SB Nation User Blog: MooseHaas

Wilco and Bill Schroeder: Indie Pals

MooseHaas — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:57:52 -0000

Little-known fact: For a couple of years right after he got out of the league, Bill Schroeder was a roadie for Uncle Tupelo. You can still see a lot of the alt-country/indie vibe in Bill. Of the two men on the right -- Jeff Tweedy and the Rock -- you really struggle to tell who's the indie rocker and who's the big-league backstop-turned-announcer. I'd be open for Tweedy subbing in as FSN Wisconsin color man on occasion, although the fact that Brian Anderson doesn't seem to want to be photographed with him could be a problem. B.A. thinks jean jackets in the booth are mad unprofessional, and did not approve of Tweedy's banter about advice he received from his father: "Marry a woman that's a little bit fat. That way, everywhere you grab, you'll get something good."

Gallardo unlikely to play for Mexico in WBC

MooseHaas — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:21:51 -0000

Gallardo unlikely to play for Mexico in WBC

Thank god for insurance issues. Yo's arm should be in good shape to be ~~our ace~~ Macha's No. 3 starter.

Brewers Fans, Meet Your New Trenni!

MooseHaas — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:50:27 -0000

It's this guy. (And I don't mean Carlos Gomez.)

Not nearly as hot, I must say. But he does have experience in a pennant race. And a now-defunct blog.

(Info from this JSBlog post: Brian Anderson will be the play-by-play man this year, along with analyst Bill Schroeder. Former Brewers first base coach Davey Nelson will provide analysis during Brewers Live before and after the game along with host Craig Coshun and Fox Sports Wisconsin newcomer Telly Hughes.)

Debating Prince's Deal

MooseHaas — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 07:37:37 -0000

Honest question here that I'd like to see discussed in the comments: What was the team's benefit from this Fielder contract, (at two years, $18 million, with an 7/11 split, according to Tom H.)?

The Brewers (I'm guessing) hope they're getting two things out of it:

1) A happier, more relaxed Fielder, which means a mashing (45-HR) Fielder
2) A discount off his second year of arb if he truly does perform better in '09

I don't buy the benefit of "not having to negotiate next year." It didn't seem that hard this year, and it was far less of a battle with Boras than we expected.

Prince, meanwhile, is getting:

1) A pretty nice pile of cash this year and next, regardless of how he performs in '09

It seems like Prince is getting the bigger benefit here, while we're taking the bigger risk.

Here's one (albeit unlikely) scenario in which this could have been better for the team: Do the $18M deal but have Prince accept OUR arb number ($6M) or even less ($5.5) as his salary for this year, and then $12M or $12.5 for the next. Use that extra flexibility to sign Looper to put our payroll at the self-imposed max of $85M. Then trade Prince next offseason for a starter, let someone else pay the hefty portion of the deal, put Gamel at first, spend the money freed up by Prince, Cam, Kendall and Hoffman's departures on more pitching ... and we might still be a Wild Card contender for two seasons. Instead of where we are now, which is screwed.

(UPDATE: According to Heyman/SI - the Brew sort of did this, giving Prince 6.5M this year. I don't know what the extra 500k is going to do for us, but I guess it's still better than a 7/11 or 8/10 split.)

Damn You, Jack Z!

MooseHaas — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:46:05 -0000

Damn You, Jack Z!

The Mariners (led by our ex-draft wiz) just signed Russell Branyan to a one-year deal.

Does this mean we're committing to a Gamel/Hall platoon at third?

EDIT - Deal is for one year, worth $1.4 million with an additional $500k in incentives available.

Our First Free Agent Move of the Offseason

MooseHaas — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:29:16 -0000

Our First Free Agent Move of the Offseason

... didn't do anything to address the OBP situation.

Brian Anderson says he signed a five-year extension as PBP guy, and mentions that the Rock has also signed a multi-year deal (but not five?). Perhaps being stiff-armed by TBS hurt Rock's bargaining power. I question this move anyway: Rock's PECOTA projections suggest he will continue to flat-line.

The Final Seven Days' Pitching Matchups (Updatedx6)

MooseHaas — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 21:04:42 -0000

(** Updated Saturday with the Guzman news..)

Mets Probables, Rest of Season

Cubs @ Shea
9/22: Jason Marquis, RHP (10-9, 4.39) vs. Jonathon Niese, LHP (1-0, 4.09) (Mets L, 9-5, +1 in WC)
9/23: Sean Marshall, LHP (3-4, 3.62) vs. Johan Santana, LHP (14-7, 2.65) (Mets W, 6-2, +1 in WC)
9/24: Carlos Zambrano, RHP (14-6, 3.77) vs. Oliver Perez, LHP (10-7, 4.10) (Mets L, 9-6, Even in WC)
9/25: Rich Harden, RHP (10-2, 2.03) vs. Pedro Martinez, RHP (5-6, 5.50) (Mets W, 7-6, Even in WC)

Marlins @ Shea
9/26: Chris Volstad, RHP (5-3, 3.07) vs. Mike Pelfrey, RHP (13-10, 3.70) (Mets L, 6-1, -1 in WC)
9/27: Ricky Nolasco, RHP (15-7, 3.52) vs. Johan Santana, LHP (15-7, 2.64) (Mets W, 2-0, Even in WC)
9/28: Scott Olsen, LHP (8-10, 4.20) vs. Oliver Perez, LHP

Brewers Probables, Rest of Season

Pirates @ Miller
9/23 Jeff Karstens, RHP (2-6, 4.37) vs. Dave Bush, RHP (9-10, 4.22) (Brewers W, 7-5, -1 in WC)
9/24: Paul Maholm, LHP (9-8, 3.68) vs. CC Sabathia, LHP (9-2, 1.81) (Brewers W, 4-2, Even in WC)
9/25: Zach Duke, LHP (5-14, 4.96) vs. Yovani Gallardo, RHP (0-0, 1.88) (Brewers W, 5-1, Even in WC)

Cubs @ Miller
9/26: Ryan Dempster, RHP (16-6, 3.02) vs. Jeff Suppan, RHP (10-10, 5.06) (Brewers win, 5-1, +1 in WC)
9/27: Ted Lilly, LHP (16-9, 4.17) vs. Ben Sheets, RHP (13-8, 2.98) (Brewers FAIL, Even in WC)
9/28: Angel Guzman, RHP (Bad) vs. CC Sabathia, LHP (Good)

We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident

MooseHaas — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 07:28:41 -0000

In the wake of the Yost-Canning (and the Bloginental Blogress), these are the Truths I hold to be Self-Evident:

1. That Mark A. -- and pretty much only Mark A. -- was behind the shite-canning of Nedly Yost. Forget that "collective decision" business.

2. Dougie Stache didn't want this to happen. I was almost taken aback at how not-on-board-with-the-call his press-conference remarks seemed. There was no way he was going to say anything that was openly defiant, but his hesitance to say anything strongly in favor of it was really telling. (To the question of "Why now?," Dougie said, "That's a difficult one to answer myself.")

3. Consequently, you have to wonder if Doug's gig is also in jeopardy over the offseason. The resistance on this issue with Mark A., and Doug's inability to build a decent bullpen, could hurt him in the end.

4. At one point, J.J. Hardy was in the anti-Yost camp, but somehow he was won over. (from MLB.com: "I liked Ned," Hardy said. "I think there were guys that didn't and some guys that did, and I think that's the way it is with every manager on every team. I think there are a ton of players around the big leagues that are playing for managers they don't like."

5. Contrary to what Ryan Braun said, an anti-Yost camp DID exist within the team. My guesses? It included Bill Hall, Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks. Yost may have protected his players to a fault in the media, but the dick-headedness and condescension that defined most of his interaction with the press had to carry over at least a little bit into his dealings with his players -- and I doubt it went over real well.

6. The "Nervous Ned" stuff that Johnny Estrada threw out after he left Milwaukee was very real. (Hardy, from MLB.com again: "Whatever he did, I feel like a lot of players were thinking that way, that it was a nervous reaction.") Estrada is still a lazy piece of shite, but he wasn't lying about the players' lack of faith in Ned's crunch-time baseball IQ.

7. The anonymous Brewer who told ESPN it was time for a change could very well have been Mike Cameron, given that the writer who got the quote (Amy Nelson) did a feature on him earlier in the year.

8. If this had been done earlier in the season, Skaalen would have been out the door with Ned. You're not really going to bring in a new hitting coach, with new philosophies, with 12 games left. At this point the only goal of personnel changes is, as Dale said, for "the shock factor." Skaalen is guaranteed to be gone after the year is over, and probably Maddux along with him. Ed Cedar is too good at fist-bumps/shin-guard collection to let go.

9. That Yount coming back into the fold doesn't mean he's going to make a long-term commitment to coach in the Brewers system. Sveum said that Yount was his best friend. I see this more as a favor than a return-to-the-family situation.

10. That CC, not Sveum, is going to end this losing streak on Tuesday night in Chicago. As for what happens after that, I have a good feeling. I just wonder how long it will last.

"If anybody needs a day off, it's Ned Yost. He has a lot of things to sort out before he can take a...

MooseHaas — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 05:05:16 -0000

"If anybody needs a day off, it's Ned Yost. He has a lot of things to sort out before he can take a team to the playoffs. He can't be wound this tight and still manage. His players will kill him. I've come close myself. ~~But I like him. He's a little easier to take when you know why he's like he is.~~ The man cannot relax. Pardon my French, but Ned is so tight that if you stuck a lump of coal up his ass, in two weeks you'd have a diamond."

Anyone know the provenance of this logo? I hadn't seen it before. (But maybe that's just because...

MooseHaas — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:11:09 -0000

Anyone know the provenance of this logo? I hadn't seen it before. (But maybe that's just because I'm not all that old.)