With all the young talent the Brewers have it's hard not to be pumped up about them. I still think they have some questions in the rotation. Ben Sheets can't stay healthy if his life depended on it, Vargas is unproven, Bush is way too inconsistent but looks like he can break out, Suppan is steady and Capuano is probly the most reliable of the group. If they can find consistency and health among that rotation I think they could be poised for a run. But its hard when you have St Louis in your division and are always competing for the wild card only.
__________________
"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
It's very easy to say that Ben Sheets can't stay healthy blah blah blah...from 2002 - 2004 Sheets started 34 games and pitched over 215+ innings. His last injury was more than likely a cause of the first freak injury. He doesn't have arm problems. The man was dominant in 2004 - 2.70 ERA, TWO HUNDRED SIXTY FOUR SO's.
Look, everyone can say that as Sheets goes, so goes the Brewers. I don't know if it is as cut and dry as that, seeing how the problem last year was compounded by the fact that Tomo Ohka's injury was as big if not a bigger problem last year. Sheets is not Woods or Prior, the man has a Gold Medal, he could have been a Cy Young winner on a good team in 2004.
If the biggest worry for the Brewers this year is the health of Ben Sheets than I like our chances to be a very good team.
__________________
Do you guys want the truth...or do you want to see me hit some dingers?!?
You can teach defense, and the Brewers have been working with all of their young guys very dilligently on their defense.
The Brewers ranked near the bottom of the league in team fielding percentage, but they also were without their starting shortstop, 2nd basemen, and third basemen for large portions of season. Granted some people would say that their replacements helped the overall defense, but until the Brewer's defense is to blame for their losses I don't think we can really talk about it.
On the other hand, three of the top 20 pitchers in unearned runs / total runs in 2005 were from the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that is in the upper half in fielding percentage (barely, but still). Those pitchers were Suppan (uh oh) , Morris, and Marquis.
The defense will improve, but it doesn't matter how good your defense is when Prince is hitting dingers over your head
__________________
Do you guys want the truth...or do you want to see me hit some dingers?!?
the only spots in the line up id rather be in the brewers position over the cardinals, not talking pitchers, is at catcher and maybe second base. id rather have encarnacion than hart in right, edmonds over hall in center, preston wilson over anyone the crew throws out in left, scott rolen over ryan braun or whoever else ends up at third, eckstein over jj hardy, probably ricky weeks over adam kennedy, pujols over prince, and yadiar molina isnt anything great.
as for pitchers, id rather have carpenter over sheets, capuano over mulder, rest of the rotation the brewers are better now. bullpen, the cardinals are better. the cardinals win every year and teh brewers have never won. to say youre not worried about the cardinals is rediculous. not to mention you have to deal with the cubs in that division. start playing for hte wild card.
__________________
"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
I don't think you can say that the Cardinals have a better bullpen right now especially considering the Cardinals don't even know who their closer is or if Izzy will rebound. I can't speak too much about the Cardinals bullpen because A) I don't know that much about their middle relief, and B) they don't even know who will be in the bullpen versus who will be in the rotation. Considering you couldn't even name the last 3 guys in their rotation, how could you say anything positive about their pitching staff. The way the Cardinals rotation is shaping up they will have to score 10 runs a game to win...and the guys you listed as who you would take over the brewer guys aren't what they used to be. Rolens and Edmonds are past their prime, and obviously you are mistaken if you think Eckstein is great just because he had a great series.
If you are talking about who you would take defensively...fine I could see your argument but aside from that, I don't think it is that one sided.
I know you are all about managers YN and how important they are. Well I will take Ned Yost to go toe to toe with La Russa any day. La Russa overmanages and sometimes overthinks. The Cardinals have won year after year because they were so ahead in talent it didn't matter. When they got to the playoffs, they choked. Last year everyone caught up to them and they won because they were playing their best baseball at the end of the year.
I like our chances if it comes down to the Brewers and Cardinals
__________________
Do you guys want the truth...or do you want to see me hit some dingers?!?
Is JJ Hardy healthy again? Because he's supposed to be very good defensively. I heard an interview where Adam Everett (the Astros shortstop) was talking about how good Hardy is, and that is a compliment because Adam Everett is in an elite class when it comes to defensive shortstops.
As far as the national league central goes, I don't really see any one team running away with it. The Cardinals are still good but they've lost a lot of good pitching (except for that Adam Wainwright...sheesh that kid could be something special) and if they suffer injury issues like they had last season, they may end up out of the running. The Astros added a ton of offense but lost Andy Pettitte and still have no idea what's going on with Clemens. The Cubs obviously spent a ton of money and are going to be a handful offensively but who knows about their pitching. Brewers are supposed to be pretty good this year and the Pirates were playing well at the end of last season and added Adam LaRoche. And Cincinnati could go either way. All I can say is, this will be one interesting baseball season.
Im taking Eckstein over Hardy because Eckstein hit .290 last year in like 130 games where Hardy hit .242 over like 30 games last year. And to take Ned Yost over Tony Larussa is just foolish. Yost has never managed a team to a record over .500 where Larussa has I believe two world series rings now.
I like the love for the pirates too. Zach Duke is coming off a down year, but at only 23 is a one of the better starters in all the league.
__________________
"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
I wouldn't take Encarnacion over Hart. Encarnacion hit 19 homers last year with a .760 OPS over a full season... Average numbers at best. Granted Hart had less ABs than Encarnacion, but he hit 9 homers in 237 ABs and had a .796 OPS. Hart is 24 and will only get better. Plus has has better speed and will steal some bases.
Secondly, the only way you could take Edmonds over Hall is if you're looking strictly at defense. Edmonds is coming off a season where he missed over 50 games and had an OPS of .821. He might be a little better than that in 07, but at age 36 it's unrealistic to expect a big turnaround.
Hall on the other hand is coming off a great season. He will have growing pains defensively with the position switch, but his offense is definitely superior to what Edmonds brings.
Preston Wilson is terrible. Even after the year Jenkins had last season I would still probably take him this year over Wilson and his .730 OPS. And if the Brewers platoon Mench and Jenkins, the output is sure to be better.
As I typed this I started thinking about how truly bad the Cardinals' off-season was. They really didn't improve anywhere. I actually prefer the Brewers to the Cards at all three outfield positions.
I think it's at a point where there is no favorite at this point. I don't think St. Louis can be considered that much better than the other teams to give them that label.
I didn't watch a lot of Brewer games last year (except when they were playing the Astros) but all i know is Hart killed us. If he was anything against the other teams like he was against the Astros, he's something special.
As for Preston Wilson, his defense isn't bad in the outfield, but his batting...eh. He strikes out too much and grounds into too many double plays for my taste.
Edmonds had a down year last year because he was injury prone. Will he come back full strength? All indications are yes, but we'll see. At the plate I'll concede its a push. But BIll Hall has a lot to learn in centerfield where Edmonds is one of the best in the game, there is no way I'm takin Bill Hall over Jim Edmonds.
__________________
"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
The Brewers have flaws, but so does every other team in the NL! I think they are perfectly capable of being a darkhorse candidate, although since everyone at ESPN is drinking the koolaid I might hold off on that prediction.
YankeeNation, I have to disagree with you about Edmonds. I think that he is certainly a good defensive CF, but I feel that he is vastly overrated. I don't have numbers or anything to back me up, so feel free to disagree with me. I think he often dives too quickly to make plays look more spectacular than they need to be. He's still one of the best all-around in the game though, and I agree, I would still take him over Bill Hall.
Edmonds is a shell of what he used to be, that's for sure. But Bill Hall has never been a true outfielder, let alone a center fielder. For this year anyway, theres no way you can take him over Edmonds. If he does have a better year at the plate it won't be by much and will be a liability at best in the field till he adjusts.
__________________
"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
Well I'd be willing to bet that Hall far exceeds Edmonds' offensive output, but there's really nothing more we can say about it now. We'll just have to see.
If all of their young studs stay healthy they should be able to keep in the hunt. Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy who are supposed to be the Franchise players in the future keep getting hurt. Everyone talks about Ben Sheets staying healthy because he has not been for the last two years. He not only has had continous shoulder problems but he has also had back problems as well. If he stays healthy he will be the workhorse in that rotation. The only question I see is consistency and middle relief. It seems that Cordero will be able to shut down games fine, but I still question if they are able to get there when the starter leaves. Even the starters have potential but there does not seem to be a whole lot of veterans if I am thinking about this correctly which might cause problems down the stretch.
Sheets throws like that all year I'm takin the Crew in the Central. He was unbelievable.
__________________
"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
