(Bear with me. I am attempting a post with no links.  Wish me well.) 

You guys are asleep at the wheel.  Here we have the Cubs in town, and nobody offered me any money to stay away.  I was 0-4 in Cubs/Brewers games last season, and after the train wreck that was Sunday night's game, I am 0-1 this season.

And what a train wreck it was...

• Brewers pitchers walked 10 Cubs and hit another two.
• Six Brewers stranded in scoring position.
• No clutch hitting - the Brewers had the bases loaded in the first and got a JJ Hardy sacrifice fly before Corey Hart grounded out to end the inning.
• The Brewers had the bases loaded in the fifth and only got a Prince Fielder sacrifice fly (but in fairness, Reed Johnson saved a grand slam) (sorry for the link, but it was a game-changing play... check the 0:34 mark) and Hardy grounded out to score another run.
• Jeff Suppan and Jorge Julio combined to allow the Cubs to score four runs on bases loaded walks in the fourth inning.
• With the Cubs not hitting (they only managed five hits), the succession of relievers Julio, Seth McClung and Mitch Stetter each allowed a run.  Note that those three runs were the difference in the game.

Now unlike my good friend Ray Sunshine, I am not a "The sky is falling" Brewers fan.  However, the Brewers performance this past week has done nothing to make me think that they will be competitive this season.  Look what has happened in their two wins...

1. Last Wednesday in San Francisco, the Brewers starting pitcher Yovanni Gallardo had to hit a three-run home run.
2. On Opening Day, the winning run was scored on a fielder's choice by Ryan Braun.

I understand that one week is just 4% of the season.  But I am looking at the trends (too many walks by the entire pitching staff and no timely hitting) with no solution in site.  Last season, those poor pitching performances by Jeff Suppan and Manny Parra were camouflaged by brilliant pitching from CC Sabathia.  Now, those meltdown innings have led to three losses, but worse, they are an extension of what took place last season.  As for the lack of clutch hitting, it was overshadowed early in the last season by bludgeoning home runs leading to some comfortable victories, but when that statistical blip ended, it cost Ned Yost his job.

If Suppan can't do anything more than he showed his first two starts, we are in trouble.... Not only because of his struggles, but trotting out Julio and McClung did the Brewers no favors yesterday.  10 walks and two HBP is not acceptable.  The Cubs got five hits, and effectively blew out the Brewers last night.  I got the same feeling watching Suppan that I did last year in some non-descript game against the Reds on a Tuesday night in September (yeah, I know, another link.  But this was some of my best work).  Suppan is a slow worker, he nibbles, he throws over to first endlessly, he nibbles some more, runs the count to 2-2 or 3-2 and then doesn't have an "out" pitch, so the batter fouls off about a dozen pitches.  Like Yost before, Ken Macha defends Suppan as "an innings eater".  But he has only eaten 7-2/3 innings in two games, both games of which got out of hand when the bullpen performed inadequately. 

The biggest problem, however, is the big picture.  We may be stuck with this team and all its warts.  Suppan still has 2 years and $25 million on his contract - he can't be traded because nobody would want him.  As for the offense, you can try to move the biggest non-clutch-hitting offenders in Bill Hall, JJ Hardy and Corey Hart, but the Brewers would have to accept a player with a bigger contract than any of those guys, or would have to replace them with sub-par players (if Trot Nixon, Mat Gamel, Mike Lamb or Tony Gwynn were any better, they would be playing in Milwaukee and starting already).

We have to hope that the start of this season is just an early slump, but I see too many of the same negatives that hurt the Brewers late last season, and I just have an ookey feeling about this....

I am not going to Opening Day for the first time since 2004, been to 16 overall since 1985... Predictions are impossible this year.  Gallardo = 2008 Sheets, Parra = 2007 Gallardo.  The key is if there is the opportunity to get an ace before July... I had a 300 game at Riviera Lanes a few weeks ago, it was my 16th... Leaving for Vegas in two weeks to bowl the USBC Open Championships, aka Nationals... The bar has been set, and it won't be topped this year... Wisconsin bowlers tend to do well at Nationals... Not gonna eat my way through Las Vegas... Don't think I can eat steak for three meals a day for six days?  Try me... Copper prices are going up, is the recession almost over?  Oil is going up, so it just may be... Maybe not for the captain, but the first thing I thought of when I read this was "Cool"... Still looking for bloggers in West Allis to write about issues... But don't look at me, I've got more important things to write about... Metallica is in the middle of a month-long marathon on XM42, it goes through Monday... (Sponsor's Name Here)'s Offical Son, Mitten, was the starting pitcher for his Rufus King High School JV team on April 8th.  He and another pitcher combined to no-hit Bay View High School 17-4 (side note; 17-4 and a no-hitter?  Yeah, it was JV)... Mitten's fastball was clocked as Thursday... It can't be that hard is it to make sure your van is empty first... Or to put your baby in a crib... Or keep your beer truck on its tires... Way cool... So is this... And this... My-Sugar-Na thinks I have too many blog links... Blame Mark the Editor, he showed me how... My-Sugar-Na's new shoes give her blisters... Hey, bbear, quarter craps (but only 10x odds kinda stink)... The Milwaukee Wave managed a 10-10 record with a bunch of guys you've never heard of.  Next year should be much better if they can retain their stars... In one of the other indoor soccer leagues, the PASL-Pro, the Stockton Cougars won the championship, were sold, then fired their head coach... In the third indoor soccer league, the Baltimore Blast will face the Rockford Rampage in Baltimore this weekend for the NISL title... Happy Easter, y'alls!

Modeled somewhat after soccer's World Cup, the WBC is a major hit in most of the participating countries.  The United States seems not to be one of those countries.

When negotiating with the MLB Players union, Major League Baseball pushed the WBC to become a reality, yet the union and the managers for the teams don't want their players to participate.  There seems to be serious concern about player injuries.  Injuries cost everybody money... the clubs who may not be a successful, the players who may lose salary, the agents that lose commission on that salary, etc.

So while MLB's international stars lined up early and often to represent their county (from the Mariners Ichiro Suzuki playing for Japan to the Red Sox David Ortiz playing for the Dominican Republic to the Dodgers Russell Martin playing for Canada) American nationals didn't seem to be concerned.  At first, some of the decliners were due to a recent injury history, like the Brewers Yovanni Gallardo who declined playing for Mexico due to knee surgery last year and the Twins Joe Nathan declining to play for the USA due to a nagging shoulder injury.

But some of the players that declined, like the Brewers Prince Fielder and the Giants Tim Lincecum who did so without an injury to use as an excuse, the die became cast that this tournament wasn't worth their time (in other words, their $$$).  It wasn't just players who declined to play, The Mariners Adrian Beltre begged to be allowed to play for his Dominican Republic team, but the team would not release him to play.

Specific to the USA national team, this meant a watered down roster and send a clear message to American baseball fans... this thing ain't worth it.

Sure, all of MLB started spring training a week early, but USA baseball should have had a camp starting in January to make sure the guys that were proud to wear the team colors are in game shape... they could have played against college teams, against teams going through the Carribean World Series, etc.  Instead we get announcers like former adolescent Brewers announcer Matt Vasgersian and broadcasting newbie Al Leiter tell us that this IS the team's spring training and the players need to "get their work in".  Hell, the MLB Network is telling us on every platform that our national team is going through an organized practice session.  Funny, the MLB Network is run by the same group that negotiated with the union to hold this tournament in the first place.

I hate hearing about how USA manager Davey Johnson has to get so many pitchers so many innings (Side note; Johnson decided his stepson's wedding was more important than the WBC game last Saturday, though he did get the the stadium around the time it started).  The result is that we (this is my country, so this is my team) don't have a pitcher that can go four innings (the Cubs Ted Lilly made it 3-1/3 innings in an elimination game), so they trot out one pitcher who can't throw a strike (the Dodgers Jonathan Broxton) after another (the Mets JJ Putz) after another (the Padres Heath Bell).  Where the hell is the Yankees CC Sabathia?  Where is the Indians Cliff Lee?  Where is the Diamondbacks Brandon Webb?  USA Baseball puts rummy pitchers out there to start a game, and more rummy pitchers in relief.  So because of the need to carry so many pitchers, you can't carry a fair amount of positions players. 

Now, I don't have nearly as much of a problem with the USA offense... I can handle every player on the team (except for the Nationals Adam Dunn, but he has proven me wrong so far, so what do I know?).  But because these guys are out of shape (the Brewers Ryan Braun, the Braves Chipper Jones, the Red Sox Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis) and suffering minor strains and muscle pulls, there is no bench to speak of.  I am shouting at my TV Tuesday night in the elimination game against Puerto Rico when Vasgersian is talking about Johnson's limited substitution options, while watching some crappy pitching drag a game to a four-hour marathon.

There is no really good time to hold this tournament... in March is probably the best we can do (Side note; don't even get me started on the double pool play / double elimination format.  If a camel is a horse designed by a committee, then the format of the WBC is a camel with a bad knee, flat hump and flatulence).    But there is no excuse at all for an out of shape team fashioned with a second-rate pitching staff.

The result is that the USA is uncompetitive in some of the games, and the long list of injuries has but the squad in a position where they've run out of players and have too many playing out of position.  In Wednesday evening's Pool 2 Championship game with 3B Jones 1B/3B Youkilis already out, OF Dunn had to play out of position at 1B, and the Indians Mark Derosa (who can play any position) had to play OF due to LF Braun's injury.  During that game, the Mets 3B David Wright fouled a pitch off his foot, but there was not one available substitute, forcing Wright to stay in the game manning the hot corner like a statue.  Pitchers aren't ready to pitch, and position players are so out of shape that they are dropping like flies.

Somehow, the USA made it to the final four, and will play either Japan or South Korea on Sunday, March 22, with the winner to play in the Finals on Monday, March 23.  USA Baseball has a chance to retool its roster (calling up and dropping players is allowed in between rounds) to come up with some healthy players.  The only real corner infielders on the provisional roster are the Rays Evan Longoria and the Cubs Derrick Lee.

But I am hosed off that it came to this.  Why are Americans so damn arrogant that international team sports are irrelevant?  This is big stuff.  The Dominican Republic (with far more known MLB names than Team USA) lost two games to The Netherlands team that only had two major leaguers on it.  The Dominican press was not happy and Manager Felipe Alou had a lot of ‘splaining to do. 

All baseball fans should be upset about this.  We keep telling the world how great we are, and then we yawn when we get a chance to prove it.  Like I said above, the USA plays its semi-final on Sunday, which is my birthday.  Give me the best present possible... your passion for your national team, watch the game with the expectation that we will win, and if we lose, demand accountability.  This is the only way to show the world that we are #1 in baseball.

Considering that your Milwaukee Brewers made the playoffs for the first time in 26 seasons, I am genuinely crushed that I can't talk reasonably and rationally about the team this week.  From "They suck" to "Their horrible" to "They suck", it seems to be the only conversation I can have about the Brewers this week.

First the set-up...  I have a week or so of vacation days left and three months in which to use them.  So when it was announced that the Brewers were playing Wednesday afternoon, I immediately took a half-day vacation and invited everybody that I knew that fit into one of these categories:

1. Unemployed
2. Retired
3. Work from home
4. Worker bees with possible vacation time to burn

Unfortunately (which goes to my true popularity) other than myself and My-Sugar-Na, only three others showed up; my bowling uncle UJ, my aunt, and my friend (formerly known as "My good friend, I'll call him Joe", but from here forward will be known as "Ray Sunshine").  I popped a coupla Nick N Willie's in the oven, poured my guests a Diet Coke with Splenda and started watching the game.

Without rehasing the entire game, the turning point was clearly the third inning when Bill Hall bobbled a bunt from the pitcher, and instead of getting the lead runner he instead had to throw to first to retire the batter but Rickie Weeks dropped the ball.  Shortly thereafter, a Mike Cameron misjudged a major league fly ball in a thunderstorm, and in giving a professional baseball team 5 or 6 outs, the score was 3-0 in favor of the Phillies.

So for the next six innings, I wanted to talk about "the worst part of the fielding problems is that Yovanni Gallardo had to throw 20 more pitches", or that "the wind is really playing havoc with the fielders."  Instead, Ray Sunshine kept hammering....

• "These aren't major leaguers"
• "Rickie Weeks is a collosal flop who should be released"
• "Oh, no!  Why is (fill in the blank) warming up?"
• "Major league teams play defense"
• "Ned Yost never stressed fundamentals"
• (If a Brewers batter looks at strike one) "I could have hit that!  You've got to be agressive"
• (If a Brewers batter made out swinging at the first pitch) "Come on!  You've got to know how to work the count"
• (After Weeks was removed in favor of Craig Counsell as part of a double-switch) "Great, replace one .220-hitting-bobble-glove with a .220-hitting-no-range-old-man"
• And so on, to the point where My-Sugar-Na actually said "Well you're just a ray of sunshine today!"

I then watched the Dodgers beat up the Cubs, and the homestanding Angels lose to the Red Sox, and I said to myself that the Brewers didn't look any worse than the Cubs or Angels - both superior teams.

Then on Thursday, before I left for bowling I watched part of the game.  I left after CC Sabathia gave up the grand slam to Shane Victorino.  When I got to the bowling alley, Sabathia was still struggling and there was action in the bullpen.  Ray Sunshine, who conveniently bowls with me, went on and on and on about how a struggling Sabathia is still better than the rest of the Brewers bullpen, and that Dale Sveum didn't get the team ready to play, etc.

And when that game ended with the Brewers on the short end of a 5-2 decision, my good friend, I'll call him Scott, said "Now that this garbage is done, can we turn on something that matters to the gambling public?" which turned out to be the South Florida / Pitt college football game.

Rounding out my long-winded set-up is an E-mail that I received a few weeks ago from my good friend, I'll call him John from New Berlin...

He said "All season I have been witness to the total ignorance of the football people who purport to be baseball fans because the team is suddenly in contention.  Now and here’s proof that the players know the fans are ignorant also.  Corey Hart made the out-of-right-field assertion that the Brewers were glad to go to Philadelphia -- a place famous for ornery fans -- to escape the boos.  "It actually felt more like a home game than playing at Miller Park," said Hart, who finished 1-for-3 with a double. "We didn't hear the boos that we have been. That's the way it goes, everybody is expecting to win and it's been a battle. ... Obviously, it's not for a lack of hustle or a lack of effort. It's just one of those things that if a guy makes an error or a guy strikes out and you have your hometown booing you, it makes you ready to get out of there and go somewhere else.”

I went last Sunday afternoon (in early-Sept) and had a “discussion” with a guy who insisted that Prince Fielder should be bunting more often.  He also insisted that Washington was an American league team.   Another fan stated that Yost continually took some pitchers out too soon and left others in too long.  I wonder how just he developed that knack to know exactly when a pitcher should be taken out of a game and never made it as a baseball manager in life.  How do you discuss baseball with someone of such an intelligence level?

If I were a player here I would NEVER come out for a curtain call just for the reasons stated above by Hart.  I’m sure Sabathia has duly noted the way his teammates are treated by the “adoring” throngs if they leave runners on base or commit an error.  I swear that 90% of these new fans never played hardball in their lives and think that it works about the same as softball with just a few rule changes.  In some ways I long for the days of 78-84 because you knew real baseball fans were there, especially in September."

John from New Berlin won't believe this, but I was mentally forming this blog for weeks before he sent this to me.  But he fact is that as a city, Milwaukee has lousy baseball fans.  Fans that don't know the game, and fans that think because guys like Narciso Elvira, Izzy Alcantara, Jimmy Osting, Tom Brunansky, Charlie Hayes, Bill Pulsipher, Joe Winkelsas or the Mouton boys couldn't propel the team into the playoffs when they played, that it is acceptable to boo Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks or Joe Dillon because YOU'RE frustrated.

One bone of contention with so many people that I talk to is who the leadoff hitter should be.  Personally, I like Corey Hart in that position.  Yost liked Rickie Weeks, and Sveum has tabbed Mike Cameron.  But everybody with an opinion on whomever is currently the leadoff hitter all agrees that THAT player shouldn't be leading off.  The judge of a good leadoff hitter is mostly On-base percentage (OBP) and Stolen bases (SB)  Let's look at these 2008 stats (these are for the year, not just the month of September when everybody stopped hitting at once)....

• Corey Hart - Batting Average (BA) .268 / OBP .300 / SB 23 out of 30 attempts
• Rickie Weeks - BA .234 / OBP .342 / SB 19 out of 24 attempts
• Mike Cameron - BA .243 / OBP .331 / SB 17 out of 22 attempts
• Entire Brewers roster - BA .253 / OBP .325
• Every leadoff hitter in the National League - BA .274 / OBP .342

This tells me a lot.  It tells me that Hart is the best hitter of those three Brewers, but if he doesn't get a hit, he isn't getting on first base.  Weeks doesn't have as high of an average, but must work the count and take a lot of walks.  He is also quite good at stealing base.  Mike Cameron is in the middle.  Clearly, for a leadoff hitter, Weeks and Cameron are better choices than Hart, and that is why Yost was and Sveum is a major league manager and I am not.

But look at that last line.  The average OBP of every leadoff hitter in the league is exactly the same as Weeks.  That tells me that Weeks is average, not "useless" like Ray Sunshine insists.  The only three other 2008 Brewers with a higher OBP than Weeks is Fielder (.372, and he ain't leadin' off), Craig Counsell (.355 OBP) and Ray Durham (.369) and both Counsell and Durham are old platooners.  Other than that, there is NOTHING.  Now, if you (or Ray Sunshine) want to argue that the Brewers need to upgrade the leadoff hitter, you can win that one easily.  But don't be down on Weeks or Cameron because they are the best of a motley lot.

I could go onto the bullpen (which, by the way, ranks FOURTH in the National League in ERA, and in eight innings in the playoffs have not allowed one run.)  But the common fan couldn't get past Eric Gagne blowing a save in Game 1 against the Cubs in April, or Guillermo Mota and Salomon Torres blowing a 5-0, 9th inning lead in Arizona in July.  But trust me.  I would win that arguement.

Look, my intent is not to knock all 3 million that paid $12 to $85 a game to watch the Brewers perform.  God knows that there were many times in the mid-90s when John from New Berlin and I were the only two in the entire stadium.  And it is you 3 million people that are paying Sabathia, Sheets, Gagne, etc,. and without you the team will be nowhere near the playoffs.

But if you are going to spend all that money, shouldn't you have some clue what you're talking about?  Understand the team's limits.  Their overall batting average isn't very high, they don't bunt, run or field better than most teams, and well, the starting pitching depth isn't great.  Gang, enjoy this.  This is the first time in 26 years the Brewers made the playoffs, and if they lose Sabathia it may be 26 more.  Have fun, and I'll see you at this weekend's games (that's right, I'll be at BOTH games!)

First things first - I really, really, REALLY want to throw my comments in about blogging in the 21st Century... about the Buzzy v. Deadspin guy on Costas Now in April... about Ned Yost, Doug Melvin, Jim Powell and others whining about a blogger who said that Nedley was about to get fired... etc.  Clearly, I am on the side of the bloggers, but I wanted to make some bigger picture points.  I just haven't gotten around to it.  I may get there (then again, I may not, what with Cheer Day happening at Casa de James this weekend).  My ten second take is that the internet has made media instantaneous, and that the world had better get used to it.  Some will get paid, I probably won't (Mark, I am still waiting for you to tell me I've been picked up by the Wall Street Journal), but the absolute worst part of internet blogs is the comment section.  Now, I only get about 18 people (up from six a year ago) who read my blog, but if more did, I would have to deal with some horribly stupid comments.  Want an example of the nutjobs I would have to deal with?  Check out the ravings of some depressing soul on this blog entry (you should've seen what I didn't approve!)

But until I get around to blogging about blogging, you will have to settle for what I cobble together below.

Thanks to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, promotions and dumb luck,  I was able to get to three consecutive Brewers games this weekend (bringing my season record to 4-5).  This was the first time I've ever been to three consecutive Brewers home games.  Here are a few comments on the Brewers and the Miller Park experience.  Note that I don't want to come across as too snarky, but if some of these issues can be addressed, I may just move to Miller Park. 

• Why are Rickie Weeks and Mike Cameron at the top of the line-up?  Neither get on base enough to be on the top of the line-up, and I don't think they've ever gotten on base in the same inning.  When it is Braun and Fielder's job to drive them in, it gets kinda difficult when they're not on base.  My preferred line-up would have Corey Hart leading off and Weeks batting second.  It would still require Weeks to take a lot of pitches (which is why Yost is forcing us to watch him lead off).  I would also put Cameron batting eighth (after the catcher).  Cameron is still a great fielder, but he is a black Rob Deer.  Let Cameron hit a homer before the pitcher makes the third out of an inning.
• Why is Bill Hall complaining that he was benched?  He is hitting in the mid-.220s, and his grace period ends at a year and a third (that would be the "I changed positions so I'm not concentrating on my hitting" grace period.)  Granted, too many players (including Messers Weeks and Cameron) are also hitting under .250 (notice that Kendall has slipped into the .250s?) but Hall was the only player with a replacement doing anything in AAA Nashville.  Hall should do his Derrick Turnbow impression - take his $4mil and be happy he signed a big contract at the end of the career year).
• In taking a quick look at Turnbow's stats in Nashville, he has a 10.13 ERA in 8 games, and has issued an astounding 23 walks in 8 innings.  Those 8 innings include TWO STARTS.  This guy'll be a roofing contractor in three years.
• It is amazing that when the Brewers starters go deep into a game, how reliable their bullpen is.  In their last 15 games (ending after tonights 7-1 win against Arizona), the Brewers starting pitching has had 12 good starts.  Their record in those 15 games is 11-4.  The new Derrick/Koko/Gagne, Salomon Torres always seems fresh, the bullpen hasn't blown a lead in three weeks, and the good pitching is keeping the games close for when the Brewers bats finally wake up.  A brilliant, brilliant blogger mentioned that the 2007 Brewers starters were the cause of the lousy bullpen.  That guy should get a contract to write his blog.
• In the three games that I attended (Sat, Sun and Mon), the Star-Spangled Love Song was sung twice, and a trumpet proudly played our National Anthem once.  We've got to continue to try to reverse those numbers.  The Star Spangled Banner is NOT a love song.
• What is up with the Brewers "at bat" tunes?  Do we realize that we've raised an entire generation of now-young-adults that don't acknowledge that what passes for popular music isn't exactly music?  The top seven spots in the order are brutal, with the worst offender being JJ Hardy.  The words to his tune appear to be something like "Finss Manna Hey / Finss Manna Oh".  The best two come from - go figure - the oldest players... Jason Kendall has Dragula from Rob Zombie, and Craig Counsell has "Along the Watchtower" from Jimi Hendrix.
• Remember the olden days, when you'd listen to the postgame show on the radio, and in the background you would hear a "popping" sound?  That was the sound of youngsters finding the waxed paper cups, placing them face down on the pavement, then stomping on them.  While walking around the stadium Sunday before the game started, I found a beer vendor that actually poured a beer into one of those cups.  I swear, I bought a Leinenkugel Summer Shandy just to drink from that cup.
• The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again.  A byproduct of the Brewers current status as a "hot" thing to do - something cool to do - are the tens of thousands of people in attendance that wouldn't know a beautifully executed hit-and-run from a pommel horse.  I sat in the bleachers on Saturday with a total crowd of over 42,000.  About 74 of the 42,000 acted like they've ever been to a game before.  It was all about drinking, getting the next drink, trying to start the wave, calling their friends in a different part of the ballpark (then standing and waving their beer so their friend can see what lousy seats they have) and acting like a big shot to their significant others when they know that "Ryan Braun is a pretty good player".  As hard as I tried, those type of antics made it hard to actually enjoy the game.  It was very distracting, and I spent more time muttering to My-Sugar-Na than watching the game.
• Conversely, my new favorite time to attend a game in less-than-premium seats is a Monday night.  At the door, we got tickets on the fourth level right at 3rd base in the fourth row.  Average age in our section?  62.  The older men and women alike knew the game, and was a joy to watch a pitchers duel with fans that appreciated it.
• Robb Edwards, the PA guy, is back from his bypass surgery... relegating Gene Mueller to morning guy on WTMJ-AM.  I have never been a fan of Edwards, even when he had Mueller's job 20 years ago.  Gene Mueller did a great job on the PA, and when Edwards retires, I think the job should be handed off to Mueller.
• If the Brewers aren't within 6 games in mid-July, watch how fast they trade Ben Sheets.  Despite what I said above, Sheets is the only bankable starter, and he is a cracked fingernail away from yielding his spot to Zach Jackson.  Sheets current record could net him $15 million a year, and he will want more years than a pitcher should be given (in comparison, the brutally mediocre Jeff Suppan gets just under $11 million a year, and has-ben Eric Gagne gets $10 million a year).  I know the Yankees (and their unlimited payroll) and the Mets are both desparate for starting pitching.  Hell, the Mets are an outpost for former Brewer pitchers this year, having started both Nelson Figueroa and Claudio Vargas.  You think Sheets might be an upgrade?
• Finally, I've been invited to another Brewers game in Wrigley Field, this time on September 17th.  As blogged previously, the Brewers are 4-2 in Chicago this year, and I am 0-2 in games that I've been to at Wrigley this year.  Bet with the trend, folks.

That's when pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training!

I mean, this football thing is very nice (notwithstanding the fact that the Packers got key-rushed last weekend in the NFC Championship game).  But baseball is, well, baseball.

The Brewers made some key moves this winter, adding a real centerfielder (Mike Cameron) and vastly upgrading third base (Bill Hall).  The "Catcher of the Year" Club has a new member (Jason Kendall), and the bullpen has been almost completely revamped (Solomon Torres, David Riske, Guillermo Mota, and Eric Gagne).

About the only thing the Brewers haven't done, yet, is rerack the starting rotation.  As I mentioned last summer, now is the time to trade Ben Sheets.  He is a free agent after this season, and hasn't earned his money over the last two or three seasons.  When healthy (a significant qualifier) he can be a shut-down pitcher.  But leaving 3 games early due to injury (13% of his 2007 starts) and missing another 9 starts does not equate to a pitcher that can be counted on, much less one worthy of a significant raise in free agency after this season.  His trade value is highest right now, when most of the top-shelf free agents have been signed and teams are hungry for making a splash heading into the new season.  Trade him now, before he blows out an abdominal muscle in PFP (pitchers fielding practice) on February 19th.

As for the rest of the rotation, keep in mind that a worn out bullpen was the general excuse given for the summer collapse from the 9-game division lead.  Keep in mind that the apologists for the now-jettisoned bullpen have said that it was because the starting pitching was getting hurt (Sheets) or not getting far enough into ballgames (Jeff Suppan, Chris Capuano, Dave Bush, Claudio Vargas, Yovanni Gallardo and Manny Parra).  So now after moving Carlos Villanueva to the rotation, who else is in the rotation?  Right... Sheets, Suppan, Capuano, Bush, Vargas, Gallardo and Parra.  In other words, the struggling bullpen was overhauled, but the rotation that caused the bullpen collapse is still intact.  Gallardo, Villanueva and Parra are young, and can be considered as having enough upside to hang on to.  But Sheets (as described in the last paragraph), as well as Suppan, Capuano, Bush and Vargas are what they are.  Decent pitchers that have reached the top of their game. 

What makes Doug Melvin (or anybody else) think that just because the calendar turned and everybody got older makes them better than the shipwreck that was last year?  Suppan is an innings-eater (and making about $33 million for the next three years), so I can understand why he isn't going anywhere.  Capuano is a lefty (a plus, which will keep him bouncing around the big leagues until 2042), but he struggled with more than four innings.  He couldn't shut down rallies (or keep the game close) when it mattered.  Bush is Bill Wegman all over again.  A lifetime .500 pitcher that will amaze you for periods at a time.  But then comes that game that is close in the 7th inning, he gives up four runs, the Brewers lose 4-2, and then everybody whines about him not getting any run support.  Bush's problem is that many times, his critical inning is the first inning, then once down 5-0 he cruises through seven innings then the quotes say "Except for that first inning...".  Claudo Vargas is the luckiest pitcher around... he set an MLB record for getting out of 274 bases-loaded-no-out jams in 2007.  He can't go more than five innings because he can't pitch less than 20 pitches per inning. 

You can't put Capuano, Bush and Vargas in the bullpen because there is no room for all of them, and also because they aren't really good.  Just trading or releasing those three guys, however, doesn't solve the problem that the Brewers pitchers in 2007 couldn't work deep into games, and there is nothing to make anyone think that bringing back the same crew in 2008 will solve that problem.

I look for a big year from the Brewers, but if the starting pitching isn't seriously addressed before (or early in) the season, look for that August/September collapse again.

Maybe a check into some of the lists (lower right of this page, but conveniently linked in this post) would give us an idea...

Al's Ramblings - This is my favorite Brewers info blog.  The updates are quick and an easy read, and usually the links contained within do the talking.  I like this blog even though I am in complete disagreement about the Brewers rise and fall of last season (Al says that the 24-10 start, or the slide in August are small cross-sections of a season, and the final record is almost always what it deserves to be.  I say that the 24-10 start shows how good the team can be, and the slide in August was a red flag that needed immediate attention.)

Professional Bowlers Association (specifically, the Message Boards) - These can be a lot of fun, like the discussion about the olden days, they can be serious, like discussion of the PBA Experience leagues, or (like 90% of the discussions), they can be a mystifying arguement where everybody will argue and contradict each other.  These are the most entertaining.

Pro Football Weekly - Simply, in my opinion, the best source of football news.  Not much hype, very few puff pieces, just football talk.  Quite a departure from ESPN.com, where they get off on being silly (Side note, great thing ESPN does, though, by publishing an ombudsman.  Too bad they don't pay attention to her.)

Wizard of Odds - Some people think I talk about gambling too much.  But I do it for two reasons; (A) I enjoy it, and (B) so do billions of other people.  Why are casinos going up and expanding faster than anything else?  With that said, if I am going to gamble my precious money, I want to go into a casino armed with as much information as possible.  The Wizard of Odds has more info on any game than any one can hope to digest (you've got to try to read the optimum Final Jeopardy strategy), but spend a couple of hours surfing this site and you are bound to find something to give you an edge the next time you go out to gamble.

Las Vegas Casino Death Watch - Just that... fans of "Old Vegas" won't be able to get enough of this.  Do a complete read.

Cheapo Vegas (and the related Cheapo Reno) - Even if you have only been to Las Vegas or Reno once or twice, it is fun reading these reviews of hotels, casinos and restaurants.

Big Soccer (specifically MISL and Indoor Forum) - For better or worse, the Milwaukee Wave and the MISL are hurting for media attention, and the best way to read up on the teams, players and the league are through the keyboards of othe fans.

Our Sports Central (specifically the Soccer portion) - Our Sports Central focuses on minor league sports, and links easily to the leagues and their websites, as well as linking to any and all related newspaper articles.  This comes in handy when the Wave plays a game out of town.  We might get a few sentences in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, but this site handily links me to the opposing team's more complete game article.

Czabe.com - Steve Czaban has a morning show on Fox Sports Radio, does a 30-minute sports segment on the Bob and Brian show on 102.9 "The Hog", writes a weekly column on OnMilwaukee.com and has a daily sports blog which is a nice five-minute way to start each morning.

UniWatch - C'mon, what do you expect?  The subtitle for this site is "The obsessive study of athletics aesthetics".  For a small fee, you can join the club as someone who "Get's It".  I "Get It".

The Amazing Race Sucks - Actually, I quite enjoy the show.  So much so, that there are three sets of required reading each week.  First is the interview with that week's Philiminated contestants.  Then during the week, a "regular" contributor posts a comical (often hilarious) review of the previous show.  Then before the next show, a very thoughtful discussion of the racer's edits... and trying to gleen clues as to who might be elminated next.

The Baby Name Wizard - Great fun to type in name after name after name after name after name to see the rise in fall in poularity (try William, Mortimer, Dakota and Conner.)

The Transport Company - Why-oh-why am I fascinated with busses?  Trust me, I ain't a green freak.  I believe it was because my parents would send me on bus trips around town to get rid of me (and I had to walk to the bus stop, barefoot, uphill - both ways).  That got me used to them to the point where, if possible, I would take the bus to the next door neighbor's house to borrow a cup of sugar.  But really, who can resist looking at photos of busses over the last 40 years?  It is like a window to the past.  Quick, without cheating... where was this picture taken?  This one is a gold mine.  I am getting giddy just looking at the photos!

Game Show Convention Center - Game show news!  Granted, a recent site revamp made it more clumsy than it used to be, where where else can you learn that 1 vs. 100 is coming back soon, or that Regis Philbin has been signed on to host Million Dollar Password?

Industrious clock - More accurate than your watch, I assure you.

Adomiable Penguin Fungo - How far can you hit the penguin?  Keep trying.  My record is about 325.

Roadside Peek - This is along the lines as reading about old Vegas or old busses.  When I first found this site, I spent hours looking at old road signs of bowling alleys, motels, restaurants, gas stations, etc.

Keep checking the side links, as I add more as I find them.

Not that I mind the discussion about Jason Kendall on my blog entry about James T. Harris, but if we are going to talk about Kendall, let's do it here.

My thoughts?

I like the reports that I hear about him calling a game.  There is a reason Johnny Estrada has been traded in three consecutive off-seasons.  I realize that his offensive tools are on the decline, but for the same price as Estrada, we have a good defensive catcher to tutor the young pitching staff in Kendall, and a set-up man with a power arm in Guillermo Mota.  I like the trade-off.

However, I think we could have spent a few dollars more and gotten Paul LoDuca (better bat than either, though not the greatest of defensive catchers).  Or even a few more dollars and gotten Ivan Rodriguez (worth giving up an extra outfielder and an excess pitcher.  Maybe even Derrick Turnbow, seeing how the Tigers Joel Zumaya is out for half of next season).

But more than the catching situation (who is the back-up?  The boring Eric Munson or the even-aginger Damian Miller?), I am much more interested in what magic Doug Melvin can pull off at the winter meetings this week.