The offseason

Our failures as a team....

1. DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE!!!! I'm not saying that if we don't commit all those errors, we win the series... However, there needs to be a serious commitment to the defensive side of the game. Playing like doggie poo on the field isn't a good way to win crucial ball games against teams that don't make mistakes.

2. STOP TRYING TO HIT A GOD DAMN HOMERUN EVERY TIME YOU ARE AT BAT!!!! I don't know how many times I saw it this post season, but it seems like everytime we get a few guys on base, our bigs come up and they're swinging out of their jock straps. A few singles in a row is just as effective as 1 homerun, and statistically speaking, your much more likely to hit a single if you're swinging evenly and not trying to overpower a ball.

3. PITCH THE GODDAMN BALL INSIDE TO PEOPLE EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE!!! I don't give a crap if you hit someone. They need to have to respect the fact that the inside of the plate can be a tool for strikes. St. Louis's 1-8 hitters all knew that they could ignore the inside half of the plate and look away, away, away. If you can eliminate 1/2 of the possibilities for location, when you're focusing on a specific pitch, you can locate it, discern if it's a strike or not, and put the bat on the ball more effectively. Who freaking cares if you hit them once a game. At least they're going to know you're willing to pitch them in and it keeps them guessing.

4. GIVE YOUR GODDAMN STARTERS A LITTLE BIT OF A BREAK SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEASON!! Marcum won't say this, but he was burnt out. Greinke won't say this, but he was also proabbly burnt out. Wolf was all right. Gallardo was on his last leg. Give each pitcher at least one week off where they don't have to pitch every once in a while. You've got Marco Estrada, who did pretty well in spot starts. If you look at the Concussion to Aaron rodgers last year that sat him out a week, he said himself that it sort of recharged his batteries.

Base ball seasons are really long, and for pitchers, they need some rest, or they will get dead arms. I think during our great winning streak we over pitched them. Each and every night, going 7, 8 innings. I think it costed us dearly. We were proud that we only had 6 starting pitchers all year, the only team in baseball to do so.... that means a hell of a lot of work for each of those great guys.

RESIGN OUR PRINCE! Without him on the field, each and every day, we are going to be very dependant on our pitching and fielding. I don't think we resign anyone in his place, which would mean a latteral move for McGehee over to first and Green over to 3rd. McGehee has proven that he cannot hit a curveball with a wiffle bat. Also, who is going to protect Braun in the lineup? Weeks? Hart? Braun will see no quality pitches becuase those guys aren't Prince's calibur.

This season has been incredibly fun, and it's hard to say goodbye to it. For the first time in my life, the light of the Packers was outshone by these hustling, hardworking, gritty guys wearing blue in the south of the state. And the Packers light is shining really bright right now.

If we don't resign Prince, we don't really stand a chance to get to the next level. McGehee isn't a dominating power. He needs protection. He can't give protection. Weeks is a good hitter, but is quite streaky. Hart is decent, however, seriously needs to work on fielding. Without Prince, Braun is a .280-.300 hitter at best, with less production all around.

My hopes...

1. Resign Prince.

2. We get Gomez guys constantly working with Gomez on his hitting, batting eye, and swinging. He could be an amazing player, but he needs to work on hitting and pitch selection. Even if he could improve to a .275-.290 hitter with 40-60 walks over the year,he'd be fantastic.

3. Trade Hart and/or McGehee and/or Bettancourt for a very good Short Stop. He makes too average plays into game breakers for the other team, then an inning later, makes a spectacular catch. Morgan can take over for Hart without much loss in production. Yeah, he won't have the pop that Hart has, but speed, fielding, and effort is always an improvement..

4. Get Lucroy to call pitches inside. I love his grit, toughness, and willingness to sacrifice his body, but he calls a terribly predictable game. Outside... Outside... Outside... Outside... Outside...