rather who the best baseball player is and who you believe will have the best shot at the major league level eventually to make an impact performance-wise.
It doesn’t matter how nice he is or how well he maintains relationships with former coaches and individuals from his high school day, but rather can he hit a damned baseball hard. And can he play his position better than most people can at the level and have an honest shot of doing so at the next level, and the next, and the next?
by PagsBrewCrew on Jan 25, 2011 11:02 AM CST up reply actions
Exactly
That’s why makeup along with playing ability is so important. He is a hard nosed old school catcher and is already being requested by the pitching staff even on his days off. He is not one of those offensive studs like Harper or Myers, but we all see where it gets you if you can hit, but your defense is not up to speed, right? It gets you moved to the outfield just like Harper and Myers!!! So while he has the support of all those people mentioned, it’s not support just because someone wants you to win a poll, it’s support because the people believe that he is a great player and will be a great old school catcher behind the dish someday.
by Brewer Manure on Jan 25, 2011 11:09 AM CST up reply actions
Hitting the ball hard
If you had access to some of the reports, you would know that he was touted as making solid contact in most of his at bats, resulting in a large number of line drive outs. Sometimes you have seasons like that, I know I did, just like you have seasons where everything you hit seems to find a hole. It’s all a cycle and everyone has to live it, thats what the minors are all about. It’s about who prevails and who quits.
by Brewer Manure on Jan 25, 2011 11:14 AM CST up reply actions
So, you're saying that Garfield has 100's of "troops"?
100’s of “Troops” that read BrewCrewBall in the middle of the night?
http://www.mlbsoup.com
or one that reads BCB
and the other 99 who check their e-mail accounts/social networking in the middle of the night, actually read mass mail messages, click on links and cast a vote for the person the mass mailing indicates they should.
I think the simplest explanation is that the circus painted the horse black and white rather than buying and training a zebra.
by PagsBrewCrew on Jan 25, 2011 11:34 AM CST up reply actions
LOL, thats a good one Pags
I always appreciate a well versed individual.
by Brewer Manure on Jan 25, 2011 11:38 AM CST up reply actions
Middle of the night?
Is 9 to 11 the middle of the night ?
by Brewer Manure on Jan 25, 2011 11:39 AM CST up reply actions
It's not the beginning or the end.
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
by sjlee on Jan 25, 2011 1:12 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
I can sometimes get 2 votes out of a computer.
One before signing in and one after. Haven’t tried it in a while though.
Give him an offspeed pitch down and in. He will swing and miss.
right...but it's probably constrained to one per name in addition to the one per computer
so..unless he has 50 accounts, the only way he can get 100 votes is with 99 different “computers” plus one login on one of them.
by PagsBrewCrew on Jan 24, 2011 1:59 PM CST up reply actions
Are you friends, or related to Garfield?
Just noticed all of your posts are about Garfield. If so, tell him good luck next year in Brevard County.
Get a ife broseph
Once he gets there.
I’m relatively sure the Brewers are going to have him repeat Wisconsin.
Now that's great tasting chicken!
by Kyle Lobner on Jan 24, 2011 12:18 PM CST up reply actions
Why do you say that?
I hadn’t thought too much about, just assumed they’d move him to A+ and give Tyler Roberts a shot in a full season league.
Get a ife broseph
He's young enough that they won't destroy him by holding him back
And he hit .245/.287/.318 in Wisconsin. If they promote him there’s a good chance he’ll hit .200/.230/.260 in BC, and then what? Do you keep promoting him just because Roberts is getting promoted too?
My guess is Roberts and Garfield both open 2011 in Wisconsin, splitting starts at catcher 50/50 and with Roberts getting a fair amount of ABs at DH.
Now that's great tasting chicken!
I think for development purposes, they'd rather have guys catching full time
Instead of splitting time at the position. Its an interesting situation though, Garfield definitely didn’t do anything to make it an easy decision.
Catching is notoriously difficult for young guys to learn, I’d rather both guys got as much game experience behind the plate as possible, even if it means they struggle with the bat.
Get a ife broseph
right, but if anything Garfield should move down, not up.
I’d start the season with both in Wisconsin and strongly consider sending Garfield to Helena once their season opens, if Roberts hasn’t shown enough to merit a move up.
Now that's great tasting chicken!
Makes sense
I do think the Brewers will do everything they can to avoid putting them both on the same minor league roster, especially considering how much defensive development Roberts needs. That could involve Brevard, or extended spring training/short season, something to keep an eye on I guess.
Get a ife broseph
But he is OBVIOUSLY the seventeenth best prospect!
And he would have done better if you put him in earlier. In reality, he is clearly one of the best 5 and should immediately be added to the 25 man roster.
by BrewCrewBrian on Jan 24, 2011 1:08 PM CST up reply actions
Thanks for the support supertramp
Let’s just say that I have been fortunate enough to know this young man for a period of time now and think the world of him. Is he the best catcher out there? No, not by a long shot, but he does put in the work and is middle of the road offensively, but working on it daily. His throw out percentages were horrible the past 2 seasons, but the staff believes it is a direct result of the pitching staff being instructed to throw strikes first and worry about the runners last. This rings true due to the fact that the other catchers were in the same boat % wise. His snap times have not changed and are still in the 1.6-1.8 range. Where this kid shines is his defense and his pitching staff management. When you have pitchers requesting him behind the dish, it sends a very strong message about character and who feels secure on the mound while he is behind the dish. As we all know, a pitcher has to have complete confidence with the guy behind the dish. It makes all the difference in the world. It also helps when the catching coordinator believes in you and your former manager just got promoted to the next level. Bottom line is he is a 19 year old who has one full season under his belt and has already called 1 no hitter and almost a second. I also don’t have enough fingers to count the 4, 5 and 6 hitters he has called. He is going to be one of those hard nosed guys who stays behind the dish and endures/prevails, unlike some other offensive studs like Harper and Myers who have already been moved to the outfield. I will let him know of your support and say hello for you the next time I speak to him.
by Brewer Manure on Jan 25, 2011 11:03 AM CST up reply actions
That's cool and all...
You seem to be really worked up about an internet poll and comments on a blog, and you shouldn’t be.
Most players don’t give a crap what random people they’ve never met say about their game, it might do you some good to follow their lead.
We all want Garfield to be good, but its also a fan site and with the intent of letting people discuss the team and players – both the good and bad.
Get a ife broseph
#17
Garfield has obviously been a well liked person where he has been assigned as well as home in So. Cal. !!!!!!!!
Kind of amazing that the Brewers could have had Punto for less then they payed Counsell
Even if he wasn’t considered the shortstop he is still a valuable utility player. Kind of unfortunate that Melvin let the Cardinals scoop him up.
I wouldn't mind giving a Minor League deal to Lopez
He is a pretty decent guy of the bench and a solid infielder. Plus, he can play almost any position.
Nationwide Writer for SBNation's Nascar Ranting & Raving (www.4ever3blog.com)
"A ringing single for David Eckstein who, in my view, is the perfect size for an American male." -Bob Costas
I wonder if he's be interested in taking a minor league deal.
He was a late FA signing by the Cardinals last season, so it’s very possible that he’s willing to hold out for a major league deal.
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
Acquired outfielder Vernon Wells from the Blue Jays for outfielder Juan Rivera and catcher Mike Napoli.
That would be pretty big news…in 2006. Now it’s just shruggity.
Applying Simpsons and Star Wars quotes to Brewers discussions since 2009.
Yeah, Angels taking on that entire contract is just insane.
E: George 4 (5, throw, throw, throw, throw).
For one of the better catchers in the game, too.
That was one of the most stupid trades by a team I have seen, I think.
by Noah Jarosh on Jan 24, 2011 11:33 AM CST up reply actions
As does Halo Heaven
Alex Anthopoulos has unloaded the $64.7 mil owed to Rios (including ‘10) and the $86 mil owed to Wells in the past 17 months. That’s pretty impressive.
"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."
BCB Fantasy Football League 1 Champ
Can you imagine the conversation between the GMs?
AA: Hello?
TR: Alex!
AA: …
AA: Tony?
TR: Yeah! Say, how’s the wife?
AA: Fine.
AA: Listen, I’m kind of busy. Spring training coming up and all.
TR: Just a quick question, how much do you guys like Vernon Wells?
AA: Well, I don’t know. I mean, his contract is really bad and he’s not actually very good defensively. He hits OK, though
TR: Great! We’ll give you Napoli for him!
AA:
AA: Napoli is a good catcher though
TR: Alright, alright, we’ll give Juan Rivera as a sort of replacement for the year. His contract is expiring, so it shouldn’t hurt you much
AA:
AA: Napoli is really valuable
TR: You drive a hard bargain! I’ll tell you what, you don’t even have to send any of that Canadian funny money, either!
AA:
AA: Let’s get this paperwork done really quick, OK?
by Noah Jarosh on Jan 24, 2011 12:45 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Not very good defensively?
He’s won three Gold Gloves!
/sarcasm
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
The question for me
What would Wells have gotten on the open market this offseason? Maybe he’s not worth his present deal, but how much is he actually overpaid?
I’m cherry picking a bit, but Wells is 32 and here’s how he compares over the past five years to two outfielders that got massive deals this offseason:
Wells (32): 14.3 WAR
Crawford (29): 17.7 WAR
Werth (31): 15.4 WAR
As a free agent, Wells likely would have been the third best outfielder available this offseason, and might have gotten something like 4/$60 or 5/$75. He’s getting overpaid, clearly, but it’s not like he’s worthless.
Now that's great tasting chicken!
by Kyle Lobner on Jan 24, 2011 12:43 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
If you drop that down to the last four years it's
Wells: 7 fWAR
Crawford: 18.1 fWAR
Werth: 18.2 fWAR
by Noah Jarosh on Jan 24, 2011 12:48 PM CST up reply actions
Or, with B-Refs WAR over the last 4 years
Wells: 7.3
Crawford: 11.5
Werth: 12.6
by Noah Jarosh on Jan 24, 2011 12:49 PM CST up reply actions
I think if he had gotten a contract on the open market similar to what you suggest it would be almost universally ridiculed.
He’s not worthless, but Carlos Gomez put up a 1.1 fWAR in just 97 games last year. If he had been the starter the whole season, he probably would have had more fWAR last year than Wells had combined in 2008 and 2009.
by Noah Jarosh on Jan 24, 2011 12:53 PM CST up reply actions
Agree
The most I could see him getting is something like a 3 year $35MM type deal.
Get a ife broseph
Have you ever gone out of town on business for a week...
…And had that nagging feeling that you left something undone? I get back late last night, and I see this little note I had penned to myself, sitting next to the phone:
“Call Reagins and tell him that no matter what happens, do NOT, do NOT, do NOT make a trade for one of the worst contracts in baseball!”
I really want to defend the Angels, but man, this one just doesn’t make any sense.
I don't really have a problem with Rickie betting on himself
though I admit that I’m a little surprised. I can only guess that the Uggla contract changed his mind on the possible FA payoff for a 2B if he has a second big year.
As far as I can tell, the Brewers don’t low-ball their player contracts – they certainly didn’t with Hart. Two stints on the 15-day DL for any injury at all would probably drop Weeks’ FA value compared to what the Brewers are offering now.
The Brewers might have been able to replace most of Fielder’s production in 2012 by upgrading SS and a solid 1B, but I don’t think they’ll be able to replace healthy-Weeks production and Fielder’s production. 2011 is really looking like a complete and total all in year.
As such, I’m so glad they didn’t pursue a good SS. * sigh* Betancourt had better not completely and totally suck this year or I’m going to be angry at Melvin for missing the blatantly obvious weak link in the team even with the Marcum and Greinke trades.
Not sure what kind of contract Weeks is looking for...
but I’m fine with going with the wait and see approach.
Granted, Weeks could pull a Cordero and be all pissed off about not getting a big contract before the season starts, but I think waiting to see if Weeks can repeat last season would be prudent before giving him the contract he’s asking for.
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
Out of Curiosity
Has there been any reports saying that Weeks and the Brewers probably won’t come to an agreement. My interpretation of the news that they were going to focus on a one year deal was more related to the figure differences and the arbitration deadline. I’m not saying it’s likely and obviously the figure difference will impact the likelihood of a long-term deal as well, but I don’t recall any news that they wouldn’t try working out a multi-year deal once they had this year taken care of.
That also brings up another thought. Obviously we were looking to sign Weeks to an extension, if that indeed is no longer the case I’d be interested in hearing what everyone thinks would be the best case scenario of where that money now goes. Marcum extension? FA 2B and/or SS? FA 1B?
BCB, the preferred above replacement level sarcasm supplier.
by MadJimiBrewha on Jan 24, 2011 10:29 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
as to a long term contract for weeks
given that the club and player numbers submitted to arbitration differed by 3-4x, I’m not too optimistic about an eventual long-term contract being signed before he hits FA.
Obviously the two sides have VERY different opinions of his value. As such, there’s a lot of work to do to find a middle ground.
This all being said, I think Weeks’ side has a better grip on his value to the team (or rather to the highest bidding team on the FA market…along with his value for a competitive Brewers team in 2011) than the team does.
by PagsBrewCrew on Jan 24, 2011 10:34 AM CST up reply actions
3-4x?
Wasn’t it $7.2M vs. $4.85M? That’s not even double.
Hmmm, perhaps my sarcasm detector is broken?
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
okay...i misrememberified
for some reason I was thinking 7.something vs 2.something
by PagsBrewCrew on Jan 24, 2011 10:57 AM CST up reply actions
It sounds like they're really far away
http://brewersbeat.mlblogs.com/archives/2011/01/brewers_weeks_table_multiyear.html
“So, we’re willing to go and extend, but there’s a limit to the level we’re willing to extend. We’ll have to work our way through that if we can. We still have time, but if there’s a belief on Genske’s side that Rickie Weeks is similar to Dan Uggla, then we’re going to have a problem.”
It sounds like his new agent is jerking DM around a little. I’m a little surprised his agent wasn’t more anxious for an extension. He doesn’t get paid until Weeks signs a new contract and he really waits until free agency, his agent will have been working for him a solid 15 months without seeing a dime. Weeks gets injured and the agent will be making peanuts.
As far as what to do with the money, I think it’s going to have to be free agents. The Brewers are going to have a lot of production to make up for and no one in the system ready to take over SS or 2B. On the bright side, if the Brewers can’t afford Weeks, that means he’s going to be a Type A free agent. The Brewers could end up with 3 first round picks and 2 sandwich picks in the 2012 draft.
Doug Melvin's status
I think with the strength of his offseason moves, regardless of the outcome, he’s bought himself another season as the Brewers GM. Yes, it’s an all-in move and resulted in a depletion of the farm system, but maybe he should be tasked with rebuilding the farm system after this year. As long as he understands that he can’t be “all in” every year from now until 2020 and his role will be to do occasional rebuilds, he might be able to stick around. But if he goes around and tries to do little patchwork fixes here and there and doesn’t give any thought to our real chances now or rebuilding our farm for real, then he goes. But he should have 2012 to figure that out.
From that perspective, the prospect development will be really important
Including the guys he traded away, Melvin is going to have to have a good showing from his draft picks to be looked upon as a good rebuilder. Depending upon how much Jack Z made the draft decisions vs. DM, he might not be in a position to take on a potentially loaded 2012 draft.
Isn’t Jack Z is already taking heat? A second poor year in Seattle might mean he’ll available either as a full-time GM or an assistant GM.
Do we really want Jack Z to replace DM as GM?
Maybe he’s better suited to do scouting than running an organization. Do you think he’d do better as the Brewers GM than what he’s done with the Mariners?
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
I think he's done okay over there
plus he has more familiarity with the Brewers system than the Ms
he might know what some of the broken bits are and how to replace them.
by PagsBrewCrew on Jan 24, 2011 10:59 AM CST up reply actions
If he loses his GM job with the Mariners, I doubt he'll have a GM offer somewhere else
He probably ends up as a #2 somewhere until someone looks at him again. Why not back with the Brewers where he at least knows the team philosophy and the owner probably still likes him?
This is true.
Too close for missiles, I’m switching to Ueck.
Brewers On Deck Question
Is there a way to buy tickets to Brewers On Deck without having to pay any sort of convenience fee? If I order online, they want to charge me 2 extra BUCKS. I would assume that if I call, they will also charge me that fee..
http://www.mlbsoup.com
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic
Can you buy tickets anywhere without a convenience fee? If so, please let me know.
Oh. If you buy game tickets at the Miller Park window, they don't charge you any extra fees.
http://www.mlbsoup.com
Also, for game tickets, if you call
Joe Robinson from the Brewers ticket office. 414-902-4492
"The Milwaukee Brewers' line score is starting to resemble an international phone number" - Pittsburgh Pirates Radio during 20-0 shutout - 4-22-10
Yes, if you buy game tickets at the ticket office
you avoid paying any convenience fees.
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
You can avoid the convenience fee by buying the tickets at the door...
but then you end up paying $5 more for the higher ticket price.
I don’t think you can buy them at the ticket office at Miller Park, but the Brewers always tack on a fee when you buy tickets online.
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
So...
What’s the trick? Can you get them at Miller Park and avoid the fee?
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
I just talked to my season ticket account exec. She's sending them in the mail.
I bet you could get the same deal if you call up the ticket office and say, “Hi, I’m looking for tickets to the On Deck thing, but I don’t want to pay the convenience fee. How can you make that happen?”
http://www.mlbsoup.com
I don't think the Brewers tack on that fee
I think the company that serves as their ticket broker does
I think if the Brewers were adding on a per-ticket (rather than per-transaction) fee, they’d have to build it into their official ticket price and put it on the ticket, right?
by PagsBrewCrew on Jan 24, 2011 11:12 AM CST up reply actions
Not sure
When buying tickets online, you usually have to pay a fee of some sort. I believe each team’s website is all handled by MLB, so that may be the fee MLB charges for handling those transactions or like you said, it may be a separate ticket broker that handles online ticket sales.
In either case, at least it’s not like Ticketmaster who charges all kinds of fees… even if you buy tickets in person.
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
If anything, buying tickets in person should carry a fee, not online.
Shipping aside, in-person ticket buying requires someone to be there, sitting around waiting for people to come buy tickets.
Automated ticket sales are easily cheaper, yet somehow teams find a way to make more money off of them.
Now that's great tasting chicken!
Hard to say
To handle online transactions, you have to have the infrastructure in place on your website which includes personnel to troubleshoot any issues that come up. Plus, there are credit card processing fees. If you don’t have the infrastructure in place, there are companies that will process the transactions for you for a fee.
I’m not sure how much someone working the ticket counter makes, but my guess is that it’s close to minimum wage.
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
The people selling you tickets in person also need that infrastructure, though, since they're also using a computerized system.
And the credit card processing fees are the same, too.
Now that's great tasting chicken!
What does BUCKS have to do with this?
RIDE BIKES~!
Applying Simpsons and Star Wars quotes to Brewers discussions since 2009.
If we didn't offer Punto something similar
to what he got signing with the Cards, I will be very sports angry
(which is like real angry, but goes away the second anything else happens).
by Braunstalker on Jan 24, 2011 1:01 PM CST reply actions 5 recs
rec'd for definition of an important concept
Too close for missiles, I’m switching to Ueck.
Do people just ignore Carlos Gomez's numbers, or what?
He’s been basically an average major leaguer over his short career.
Ryan Braun: He loves it. -- Four pitchers in history with 8.5+ WAR and <250 IP seasons: Greg Maddux (age 29), Pedro Martinez (age 28), Roger Clemens (age 27), Zack Greinke (age 25).
by SRB on Jan 24, 2011 2:19 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
What do you consider average?
There are quite a few reasons for me and expectations are at the top list.
No matter where he’s played the fans have been expecting him to improve each year since he’s a “young player,” but he hasn’t really made any strides which means he may already be at the ceiling of his ability.
Next is comparing him to other CF. If we project Gomez’ 300 PA to 600 PA, Gomez comes up with 2.1 fWAR. In a vacuum, 2 WAR isn’t terrible, but if you look at the rest of the CF on teams that were in the postseason last year, it’s not pretty. Almost everyone is at least 1 WAR better.
When compared to a minor league CF, Gomez is pretty good. When compared against other major league center fielders on contending teams he’s well below “average.” The Brewers are giving up wins in CF with Gomez out there and I don’t expect any improvement in him this year.
2.0 WAR/600 PA is considered average.
And since the 139 PA he accumulated as a rushed 21-year-old in New York, he’s averaged 1.97 WAR/600 PA. He also set career highs offensively last season, is still very young, and hasn’t had a chance to fully utilize his speed offensively. There’s plenty of reason to expect him to improve, even though he hasn’t really been that bad as it is.
Ryan Braun: He loves it. -- Four pitchers in history with 8.5+ WAR and <250 IP seasons: Greg Maddux (age 29), Pedro Martinez (age 28), Roger Clemens (age 27), Zack Greinke (age 25).
by SRB on Jan 24, 2011 2:53 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
There were 16 CFs with 600 PAs last season
All but one had a WAR over 2.0.
Also, I didn’t think his 2010 offensive numbers were better than his 2008 numbers.
Regardless, if he was rushed to the majors by the Mets, wouldn’t you think that the Twins would’ve sent him back down to get more experience? I could see a mistake by one organization to rush someone to the majors, but two?
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
Those 16 CFs with over 600 PAs were good enough to get 600 PAs
You have to count everybody when you’re looking at an average. Average isn’t an idea or concept, it’s the mathematical mean production of the center fielders in the league overall. And 2 wins/600 plate appearances is average by definition.
E: George 4 (5, throw, throw, throw, throw).
by Jordan M on Jan 24, 2011 3:53 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
There's an article in Beyond the Boxscore on Gomez
http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2011/1/21/1948494/giving-up-on-carlos-gomez
That might be what you were referring to in the first place. It pretty much says hasn’t been good since coming up. He has a chance to become a solid CF if he can manage to hit his ZiPS projected totals and keep up elite defense in CF.
Earlier, KL gave his theory on outfield defense and there’s a reason for the Brewers to put more weight Gomez’ defensive value given the -UZR fielders in the corners.
On the flip side, with the hole created in the lineup by Betancourt’s bat, the Brewers will be fielding 7-9 hitter with sub .300 OBP. One could argue we need more offense out of CF given the miserable offense coming from SS.
I’ll give Gomez a fair shake this year for certain and I’ll hope for a solid year, but if he’s got a .220 BA through May, I’m going to be calling for Dickerson.
Yeah, that was the article I was referring to.
Calling him a “flow of suckitude” or “Quad-A all-glove type” is ignoring that he has played around average so far.
I’m not saying the Brewers couldn’t upgrade in CF or even that Dickerson couldn’t potentially be a huge step up, just that Carlos Gomez is still young and hasn’t actually played all that poorly. If he had the exact same overall production but was a good hitter and poor fielder, I think people would give him more slack (maybe justifiably so, given the inherent flaws in defensive metrics).
Ryan Braun: He loves it. -- Four pitchers in history with 8.5+ WAR and <250 IP seasons: Greg Maddux (age 29), Pedro Martinez (age 28), Roger Clemens (age 27), Zack Greinke (age 25).
I hadn't thought about looking WAR
I was originally thinking he meant his offensive numbers, but WAR would make more sense since his defense would be considered.
Anyway, looking at all MLB CFs last season with at least 300 PAs, I see Gomez ranking 29th out of 39. Even if it’s increased to 2.1 WAR for 600 PAs, he ends up being ranked 15th out of 16 (all MLB CFs with at least 600 PAs).
Looking at his entire career doesn’t make things any better either. For all MLB CFs from 2007-2010 with at least 1400 PAs, Gomez ranks 31st out of 36.
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
I think those include part time CF
Josh Hamilton, while capable of lining up at CF is a LF, but shows up on Fangraphs as a CF when filtered by position. I didn’t take the time to figure out which ones were full-time CF like Gomez.
Out of the 36 players with 1400 PAs from 2007-2010
Seven had less than 50% of their starts in CF (this does not include Hamilton who has 255 out of 410 starts in CF). Of those seven, five were above Gomez in terms of WAR.
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
Correction
There are only six with four above Gomez.
I accidentally changed the minimum PAs to 1300, which resulted in Ryan Sweeney being on the list.
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
CF with 300+ PA
Gomez ranked 26/39 in terms of WAR/600 PA. Plenty of room to upgrade there, but he’s not a terrible player.
Ryan Braun: He loves it. -- Four pitchers in history with 8.5+ WAR and <250 IP seasons: Greg Maddux (age 29), Pedro Martinez (age 28), Roger Clemens (age 27), Zack Greinke (age 25).
Not every player on the team can be a superstar.
Ryan Braun: He loves it. -- Four pitchers in history with 8.5+ WAR and <250 IP seasons: Greg Maddux (age 29), Pedro Martinez (age 28), Roger Clemens (age 27), Zack Greinke (age 25).
Most starting position players are above average major leaguers, that's why they're the starters.
Ryan Braun: He loves it. -- Four pitchers in history with 8.5+ WAR and <250 IP seasons: Greg Maddux (age 29), Pedro Martinez (age 28), Roger Clemens (age 27), Zack Greinke (age 25).
Average major leaguer
I guess it depends on who you’re comparing him to and what your expectations are of him.
If you’re looking at all MLB players… including bench players, then I guess his numbers could be average (although I don’t know that for sure).
On the other hand, if you’re comparing him to starting MLB CFs, then I think .246/.293/.349 isn’t really average.
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
According to B-Ref
There were 21 players in the NL last year who played in at least 50 games, with over 50% of them in center. By WAR (the B-Ref version), Gomez was 18th of the 21.
That’s not average.
Now that's great tasting chicken!
TotalZone didn't like Gomez's defense last year.
Nonetheless, my point was that Gomez is an average major league player, that’s all. And he is.
Ryan Braun: He loves it. -- Four pitchers in history with 8.5+ WAR and <250 IP seasons: Greg Maddux (age 29), Pedro Martinez (age 28), Roger Clemens (age 27), Zack Greinke (age 25).
I see where you're coming from
When you say that Gomez is “average”, you don’t mean that he’s average compared to other MLB players, but that he’s “average” in terms of WAR (which assumes that a league average player is worth 2 wins).
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
wOBA is scaled to average each year
And defense is measured in terms of an average defender at the position in each year (which is one reason why numbers tend to fluctuate a bit, a defender can play the exact same but if all the other center fielders suck, he looks a bit better in a given year). So average really is about 2 WAR/600 plate appearances. You guys are making the mistake of cutting of players with few PAs in center, you have to look at the total production from everybody, including the replacement level guys and the guys on the teams who didn’t have a player over the 300 or 600 PA threshold. He could be 15/15 on a cutoff list like that and still be average.
E: George 4 (5, throw, throw, throw, throw).
I think the hangup is the definition of "average" here.
But the definition of “average” you’re using is a really low bar.
Now that's great tasting chicken!
He hasn't been great by the standards of starting CFs, but that doesn't mean he is bad.
If you have a guy who is clearly a 3+ WAR CF, then definitely play him over Gomez. But to expect any random minor leaguer or castaway free agent to be able to be even average is unrealistic. That’s all the “average” wins above replacement benchmark is measuring.
Ryan Braun: He loves it. -- Four pitchers in history with 8.5+ WAR and <250 IP seasons: Greg Maddux (age 29), Pedro Martinez (age 28), Roger Clemens (age 27), Zack Greinke (age 25).
"Average" isn't really up for debate, though
It’s like saying I give you 3, 5, and 7, and say 5 is the average, and you say that it really should be 6 and I’m just using a low bar. An “average” player has quite a bit of value, that’s why they are in line to make $8-10 million per year on the free agent market using the 1 win for $4-5 million.
E: George 4 (5, throw, throw, throw, throw).
by Jordan M on Jan 24, 2011 6:17 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
I thought the average salary in MLB last season was a little over $3M.
Pujols is the Barack Obama of baseball.
Green Bay winning has postponed my countdown to opening day for 2 more weeks
Hopefully, the delay will not be without justification.
don't forget to brush your teeth.
by Drew C on Jan 24, 2011 6:24 PM CST via mobile reply actions 1 recs
Rec'd for mentioning the Super Bowl
I know this is a baseball blog, but it’s kinda hard NOT to say anything about that other Wisconsin sports team that nearly everybody in the state loves and just so happens to be headed to the biggest sporting event in the US.
On another note, I wish Kyle wrote for Acme Packing Company. I have reason to believe it would be much better and more civilized.
"Special teams means special times, bros"
I have a feeling
Acme packing co doesn’t want to be more “civilized”
by PagsBrewCrew on Jan 25, 2011 7:21 AM CST up reply actions
Thanks for the compliment
But as Pags alluded to, I’m pretty sure the differences between BCB and APC are probably typical when comparing MLB and NFL sites.
Now that's great tasting chicken!
It's probably helps
That the Brewers have a relatively smaller fanbase compared to the Packers, and to other MLB teams such as the Cubs or Cardinals. For the most part, people on BCB have a general respect for each other because we see so many familiar names, and most of us are pretty educated when it comes to baseball and the Brewers, so you are less likely to see some of the crap you would see on APC
And as far as comparing MLB to NFL sites, you could say that the NFL is much harder to debate because of the lack of hard evidence in advanced statistics, and the fact every position stands on its own merit. Whereas in baseball, you can compare Player A to Player B pretty easily with sabermetrics, leaving little to debate.
"Special teams means special times, bros"
Sabermetric like thinking is finding it's way into NFL Front Offices even if it hasn't found it's way to the media and fans yet
Sites like Football Outsiders and Pro Football Reference are bringing along some more advanced metrics, namely
1.Success Rate (how many plays acheived their target number of yardage as defined as a 1st down play should gain 50% of what is required for a 1st down, a 2nd down play should achieve 70% of the target yardage and a 3rd Down play should achieve 100% of the target yardage)
2. YAR (Yards above Replacement, the football version of VORP)
3. DYAR (Defense adjusted YAR),
4. VOA (Value over average, the football version of WAR)
5. DVOA (Defense adjusted Value over average).
6. Points per play (A better measure of offense than total points as points are often limited because the defense allows the other team to control the ball and eat clock)
7. AYL (Adjusted line yards a complex formula that attempts to remove the offensive line bias in evaluating runnig backs… think of this as FIP for RBS. There is also an equivalent stat that does the same for Defense, it removes the factor that a really bad secondary may be the reason a team doesn’t give up much rushing yards because the other team is always throwing)
8.. FEI (Fremau Efficiency Index) which is a measure that takes into a whole host of analytics (First Down Rate, Yards Available, Explosive Plays, Methodical Plays and Strength of Schedule) to determine whether or not simple statistics like yards or TDs are deceptive. They have basically determined that Touchdowns by all but the most elite WRs and RB are almost completely random and not really indicative of any statiscal measure and therefore should not be as highly valued determining a players worth… kind of the same thing that happened to batting average or ERA. It’s a nice stat to have, but it doesn’t really determine worth.
In fact, I read an interview sometime during the season with the guy that runs football outsiders and he said the biggest challenge for him over the past year was replacing the guys who were hired away by NFL teams looking to become more analytical.
"Football - For the Touchdowns; Playbook - Full of Touchdowns; PIRATE HAT and BACKUP PIRATE HAT" ~ WR Emeritus Golden Tate
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cincinnati
|
25 | 20 | .555 | 0 | Lost 1 |
|
St. Louis
|
25 | 21 | .543 | 0.5 | Lost 2 |
|
Houston
|
22 | 23 | .488 | 3 | Won 4 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
21 | 24 | .466 | 4 | Won 1 |
|
Milwaukee
|
19 | 26 | .422 | 6 | Won 2 |
|
Chicago
|
15 | 30 | .333 | 10 | Lost 10 |
(updated 5.26.2012 at 6:00 PM CDT)
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