One more reason why I hate the Yankees...

I mentioned this in previous posts, but the new Yankee Stadium is really trying to cash-in on baseball. Their ticket prices are through the roof and only the rich will be able to enjoy watching a game there WITH OUT AN OBSTRUCTIVE VIEW.

Then you look at Milwaukee and see that they already sold 1.75 Million tickets this season.

Two Things

1. Brewers are on FSN tonight! 9:05pm CST

2. UWSP-alumnus, Jordan Zimmermann has cracked the starting rotation for the Nationals! Pretty sweet.

9 Days Left....

The season is rapidly approaching for the Milwaukee Brewers and there is still a number of concerns that come to mind that include the bullpen, starting pitching, and the bullpen....did I mention the bullpen?

This was, yet again, supposed to be the strength of the team coming in to spring training. Call him what you want, but Eric Gagne would be a welcomed addition if he were healthy. David Riske is another reliever that has a uncertainty surrounding him. Coming of shoulder surgery in the off-season, one would think that he would be ready to go. Not so much. He has struggled in his appearences up until Friday's game. He still has a ways to go until he returns to his KC level of play.

With Trevor Hoffman starting the season on the DL (which seems to be the case), Carlos Villanueva will most likely assume the closing duties in his absence. I like the idea of having a 2 inning reliever assuming closing duties. Especially with the weakened pen.

Mitch Stetter will be the left-handed specialist for the Crew this season. This role will have big shoes to fill, replacing Brian Shouse's duties from the last couple of seasons.

Starting pitching, I feel, will be ok. Hopefully Milwaukee can bring in a true ace or a number 2 early in to the season. Peavy would sure look swell in a Milwaukee uniform. If Milwaukee did go out and get one more pitcher, Looper would be the first to go to the bullpen. Unless there is some sort of pre-arranged agreement between Melvin and Braden. Yovanni Gallardo should be just fine as the #1 going in to the season. But will his youth and inexperience wear thin on him going in to the second half.

Milwaukee could start the season with this rotation and do just fine for a month or two. But come June or early July, they better have a true ace on their radar. Thankfully, Milwaukee has an platoon of prospects waiting to get dealt. This of course compromises their train of thought for the past 7 years...build from with-in. But it's time they took that step up.


-The Barrel Man logo is one of the best in baseball...or was the best. Everyone has a fetish with the ball & glove logo used by Milwaukee in the 80's. I like it too, but not as much as the Barrel Man. Journal-Sentinel had an interesting little piece about the history of the barrel man. Apparently he was crafted in 1901, when Milwaukee landed a pro league team in the city. So it's a surprise to me that this logo was created prior to the Milwaukee Brewers we know and love...70+ years prior.


The Brewers defeated the Athletics yesterday 4-2. JJ Hardy had another great game going 2 for 3, with a three-run homer. It's hard to imagine as this player being expendable.
Jeff Suppan has been pitching pretty well the past couple of outings. He went 7 innings, limiting the A's to one run and six hits. Soup also threw six scoreless innings (after the first).

On Friday, David Bush also had an impressive start allowing 4 runs (2 earned) and 9 hits. Bushy is now 3-0 in spring and has a 2.70 era.
The Algona Crop Giant, Brad Nelson (I made that one up while sober!) had a huge day, going yard once. He is now batting .392 in spring ball.

Appealing Rumor

I was listening to MLB radio on XM just now and they were talking about new Jake Peavy rumors. Most noteworthy was the rumor of Peavy being traded to Milwaukee for 4 players (package). One of the players that would be included was JJ Hardy. I didn't hear who the other three were. The show didn't say that a trade was offerred, but it did mention that there were discussions. The radio-guy also didn't cite his source.

I checked the TMZ of baseball, MLBTRADERUMORS.COM and they had no mention of it. MLB Radio has been pretty squared away and somewhat reliable when they break news like this. Comes with the territory of being owned by the MLB.

The radio-guy also questioned why the Brewers would want to ship JJ to San Diego? Apparently he doesn't know too much about Escobar, who is waiting to get the nod. I would also think that Milwaukee would have to ship a plethora of prospects including Salome, Gamel, and Lawrie. Again, none of those names were mentioned...but if prospects are included in the talks, these names would surely be mentioned.

If the Brewers were able to convince Peavy to lift his no-trade to Milwaukee...the Brewers pitching staff would automatically make them the second best in the NL Central (behind Chicago).

I'm getting excited over nothing...
but this would be swell. Peavy wearing Brewer blue and being our ace. This would also take the pressure off Yovanni Gallardo and Jeff Supan. Looper could also be shifted to the bullpen where he has already proven himself as a durable pitcher. This would leave Bush as the 5. Too good to be true.

Take this post with a grain of salt. But let's not forget that Melvin practically cried like a little school girl when rumors surfaced earlier this week, denying them bluntly. Bill Hall also mentioned that the club would be in on Peavy.

Milwaukee and the state breathe a sigh of relief....

"No structural damage"... that's what Ryan Braun's MRI results came back with. After Thursdays test, the entire state was crossing their fingers hoping that Braun's tests came back with an all-clear. Although this doesn't necessarily mean the injury isn't serious. It will surely bother him for the weeks to come and could effect his swing and performance. Which is reason for concern considering the lack of productivity we saw from him in September and the post season. Regardless, this is good news and Braun should now take the rest of spring off and frest his side-gut.

Gord Ash added this however,

"From the MRI, you couldn't tell what was new from what was old," Ash said. "The decision was made to continue to treat it and see how it responds. If the swelling doesn't go down, we might need to do another test." - Jsonlin.com

On another side note about Braun, ESPN's Baseball Tonight did a fantasy special last night. Braun was in their top 5 picks-selection (#5 overall).

*Air Tran has formed a partnership with Ryan Braun. This kid is raking in the dough through all of his sponsorships. Smart guy.

*An Appleton newspaper is hoping that Brett Lawrie will be playing for the T-Rats this season.

HERE is a link to his personal blog. I can't wait to see him playing leftfield...and Hart in center.

*Miller Park made a number of "improvements" that probably won't be enjoyed by the blue-collar fans of Milwaukee. The only noteable thing is the re-arranging of the clubhouse store by leftfield. It will now be run by Majestic and have some old County Stadium bricks on one wall.

Uncertainties

With Opening Day rapidly approaching I can't help but with that Milwaukee had just one more week to prepare. That would allow them to find out what the hell is wrong with Ryan Braun. It would allow Trevor Hoffman more time mend. And pitchers like Riske, Villy, and Parra could fine-tune themselves. Because let's face it, the Crew looks pretty shaky heading in to the season.

With that being said, there is plenty of optimism that can be found. There were 5 home runs hit in yesterdays 12-8 win against the Dodgers. Prince Fielder jacked one over 450 feet!

In today's game, Braden Looper made his first "A" game start and bombed it pretty bad. He gave up 7 hits and 6 runs in only 2+ innings (scheduled to go 4). I wouldn't read too much in to this.

Melvin is distraught over the rumors being spread involving their interest in Jake Peavy. We could only wish they were true. Milwaukee could surely use him as their #1. It seems that Bill Hall's loose lips may have brought this upon the Brewers clubhouse.

Milwaukee did indeed cut Trot Nixon yesterday. This leaves a pretty good shot for Brad Nelson to grab that bench spot. I can't wait to see big ass' Prince Fielder and Brad Nelson sitting on the bench with little Craig Counsell in the middle when the Crew is up to bat. HERE is a nice little story by USA Today on Brad Nelson. In my job, I talk with a number of people from Iowa over the phone on a daily basis. One used to play against Brad in high School and they were both drafted the same year. He said Brad used to be a pitcher and was a hell of a hurler. Nelson still has to compete with McGahee and Gwynn Jr. for the fourth outfielder spot.

Milwaukee seems to be the picked finishing in 4th place by a number of publications. THIS one included, which was posted on MLB.com today. Let the Brewers fly under the radar. Their offense is just too good to dismiss. If they can blast homers and lead the NL in that category, I can see the Crew fighting for a wild card. If the bats make up for the lack of pitching, they'll be a tough one to beat.

Lastly, prayers go out for the folks in North Dakota.

No Trevor-Time for opening day?

It is looking more and more like Trevor Hoffman will start the season on the DL. This isn't the end-all however. In his absense, we can expect to see McClung as the fill in. As long as TH is ready to pitch by May, he can take his time resting his injured side. HERE is more on how he is adapting to Milwaukee.

This does however, add to the complications dwelling in the bullpen. Carlos Villenueva is having a horrid Spring Training Camp. David Riske (coming off shoulder surgery) is also struggling. One of our lefties, RJ Swindle was released. And Eric Gagne is no longer with the club.

- Jeff Suppan will get the start for the season opener, April 7th, in San Fran. This is the same guy who completely dropped the ball and hacked up a huge loss for us in the NLDS game 4. Yuck.

-Yovanni Gallardo looked pretty bad yesterday. Keep in mind, it's only spring ball. Could be worse, you could be the Houston Astros. Although his support was lackluster as well. The soon-to-be ace of the club threw 98 pitches.

-It's looking like Trot Nixon may be given the pink slip.

-Who can hardly blame Mike Rivera for getting sick of his lack of playing time. Starting only 13 games last season has to play tricks with your mind. He's a competitor, and a damn good one at that too!
"Sometimes I didn't feel like part of the team"
With Salom waiting in the helm for his chance to replace Kendall, Rivera has to be thinking the worse.

-Remember Luis Villarreal? He pitched with the Crew in 2007. He just got signed!....by the T-Bones.