Fantasy Baseball Discussion

For all those fantasy baseball players out there....
My teams have suffered a nasty case of the injury bug of late. With Frank Thomas out for the year and Todd Helton headed to the DL, my teams have a spot or two open for another bat at the UTIL position. I have already decided I'm going to take a chance on a higher-risk/reward young player rather than go with a veteran available on the FA list. So, my question is which of these young mashers is going to be most impressive for the next few weeks?

1) PHI 1B Ryan Howard: Thome's return would come along with Helton's return, so let's ignore the Thome factor for present purposes.
2) ARI 1B Conor Jackson
3) ATL OF Jeff Francoeur
4) DET 1B Chris Shelton
5) OAK 1B Dan Johnson

Or, should I just go with some other player? Let's discuss, shall we....

A Dick for a Dick

In a ground-breaking move, the Brewers have waived Dick Bottalico and purchased the contract of Dick Helling. This brings up two issues: (1) Will anyone claim Bottalico in the next ten days, thus meaning that team would have to send something over to the Brewers? (2) What exactly are the Brewers doing with Dick Helling? For question (1), I wouldn't be surpirsed for someone to claim him. Unfortunately, the Brewers aren't going to get much in exchange. Question (2) is far more intriguing to me. Helling is no longer a good pitcher, and there are several better bullpen options in AAA. There is more to this, though. I am positive that Doug Melvin has only called up Helling so that he can be traded. Why would anyone want Helling? Hell if I know! But, why would anyone in his right mind want Sidney Ponson? Again, hell if I know! Let's ask the Padres. GMs across baseball exercise their ignorance more during the two weeks before the trade deadline than any other time of the year. I'd be shocked if Ponson posted a sub-5 ERA for the remainder of this year, or ever again for that matter. He is high-paid ($8.5 mil.) and one of the biggest liabilities in baseball. Yet, the Padres wanted to trade one of their best hitters, thinking that the immediate return of Ponson would greatly outweigh the loss of Nevin. Get real! I can't even fathom what goes through the minds of these GMs. The only thing Ponson has going for him is name recognition (not even from being good; rather, from being adequate for a couple years and constantly on the trading block). Well, Dick Helling has that same name recognition because of a couple of good seasons with Texas. It is a complete shot in the dark, but maybe some foolish team, like the Yankees, who were champing at the bit to land Shawn Chacon, would think Helling was worth a grade-B prospect or two. Why the hell not try, right? What do you all think?

Totally Unrelated to Baseball or Milwaukee...

What about Larry Brown going to the Knicks after his generous buyout from the Pistons? I can't believe this guy, mostly because for the last 4 coaching stops he's made, he's said "This will be the last place I coach." Either way, any ideas on the Knicks with Brown at the helm and Isaiah in the GM seat? I say just under .500, mostly because Tim Thomas still sucks and will never be decent, and Marbury is too much of a headcase to listen to Brown's defensive philosophy.

Reader poll

Sorry for the obscure Spinal Tap reference below, but yesterday's game was pathetic. Speaking of pathetic, I have a reader poll to conduct: which stadium musician is more embarassing, harmonica guy or under the bridge guitar man? personally, the guitar guy gets my vote, as yesterday he tuned the guitar so he wouldn't actually have to use his left hand to play. at all. THAT's lazy.

Wednesday's Game Review

Shit Sandwich

Wednesday Afternoon at the Ballpark

What a sorry offensive display with runners on base today. A 3-0 loss to the Claudio Vargas-led Diamondbacks is a pretty sorry way to entertain the youngins on camp day at the ballpark. Jenkins continues to hit, and make no mistake about it, the team needs him to produce to be a .500 or better ballclub by the end of the year. Overbay's still hot at the plate, although the loss today does rest a little on his capable defensive shoulders. The ball he threw away from Ohka today, from my vantage point in the left field loge bleachers, looked catchable, but I wasn't quite sure, and then the lack of catching ability on Santana's pickoff attempt (but on another note, what's Santana doing throwing to first with 2 out and runners at the corners?). I can understand wanting to keep a guy honest so he doesn't take 2nd without being watched and put himself into scoring position as well, but still, an unnecessary throw nonetheless. All in all, a shotty performance today when a .500 record was at stake. We have to hit with runners in scoring position, and we've gotta get Russ Branyan involved, people!

Two other points of order

First, no matter how much some people may not want to hear this, Ned Yost is going to be back next season. His contract is up at the end of this year, but the club has an option for 2006. In this his third year, the team has improved from 55-107 to basically a .500 ballclub. No matter how much or little credit you give Yost for that (I'd assume most of the readers would give substantially more credit to GM Doug Melvin), he is the clubhouse figurehead of the first competitive team in Milwaukee in 13 years. There is ZERO chance that, if the season ended today, Yost would be let go. Yes, he has made a lot of mistakes and cost the Brewers some games. In fact, it would be interesting to see the Runs scored/runs allowed differential in games he's been thrown out of, such as tonight's. However, to fire Yost while the club is improving would, at the very least, be a public relations nightmare. The Brewers can't afford to come off as greedy by saying a manager that only wins half his games isn't good enough. I don't believe the Brewers should or will offer Yost an extension for at least a year, but I also feel that the Brewers won't be letting him go unless he wins fewer than 70 games this year, and that's only 20 more wins. The front office knows this is still his first managing gig, and are likely willing to give him time to figure out that he's been entirely over-aggressive on the basepaths and makes poor use of his bullpen. This topic will probably be talked about ad nauseum for the next few months, but I thought I'd get my two cents in tonight. Secondly, and much more quickly, I would like to change my opinion on the Brewers' trade stance heading into the deadline. I said nothing would happen, or at least nothing major. I still think nothing will happen, but I certainly can see them picking up a left handed bat-a low paid, run-of-the-mill veteran of some sort-to come off the bench. Chris Magruder is not an adequate option 'in a pinch' and should be taken away from Yost like matches from a toddler. Sorry folks, I won't write this much in the future . . .

Arizona Game Two

I haven't yet decided whether I'm going to do daily game reviews (highly unlikely) or reviews and other entries a few times a week (much more likely). For now, I will likely be writing every day until I start work. The Brewers got a great win tonight with the help of a big offensive inning, and averting disaster in what could have been a very big inning for the Diamondbacks. Unfortunately, in baseball, errors happen, and when Hardy and Capuano dropped back to back balls in the top of the third, the game could have really gotten out of hand. But, as he should have, Mike Maddux came out of the dugout to calm Capuano down, who forced an inning-ending double play from the very next batter (Tony Clark?) with the bases loaded. On the plus side, everybody but weeks and Jenkins got on base twice, and Weeks was the only one to go 0-fer for the night. Lyle Overbay is clearly seeing the ball significantly better than he had been the last month or so, and one can't help but wonder if that isn't a result of playing every day . . . Why the hell was he splitting time with Wes Helms anyway? Lyle's hitting lefties just fine. The only thing that really bothered me tonight was to see the Brewers hit into another double play in the air (Weeks). Oh, and Lee not calling off another player on a ball that CLEARLY was his, not Hardy's. Thankfully Jenkins turned a double play on the next batter when he called off Clark and redeemed Lee. Tomorrow is my birthday, and I'll be at the game. With a win, the Crew sweeps the series and reaches the .500 mark for the first time since May 28 (I think). Who could ask for a better birthday present?

Good Brewers Win

I don't have too much to say about the game tonight besides that it was a very encouraging game. I love it when the young guys help win games for the Crew. I like seeing de la Rosa pitch, even if it is late in a close game. Though he can simply not have it sometimes, I feel like he usually gets killed by giving up walks. Yost did the right thing and had Wise up in the bullpen behind DLR; that way, DLR walks a guy and he is pulled. He has only given up one home run all season, and his stuff is simply too good to not give the guy a chance to pitch. Remember, he has to be on the team next year, too. So, the team will have to go through growing pains with him at some point.
Don't look now, but Hardy has his OPS up to .633. People shouldn't forget how terrible he was the first half, but there are some reasons to be excited. I doubt Hardy, at this stage in his career at least, is as good as he has been the past two weeks. His plate discipline is obviously a strong point. Though 6 of his 33 walks have been intentional and who knows how many others were of the unintentional-intentional variety because he's batting in front of the pitcher, his walk total has been very good. We must remember that, even batting out of the 8-hole, pitchers usually go after anyone that does not hit home runs. If he can start hitting for serious power and take pitches like he does, he will be a fine shortstop the rest of the way. I think the more HR he hits, the more walks he will draw from here on out. That will help solidify the bottom of the lineup and get the top hitters more ABs.
What does everyone else think about DLR and Hardy? Can Hardy end the year with an OPS around .700? Will he ever develop power? If DLR continues to get opportunities, do you think he can be a major player on the team next year? And, do we consider starting DLR?

Buyers or Sellers

At the trade deadline, the Brewers have generally been, particularly during the Taylor administration, sellers in the trading market. Several times we'd give up a piece of our roster to 'build for the future'. Seldom did these trades work out-for either side mind you (Richie Sexson being an aberration)-leaving the brewers worse for the wear during the dog days of August. So as this deadline approaches, with the team currently 47-50 and 4 games back of a wild card threat, will they be buyers or sellers of talent before the July 31 deadline? The answer: neither. The Brewers could easily sell at the deadline, and continue to build for 2007 and beyond, but there is one important factor in Doug Melvin's way: a .500 season will re-establish hope in this franchise more than any other accomplishment. Even though Jenks has hit well enough to likely generate some trade buzz despite his $8 million/year contract, Melvin won't trade him because A.) he doesn't trade position players at the deadline, only pitchers, and B.) Jenkins will help us make a run at .500 better than Corey Hart or Nelson Cruz (likely replacements) and whatever pieces Melvin would get in return for Jenks. So why not buy to increase the chances of securing the first winning season since 1992? Simply put, Doug Melvin's philosophy in rebuilding the Brewers has been that of several similar sports franchises, most notably the Atlanta Braves and New England Patriots. That is: organizational depth. He will not trade depth in the minor leagues for help this year, especially if they're not making a serious run at the Central. So there you have it, I've just spent the last five minutes explaining that the Brewers will do absolutely nothing (at least nothing drastic) in the next week.

Brewers Game Today (test blog)

Hey, just seeing how this works. How much did it piss you off that Yost didn't have enough faith to go to a lefty against Dunn? Also, why wouldn't you pinch hit with Damien Miller instead of Chris Magruder? Magruder really needs to go. He is the worst utility outfielder in baseball. Well, that's not true, but he certainly isn't good enough to be in the majors. Call up Hart or Cruz!

Welcome

Welcome to Brew City Sports, the forum, and likely soapbox, dedicated to Wisconsin sports (yeah, da packers too) and other sports topics. If you want to post/contribute, send me an email at MBaumgarND@gmail.com with your name and email address. Thanks