Milwaukee Brewers

By Jeff Sackmann Continuing our tour of the Brewers monthly MINER projections...let's look at Craig Counsell.  For more on MINERs and what the hell I'm talking about, read the Projecting JJ Hardy article. Let's take a closer look at the last three years:

By KLSnow Also, we apparently have a Brewer prospect to watch on two AFL teams now, as Lou Palmisano went 1-for-4 with 2 K's in his debut Wednesday for the Mesa Solar Sox. MLB Trade Rumors lists Prince Fielder and J.J. Hardy among twelve 20+ HR hitters who could be available via trade. I'd be disappointed t...

By Jeff Sackmann For background on these projections, read the intro to the JJ Hardy article.  In short: These are projections using data up to and including each month in the player's major league career. Here are the numbers: I wouldn't bet on another All-Star appearance, though.

By KLSnow No Sabathia Smorgasbord today, but there is one link on Ben Sheets: his agent is comparing his elbow injury to a hamstring pull and says no real treatment was needed. If that's the case, then Sheets was either: Oh, and the broken water pipe in the visitor's dugout at Chavez Ravine is only the l...

By Jeff Sackmann For John Burnson's book, The Graphical Player, I've been working on some extensions of my projection system, MINER. The fundamental system remains the same--it's the Marcel system, but with some obvious additions, such as adjusted minor league stats, park-adjusted MLB stats, batted...

By KLSnow Before any decisions can be made on the 2009 roster, though, a decision needs to be made on interim manager Dale Sveum. J.J. Hardy, Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Jeff Suppan all want him back. And of course, we've already heard the same from Jason Kendall, Craig Counsell and Robin Yount. Fielde...

By KLSnow Let's try bulletpoints in today's Sabathia Smorgasbord: Waiting for Next Year analyzed the trade, now that we finally know all the participants. (h/t Baseball Musings)Sabathia is currently second in the voting for Most Outstanding Pitcher over at The Book. Go cast your vote.Patrick Smi...

By battlekow Every Monday, I'm going to be summarizing the handful of Brewers prospects participating in the Hawaii Winter League and, starting later this week, the Arizona Fall League. In the former, the Brewers players are on the West Oahu CaneFires, and in the latter they're members of the Peoria J...

By KLSnow Of course, members of the local (and in many cases, national) media were too busy watching the Packer game to get ready for yesterday's game. Perhaps the Brewers would have been better off if Corey Hart and Jeff Suppan had been watching the Packers, too.

By roguejim In the playoff-clinching win, who knocked in the tying run with a bases-loaded walk?  Craig Counsell --- right after Corey Hart struck out on three pitches, I might add. Who was on base when Ryan Braun blasted his 10th inning grand slam against the Pirates?  Yup --- Counsell.

By KLSnow Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008 Milwaukee Brewers, winners of the NL Wild Card. You can get your Wild Card gear here, but I'm saving my budget and waiting to see if there's NL Champion or even World Series Champion gear yet to come. After the game, Tom H. got quotes from Doug Melvin, Ben Sheets, D...

By KLSnow But, with Sabathia having been acquired by trading a first round pick, and Fielder, Braun, Weeks and Ben Sheets all having been #1's as well, the Brewers are getting more performance out of their first rounders than all but one team in playoff contention.

By KLSnow I'm not sure if you've heard, but the Brewers played yesterday. Unfortunately, it was more of the same. Even Mike Cameron's return (1-for-4 with a K) and a Jason Kendall home run weren't enough to save the Brewers last night. Oh, and apparently the pizza is terrible in Cincinnati.

By battlekow CF: Well, I wanted to be in the top 15 and was told that I would be by one of the Brewers scouts. He actually told me around 8th to 10th. It's a team's job to get the top 15 [picks] signed; after that, it's just bonus, and also the Brewers had lots and lots of early picks.

By Jeff Sackmann Long story short, we're looking at two great starting rotations.  It's no surprise that these teams have the two best records in the National League, and are among the top five in baseball.  Looking solely at simple peripherals, the Brewers guys may have the edge, and as I mentioned, anothe...

By dixieflatline John Curtis was a major league pitcher for 15 seasons and has been in the Brewers organization for six years now.  He is currently the pitching coach for the Single-A West Virginia Power.  Some general information can be found at my THT article here.  When he describes a pitcher's stuff as "av...

By KLSnow Well, this weekend was a nice step back into tradition. First, on Friday, the Brewers came home with an 8 game winning streak. They'd just finished what Jim Powell was calling the greatest Brewer road trip of all time. So they put on the retro uniforms and lost.

By Jeff Sackmann First off, I view Darren Ford as no more than a throw-in.  If he has a major-league future, it's not even as a fourth outfielder--he'd be a fifth-outfielder/pinch-runner/25th-man type guy.  That is probably his upside.  He's exactly the sort of player that should be included in a deal like t...

By battlekow RW: Well, I heard from all the clubs, but I guess the Yankees, Orioles, Diamondbacks, and Brewers showed the most [interest]. BCB: Who were you a fan of growing up? The Braves? BCB: Speaking of the College World Series, you ran into the Fresno State buzzsaw. How did you take that?

By battlekow BCB: I've heard that the players the Indians have to choose from will change depending on how well Sabathia does for the Brewers and how well the Brewers do the rest of the season. Do you know anything about that? TG: It’s awesome. Chris Cody and Bobby Bramhall are also awesome at doing that.

By battlekow BCB: Are the Brewers going to have you keep both the curve and slider, or focus on one? BCB: You weren't too mad at being drafted by the team that helped knock them out of the playoffs last year? I hear Tony Gwynn, Jr. is kind of infamous in San Diego for that.

By battlekow Next up are Green's partner in the Dance of the Enlimboed Prospect, Michael Brantley, and Brantley's new teammate at Huntsville, Lorenzo Cain. Is the PTBNL designation a result of the Indians' lust for Brantley and their concern over his current ankle injury? Can Brantley handle center...

By dixieflatline Hopefully this kind of represents the kind of analysis Doug and the gang did when determining if the Sabathia trade was the right move to make.  The plan is to calculate how much better this makes the Brewers then calculate how much this move increases their chances of making the playoffs.  T...

By Jeff Sackmann Melvin: I talked to CC last night, doesn't want days at home, wants to be in dugout tonight. It's very encouraging. He knows a few of our players, Riske, who said there's a guy in Cleveland that may be available. I can only listen because of tampering.

By Jeff Sackmann The other team that springs to mind, the Braves, offer something of a counterpoint.  Despite losing more one-run games than a soccer team, the Braves are right about average, hitting relievers with an OPS about 30 points lower than their average OPS.)

By battlekow JO: Just chillin’, takin’ it easy, relaxing till I go to Arizona. JO: July 1st. JO: Nope, nobody. JO: [The Astros] talked about taking me at 10, and the Cubs at 19. BCB: Did you grow up a Cubs fan or a Cardinals fan? JO: Cardinals. BCB: You're supposed to say, "I hate the Cubs!"

By Jeff Sackmann The Brewers had the day off, but Adam McCalvy didn't.  He posted a feature worth reading on Jason Kendall.  He quotes Melvin saying, "If you look at the free agent catchers now, he might have been the best one."  Could be, but I don't know if I'd put that on my business card.

By battlekow BCB: You're in Arizona now? GS: Yeah. BCB: Did you go to many [Class A Kannapolis Intimidators] minor league games growing up? BCB: The Brewers love guys with changeups. Have they talked to you about refining that yet? BCB: Is there anything else you want Brewers fans to know?

By battlekow BCB: Are you in Arizona now? BCB: So, did you know the Brewers were interested in drafting you before they did? CK: The Reds, Cardinals, and Cubs were the most interested. BCB: Oh so you're a Cardinals fan? Well, better than the Cubs, I suppose.

By KLSnow Brewers Bar has raised a straw man and beaten the crap out of it, saying that "many people" feel race was a factor in the Brewers decision to sign Ryan Braun to a long term contract before Prince Fielder. Does anyone out there know anyone who thinks that? I don't. I'm listing Scott Boras as the pr...

By roguejim But hey, I don't really have a problem with Badger Blogger, content notwithstanding.  It doesn't have to be abcnews.com if it doesn't want to be.  What disappointed me was the Journal Sentinel coverage of this breaking non-story. The Journal Sentinel Blogs

By battlekow Seems like the present is a rather bilious topic of late, so let's talk future: on June 5th, 17 short days from now, the MLB draft will be upon us. The Brewers, by virtue of losing Francisco Cordero and Scott Linebrink to free agency, have a boatload of picks: six of the first 62, and seven of the...

By KLSnow MLB's blackout policy just about led to a broken TV last night. I was excited for a Brewers/Cubs game on ESPN and had planned my evening around it. Unfortunately, being in the Brewers "home market" apparently means I'm not allowed to watch them. Because I'm in the home market, the game on ESPN w...

By KLSnow More Claudio Vargas-related news: MLB Trade Rumors thinks the Mets might be interested in his services, and the Huntsville Stars note that this means at least two former Stars will be in the rotation on Opening Day. I enjoyed Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke's April-June script for an NL...

By Marty McSuperFly The Brewers face Oakland today, and I have no idea who is playing.  As soon as a lineup hits the tubes of the Internet, I'll include it below the jump. Oh, and speaking of poor outfield play, I bet we see Gabe Gross in right today while Corey Hart takes in a tour of the Grand Canyon.  I'd also guess it...

By Jeff C: [Kendall] Joe Girardi 1B: [Fielder] Boog Powell 2B: [Weeks] Joe Foy 3B: [Hall] Dave Henderson SS: [Hardy] Kevin Elster LF: [Braun] Tony Conigliaro (honorable mention: Braun's #2 comp is A-Rod) CF: [Cameron] Ron Gant RF: [Hart] Sammy Sosa

By Jeff Let's review the transactions here:Brewers traded Johnny Estrada to the Mets instead of non-tendering him.Brewers acquire Guillermo Mota in the deal, along with his $3.2MM salary for 2008.  Mets fans rejoice.Mets get a better catcher and non-tender Estrada.  That's what we probably woul...

By battlekow Minor League guru John Sickels has released his preliminary Top 20 Prospects list for the Brewers: Yovani Gallardo, RHP, Grade A (one of the best young pitchers in the game) Ryan Braun, 3B, Grade A- (only question is how patient they will be with his glove) Will Inman, RHP, Grade B (the numb...