SB Nation User Blog: tristarscoop

Doug Melvin on MLBN Hot Stove Live

tristarscoop — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:05:58 -0000

Some very interesting quotes from DM as he spoke with Victor Rojas and Dan Plesac live from the Winter Meetings.

When asked if he considered trading Prince in order to get pitching:

"It's hard to trade one of the best young hitters in the league."

"I don't see the Brewers being a competitive ball club if Prince Fielder's not in that lineup with Ryan Braun. He's meant so much to our organization... for now he's going to be part of our ball club because we want to go to postseason again. We've had 3 million fans each of the last two years in Milwaukee and we owe it to them and we owe it to the organization to keep our ball club together and try to get back to post season."

When asked about whether or not new pitching coach Rick Peterson will be working with Manny Parra to make him more consistent:

"Manny just has too good an arm to give up on at this point. You know, a franchise like ours, we have to develop our young pitchers. You can see the cost of pitching when you don't have it what you have to spend, you have to spend multi-years and a lot of money, so we're not going to give up on Manny. If you break down some of his individual games, he's an ace at times. He pitched a perfect game in AAA. He's pitched some outstanding games. .. It's all about consistency when you get to the big leagues thats what young players have to do. We're hoping that last year, that's the last year of his development and he can take that next big step. And Rick Peterson has a good reputation for taking a young pitcher, you know tweaking him a little bit finding something that just might take him over the edge and to that next step and have some success and consistency."

Of course, the thing here is that while we'd all love Manny to be consistent and get it together, I'm not sure if there's any reason to believe that last season was the final one in Manny's development. While he was definitely better after the trip to the minors, we still don't know if that's a fluke and we certainly can't do that every time Manny struggles.

Additionally, as Aaron from FireDougMelvin.com pointed out to me, left-handers typically take longer to develop. He compared Parra to Jorge De La Rosa as a Brewer citing the minor-league perfect game and having stuff but not being able to bring it all together. Enough to make you think, at least...

I did like the undercurrent of challenge inherent in your GM going on national TV and saying it, though.

In talking about LaTroy Hawkins, he said: "Having depth in the bullpen's very important."

But the more important and unusual point that came up during the Hawkins discussion was that DM said he expects Hawkins to be able to save some games throughout the course of the season.

He said that Hawkins is reliable and that he expects him to take some burden off of Trevor Hoffman. He mentioned that Solomon Torres did this for the team a few seasons ago, but went on to say that he doesn't see Hawkins racking up the 25 saves that Torres did, only that over the course of 162 games it may be necessary for Hawkins to save some games.

I assume this means he'll come in for a save when Trevor's pitched too many days in a row, but it does also make me wonder if there's a situation where he'd pitch instead of Trevor. Was DM leaving that possibility open? And if they are setting up a closer safety net, why did we pay Trevor so much?

There was one last thing that made me wish more questions had been asked. In talking about a need for a consistent bullpen, DM talked about having close games in later innings. The obvious point was about needing the bullpen to keep the team in the game, but he also talked about "different ways to score runs in close games."

I'd love to know what he meant by that. I assume he's talking about more small ball and less power hitting with the composition of the team being less home-run-heavy this season, but it was interesting that it was mentioned this early in game, during a discussion about bullpen pitching.

Seems to me the philosophy is changing if the concept is permeating even the GM's thoughts during hot stove discussions in December.

Rumorville: Randy Wolf

tristarscoop — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:10:24 -0000

There's a lot of Randy Wolf chatter on Twitter tonight.

*Trenni says she's hearing about the signing from credible sources and that Wolf's a class guy

*This guy thinks three years for Wolf was bad for the Yankees, but is a good deal for the Crew.

*This tweet says a three way deal for Wolf between the #Dbacks #Yanks and #Tigers was vetoed.

*Signing Wolf until he's 35 is betting on luck, says this guy, pointing out Wolf's 2009 BAPIP was .256

There are quite a few comparisons to the Suppan deal and how that seemed good at the time as well as plenty of questions about whether Wolf's 2008 stats or 2009 stats are more indicative of his ability.

Tom H. posted earlier that he's hearing that it will take a three-year deal to get it done and everything I've read has said the same. Sounds like the three-year, $27 million rumor that was circling isn't too far off. He also points out that Wolf is a "West-Coast guy" and therefore it's going to cost the Brewers even more to bring him to Milwaukee.

TimberRattlers holiday packs available again

tristarscoop — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:59:29 -0000

I tried to FanShot this and SBNation wouldn't accept the image link, so it's a story instead.

The T-Rats are once again offering holiday four- and eight-packs and I thought I'd pass along the info. The boyfriend bought me this last year for Christmas and we really enjoyed going up to Appleton for the games.

The four-pack includes a T-Rats hat with Brewers logo and the eight-pack includes your choice of a Lorenzo Cain, Taylor Green, Dave Bush or Jeff Suppan bobblehead.

The Rattlers just announced changes to their stadium that include an all-you-can-eat section, moving the bullpens to the outfield, a "boardwalk" that circles most of the park and a sandy beach area in the outfield.

Twitter and athletes - a good idea?

tristarscoop — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:09:30 -0000

We here at BCB have been entertained and informed by Seth McClung’s Twitter account, but his sometimes blunt complaints and lack of faith in his return to Milwaukee next season make me wonder if he’s digging his own grave.

Though most of his tweets have been the sort of mundane things you’d read about your friends, and his occasional glimpses into the clubhouse are cool – it’s the tweets expressing disappointment in his lack of appearances after coming off the DL and his lack of confidence that have to make you wonder how they plays with his bosses.

Seth holds the only MLB verified Twitter account on the Brewers.

Another Twitterer asked Seth if the Brewers had rules regarding players’ use of Twitter, to which he responded:

@Poonix idk, i am going to try to not say much that would upset them though.8:51 PM Sep 20th from web in reply to Poonix

Though they don’t seem to have a specific code of conduct for handling social media, one has to wonder if it’s something they’ll draw up over the off-season. Both Ryan Braun and Fielder blogged via MLB.com and now Seth’s Twitter account seem to mean that the Brewers can’t ignore social media and how it will affect their players and fans.

Here’s a small sample of some of Seth’s tweets over the past few weeks:

@Petersauce thanks it was a long road back, worked real hard and training staff was great!! Now, to get machA to put me in a game!! lol!!9:17 AM Sep 20th from Tweetie in reply to Petersauce

I wish I could have pitched @ home 1 more time, I feel robbed of pitching infront of the best fans in the world. I hope I am back next year5:09 PM Sep 27th from Tweetie

Day game, hope2 get some sleep, I have to always be ready@ all times! Set up to fail? MayB but if your prepaired Ur N control of your fate!11:02 PM Sep 30th from Tweetie

U know that saying, the writing is on the wall? I think I can make out more than just letters concerning me.12:51 AM Oct 1st from Tweetie

Do these sorts of remarks hurt his chances? Are they appropriate?

When asked about it, McClung told Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy and other members of the media, "It can be interpreted any way you want. I'm not complaining, I'm not trying to make trouble. I'm just frustrated. I don't mean to talk about it in the media, but I'm honest with myself and it's hard to watch situations come up in which I've performed exceedingly well in the past, and get passed over. Now we're going on nine days since I've pitched last. I'm not saying I'm better than anybody else, I just think it's my turn. Beyond that, I really don't want to talk about it in the media."

When players like Ryan Braun have been crucial of management to members of the media, it’s caused a stir among fans and the reactions have varied.

With his Tweets, Seth is also criticizing, though in a more passive-aggressive, though somewhat less publicized way.

Why have they not caused the same sort of stir? Should they?

May I also take this a step further? In my opinion, past player complaints to the media have not gone over well with management.

Take Doug Melvin’s "deputy" reaction to Braun’s mid-season pitching complaints.

Once Bill Hall went public with his grumblings about playing time, he seemed to paint himself into a corner. The impression I got was that management told him that he was complaining about playing time but had refused being sent down to the minors in order to get at-bats and improve and they asked him to answer for that. When he was stuck, he accepted the designation.

Maybe that’s not how it went – but I sure get the sense that Doug Melvin doesn’t take kindly to that sort of thing and players have to be careful about the sort of hole they dig.

What do you think? Am I reading too much into it, or do you, like me, cringe a little every time you read another of Seth’s Tweets, feeling like he’s just putting more of himself in the grave?

YBF seeking optimism, long-term relationship

tristarscoop — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:26:56 -0000

Young Brewers fan in search of reasons to be excited for that elusive "next year."

The first few weeks of the off-season are meant to be a time of eternal Cubs-like optimism that your team will get it together. You’re supposed to be able to dream of the post-season and think of dream trade scenario.

Instead, before the season had even ended, Brewer fans became a pretty dismal, negative, downtrodden mess. Laments about the lack of pitching, how the team wouldn’t be getting any help and how bad 2010 will be are everywhere a Brewer fan looks and it’s starting to get a little disheartening.

Maybe it’s because the season was over long before the final game and fans started looking ahead weeks ago, meaning all the rehashing, contract-analyzing and trade talk came and went before October ever began, but whatever the reason, the post-season’s barely begun and I’m already dreading 2010.

If we can’t even get excited for this team in these first bucolic, starry-eyed, optimistic days of the off-season, what’s the point of even keeping up the fandom?

Have we become jaded in such a short time?

I’m not trying to be unrealistic – it’s clear the Brewers have a lot of question marks to answer before next season. The FA market looks sparse and with The Mustache saying Prince will more than likely be on next year’s roster, our biggest trade bait is no longer dangling. I get that. I know it appears bleak, but can we maybe wait for a date to be set for pitchers and catchers to report before we resign 2010 to the trash heap?

I need hope, BCB. I need to anticipate next season with something more than apathy and the apparent anger simmering beneath so many fans’ surfaces.

There have to be positives about 2010, right? Give me something to look forward to!

For the discerning Prince Fielder fan

tristarscoop — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:18:40 -0000

To give you an idea, this guy is Chad OchoCinco's "official jeweler." Found the pic via the jeweler's twitter feed, but can't find it on his website, so I'm wondering if it was a custom piece that Prince ordered for himself.

But I'm sure Jason of BH can make it again, so this is what every classy Fielder fan will have on their Christmas list.

Brewers 8, Phillies 4

tristarscoop — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:58:08 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

Browse more photos »

W: Manny Parra (11-10)

L: Cliff Lee (14-12)

S: Trevor Hoffman (36)

HR: Prince Fielder (43), Mike Cameron (22)

MVP: Prince Fielder (+.200)
LVP: Corey Hart (-.038)

Win Expectancy Graph
SBNation Coverage

Defying all expectations, Manny Parra went out and sat down the first nine Phillies in order and the Brewers put four runs on Cliff Lee before the first inning was over, ensuring that anyone who tuned into this game a little late had to wipe their eyes cartoon fashion to see if they could believe what they were seeing.

Felipe Lopez led things off with a double and was moved to third on a Braun ground out. Lopez scored on a Prince Fielder single. Casey McGehee doubled and Mike Cameron hit a towering home run to left field, making it 4-0 to end the first.

It looked as though "Bad Manny" might be making an appearance in the fourth inning, when a McGehee error and a walk put runners on and then an error-changed-later-to-a-hit at first by Ryan Howard scored those two runs. But Parra settled and got out of the inning, retiring the next 12 of the next 14 in order.

He ended the night with eight strikeouts, one walk and one earned run through seven complete innings.

Corey Hart was HBP in the 5th in what appeared to be retaliation for Hart's collision with C Paul Bako during last night's game, but that turned out to be a very dumb move when Braun singled and Fielder took his RBI total up to 136 with a three-run shot to right center, making the score 7-2 Brewers in the 5th.

Hart singled and stole second and was plated by Casey McGehee in the 7th, making it 8-2.

David Weathers started the eighth and gave up a single to Jimmy Rollins, who was moved to second a FC. Mitch Stetter came in to face Ryan Howard and promptly gave him his 135th RBI. Todd Coffey ended the inning giving up just one more run, so it was 8-4 Brewers.

All the starters but Parra notched at least one hit (including a gritastic infield hit from Mike Rivera).

The Phillies brought their left-hand-heavy bench into play in the 9th, chasing Claudio Vargas after he gave up two straight singles, putting the tying run on deck.

From there it was Trevor Time, as Hoffman came in and got his 36th save of the season, throwing just 15 pitches to get Matt Stairs and Jimmy Rollins to pop out and Shane Victorino to ground to Lopez to end the game.

I'll take "Things I Shouldn't Have Spent This Much Money On" for $600, Alex

tristarscoop — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:53:01 -0000

Or, you know, $606.38

Taking the train to Wrigley Field

tristarscoop — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:44:10 -0000

Before the season started, as single game tickets were going on sale, the Brewers announced a promotion where you could take your tickets to the Sept. 17th game between the Brewers and Cubs AT Wrigley Field to the Miller Park box office and they would give you a free t-shirt and vouchers for a free Amtrak ride from Milwaukee to Chicago and back that day.

For two happy, happy days I had full internet access at work and one of those days was when Cubs tickets went on sale, so I bought two cheapies in the upper deck and took my lunch to head to MP to get the vouchers. That feels like ages and ages ago and I've been looking forward to the trip ever since.

I've said before and I'll continue to laud them - the Brewers' marketing department is really, really good. They've come up with some really great promotions, this one included.

We heard the train station was packed for the earlier train, so we hustled to the train station for the 11 am train only to find the only people in the station were with the Brewers' group. The staff had everything organized and handed us new Miller Park South shirts. Even Bernie Brewer was there to welcome and entertain.

We loaded up the train and had two cars full of folks, it seemed. There were FSN and TMJ4 cameras, as well as some others. We were told Telly from FSN would be there with us, but we never saw them.

As the train headed South, we were also told that Bernie Brewer would be serving the snack cart, but we never did see him, either. It seemed Bernie kept to the car behind us.

A whole line of people also got onto the train at the airport station.

The one and only bad part of the trip is that the train rarely got above a slow crawl and therefore, the train was at least 30 to 40 minutes late pulling into Union Station in Chicago. Since we didn't leave Milwaukee until 11am, that put us on the El platform as first pitch was thrown - but that's getting ahead of the story.

As we pulled in, it was announced that if we didn't know how to get to the El station, the Racing Sausages would lead us in that direction. Instead, the Sausages were there on the platform to greet us and high five us as we deboarded.

It's possible the Sausages did head to the El from there, but frankly, we didn't wait to find out. It was a six or seven block walk to the El from Union Station, so those of us first off the train took off, knowing that first pitch was imminent. One girl got out the directions the Brewers had so nicely typed for us and a stream of us headed East across the river and in search of the Red Line El stop on State St.

One of the biggest suggestions I'd give to the Brewers were they to try this again next season is to pre-buy CTA tickets, or find some way that the large group of people isn't bottlenecked at the two machines selling fare cards at the bottom of the stairs. Having those in-hand would have made a huge difference.

As we were standing on the platform, the game started without us and I and a few others kept everyone updated via our cell phones, though service was spotty as we were underground. The trains were crowded to begin with, so we Brewer fans merely packed them to sardine levels as we headed the 10 or so stops to Addison.

We got off the train about the end of the first inning and were in our seats in Section 518 before the end of the second. All in all, I suppose that's not so bad, but with Amtrak's reputation for a lack of punctuality, it would really behoove the Brewers to not allow just 2 hours and 15 or so minutes for the train ride, walk and El ride. There was no way that was ever going to get us there on time.

Considering they were $16, our seats weren't bad. We didn't have to deal with too many support beams and we were right next to the press box. We were certainly closer to the field than we would be in the 400 level at MP.

As you know, it was a great game, with Jody Gerut crossing home after hitting a grand slam. There was Trevor Time (More Trevor pics here) Prince didn't break the record, but took a mighty cut.

One of the strangest quirks I saw that Wrigley (since I don't have to pee in a trough) was the overly staffed, extremely slow grounds crew. Whereas each member of the MP crew has their own grate and they jog/run, the Wrigley crew had two men per grate and they literally strolled their way around the infield dirt. It was head-scratching. The BF missed it the first time and thought I was exaggerating. Once he saw it himself later in the game, he was as awed by it as I was.

There was a lot of sarcastic speculation about where the Racing Sausages would show up during the game, which was answered when they appeared on one of the infamous rooftops. Bernie and the Sausages were on the far west side of Waveland, barely visible down the third-base line.

Though he's a Cub, I have must love for reliever Aaron Heilman and his beautiful, classic stirrups.

We had a lot of time to kill on the train and we were saying that aside from the obvious, I'd hate to be a Cubs fan because of all the day games. Still, they're usually completely sold out, but the stadium seemed pretty empty (this is the first base side.)

In the end, there was untucking and outfield leaps, along with on-field handshakes, which just look so pretty against all that ivy.

One more look at the win on the old-school scoreboard.

The boyfriend has a co-worker who's a Cubs fan who claimed there was a "W" flag for wins, but not an "L" flag for losses, so we had to prove him wrong.

Because of the late train, we didn't get to spend much time around Wrigley. I've been to a few games there, but the boyfriend had never been, so that was sad.

With time to kill before we needed to catch the train back, we walked over to Millennium Park. There was some sort of concert going on in the band shell which was cool, but we were more interested in taking pictures at the cloud/bean.

From there it was a long, sore-footed walk back to Union Station and a noisy train ride back to Milwaukee.

Doug Melvin, de-mustachioed?

tristarscoop — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:24:29 -0000

I'm pretty sure this isn't a recent picture, but I thought it was pretty funny that the Brewers' homepage today featured a big picture of Doug Melvin sans mustache while simultaneously advertising the game at which they'll be handing out a mustachioed Melvin bobble.

Not sure about the rest of you, but I'd never seen "The Mustache" without the lip warmer. Not only did I not recognize him, but I was fairly certain he was actor Mark Harmon (looking conspicuously like Melvin here.)

As someone who has advocated for this bobble to feature a "real" hair mustache (you'll remember when the title of this site referenced "real Canadian hair mustaches,") I find the above picture deeply disturbing and highly sacrilegious.