Friday's Frosty Mug
by morineko on Jan 6, 2012 9:32 AM CST
in Milwaukee Brewers News
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PrintKyle's off doing fun useful stuff somewhere else, so I'm filling in for him today.
Another day, another morning of nearly zilcho news or analysis about our Milwaukee Brewers. We've got something in-house for you over in the FanShots, though; Cheeseandcorn's first look at the 2012 Brewers is worth reading. He calculated WAR based on the recently released ZiPS projections.
There is a new Major League Baseball Groundskeeper Hall of Fame; they're honoring late Brewers groundskeeper Gary Vanden Berg by naming their trophy for him.
I know we're all sick of that one Ryan Braun rumor, but a real doctor has now dropped some science on it. In short: no, the standard treatment doesn't increase testosterone. It does the opposite. (via HardballTalk)
Today in Prince Fielder:
- Steve Slowinski at FanGraphs looks into whether it's a good idea for the Nationals to sign Fielder due to his impact on the existing roster.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick discusses Scott Boras and his unemployed free agents, including Fielder.
In the minors:
- Scout.com has released their Top 100 2012 prospects list. Wily Peralta is #46, Taylor Jungmann #66 and Jed Bradley #73.
- Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs released his final SCOUT rankings for the Dominican Winter League; Erick Almonte finished 10th.
- Not exactly minor league notes as such, but Francisco Rodriguez struck out 3 in La Guaira's win over Aragua; that and a wee bit more in this morning's Winter League Notes.
Around baseball:
Cardinals: Pitching coach Dave Duncan is taking a leave of absence to be with his wife as she recovers from last year's brain surgery. No return date is set.
Dodgers: Re-signed reliever Mike MacDougal to a 1-year, $1 million contract with an option for 2013.
Mariners: Signed pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma to a 1-year, $1.5 million contract with $3.4 million of incentives.
Rangers: Reliever (and former Brewer) Mike Adams had hernia surgery and will miss part of spring training. The team has also hired Josh Hamilton's father-in-law to replace new Brewers hitting coach Johnny Narron as Hamilton's accountability partner.
Red Sox: Reliever Bobby Jenks won't be ready for spring training after having surgery to remove bone fragments from near a spinal nerve.
Rockies: Traded pitcher Greg Reynolds to Texas for minor league infielder Chad Tracy (not the ex-Cub; this one's Rockies manager Jim Tracy's son.)
Yankees: Fail to sign posted NPB shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima; he returns to the Seibu Lions for the 2012 season.
In former Brewers, minor and major:
- Baseball America's weekly minor league transactions report indicates that Wil Nieves signed with the Rockies, Adam Heether signed with the Angels, and R.J. Swindle signed with the Cardinals.
- In this interesting piece on players who drove in all of their team's runs in a game, we learn that Richie Sexson drove in all 7 of the Brewers' runs in a game in 2002.
I've got to go check my phone to see if I have any drunk texts by octopi, so I'll catch you later. Drink up (but don't drunk text the octopi back.)
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Self-Promotion
I wrote a piece over at MLBsoup asking who will be the next version of the Chicago Cubs.
(link)
Let me know what you think.
Nice work
I dont know if the Nats fall into that category though becuase of the strong farm system and crop of young players. Strasburg, Zimmerman (both of them), Harper and Gonzalez are a pretty good young core not to mention Espinosa and Nieves to offset the big free agent signings they have done.
I can totally see it on the Angels or Marlins since they dont have a ton of prospects on the way up.
Those Cub teams never really had a bumper crop of prospects to rely on and simply spent ad nauseum to build the team. Mark Prior is an exception and his injury killed them and helped make things the way they are now.
Yeah, the only way the Nats will end up turning into the Cubs is if they wind up spending so much that they can't afford to
extend guys like Strasburg, Zimmerman, Harper, etc.
The Nats also do a great job at getting minor league free agents
which frees their actual prospects to develop as opposed to either getting stuck at the wrong level or being called up too soon.
An update to the Dave Duncan piece
stltoday.com is now reporting that he has stepped aside as pitching coach.
Greinke: "It’s not about the guacamole itself. I just don’t want to let them win."
2-time BCB Fantasy Baseball Champion
It's pretty sad news, though.
Best wishes to his wife and the Duncan family. That’s tough stuff.
by Cheeseandcorn on Jan 6, 2012 11:03 AM CST up reply actions
All I read was that he stepped aside.
I did not BEARDEDJEFF this.
by cwolf20 on Jan 6, 2012 11:04 AM CST up reply actions 3 recs
I still don't know how he did it
Anything Duncan does for pitchers, at least the Cardinals variety of pitchers (Todd Van Poppel got better when he LEFT Oakland, forex) goes away when they leave the team.
No, I’m not just talking about Suppan and Looper. I learnt a lot about how batted balls escape the confines of ballfields while watching Todd Wellemeyer deal with the NL West for half a season. >>
I'm not really too surprised
In my mind, this was always a foregone conclusion when the stories about his wife’s illness came up during last season. This is probably a big reason why LaRussa retired as well. He didn’t want to manage without Duncan handling the pitchers.
Fear of people realizing how unimportant he was and how important Duncan was?
Sounds like a TLR kind of thing.
Does the election process for the Brewers' Walk of Fame need to change?
They didn’t elect anyone into it this year. I understand that they shouldn’t have a process where anyone could be in it, but it seems like some really good candidates are being left out because the standards are too high.
That comment is the same for the MLB Hall of Fame voting (since the requirement is the same).
Contributor on Brew Crew Ball, Commissioner of Prognostikeggers, Owner of a broken sarcasm detector
Regarding Ryan Braun and MLB drug testing...
I think we’ve discussed this specific point (ad nauseum), but as this article again makes the topic relevant: MLB’s test does not measure a specific level of testosterone, but rather a ratio of testosterone to estrogen. So the testosterone level would not have to be elevated, per se, but the hormone ratio would just need to have been thrown out of a normal range.
The estrogen levels in werewolves are known to be low
and testosterone levels high, so that would explain Braun’s inexplicably high testosterone ratio count.
Jonathan Lucroy doesn't mess around.
On Ryan Braun: (Is he the first Brewers player to make a public statement about this? I can’t remember anyone else.)
"I feel for him, I really do," Lucroy said. "Let me tell you something for everybody that’s listening: I’ve seen this guy in the eight room every single day work his butt off. There is no one on this tream that works as hard as he does. … I’ve never witnessed him do anything that I would think or anyone else would think is illegal. I honestly think it was some kind of screw-up. I don’t know what happened. I would be very, very, very shocked if he actually took something knowingly. This guy is way too smart to do something like that. That’s the first thing I said, the first thing that people I’ve talked to who know him said. There’s no way. He doesn’t need to take that stuff to be as good as he is, and everybody who knows him, knows that."
by Cheeseandcorn on Jan 6, 2012 12:23 PM CST reply actions 6 recs
I just compared the reaction to Starlin Castro being accused of rape with the reaction to Ryan Braun being accused of taking an banned supplement
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
by SRB on Jan 6, 2012 12:29 PM CST reply actions 3 recs
Both are allegations
The big difference is that at this point, Castro is being accused of sexual assault….Braun did fail a test…..
On the other hand
One allegation centres around taking a substance that, at very very very worst, might only harm people in the most marginal way. The other is sexual assault.
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
by MrLeam on Jan 6, 2012 1:05 PM CST up reply actions 9 recs
True
The level of seriousness doesnt compare. But since its a criminal matter and has to go before the courts (if even brought that far) he is probably being given a bit of benefit of the doubt. So there is potential doubt, versus the lack of doubt about Braun failing his drug test.
Someone somewhere will write about this, it was just reported this AM, so its not like the National Media is ignoring it.
Yes, yes they are.
I haven’t seen a single tweet about it from the national media.
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
by SRB on Jan 6, 2012 1:29 PM CST up reply actions
Ryan Braun would have had been crucified by the media three times over by this point
The most I’ve seen about Castro is a very brief blurb on Big League Stew. I’d say it’s been widely ignored.
Greinke: "It’s not about the guacamole itself. I just don’t want to let them win."
2-time BCB Fantasy Baseball Champion
May I suggest it's because no one cares about Castro?
Who, outside of those that closely follow NL Central baseball, even knows who he is. You’d get as many people asking if he were a soccer player or a Cuban dictator as a baseball player.
There’s no moral outrage, because he’s a nobody.
I think it's a difference in perceived commonness of the two situations
In everyday headlines, there are instances of sexual assault, so an accusation of assault by a marginally famous person is essentially white noise in the news cycle. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have a player testing positive for a banned substance, which is not nearly as common place, so it stands out.
Heuristically we can recall fewer examples of people being accused of taking PEDs versus being accused of sexual assault, thus Braun’s situation is perceived as “rarer” and thus more interesting, which gets page clicks.
Greinke: "It’s not about the guacamole itself. I just don’t want to let them win."
2-time BCB Fantasy Baseball Champion
by GoGregGo on Jan 6, 2012 1:51 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
I really don't think that's it...
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
by SRB on Jan 6, 2012 2:04 PM CST up reply actions
I think that's definitely part of it.
A samurai sword collection. If you can do it. I don’t know if you’re allowed.
by TwoShoesMcGooze on Jan 6, 2012 2:40 PM CST up reply actions
I had the same initial thoughts as you did, BtC, thinking it was a matter of level of proof.
However, I think it really just boils down to Castro not being the NL MVP. If we switched the names in the two stories, I think you could swap the media coverage almost equally.
No way
Even the furor over Ben Roethlisberger raping people didn’t approach the reaction to Braun failing a testosterone test, and wasn’t he the defending Super Bowl champion or MVP or something?
National baseball writers can’t argue that they don’t know who Starlin Castro is. Every single one of them know who he is, and none of them are reacting at all.
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
by SRB on Jan 6, 2012 2:03 PM CST up reply actions
Even the furor over Ben Roethlisberger raping people didn’t approach the reaction to Braun failing a testosterone test, and wasn’t he the defending Super Bowl champion or MVP or something?
That’s simply not true.
Yes it is.
Was their moral outrage from national sportswriters over Roethlisberger? No.
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
by SRB on Jan 6, 2012 4:05 PM CST up reply actions
I get where you're coming from...
… but every reporter remembers the Duke Lacross team rape accusations. Generally speaking, I think there’s been a greater reluctance among media types to crucify sports figures for sexual assault allegations since that incident.
"fortunate, but also lucky"
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Jan 6, 2012 9:23 PM CST up reply actions
That would imply that, if it shown Braun is “innocent,” that the national media will be more reluctant to cover steroids scandals. Do you think that’s true?
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
by SRB on Jan 7, 2012 1:46 AM CST up reply actions
(I don’t)
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
by SRB on Jan 7, 2012 1:47 AM CST up reply actions
Neither do I.
But there’s less political and monetary fallout from saying a player took PEDs when he didn’t than saying a bunch of kids at a prominent university raped someone when they didn’t. Not to mention the fact that reporters are human beings, who likely felt bad that they branded some innocent people as rapists and helped to nearly destroy their lives. Right or wrong, those same people know that Braun will make hundreds of millions regardless of whether their right about him or not.
Is that fair? Nope. And that’s where we agree, and why I understand where you’re coming from, but I don’t think the two situations are analagous.
Not to mention the fact that some members of the press still feel that PED usage needs to be demonized to persuade those in the public who might not think it’s that big of a deal. That’s not obviously needed with sexual assaults.
I’m not saying I agree with all of that (though you and I disagree on whether PED usage is a big deal or not), and I’m not saying it’s fair to Braun, but I for one am sort of gratified that the press shows some restraint (at times at least) when a criminal allegation is made, particularly when no charges have been issued. And I was a prosecutor for many years.
"fortunate, but also lucky"
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Jan 7, 2012 8:40 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Starlin was accused of rape
Braun was accused of violating the drug policy. Same level of proof (none), but quite a big difference in severity.
"Our attitude is we look at ourselves and we grade ourselves. And even if we don’t like what’s happening on the other side, we don’t make a — it’s not our business" - Tony Larussa
a failed test in a game that ultimately doesn't mean anything
versus an allegation about a physical sexual assault of another human being.
i'm fighting all the french people i can find. happy cinco de mayo!
by sowingwildoats on Jan 6, 2012 1:27 PM CST up reply actions
Cubs Acquire Anthony Rizzo
Brewers were thought to be a good match, from the looks of the deal it probably would have taken a package somewhere along the lines of Wily Peralta and Caleb Gindl.
Eh not sure about that
Cubs seem to be in full rebuild mode right now, and probably wouldnt want to pay out for Fielder.
I dont think it would be horrible for the Cubs to sign Fielder and build around him, but the money and perhaps fears about his durability over time probably eliminated that.
If the Rangers sign Darvish, Fielder probably down to 3 suitors then, unless a mystery team sweeps in and signs him.
Yeah, if the Cubs wanted to sign Fielder in the first place, Rizzo is not the caliber of player that prevents a Prince Fielder megacontract.
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
by SRB on Jan 6, 2012 2:05 PM CST up reply actions
Really?
I’m pretty sure you would crucify the Brewers if they signed a big money free agent when they were in the beginning stages of a rebuilding process.
That doesn't mean they should do it.
You understand that if you’re rebuilding, you should hold off on spending huge money on free agents until you are ready to be in contention.
I agree
But if a team can afford it, why not?
What does the free agent market for 1B look like in 2 years? That could be a reason too.
I think he thinks they should be
"Our attitude is we look at ourselves and we grade ourselves. And even if we don’t like what’s happening on the other side, we don’t make a — it’s not our business" - Tony Larussa
BtC Land:
“A magical place in a suburb of Chicago called Milwaukee, where every day children’s dreams are made! (Provided their dreams involve the Cubs winning the World Series, Doug Melvin being fired, and the Brewers being relegated to AAA)”
"Our attitude is we look at ourselves and we grade ourselves. And even if we don’t like what’s happening on the other side, we don’t make a — it’s not our business" - Tony Larussa
Most likely will be in 2013
Obviously Braun should remain quite productive past that time, but the potential could be there for the exact same sort of issue the Cubs have with Soriano right now, when Braun is in his mid 30s.
Isn't every starter except Greinke and Marcum signed until 2014 or something like that?
And I still expect one of those two to be resigned.
I hate "resigned"
Is it “re-signed” or “resigned”? Why do the two mean opposite things yet are so similar? And, while we’re at it, I defy anyone to come up with a more difficult word to pronounce than “corollary”…
Anyway, yeah, I’d agree that our “window” (sorry, Jonah!) is possibly wider than presumed. Particularly if some our pitching prospects progress as planned and we keep the type of payroll we’ve this year…
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
Also while we're at it
Was there possibly a worst time for music than the mid-1970s before punk came along. Even if you don’t like punk (and I can totally see why people might not) it really was a complete pile of unmitigated crap…
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
Sorry
There’s a programme on TV in the background with mid-70s stuff and it is completely abysmal. Rod F**king’ Stewart…
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
It's got so bad
I almost caught myself tapping my toe to Queen. QUEEN I tell ya’…
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
mid-80s, way worse.
Stevie Wonder cancels out ten thousand Rod Stewarts.
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
by SRB on Jan 6, 2012 5:20 PM CST up reply actions
Not convinced
You’re right on calling out Stevie Wonder, but even if we confine ourselves to mainstream pop (thereby avoiding any suggestion of the excellence of the likes of Run DMC or even Madonna at the time) I’d argue the existence of Frankie and Dexy’s in the mid 80s mitigated the huge amounts of crap at the time.
If I was forced I’d say the only time where there was any similar amount of crap to the mid 70s was the early 90s in the UK. Even avoiding the absolute bilge that was Oasis vs Blur there’s the likes of Dr Alban,Outhere Brothers and Haddaway. I don’t know if you had any of them in the States but over here they were, in my mind at least, truly, truly dreadful times…
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
We didn't, mostly
But I used to listen to the UK Top Ten on the BBC World Service in the early 1990s and, yeah, it was horrible.
Blur was way better
"Our attitude is we look at ourselves and we grade ourselves. And even if we don’t like what’s happening on the other side, we don’t make a — it’s not our business" - Tony Larussa
The worst time is right now
Imo
"Our attitude is we look at ourselves and we grade ourselves. And even if we don’t like what’s happening on the other side, we don’t make a — it’s not our business" - Tony Larussa
How come?
How can you possibly possibly dare to denigrate today’s music when only this very evening I heard that the Scissor Sisters are working on a new album…?
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
No way.
There’s plenty of crap but there is so much good stuff out there.
fka "warwick5s"
by DEUCE SLUICE on Jan 7, 2012 12:25 AM CST up reply actions
That's OK Jonah...
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
Yeah
Imagine you’re me and having to say it with an accent vaguely similar to Mrs Doubtfire’s though (although mine is considerably higher pitched and more feminine)…
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
I'm picturing this
"Our attitude is we look at ourselves and we grade ourselves. And even if we don’t like what’s happening on the other side, we don’t make a — it’s not our business" - Tony Larussa
by mnbrewer on Jan 6, 2012 5:43 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
I've been compared to worse...
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
Or...
They’ll lock up Greinke long term and still have all of their main contributors through 2013 and beyond
"Our attitude is we look at ourselves and we grade ourselves. And even if we don’t like what’s happening on the other side, we don’t make a — it’s not our business" - Tony Larussa
Because by the time they need a power bat to put themselves over the top, he'll be on the decline and overpaid.
They had 2 years to acquire a first baseman, whether it be through free agency, a trade, or their own system.
by tcyoung on Jan 6, 2012 4:24 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Forget 2 years.
If the Cubs are looking at acquiring a big name free agent 1B, why wouldn’t they wait to get a year into their rebuild and go after Votto? That’s what I’d do. Saves about 23-25 million this season and signing Fielder isn’t going to change the outcome of this upcoming season for the Cubs. The only concern I’d have is whether the Reds extend him and keep him off the market.
"fortunate, but also lucky"
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Jan 6, 2012 9:26 PM CST up reply actions
It certainly makes it harder for Boras to scare a team into increasing any offer
The number of “mystery team” possibilities has just decreased by one.
It is not that often that a FA of Fielder’s calibre is still unsigned in the 2nd week of January without any report of an offer
This is more what I meant.
I wouldn’t have been surprised if the Cubs had signed Fielder, but didn’t think they were the leading candidate. Either way, there’s one less team to leverage.
by kotsaythebuzzkill on Jan 6, 2012 4:58 PM CST up reply actions
Ummm
I think there’s a glaring mistake in the Frosty Mug write-up. I’m sure it’s just a typo but you refer to “Baseball America’s minor league transactions” reporting Wil Nieves going to the Rockies. Surely that should read “Baseball America’s Super Major League All-Star Legends transactions”? The merest suggestion that Nieves is simply a minor leaguer or AAAA fodder is sacrilege to the ears of any Brewers fan…
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
Go to Google
and type in “Wil Nieves” and the second option that comes up is “Wil Nieves traded for a dollar”. Of course, the top option is “Wil Nieves true value is less than a dollar”…
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
Google search results are different for different people based on what you click on, I think.
“Nieves traded for $1” is eighth on my search results.
I must have
been clicking on a hell of a lot of crap for the suggestion Nieves was worth as much as $1 to come up…
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
Mine autocompletes to "two Wil Nieveses one cup"
uh-oh…
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
by SRB on Jan 6, 2012 5:24 PM CST up reply actions 4 recs
I've just spat beer over my laptop...
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
Mind you
it’s just struck me that “two Wil Nieves one cup” sounds like a fair deal to me…
BCB Fantasy Football 2011 winner (Swansons League)
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool
by MrLeam on Jan 6, 2012 6:08 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
rec
A samurai sword collection. If you can do it. I don’t know if you’re allowed.
by TwoShoesMcGooze on Jan 6, 2012 6:58 PM CST up reply actions
Rosenthal reports Brewers signed Brooks Conrad to minor league deal
Another utility man option
by kotsaythebuzzkill on Jan 7, 2012 11:27 AM CST reply actions
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cincinnati
|
27 | 20 | .574 | 0 | Won 2 |
|
St. Louis
|
26 | 22 | .541 | 1.5 | Won 1 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
23 | 24 | .489 | 4 | Won 3 |
|
Houston
|
22 | 24 | .478 | 4.5 | Lost 1 |
|
Milwaukee
|
19 | 27 | .413 | 7.5 | Lost 1 |
|
Chicago
|
15 | 32 | .319 | 12 | Lost 12 |
(updated 5.27.2012 at 6:11 PM CDT)
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