Most of us have taken for granted that CC Sabathia isn't long for Milwaukee, and given how the Brewers rode him like a rented car in the stretch run, it seemed like the coaching staff wasn't planning on having him back, either. But before he packs his bags and heads for some rich team on the coast (he should have his pick -- the Yankees, Angels and Dodgers have all been mentioned in rumors), it turns out the Brewers might make a pitch for him to stay after all. From ESPN's Buster Olney:
Others in the Brewers' organization say Milwaukee owner Mark Attanasio will try to make it very difficult for Sabathia to leave -- maybe to the point of risking a colossal mistake. Attanasio has seen how Sabathia has made an enormous difference for Milwaukee in attendance -- which climbed dramatically for every game the left-hander started -- and in the standings; the Brewers were 14-3 in the 17 regular-season starts that Sabathia made for the team. And he was a model of competitive integrity; if you wanted to invest big dollars in any player, you'd feel great about signing Sabathia, who demonstrated repeatedly that he will put his team above his own personal interests. You couldn't blame Attanasio if he were to get aggressive with his offer to the lefty.
It's a risky move -- CC has thrown a lot of pitches over the last four years -- but if the Brewers are intent on getting an ace, I'd prefer to see them gamble on a free agent than pulling the trigger on the "Matt Cain for Prince Fielder and J.J. Hardy" proposal floated by Peter Gammons recently.
Sabathia has been a horse his entire career, making at least 30 starts a year every season but one (when he made 28 in 2006), so it's not out of the question that he mainstains his current level of production. On the other hand, he could just as easily follow the up-and-down career-arc of Bartolo Colon, another pudgy workhorse who got his start with the Indians, though I think staying in the more pitcher-friendly National League helps mitigate that risk.
From here on out, Carsten Charles Sabathia is just "CC" Sabathia - not "C.C."
After holding a news conference Monday to announce they'd made a trade to acquire the reigning AL Cy Young award winner from Cleveland, a member of the Brewers public relations staff advised media members that Sabathia prefers to have his initials written without periods.
And you thought the perks of being a big leaguer stopped at fancy cars and groupies. No sir, once you make it to The Show, the rules of grammar literally no longer apply. I suppose this explains why so many athletes like to speak in the third person ...
Just in case you're curious (and if you're still reading, I'm sure it was in the back of your mind), the team did make sure to clarify that J.J. Hardy would be holding onto his periods for the time being. It's nice to know you can rely on something in these crazy times.
Maybe you're thinking you had a pretty crappy day today. After all, by the end of the day there will have been 13 NFL games played, which means that 13 teams will have lost. Or maybe you're a Cubs fan and you saw your team fall out of first place. Maybe you're a Jay Gibbons fan (don't laugh, my roommate in college was one) and you're down about his alleged steroid use. Still, Reds' pitcher Phil Dumatrait probably had a worse day than you did. I'll let the box score illustrate for you. Keep in mind that the following is unedited and is from the first inning of today's Reds/Brewers game.
Pitching: Phil Dumatrait Rickie Weeks: Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Rickie Weeks hits solo home run to left-center field J.J. Hardy: Ball, J, J, Hardy hits solo home run to right field Ryan Braun: Ball, Foul, Ryan Braun hits solo home run to center field Prince Fielder: Prince Fielder singles to left-center field Corey Hart: Ball, Corey Hart singles to center field, Prince Fielder to second Tom Shearn in for Phil Durmatrait
That's right. Three straight homers to lead off the game, then two singles for good measure. Dumatrait threw 12 pitches and three of them got whacked out of the park, while two more of them got hit for singles. The Brewers ended up hitting three more homers before the game was over (Weeks and Braun went yard again and Johnny Estrada joined the party) to cruise to the 10-5 victory that put them back in first place in the NL Central alone for the first time since August 16th.
The Brewers are certainly primed for success over the next several years here with their young core of players. At what point do you say, "Screw the next couple years talk, this team is good enough to win now!" Have you reached that point for the 2007 season?
David from Brewers Bar: GM Doug Melvin, Owner Mark Attanasio, and Manager Ned Yost have been saying "we can win this year" all season, and I think most fans have, too. The fast start convinced almost every Brewers fan that the team had what it needed to win the division and even make it to the World Series. I think trading away Will Inman and two other prospects for Scott Linebrink solidified that the Brewers management wants to win now, and the fans are still thinking that way.
A line drive that hit the right leg of Rockies pitcher Jason Hirsh during the first inning of Tuesday night's 11-4 victory over the Brewers did more damage than originally believed. X-rays taken on Wednesday revealed a fractured fibula. ... J.J. Hardy's liner hit Hirsh's right calf. Hirsh picked the ball up and threw Hardy out at first base, then completed six innings during which he held the Brewers to three runs and improved his record to 5-7, with a 4.81 ERA.
There was even some speculation that Hirsh got picked off intentionally later in the game to keep him from running the bases. I doubt it. Well, the Rockies brass should only be too happy to hear this report; nobody can ever accuse Hirsh of not giving his all. Now they just need to make sure Hirsh doesn't miss significant time considering how close to they are in the top of the division, and that Rodrigo Lopez is done for the year.
The NL Central spent most of the first half of the season as a joke. At one point the division went almost a whole week without beating a team from out of the division. Things are different now. The Brewers have heated up and the Cubs have followed right behind them, closing the division gap to 4.5 games and creating a compelling race in the second half. So let's look at the competitors.
First things first, the BP Adjusted Standings, which account for lots of math-y things have the teams actually two games closer than their current four and a half. This doesn't mean a lot now, but it's an indication that the Brewers record may dip while the Cubs may raise without an actual change in level of play. But let's go beyond the sabermetric crowd to break this one down even further, after the jump.
Greetings, Major League Baseball fans. I am PostmanR, your intrepid blogger. Tonight for you, we have a very special treat ... it's the 2007 MLB All-Star Game!
There are many pressing issues to address this evening. Such as: just what squad will gain home-field advantage, no matter how ridiculous the premise? Can the National League overcome the American League after being in its stranglehold for years? Will Barry Bonds weep as he plays in front of his home crowd? Will Tony LaRussa fall asleep before the sixth inning?
All this and more after the jump. So sit back, relax and and enjoy the ride.
I'll be honest, I could write up another post about the Brewers sliding, the NL Central sucking, and how Milwaukee seems more and more likely to take the division by the two most beautiful words in the english language (DEE FAULT! DEE FAULT!), but I kind of think that's getting a little stale and frankly, I'm a little bored of writing about it. So instead, let's look at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article about the other son of a major leaguer on the Brewers, Tony Gwynn Jr.
Entering play Saturday night, Gwynn was batting .350 in 60 at-bats with eight runs batted in, six stolen bases and a .418 on-base percentage. He also has been productive off the bench, batting .357 (5 for 14) as a pinch-hitter with four RBI.
Gwynn has not resembled the same hitter who struggled last September when given an audition in center field. He batted only .210 that month, making club officials too nervous to commit to him for 2007. Instead, Bill Hall was moved from shortstop to center.
While his numbers have dipped a bit since last night (he's now at .333/.400/.397), it's worth talking about whether or not the Brewers need to find young Tony a spot in the lineup. The real question is, how can they do it? Hall is in his natural position of center field. Can't bench him. Hall can't move back to shortstop because JJ Hardy is tearing the cover off the ball. I suppose Hall could try third, but the Brewers just called Ryan Braun up to fill that position. Corey Hart is struggling in right field, but Gabe Gross is putting up a good line with much more power than Gwynn can supply. Given Gwynn's minor league numbers (he was a career .271/.351/.343 hitter in the minors) he's probably not more than a fourth outfielder, now or ever.
"The Young and the Restless" is a good way to describe the Milwaukee Brewers, who are in first place and baseball's big surprise this season.
So it seemed fitting that shortstop J.J. Hardy, center fielder Bill Hall and pitchers Chris Capuano and Jeff Suppan taped their acting debuts on the top-rated CBS soap opera of the same name Tuesday.
"I've gotten more calls about this than I have about baseball in the last two years," Hardy said, his face perfectly powdered to withstand the hot studio lights.
Oh, boy, let me put my "Crusty Old Baseball Columnist" hat on.
So you mean to tell me that in the middle of losing eight of their past 11 games, these guys don't have anything better to do than go out and tape a soap opera... on a game day no less?!? Big surprise those bats were punchless last night. This is why the Brewers haven't won anything yet this year. And isn't Jeff Suppan supposed to be the veteran signed by this team to set an example? Tony La Russa would never stand for this in St. Louis. If they keep acting like this, they'll be in fourth place in no time.
All kidding aside, is it really in good taste to be filming a soap opera on a game day? I mean, I know these guys are pros and all, but... yeah. I dunno. Don't forget to set your TiVos for June 20th. That's about all I can say.
As if a 25-11 record and an 8-game division lead on Mother's Day wasn't proof enough, yesterday afternoon gave us even further proof that every single thing possible is going right for the Milwaukee Brewers. In their 12-3 romp over the Mets yesterday, the Brewers scored two runs on a sac-fly double-play pop-up to shallow right field. Confused? Let me attempt to clarify.
With the bases loaded and one out in the fourth inning, Prince Fielder hit a shallow pop-up to right field. Since the ball was caught by second baseman Ruben Gotay, who was backing up into the outfield, Craig Counsell scored from third. On Gotay's throw to the plate, JJ Hardy broke for second while Tony Gwynn Jr. broke for third. Paul LoDuca threw to second and got Hardy in a rundown, but during the rundown the Mets forgot about Gwynn, who took off for home. Hardy had enough baseball sense to stay in the rundown long enough for Gwynn to score before he was tagged out. Since Hardy wasn't a force out, the run counted. It was a great play by Hardy to stay in the rundown, knowing Gwynn was trying to score. In fact, yesterday was a great day for Hardy, who also hit a grand slam and drove in one other run with a sac fly. Ned Yost was rather pleased with his team's baseball awareness:
"Smart, aggressive baserunning is what that is," Yost said. " 'Couns' read it perfectly and took off; J.J. got in the rundown. It just worked perfect.
"It's good baserunning. What we've worked on since the beginning of spring training is trying to help ourselves offensively with our baserunning. That was a good example of it."
The Brewers will send the 5-0 Chris Capuano to the mound today to try and win the series from the Mets while the Mets will counter with Oliver Perez, whom the Brewers have a pretty decent track record against from his time with the Pirates.
Most of us have taken for granted that CC Sabathia isn't long for Milwaukee, and given how the Brewers rode him like a rented car in the stretch run, it seemed like the coaching staff wasn't planning on having him back, either. But before he packs his bags and heads for some rich team on the coast (he should have his pick -- the Yankees, Angels and Dodgers have all been mentioned in rumors), it turns out the Brewers might make a pitch for him to stay after all. From ESPN's Buster Olney:
The Indians traded 
Maybe you're thinking you had a pretty crappy day today. After all, by the end of the day there will have been 13 NFL games played, which means that 13 teams will have lost. Or maybe you're a Cubs fan and you saw your team 
I guess you can safely hand 
The NL Central spent most of the first half of the season as a joke. At one point the division went almost a whole week without beating a team from out of the division. Things are different now. The Brewers have heated up and the Cubs have followed right behind them, closing the division gap to 4.5 games and creating a compelling race in the second half. So let's look at the competitors. 
I'll be honest, I could write up another post about the Brewers sliding, the NL Central sucking, and how Milwaukee seems more and more likely to take the division by the two most beautiful words in the english language (DEE FAULT! DEE FAULT!), but I kind of think that's getting a little stale and frankly, I'm a little bored of writing about it. So instead, let's look at 
Wait a second... can 
As if a 25-11 record and an 8-game division lead on Mother's Day wasn't proof enough, yesterday afternoon gave us even further proof that every single thing possible is going right for the Milwaukee Brewers. In their 12-3 romp over the Mets yesterday, the Brewers scored two runs on a sac-fly double-play pop-up to shallow right field. Confused? Let me attempt to clarify.
