Brewers Hate-offThe Winner

Weekend Gambler

A perfect push last weekend gives me renewed gambling spirits. I present to you my selections for the 9/30-10/1 weekend.

Purdue @ Notre Dame (-14)
Purdue . . . has played nobody. And they've given up a lot of points to nobody. This is the first of many breathers on Notre Dame's schedule. I'm a little worried they're going to be worn out from last week, but Purdue's defense is so bad that 28 shouldn't be a stretch.

Illinois (+26.5) @ Michigan St.
Illinois is a miserable football team, but I envision Michigan state being in disarray after last week's collapse. 26.5 is an ASSLOAD of points for a team to be giving up a 16 point lead with fewer than 8 minutes left last week. This line is so big that it scares me that the public knows something I don't. Don't count on it, I'm too smart for that.

Houston @ Miami (-17)
Houston is undefeated for all the same reasons as Purdue. Miami is playing uninspired football but has the potential of a top tier team. I'd say there's a 60% chance of miami winning by more than 17, which is good enough for me against the spread.

Sunday, Rocktober 1
Green Bay (+11) @ Philly
Green Bay has shown signs of offensive life the past two weeks. Keep in mind Detroit held Seattle to 9 points in week one. Philly should win, but not by 11.

Cleveland (-3) @ Oakland
The raiders are terrible. The Browns aren't much better, but the Raiders are miserable.

New England (+6) @ Cincinnati
Off field distractions for the Bengals this week, expect New England to keep it close.

Brewers Hate-off:The Finals

Despite a valiant effort by Chad Moeller (clearly the only valiant effort this group has ever seen out of Chad), the finals are set. Ben 'Semen face' Hendrickson versus Kevin 'Condom hat' Mench. Will Contraceptive Kevin wrap up the championship? Or will Blowjob Ben retain the title 'Brewer that sucks the most'? You Decide.

Brewers Hate-offThe Fuckshow Four

And then there were four. These players need no introduction. Their names alone conjure up images of biblical-sized iniquity.


Kevin Mench,
champion of the Bando Division





vs.


Chad Moeller,
champion of the Kinney Division.







Ben Hendrickson,
champion of the Taylor Division,



vs.



Derrick Turnbow,
champion of the Franklin Division.

Brewers Hate-offThe Excrement Eight

We really have come a long way now, and we've lost some really good contenders along the way. We're down to eight: the eight most brutally foul, heinous, contemptible pederasts that this team had to offer this season.

We're down to the eight most hated 2006 Brewers. It's really like chosing between Hitler and Mussolini at this point, but do what you can to express as much hatred as possible.
-The Bub

Here are the championship matchups for each division:

Bando:
(3) J. Fernandez vs.
(1) K. Mench

Kinney:
(3) J. Winkelsas vs.
(1) C. Moeller

Franklin:
(3) D. Turnbow vs.
(1) J. de la Rosa

Taylor:
(2) D. Bell vs.
(1) B. Hendrickson

Voting for this round will expire on Wednesday, September 27th at noon.

Brewers Hate-off (1998-2006)

In the stupidity that was this weekend, we came up with the idea for a Brewers hate-off from the past ten years. Several people encouraged me to include team management, coaches and even broadcasters in the hate off. After including those individuals, I decided that we'd have to limit the hate-off to the past 8 years instead of 10. Otherwise there would just be too many people to hate. Also, I don't want a lot of players in the brackets that people don't remember.

I have made four brackets a la the NCAA tournament. I put 16 non-players in their own bracket. The other three brackets are (1) starting pitchers, (2) releif pitchers and catchers, and (3) infielders and outfielders. The play-in game will come from the infielders and outfielders bracket. I have picked 65 people from the Brewers organization that I think stand the most chance of winning the hate-off. I'll rank the men (and woman) as I see fit.

We won't start voting until the 2006 Hate-off has been completed. I guess I'm still looking for ideas on how to conduct this. Who would be interested in participating? Should we get a set roster of voters before we continue? Should I be allowed to vote or can I simply judge and answer questions about the 65 contestents? Should we advertise the hate-off to other Brewers bloggers and Brewerfan.net? Give me some ideas and let me know if you're interested in voting. Once again, we will demand that voters do not slack. Perhaps if we had a set schedule we wouldn't lose interest. We obviously need voter participation as we've had for the 2006 hate-off.

Brewers Hate-offThe Sewer Sixteen

The much anticipated matchups have been set. You've voted for the sixteen players you hate the most. Now you've just made your lives more difficult. You have to sift through this rag-tag bunch of assholes and decide who sucks more. Good luck.

Bando Division
(1) Mench v. (4) Adams
(3) Fernandez v. (7) Gonzalez

Taylor Division
(1) Hendrickson v. (4) Nix
(6) Hardy v. (2) Bell

Franklin Division
(1) De la Rosa v. (5) Z. Jackson
(2) Eveland v. (3) Turnbow

Kinney Division
(1) Moeller v. (5) Clark
(3) Winklesas v. (7) Kolb

Reason #983628762348702345982734978 Why I love the hate-a-thon

Geoff Jenkins, Kevin Mench, and Dave Bell are the WORST 5-6-7 hitters in MAJOR LEAGUE HISTORY.

Weekend Gambler

4-2 last week, lets get to it.

Saturday
Notre Dame (-3.5) @ Michigan State.
MSU's pass defense is 10th in the Big 10. Notre Dame is pissed for last week and last year.

Wisconsin (+14) @ Michigan
Big game letdown for Michigan. I don't see them beating UW by 14 this weekend.

UCLA (-3) @ Washington
I hate Tyrone Willingham. I like Ben Olsen. meh.

Sunday
Green Bay (+7) @ Detroit
Although Detroit's D-line versus our O-line scares the shit out of me.

Jacksonville @ Indianapolis (-7)
See the Michigan recap above.

Chicago @ Minnesota (+4)
Chicago needs to lose one of these days.

Season record: 5-3

Brewers Hate-off Franklin and Kinney Divisions Round 2

Voting for this round will close at noon on Saturday, September 23. Please do not forget that the other second round voting is currently going on. Voting for that round will also continue until noon on the 23rd. As always, vote for the player you hate MORE.

Franklin Division:
(5) Z. Jackson vs.
(4) V. Rotino

(6) T. Gwynn Jr. vs.
(3) D. Turnbow

(7) M. Rivera vs.
(2) D. Eveland

(8) M. Wise vs.
(1) J. de la Rosa


Kinney Division:
(5) B. Clark vs.
(4) C. Demaria

(6) C. Spurling vs.
(3) J. Winklesas

(7) D. Kolb vs.
(2) C. Barnwell

(1) C. Moeller vs.
(9) G. Jenkins

WOW huh? I would have expected at least 6 of those players in the Kinney Division to have advanced to the Sewer 16. Too bad they match up in this round. I am dying to see who wins all four of those matchups. The Franklin Division matchups are clearly inferior.

I'm sure most of you don't care, but

this evening, the Washington Nationals lost their 86th game, meaning that there is no way they can win 76.5 games this regular season. This means baseball prognosticator Condescendy is the proud owner of a brand new Andy Jackson. Thanks again to all of those that participated back in February.

Brewers Hate-off Taylor and Bando Divisions Round 2

After a somewhat predictable first round, the Bando and Taylor Divisions heat up quite a bit in the second round. Voting for this round will close at 1:00 PM Thursday, September 21. Thanks to everyone for the quick responses to the prior voting posts. With your continued help, we will have crowned a champion before the season is finished. That player will receive, among other things, status as our favorite player in 2007. Said person truly will be "so bad, he's good." On to the voting!

Bando Division:
(5) D. Anderson
(4) M. Adams

(3) J. Fernandez
(11) D. Davis

(7) G. Gonzalez
(2) J. Lehr

(1) K. Mench
(9) T. Ohka


Taylor Division:
(5) A. Simpson
(4) L. Nix

(6) J. Hardy
(3) C. Mabeus

(2) D. Bell
(10) J. Capellan

(8) R. Helling
(1) B. Hendrickson

There are going to be some close battles here. I can tell already.

Brewers Top 20 Prospects - # 14 Tim Dillard

DO NOT forget to vote in the Hate-a-Thon. Voting for all first round matchups is in progress.

# 14 Tim Dillard (SP)
Previous Rank: 16
Age: 23
Size: 6'4" 228 lbs.
Likely 2007 Destination: Triple-A Nashville

Background:
Dillard was drafted in the 34th round of the 2002 draft. He was a draft-and-follow candidate who signed with the Brewers the following summer. He started off in 2003 splitting time between levels of rookie ball, and he had immediate success. Bumped up to Single-A Beloit in 2004, Dillard had a decent season. He pitched out of the bullpen and posted a 3.96 ERA with 61K and 22BB in 72.2 innings. Promoted to High-A Brevard County in 2005, Dillard broke out. The Brewers made him a starter, and he responded by racking up 185.1 innings. In those innings, he allowed only 31 walks. While his strikeout total (128) was nothing remarkable, his 2.48 ERA certainly was. At this point, I liked Dillard but worried about his ability to handle Double-A because he didn't have high strikeout numbers. Dillard made the jump to Double-A this year, and eased my worries quite a bit. While he still didn't strike people out (108K in 163 innings), he didn't walk anyone either (36 BB). He maintained a 3.15 ERA and again accumulated a ton of innings.

Projection:
Dillard has some skills that rank very high. First and perhaps most importantly, he has health. Dillard has demonstrated an ability to handle a lot of innings without getting fatigued. Second, Dillard has an awesome sinker. He had a 1.59 ground-ball to fly-ball ratio this year. He has consistently been a ground-ball pitcher. Lastly, he has very good control. He uses his sinker to attack hitters early in the count. Because of his sinker and control, Dillard's prospect status is not destroyed by his low strikeout total.
Many Brewers pitching prospects who posted great numbers in the minors have struggled to make the jump to the Majors. Dillard possesses a unique skill set. Perhaps his control and ground-ball tendancies will translate to the Majors better than other prospects. After all, Dillard has been promoted every year in the minors and never posted an ERA above 3.96. I expect Dillard to do well in Triple-A next year and get a shot with the Brewers next September. I really don't know what to expect when he gets the call. I'm going to figure out this pitching prospect mystery someday!

Brewers Hate-off Franklin and Kinney Divisions Round 1

If you missed it, WE HAVE STARTED VOTING FOR THE OTHER DIVISIONS. Please scroll down and vote. As always, remember we are voting for the player we HATE MORE. Voting for these divisions will close at 11:59PM on Wednesday, September 20th. We will close voting early if the vast majority of voters have casted their votes by a 1:00PM on Wednesday.

Franklin Division:
5 Z. Jackson
12 C. Lee

6 T. Gwynn Jr.
11 G. Gross

7 M. Rivera
10 J. Cirillo

8 M. Wise
9 T. Graffanino

Kinney Division:
5 B. Clark
12 P. Fielder

6 C. Spurling
11 R. Weeks

7 D. Kolb
10 C. Koskie

8 C. Hart
9 G. Jenkins

Brewers Hate-off Taylor and Bando Divisions Round 1

The winner of the Bando Division will face the winner of the Kinney Division. The winner of the Taylor Division will face the winner of the Franklin Division. Voting for this first round will close on Wendesday, September 20th at 1:00PM Central. If we get votes in quickly enough, we can move on to the next round and hopefully get this done by the end of the Brewers' season. REMEMBER THE RULES: We are voting for which player we HATE MORE.

Bando Division:
5 D. Anderson vs.
12 B. Hall

6 D. Sarfate vs.
11 D. Davis

7 G. Gonzalez vs.
10 F. Cordero

8 C. Villanueva vs.
9 T. Ohka

Taylor Division:
5 A. Simpson vs.
12 D. Bush

6 J. Hardy vs.
11 B. Sheets

7 D. Miller vs.
10 J. Capellan

8 R. Helling vs.
9 B. Shouse

Family Guy features Joke about Tim McCarver being bad at his job

Vote in the tournament of hate

Brewers Top 20 Prospects - # 15 Tony Gwynn Jr.

DO NOT forget to vote in the Hate-a-Thon

# 15 Tony Gwynn Jr. (CF)
Previous Rank: 12
Age: 23
Size: 6'0" 180 lbs.
Likely 2007 Destination: Triple-A Nashville

Background:
Mini Gwynn was drafted in the second round in 2003. The Brewers immediately placed him in Beloit to finish the 2003 season. He showed glimpses of being a good player, with more walks that strikeouts and a .280 batting average. But he had absolutely no power (.326 SLG). The Brewers promoted him aggressively, assigning him to Double-A Huntsville to start the 2004 season. He posted a .629 OPS. Gwynn should have spent 2004 in High-A. The Brewers wisely kept Gwynn in Double-A again in 2005. He started to improve, posting a great 76/75 BB/K ratio in 509 AB. Gwynn also posted his highest minor league slugging percentage to that point (.338). Gwynn clearly had a long way to go at the plate. He took a big step forward in 2006, posting a career high .756 OPS in Triple-A Nashville. He hit .300 and slugged .396. The only concern with his progress was that his BB/K numbers slipped a bit. He had 42 BB and 84 K in 447 AB. Promoted to Milwaukee at various points, Gwynn currently is hitting .294 with only one walk, eight strikeouts and just one extra base hit in 34 AB.

Projection:
Gwynn is a very good defensive player. He projects as an above average defensive center fielder. So, he doesn’t need to be an amazing hitter to be valuable. That’s good, because he probably never will be an amazing hitter. His minor league numbers, especially the BB/K numbers, indicate that Gwynn could become a good on-base threat for the Brewers. With on-base ability, great baserunning, good defense in center and clearly good character, Gwynn is certainly a nice prospect. But it’s hard to imagine him ever developing any power. Without any power, it will be very difficult for Gwynn to get a lot of walks in the Majors. As we’ve seen in his first exposure to major league pitching, Gwynn is getting attacked very early in the count. I like that Gwynn progressed the past two years, and I’d like to see the Brewers give him at least another year in Triple-A to see if he can refine his hitting a bit more.

Brewers Hate-off and Play-in Game

Ok bloggers, it's time to rally around a common cause. Condescendy and I noticed blog participation beginning to swoon this summer and began searching desperately for solutions. We think we've found a clear winner. So far this season, 49 players have strapped on a Milwaukee Brewers uniform. Condy and I have found that we hate the vast majority of them. We assume that the Brew City contributors have similar sentiments.

So, we intend to solve the contribution crisis with a tournament of champions. Champions that are terrible at baseball. The format will be similar to the NCAA tournament and conference tournaments, including a play-in game. The catch? We want the votes from everybody that plans on posting on the blog in the future. Those who do not vote will lose posting privileges. Please note that neither of us have any interest in reducing the number of contributors. We enjoy everybody's opinions, and would certainly like to hear them more often. Likewise, this tournament will be a collosal failure if we don't have full participation. Thus, if you are unable to contribute to a contest innane as this one, we assume you have no interest in continuing the inanity in the future. Jeff is exempt as he will not be near a computer for most or all of the tournament. Likewise, Carlson and Skip will not lose posting privileges, but your contributions are strongly encouraged.
Here is the format:
The players have been ranked from 1 to 49, one being the most awful. They were then divided into four divisions and ranked 1 to 12 in each of the divisions (13 in the Bando Division)

An initial play-in game will take place, followed by matchups between the 5th-12th place players. Each of the top four seeds in each bracket will receive a bye.

Once there are 32 "players", the tournament will proceed exactly like the NCAA tournament.

Ties: The winner of a tie will be determined by Jimii and I, based on the best arguments laid out for a certain player being most hated. That means you are encouraged to include reasons for hatred along with your picks.

You will have 24 hours to pick the winner of the play-in game, and 72 hours to make your picks for all subsequent rounds.

We have tossed around the idea of having people put together brackets and gamble on the results. So far Bub is on board for this.

The entire bracket will be posted shortly. The play-in game, to be held in Dayton, OH, is Chris Capuano versus Billiam Hall. Your votes must be in by 2 PM CDT Monday.

Brewers Top 20 Prospects - # 16 Lorenzo Cain

# 16 Lorenzo Cain (OF)
Previous Rank: Unranked
Age: 20
Size: 6'2" 170 lbs.
Likely 2007 Destination: High-A Brevard County

Background:
Cain was drafted in the 17th round of the 2004 draft as a draft-and-follow guy. He signed the next year with the Brewers and started in Arizona Rookie ball. He proceeded to win the Arizona League MVP, posting a .356/.418/.556 line in 205 AB. He moved up to Helena and played six games before the end of the year. Cain jumped to Single-A West Virginia to start the year. As a 20-year-old, he was young for the league, but he set the West Virginia team record for hits in a season. In 527 AB, he batted .307/.385/.425 with 58 BB and 104 K. He hit 35 doubles and 6 home runs. Because Cain has posted pretty good numbers and has a lot of “tools,” I have no doubt Baseball America will have him ranked as one of the Brewers’ top-5 prospects.

Projection:
Cain has maybe the highest ceiling of any Brewers prospect. He isn’t one of those toolsy players that cannot hit. He can definitely hit for average, and he is patient at the plate. Right now, he lacks a lot of power. At 6’2”, 170lbs, he has a quite a bit of growth potential. One thing I love to see is progress during the year. In the second half, Cain posted an .887 OPS with 20 stolen bases and only 4 caught stealings. Like most Single-A players, Cain needs to show one more good year of production (and increased power) to be ranked as high as most other people will have him.

Manna from Heaven

As if I didn't already have enough TV to watch this weekend, ESPN Classic has bombarded this funnyman with even more slpendor. Starting tomorrow at 2:30 pm ET they will be showing a baseball movie marathon of Eight Men Out, Bull Durham, and Major League.

I just thought I'd pass this along for all of you looking for great filler during commercial breaks of the NFL games. Oh, and by the way, the Reds and the Big Donkey will be on WGN as they take on the Cubs. I could only pray that Rusch will take the hill for the Cubs but it doesn't look likely.

Jammers, am I going to be the next prospect on the list? Seriously, that list couldn't get more boring. The Crew has been hounding me about being their everyday catcher of the future, but how could I be expected to leave my brother's basement? I love big screens with surround sound!

Brewers Top 20 Prospects - # 17 Mat Gamel

# 17 Mat Gamel (3B)
Previous Rank: 21
Age: 21
Size: 6'0" 200 lbs.
Likely 2007 Destination: High-A Brevard County

Background:
Gamel is a left-handed hitter drafted in the fourth round in 2005. He is “Medium, solid, well proportioned build. Body similar to Robin Ventura. Short, compact stroke. Gets hands to ball quick. Will go w/ pitch. Patient hitter, waits for his pitch. Scrappy player.” Okay, thought you might enjoy that. Anyway, Gamel has some tools, but is seen as more of a natural hitter. He got a little action in 2005 and did well. In 2006, he started the year in Low-A West Virginia. At 21 years old, he was about average age for prospects at Low-A. He had a good season in West Virginia. Hitters don’t put up ridiculous stats in the South Atlantic League. Gamel’s numbers weren’t ridiculous, but he led the team in home runs (17), slugging (.469) and OPS (.827). He also maintained a very solid 52/81 BB/K in 491 AB. His defense was very sketchy at the beginning of the year. All told, he had 34 errors at third. I can’t get exact numbers, but I’d estimate that 25 of the 34 errors occurred in the first half. His offense also improved as the year went along. In August, he posted a .961 OPS with a downright awesome 21/8 BB/K ratio in 97 AB.

Projection:
Progress during the season is a very important thing to consider when looking at a prospect. I like how Gamel got better, especially defensively. I also like his raw power and improving BB/K ratio. He is young enough to be considered a top prospect, but he could use one more year of good production to prove that he is capable of succeeding in the upper minors and majors. I expect good things from Gamel in Brevard County next year.

Separation Saturday

One thing's certain this weekend and it's the fact that my hip is in worse shape than Bo Jackson's. I will most definitely be sitting--or lying down--the entire weekend. But what better weekend to do so than what has been dubbed the most exciting cumulative weekend of games this season. In fact, I will be consuming an entire liter of Crown Royal in order to take the edge off this debilitating ailment. While I'm not posting according to the spread--I leave that up to Hammerin' Mandrew Bubberg--I have my always cutting edge insight to each game and straight-up picks.

#11 Michigan at #2 Notre Dame: I certainly hope the Skipper takes this one in because the Irish have been damn near unbeatable against the Wolverines in South Bend. Does the streak reach three? I think so, but I also have a beef with how this game is built up. I'm still not comfortable with Notre Dame being an overwhelming favorite against any Michigan team, but facts are facts. Lloyd Carr coaches a football game as if he's handed a 20-point lead coming out of the tunnel. His play calling and strategy are far too conservative for the type of team that hits the field with him. Brady looks to finally top 200 yards passing against the Wolverines, and the Irish offense finally seemed to hit some sort of rhythm last week against PSU. But something's scary about this Michigan defense. They're physical and--I think--faster than the units of the past two seasons. Let's not forget that last year's game in Ann Arbor was ugly and sloppy to say the least. I think Michigan is finally fired up to play the Irish and has a chip on its shoulder for being overlooked and given no chance by some talking heads--except for Mark May whose opinions are as right as his skin color. This should be a great game: ND 27 Mich 21.

#6 LSU at #3 Auburn: This is, by far, the best game of the weekend as far as talent and championship hopes are concerned. The winner of this game has won the SEC West five out of the last 6 meetings. Both teams are loaded and ready to make their cases for a spot in the BCS title game. Kenny Irons and Brandon Cox aside, LSU has more talent and less starters suspended for this game. In all honesty, home field advantage is overrated in this series because anyone who watch this game the past two seasons could have clearly seen that the road team should have won the games if not for lapses in their respective kicking games. That all ends this year because LSU's defense is better than last year's unit while Auburn's still has too many question marks. This view is not shared by many people on ESPN or elsewhere on TV, but I have a gut feeling about this one. LSU 17 Auburn 14.

#17 Miami at #12 Lousiville: This is a no brainer for me. In fact, this game seems too much like last year's Miami/Va. Tech game. Miami is getting no credit for having one of the better defenses in the country. Louisville's linebacker--his name escapes me at the moment--that ran his mouth about the Canes losing their swagger is about to have his words shoved up his nose faster than a line a coke. Miami will look worlds better on offense than they did against that sick FSU squad. Louisville has no business--none whatsoever--talking down to Miami. Period! Miami 35 Lousiville 20.

#7 Florida at #13 Tennessee: I love to watch this game because after 60 minutes of entertaining football Georgia fans always take pleasure in knowing that the winner is the only thing standing between themselves and a trip to the conference title game. Florida has more talent and a better defense than the Vols, but Chris Leak resembles Brett Favre out there with his ineptitude to grasp Urban Meyer's silly little offense. Fulmer and his crew almost lost to the Air Force Academy last week because they were looking ahead to this matchup. Well here ya go fellas, you got what you asked for. As a Georgia fan I'm pulling for ther Gators because of their difficult schedule and the chances of them getting knocked off later in the season. Florida 20 Tennessee 10.

#15 Oklahoma at #18 Oregon: Quite frankly, I don't care to go into detail on this one. Oklahoma has no QB and Oregon is a prototypically soft PAC 10 team. Adraian Peterson will not be stopped. Oklahoma 31 Oregon 21.

#19 Nebraska at #4 USC: Someone tell me I didn't read a Husker defensive back claim it was only a matter of "when" his team will walk into a sold out L.A. Coliseum and beat the mighty Trojans. This was all I needed to hear about this one. This ass kicking will resemble the Carson Palmer march over the Irish in 2002. Good thing there'll be a monster SEC game on CBS--complete with the best sound effects in brodcasting. Callahan's corn coast offense is gonna get eaten alive by the supercharged Trojan headhunters. USC 44 Nebraska 14.

Sorry about covering your gambling post there Hammer, but these are the games that matter. Notice how I refused to include the TCU game. Some of you will be getting drunk calls from me this weekend so get ready. OUT!

Weekend Gambler

Here's another installment of weekend gambler, where I, the Bub, try to convince you to dwindle away your life savings on sports gambling.

Michigan (+5.5) @ Notre Dame
I think Notre Dame will win, but these games are notoriously close, save for the 38-0 abberation during the worst football season I have ever watched. I hope I'm wrong However
Straight up: Notre Dame

Ohio @ Rutgers (-15.5)
Rutgers is for real. I can't believe I'm saying that, but Greg Schiano is one of the best coaches in the NCAA, and will land a big time gig soon.

Oklahoma @ Oregon (-4.5)
Oklahoma has not looked good so far this season. Adrian peterson is a stud, and while Oregon doesn't have a good defense, they should know enough to put 11 in the box and challenge paul thompson to beat them. Plus the ducks are pissed about the holiday bowl from last year.

Sunday
New Orleans (-3) @ Green Bay
It'll be a tough route to the super bowl if the Packers start out 0-2, but I just don't see them having enough to beat this NFC bottom feeder. We may actually score a few points this weekend, though.

Oakland @ Baltimore (-13)
Art Shell's raiders exhibited all the worst points of the Davieham Irish and the ray rhodes/mark mccarthy Packers, with the twist that aaron brooks is the worst quarterback i've ever seen. Thankfully, even if they finish with a worse record than the pack, they won't go after peterson or moses. They need a quarterback desperately.

Detroit (+9) @ Chicago
Chicago's offense still sucks, and only looked good because they feasted on the worst defensive unit the NFL has seen in a decade. Meanwhile, the Lions held the defending NFC champs to 9 points, and their d-line tore up the seahawks o-line. Expect rex grossman to have a bad day.
Straight up: Lions(!)

Brewers Top 20 Prospects - # 18 Alcides Escobar

# 18 Alcides Escobar (SS)
Previous Rank: 19
Age: 19
Size: 6'1" 155 lbs.
Likely 2007 Destination: Double-A Huntsville

Background: Escobar was signed as a free agent out of Venezuela as a 16-year-old in 2003. Ever since the Brewers signed him, they have promoted him extremely aggressively. He spent 2004 in High-Rookie Helena as a 17-year-old. As I discussed about Errecart, Helena is filled with recent college draftees. Escobar was predictably overmatched. He posted a .690 OPS but showed promising athleticism and defensive skill. Despite his struggles at the plate in 2004, the Brewers promoted Escobar to Low-A West Virginia in 2005. Again he struggled, as he played against players 4 to 5 years older than him on average. He posted a .667 OPS with almost no power and very little ability to take a walk. So what did the Brewers do with him in 2006? They promoted him again; this time to High-A Brevard County. Naturally, Escobar struggled again. He posted a .601 OPS in a pitcher’s league. He again showed no power and little ability to take a walk.

Projection:
It’s hard to tell about Escobar because he’s never faced a level of competition he was prepared to handle. He has been overmatched at the plate, but from what I hear he is the best defensive infield prospect in the system. He is athletic and fast. His prospect status is based entirely on what kind of player he could change into, not on anything he’s accomplished in the minors. The thing he has going for him more than athleticism is age. He could spend three more years developing in High-A and still would be young enough to be considered a good prospect. It’s the age and athleticism which caused Baseball America to rank Escobar as the Brewers’ 6th best prospect before the season. He ranked ahead of Eveland, Cruz, Inman and Capellan. That shows what other people think he could turn into. At 6’1” 155 lbs. he obviously has room to add a lot of muscle. If he “Bill Halls” up the next three years, it’s possible that he becomes a toolsy, speed-power shortstop. That doesn’t happen all that often. My best guess: he doesn’t taste Milwaukee or any other Major League team. But he’s worth keeping an eye on.

Brewers Top 20 Prospects - # 19 Dennis Sarfate

#19 Dennis Sarfate (SP/RP)
Previous Rank: 15
Age: 25
Size: 6'4" 210 lbs.
Likely 2007 Destination: Milwaukee

Background:
The Brewers selected Sarfate in the ninth round of the 2001 draft. He has spent the majority of his minor league career as a starter. While he has had some nice seasons, he's never had what I'd call a breakout year. The past three minor league seasons, he's had about 8K per 9 innings. His ERA has consistently been in the high 3's or low 4's. He's given up an average amount of home runs and hits. Sarfate's problem is that he doesn't have much control. He's given up more than 5 walks per 9 innings the past three years. That is horrible. What Sarfate has going for him is velocity on his fastball and three pitches, a curveball, changeup and fastball. Sarfate spent this year at Nashville before getting a September call-up with the Brewers. In the month before the call-up, Sarfate was moved to the bullpen, where he enjoyed better success than as a starter. His time with the Brewers and move to the bullpen has strengthened his prospect status. There is potential for him to improve as he puts maximum effort into his pitches in a relief role. In August in Nashville, Sarfate had 23 K, 9 BB, and a .557 OPS allowed in 17.2 innings. Those are very good numbers, except for the walks. They have carried over to Milwaukee, where Sarfate has pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, with 3K and 1BB.

Projection:
The Brewers are out of options with Sarfate after this year. That means that if he's going to play for the Crew, it will be permanently. He can no longer be sent to the minors without clearing waivers, which wouldn't happen. So Sarfate cannot stink in spring training and could help his cause a lot with a good September. I don't think he has any future as a starter. In fact, I'm sure he doesn't. But we don't know what he can do in a relief role yet. I think Sarfate is intriguing. I'd say that if makes the team, he has the potential to post a couple of Dan Kolb circa 2003-2004 type years. He kind of reminds me of Kolb. There is just no telling at this point. I don't think he will ever be great because of his lack of control. While velocity is tough to teach, so is control. My guess is that the Brewers will give him a shot in 2007, even if he doesn't impress too much before then.

Brewers Top 20 Prospects - #20 Chris Errecart

I WANT MORE BASEBALL! God, what is with people not caring about baseball any more? I guess the problem is that people got too excited about the Brewers playoff chances. Next time listen to the caution I emphasized. When the Brewers are winning a bunch of close games and have a terrible run-differential, they are not going to stay competitive for long. Three months ago we knew that the Brewers were not a very good team. Injuries are a factor, but even with Koskie, Hardy, Sheets, Weeks, Ohka, and others this team still probably isn't a .500 team. No team can get as little production out of the corners and be competitive. NONE! Mench, Jenkins, Koskie and Fielder. Say what you want, but there just isn't any player in there that has been above average for his position. Jenkins and Mench have been CONSIDERABLY below average. Make everyone else on the roster healthy and still start those guys in the corner outfield. The offense still is no better than average. So, we learned a lesson. Now let's try to get a little optimism back about the Brewers. We get a chance to watch some young players progress and get a glimpse at the likely 2007 roster this September.

With the 2006 Minor League Season done for all but Huntsville (which is two wins away from the Southern League Championship) and about 20 days left in the season, I've decided to get a little more baseball discussion going by starting an end-of-season Brewers top-20 prospect countdown. I'll try to analyze a prospect every day for the rest of the year. Enjoy.

Today's Prospect is #20 - Chris Errecart (1B/OF)
Previous Rank: Unranked
Age: 21
Size: 6'1" 210 lbs.
Likely 2007 Destination: Low-A West Virginia
Background:
The Brewers selected Errecart in the fifth round of this year's draft. He was touted as a right-handed power guy with almost no other tools to speak of. The Brewers placed Errecart in High-Rookie Helena and kept him there for the entire season. High Rookie ball is the typical destination for recently drafted college players, so Errecart was playing at a reasonable level.
Errecart compiled 272 AB in Helena and hit a very impressive 13 home runs. He walked 25 times and struck out 56 times. Despite the somewhat high strikeout rate, Errecart managed to hit .320 and maintain a .406 OBP and .518 SLG. He split time between first base and the outfield.
Projection:
Errecart has the potential to be an effective MLB player because of his size and power. Because he has very little speed and defensive ability, his future will depend completely on his bat developing. Low-A will be very telling for Errecart in 2007. He will need to continue to belt home runs and must show more patience at the plate. Because he is not particularly young for his developmental position, Errecart must progress quickly - like all college draftees. He's a long shot with a significant power upside.

I am very close

to hating Mench more than Nix or Jenkins. It'll be a tough decision in the hate-a-thon at the end of this season.

Weekend Rewind

Baseball:
Brewers lose two of three, but Dave Bush turns in his best performance of the season sunday. The crew have only won three games in September and are really showing the effects of missing 1/2 the opening day offensive roster. we're only 3 losses from a below .500 season, but thankfully we cannot lose 100 games this year. On a more positive note, we're only 6.5 games ahead of the fourth pick in the draft with Monday's loss. Silver lining, baby.

College Football:
Notre Dame turned in a solid performance of relatively mistake free football. They were the beneficiaries of a few Penn State miscues, but you can't really expect the first team to do much better than 41-3 against a ranked opponent. I'm becoming much less nervous about the matchup against michigan, as well as my season-opening bet on the irish winning 10 games.
Elsewhere, and I mean this sincerely, Carlson, expect Georgia to struggle without Joe Tereschinksi. It is extremely difficult for a true freshman quarterback to come into college and be immediately successful. Georgia quarterbacks must stop missing games, lest they never compete for a national championship (see: DJ Shockley hurt before the florida game last year).
Ohio State manhandled Texas. Remember what I said about freshman qb's? That goes for redshirt freshmen too. I understand why Ohio State is #1, but I still believe ND is the best team in the country, and do not expect (m)any close games between here and USC. Ohio St.'s defense will slip up sometime between now and then.

NFL:
The Packers will be entertaining this year. I am anticipating a run at the NFL record for futility. Seriously, they looked God-awful Saturday. Secondary couldn't cover anybody, KGBad was always away from the play, never keeping contain (although he was held a few times), the o-line couldn't block wadewitz, and Favre threw in a couple obligatory TERRIBLE interceptions. The only players that looked good were Green, Kampman, and Driver. Bring on Adrian Peterson.
Rest of the League . . . who gives a shit, the packers will be drafting #1 next year.