The J.J. Hardy Saga

From JSOnline: "I think there was some good intentions, but at the same time I don't think I'll ever believe 100% that I was sent down to work on my swing," Hardy said. "I think they've always had Escobar in the back of their mind.
"I always saw myself as a Brewer and hoped I could spend my whole career in Milwaukee. I just wish there was another way they could have done this so there wasn't such a bitter taste in my mouth."

I personally believe that while it was a bit shady (and smart) on the Brewer's part. J.J. could have solved this problem by not playing like shit all season (.229 BA). Had he hit even .250, they Crew would not have fucked with him. As it is, it is pretty hard to feel bad for a guy who is making $4 million plus to be below average at his job.

I guess there is one decent guy on earth named Bush

Bush (W, 5-8) 8.0 IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 13K

Are you fucking kidding me? When did Dave Bush kill Nolan Ryan and take his soul? I really don't have a whole lot more to say, but holy shit.

Corey Hart is going to the all-star game. Good. He deserves it more than that asshole Soriano.

I heard a funny rumor today: J.J. Hardy for A.J. Burnett. You can never have enough pitching. The Brewers have a SS in AA that might be able to play right now in Alcides Escobar. A.J. Brunett really isn't that great. He strikes out alot of guys, but his ERA is around 5, and I believe he has a history of injuries. He would be at best our #3 guy, and is making 13 mil this year. J.J. is a great fielder, probably just average at the plate (although he is very streaky, and can go on a ridiculous streak like he is on right now). But the Crew owns him for quite a while yet, and although he will get paid in arbitration, I dunno how much he will actually get. Tough decision I guess, even though it might not be true. This is at least the second Hardy rumor I've heard in a month, so I would bet there is at least a chance they are shopping him while he is hot.

Matt Jones is on coke? You don't fucking say? Tall white guys with long hair NEVER end up in their cars cutting cocaine with a credit card.

Richie Sexson got cut. He used to be really good for the Brewers. (Roids?) Bear will be lobbying for him to replace Prince.

Finally I heard this on the radio today. It will never get old. "Andrew Bo-GOT" and "Wayne Summers"

Did you hear about that asshole 'Husker fan that put out the fake story about the Oklahoma QB's selling coke, and a bunch of Texas news people ran with it? Fucking stupid Husker fan. I had to put up with your shit for 3 fucking glorious years. You and your missing teeth are the only thing I don't miss about living in Omaha. That and not getting to watch every Brewer game and having to sit in a bar to watch every Packer/Badger game. But mostly, Husker Nation and Big 12 country was about the most annoying shit ever. So delusional, such a sense of entitlement, since Dr. Tom Osborn was pulling murderers and rapists off the street to "give them an education", and winning a shitload of national titles, you HAVEN'T BEEN ANY FUCKING GOOD SO SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Seriously, this is what I dealt with on a daily basis.

State of the Brewers

This weekend was terrible, on a lot of levels for the Crew. The way they are playing has me thinking about what the long term effects on the team might be.

This team is built to win now. Or I should say WAS built to win now, because I think the injury to Gallardo is going to put a big dent in that.

Before I get to my apocalyptic predictions, I would just like to say that Gagne got fucking jobbed by the umps yesterday. I know, I know, we got a call earlier, all the bad calls balance out, blah, blah, blah. The bottom line is, Gagne threw 35 pitches yesterday, 18 of which were called strikes, 17 balls. At least 6 of those balls were changeups right down that middle that were strikes. You give a major league hitter an extra ball in an at bat, and they are going to make you pay. Was Gagne good yesterday? Obviously not, but he wasn't helped in any way shape or form by the shitty job at home plate, and it just might have cost them the game.

Now, onto my scorched earth theory:

Manager: I'm not sure if this is the manager or not. But if this team is so good, and so talented, why does it seem like they can never do any of the little things right. They aren't going to cut everyone on the team, so someone has to be blamed at some point, and that falls on Neddy. The powers that be hired Ted Simmons for the sole purpose to put pressure on Neddy, and it obviously hasn't worked. At some point, if things don't change in a hurry, the Brewers will have to rid themselves of their Yost infection.

Closer: Part of me doesn't think Gagne is as bad as everyone thinks. But, he's not doing the job he needs to. They aren't hitting well enough to not need a closer that is reliable, and Gagne probably isn't it. He has 9 saves, and 5 blown saves, which is far too many. He just seems to have awful luck. He doesn't really melt down per se, but he does just enough to give the other team a chance, which they can't afford. We need to give Mota a crack I think.

Bully: As a whole, the bully has been pretty solid (save for Tunrblow who is gone). Problem is, they have to pitch 4 innings every day that Sheets doesn't pitch. They are improved in this area.

Starters: Here is where things get interesting. I fear that this Gallardo injury could cause them to blow the whole thing up. The way I see it, one of two things are going to happen. a) They play pretty well, stay in the race, and make a move somewhere to get a decent starter; or b) They suck, trade Sheets for $.50 on the dollar. I think b) is more likely. What is the right answer here? If Sheets stays healthy, he will cost the Brewers way more than they can afford in free agency. But if they don't spend the money, I don't think they have the pitching in the long term to get to the playoffs next year. When healthy, he is a top 5 pitcher. But he has been extremely unreliable. If we suck and trade him away, we might never make the playoffs.

This is that never ending question in baseball, and that fine line that teams must tread: Do we blow all of our money and hope for the best? (Yankees/Red Sox) or Do we stay conservative, develop from within, and let our best players go when they hit their big payday? (Twins). I sincerely hope they don't go the way of the Twins before they even have the chance of getting their hearts ripped out in the first round like 5 times in 10 years (cheap Twins blast), but I have no hope that will actually happen. The worst case scenario here is: Sheets wins (or comes close to) winning the Cy Young, we lose the division by 5 games, lose Sheets in free agency, but probably should have traded him because we were never really in the race.

Hitting: Maybe we aren't as talented as I (and everyone else) thinks. Right now Braun, Fielder and Hart are the only players I trust at all to come through in the clutch, and even they are a little more inconsistent than I would like. It is too early with Cameron, and Kendall is fairly light hitting and slow, although he has been serviceable. The problem is that Weeks, Hardy and Hall have been fucking terrible. If there is one out and a guy on first, and one of those three are up, you might as well change the channel, because a double play is coming. It is a virtual guarantee. Hardy leads the league in 500 foot high infield pop ups, Weeks leads the league in strikeouts looking. So maybe those three aren't that good. Maybe they aren't the answer. Because they are killing them right now, and they always seem to find a way to kill a rally. Perhaps the answer is to trade one of them for a starting pitcher. Weeks is like a .220 career hitter and he is in the leadoff spot (which goes back to Neddy). On paper, we should be one of the most talented and feared hitting teams in the league, but in reality, if we aren't hitting home runs, we aren't winning many games.

Verdict: I have serious doubts about our long term chances with: Yost, Gagne, and the Hall/Hardy/Weeks triumvirate being so prominently involved.