Baseball Brew

Brewers have decisions to make regarding rotation

adamburnett — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:30:07 +0000

Manny Parra, Jeff Suppan, Dave Bush and Chris Narveson are fighting for the final 2 spots in the rotation. Yovani Gallardo, Randy Wolf, and Doug Davis are locked in as your top 3. I believe that Parra and Suppan would have to completely fall on their faces to not make the rotation. Parra is the most talented member out of the quartet. Suppan is the highest paid, Bush is the most reliable, and Narveson doesn’t strike me as having a lot of believers in the organization. Last year, Narveson could have been used as a starter much sooner. I believe he was viewed as a last resort. Bush or Narveson could get moved for a prospect late in training camp. Bush kind of gets shafted because Suppan makes so much money. I don’t know if this front office would be willing to sit such a high priced player. If a trade isn’t made, then Bush may have to come out of the pen. With all the southpaws already I don’t see Narveson making the rotation. He could make the Brewers in a long relief role. With the Cardinals and Cubs having so many good right-handed hitters, what sense would it make to have 4 lefties in the starting rotation? Remember players get hurt each year during spring training, so trade possibilities do exist.

Capuano shut down due to inflammation

adamburnett — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:08:06 +0000

Chris Capuano will be shut down for a few days with inflammation in his left elbow. Capuano is trying to come back from a 2^nd Tommy John surgery. He’s throwing every day and the elbow was sore after his last appearance nearly a week ago against the Reds. He’s working as a starter amongst a logjam of pitchers. I don’t believe Capuano was going to be part of the parent club out of spring training regardless of performance. The track record for pitchers off multiple Tommy John surgeries isn’t good. We’ll see how he’s used once the inflammation goes down. A starter’s work load is too much strain on his arm at this point. I believe his best chance to get back to the major leagues is to work out of the pen.

Brewers keep Lofgren and release Halama

adamburnett — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 01:31:03 +0000

The Brewers have made multiple moves to cut the roster down as we go deeper into spring training. 24 year-old LHP Chuck Lofgren was a Rule 5 pick from Cleveland and those picks must be on the opening day roster or must be offered back to their original team. Lofgren wasn’t going to make the opening day roster, so the Brewers had to offer him back to Cleveland or make a trade. 25 year-old RHP Omar Aguilar was sent to the Tribe to keep Lofgren in the Brewers system. The southpaw was assigned to Triple-A Nashville and will report to Minor League camp. To make room for Lofgren, the Brewers released John Halama. The 38 year-old southpaw signed a minor league deal in November to reunite with pitching coach Rick Peterson. Other transactions were C Martin Maldonado and LHP A.J. Murray being returned to minor-league camp. RHP Amaury Rivas and RHP Mark Rogers have been optioned to Double-A Huntsville. Rivas is one of the top pitching prospects in the organization. Rogers is coming back from injury and has a ways to go to contribute at the major league level.

Casting Brewers as the A-Team

adamburnett — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:57:08 +0000

I’m a huge fan of the A-Team and pretty fired up to see the new movie in June. I still own my A-Team action figures, but Faceman is missing a leg due to my pyro faze as a child. After watching the trailor for the new movie, I thought who would I cast on the Brewers as the A-Team? So here are my selections just click on their name and my choice will pop up.

Col. John “Hannibal” Smith

Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck

“Howling Mad’ Murdock

B.A. Baracus

Iribarren claimed by Texas

adamburnett — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 20:14:44 +0000

The Texas Rangers have claimed utility man Hernan Iribarren off waivers. The 2B/OF was out of minor league options and the Brewers decided to make him available. In 8 professional seasons Iribarren was a .316 hitter, but never capable of making an impact with the Brewers in two short stints. He’s a contact hitter with speed that isn’t real good on the basepaths. With so many left-handed hitters in camp Iribarren faced tough competition breaking camp with the Crew. I believe this helps “Super” Joe Inglett’s chances of making the squad.

Pitchers shouldn’t come to the dish in spring

adamburnett — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:44:45 +0000

One thing that has always bothered me in spring training baseball is that pitchers get the opportunity to bat. I wish baseball would change it so guys that are fighting for a final roster spot get more of an opportunity to show their talents. With so many players to look at in camp, the extra at-bats could really help guys on the bubble. I would rather see as much of guys like Jim Edmonds, Joe Inglett, Hernan Iribarren, and Adam Heether as I could instead of having John Halama or Chris Capuano working on bunting. Young players that aren’t in the organizations short term plans like Logan Schaefer, Lorenzo Cain, or Brett Lawrie could take some extra cuts before getting sent back down to minor league camp. Bunting for the pitchers during the regular season is very important, but that work could be done in batting practice.

Brewers 2010 Bullpen Preview

adamburnett — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:13:10 +0000

Gamel shelved with a sore shoulder

adamburnett — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:30:59 +0000

2009 was a lost season for Mat Gamel with the shuttling between Milwaukee and Nashville. Winter ball wasn’t a success either with a batting average just over .200 in limited action. Spring training 2010 isn’t looking too promising at this point with a sore right shoulder causing him to miss games. The injury popped up last week and he was held out of Cactus League games. Then he returned for Monday’s game against the Mariners and had to leave in the 3^rd inning. With Casey McGehee locked in as the starter at third I was hoping that Gamel would get sent down to Triple-A regardless of this spring’s performance. Gamel needs to be able to play everyday to improve in the field. The injury may set him back a little this spring, but is an opportunity for Adam Heether to show what he can do.

The Greatest Baseball Team Ever Assembled

adamburnett — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:43:54 +0000

General Manager
Branch Rickey 1913-1955 Browns/Cardinals/Dodgers/Pirates
Signed Jackie Robinson and drafted Roberto Clemente, played a major part in developing frame work the Minor League Farm System, introduced the batting helmet. Won 4 World Series with the “Gashouse Gang”.

Honorable Mention
John Schuerholz 1981-2007
Architect of Royals and Braves championship runs. Won 15 division titles in free agency era.

Manager
John McGraw 1899-1932 Baltimore Orioles/New York Giants
2763-1948 with a .586 W-L% 11 Pennants 3 World Series Titles

Honorable Mention
Joe McCarthy 1926-1950
2125-1333 .615 W-L% best in the history of baseball
Cubs/Yankees/Red Sox 9 Pennants 7 World Series titles

Bobby Cox 1978-1985, 1990-2010 Braves/Blue Jays
2413-1930 .556 W-L% 14 consecutive division championships, 5 Pennants, 1 World Series title

Catcher
Johnny Bench 1967-1983 Reds
2-time NL MVP by the age of 25, won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves

Honorable Mention
Josh Gibson never played in MLB, but his legend is too intriguing to not take into consideration.

First Base
Lou Gehrig 1923-1939 Yankees
8 seasons with more than 200 hits, 4 seasons with more than 165 RBI’s. 13 seasons with an OPS over 1.000

Honorable Mention
Albert Pujols 2001-present day Cardinals
The greatest hitter I’ve watched in person. On pace to surpass many of the all-time greats. With every player of the current era, you have to wonder if his numbers are tainted as well. Unfortunately, it’s a case of guilt by association.

Second Base
Rogers Hornsby 1915-1937 Cardinals/Cubs/Giants/Braves/Browns
3 seasons with over a .400 batting average, 7 batting titles, led league in RBI 4 times.

Honorable Mention
Jackie Robinson 1947-1956 Dodgers played only 10 seasons, but one of the first run producers from the position

Shortstop
Honus Wagner 1897-1917 Pirates/Colonels
”The Flying Dutchman” won 8 NL batting titles, led the league in slugging 6 times, and stolen bases 5 times.

Honorable Mention
Ernie Banks 1953-1971 Cubs 4 consecutive seasons of 40 plus homers won back to back MVP’s.

Third Base
Michael Jack Schmidt 1972-1989 Phillies
13 seasons with 30 plus homers. Led the NL in homers 8 times. 3-time NL MVP

Honorable Mention
Eddie Mathews 1952-1968 Braves/Astros/Tigers 512 HR 1487 SO 1444 BB show power with good plate discipline.

Outfielders
Hank Aaron 1954-1976 Braves/Brewers
Subtract the 755 HR and he still had 3016 hits. 1402 BB to 1383 SO in his career. 6856 total bases and 2297 RBI both most in history of baseball.

Willie Mays 1951-1973 Giants/Mets
Mays hit 660 HR playing in cavernous pitchers parks. What would Willie Mays do if he played in some of the launching pads of today? Mays is the greatest defensive outfielder in the history of the game.

Ted Williams 1939-1960 Red Sox
“Splendid Splinter” Is 8th all-time in avg, 1st in OBP, 2nd in SLG, 2nd in OPS. What would the numbers be if he didn’t miss time due to military service? I also own a Sears Ted Williams Fishing Rod that I was my grandfathers.

Honorable Mention
Mickey Mantle 1951-1968 Yankees
3-time MVP won AL Triple Crown in 1956. 536 HR as the greatest switch hitter that ever lived.

Joe DiMaggio 1936-1951 Yankees
In 12 of his 13 seasons the Yankee Clipper had more walks than strikeouts, while in 7 of the 13 seasons he had more HR than strikeouts.

Ty Cobb 1905-1928 Tigers/Athletics
4189 career hits, highest career batting average in the history of baseball at.366, won 11 batting titles.

Designated Hitter
Babe Ruth 1914-1935 Red Sox/Yankees/Braves
In today’s game Ruth probably wouldn’t have seen the field much. You find a way to squeeze in a guy with 714 HR, 2213 RBI and a career OBP of .474

Starting Pitchers
Cy Young 1890-1911 Spiders/Americans/Naps/Perfectos/Cardinals
the award is named after him, how could he not be on the list? 22 seasons with a 2.63 career ERA. 511 career wins and his other pitching records will never be broken. Adjusted ERA 138

Walter Johnson 1907-1927 Senators
Won 417 games with a career 2.17 ERA. From 1910-1916 didn’t post an ERA over 2.00. 2-time MVP, Adjusted ERA 147

Randy Johnson 1988-2009 Expos/Mariners/Astros/D-backs/Yankees/Giants
303 career wins. 5 Cy Young Awards. Adjusted ERA 136. 10.6098 SO per 9 IP highest in the history of baseball

Lefty Grove 1925-1941 Athletics/Red Sox
300 Wins with a career 3.06 ERA. Adjusted ERA 148 2nd highest in history of baseball

Greg Maddux 1986-2008 Cubs/Braves/Padres/Dodgers
“The Surgeon” won 355 games in the steroid era of baseball to go along with the trend of building launching pad ball parks. His 1992-1998 performance didn’t have a WHIP higher than 1.049 with his highest ERA during that stretch coming in a 2.72. Won 4 consecutive Cy Young awards and 18 Gold Gloves, Adjusted ERA 132

Honorable Mention
Pedro Martinez 1992-2009 Dodgers/Expos/Red Sox/Mets/Phillies
3 Cy Young Awards Career 2.93 ERA and .687 Winning Percentage Adjusted ERA 154 highest in the history of baseball, 1.0398 SO per 9 IP 3rd highest in the history of baseball

Warren Spahn 1942-1965 Braves/Mets/Giants
13 seasons with 20 plus wins. 382 complete games with 363 wins. Most wins by a left-handed pitcher. Adjusted ERA 118

Christy Mathewson 1900-1916 Giants/Reds
373 Wins with a career 2.13 ERA. Adjusted ERA 135

Sandy Koufax 1955-1966 Dodgers
His dominance during the 1961-1966 seasons may never be matched again. The last 4 seasons of his career didn’t have a WHIP higher than 0.985 Won Cy Young Award and MVP in 1963 going 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA, Adjusted ERA 131

Tom Seaver 1967-1986 Mets/Reds/White Sox/Red Sox
311 Wins with a career 2.86 ERA, 3 Cy Young Awards, Adjusted ERA 127

Closer
Mariano Rivera 1995-present day Yankees
526 career saves and the most dominant ever to seal a victory. 10-time All-Star

Honorable Mention
Dennis Eckersley 1975-1998 Indians/Red Sox/ Cubs/ A’s/Cardinals
His dominance with the A’s changed the way the game was played. In 1992 won the Cy Young Award and MVP as a member of the A’s

Brewers 2010 Starting Pitchers Preview

adamburnett — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:40:27 +0000