Milwaukee Brewers

Ryan Braun one of the five finalists for NL MVP

Ryan Braun’s slim chances of repeating as NL MVP are still alive after he was named as a finalist for the award today. He joins Buster Posey, Yadier Molina, Andrew McCutchen, and Chase Headley in the race for the trophy.

Obviously the odds are stacked against Braun, but there is a very strong case that he should win again. Last season, both Braun and Matt Kemp had similar numbers. Kemp had more HRs, RBI, and stolen bases while Braun had a higher batting average, slugging percentage, and more extra base hits. You could argue either way who had the “better” of their two excellent seasons, but looking at where the two finished in relation to the rest of the league in most offensive categories, the award maybe should have gone to Kemp. Most people think that Braun got the nod because the Brewers were a division winner, while the Dodgers failed to truly make a run at the playoffs. Braun had more “value” to a winning time, because most teams measure success in wins and the MVP trophy isn’t historically given to the “best” player all the time.

This season, I would argue that Braun has the best offensive numbers once again. He was the only guy to finish in the top 3 in hits, runs, RBI, HR, average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. Throw in the fact that he finished in the top 10 in stolen bases and it is easy to see what kind of special season that Braun had. BUT, the Brewers didn’t make the playoffs. Does Ryan Braun even deserve the MVP?

In 2011, Matt Kemp was the only guy to finish in the top 3 of all of the categories I mentioned (except on-base percentage where he was 4th) and he tied for the league lead in stolen bases while Braun finished relatively close to Kemp in all of the categories, but some he just out of the top 5. In 2012, while Posey probably comes the closest to having the all-around year of Ryan Braun, even he is sorely lagging behind in a few statistical categories. Take these numbers into consideration:

Ryan Braun finished in the Top 3 in: Hits, Runs, RBI, HR, Avg, OBP, SLG.

No one else in the NL finished in the Top 10 of all those categories.

It would be considered a huge upset if Braun were to win, but it shouldn’t be. In fact, it should be looked at as a mild upset if anyone else wins the MVP.

All that said, I think Buster Posey will win the 2012 NL MVP. Ryan Braun should be 2nd, but I could see the writers not voting for him out of spite. If he finishes any worse than 3rd they need to seriously reexamine the way that these awards are voted on.

The Ryan Braun haters and Scott Walker supporters are pretty similar

Both hold onto a narrative that exists only in their own heads.

Both refuse to look at any evidence that doesn’t support that narrative.

The evidence that both hold onto either doesn’t exist or has been proven invalid or false.

Both are unable to/refuse to follow basic logic when understanding arguments against their stance.

Both are/will be very disappointed by the results of the appeal process/recall election.

Action shot of tonight’s lineup vs. the Reds

Jerry Narron actually writing out the lineup card. Thanks Mike Vassallo. 

Narron actually said he has been doing calligraphy for so long that writing the lineup card out like this doesn’t really take any more time that doing it in his own handwriting. Look a lot cooler though.

As for the actual lineup, Morgan is back in CF and Ishikawa is at 1B again. It would be nice to see a little more of Taylor Green at 1B for his bat. Ishikawa does have a good glove though.

I’m starting to see the “Blow up the Brewers” posts

You know the best way to improve this team? Play better.

That is obviously over-simplifying things, but it really is that simple. Other than Prince Fielder, a few role players, and a couple guys in the bullpen (and Narveson), this is the same team that won 96 games and won the division going away. 

The question remains, why are they struggling? You can point to a number of individual performances that are really hurting this team:

On offense: Rickie Weeks, Nyjer Morgan, Corey Hart’s 13 RBI and plummeting average, Aramis Ramirez’ stumble out of the gate, even the pitchers aren’t hitting like we’ve been accustomed to.

On defense: Rickie Weeks has struggled thus far and even though Aramis Ramirez only has 2 errors, he hasn’t played great either. Overall, the Brewers are ranked very low in defensive efficiency, even after vastly improving at SS. Maybe Prince wasn’t the big defensive liability that the national media made him out to be.

Pitching: Francisco Rodriguez has struggled at times, Randy Wolf got off to a rough start, in fact, every starter has had a game or two where they really struggled and early in the season that is magnified. The Brewers rank near the bottom of almost every major pitching category, but those numbers are deceiving in early May.

Face it, Weeks, Hart, and Ramirez are all going to hit. And even Nyjer Morgan isn’t going to hit .170 all season long. Zack Greinke, Yovani Gallardo, and Shaun Marcum are all very good pitchers who should continue to perform and improve the rough early season numbers (although Greinke and Marcum’s numbers don’t look bad) and Randy Wolf should be able to right the ship, probably not to the degree he pitched last season, but enough so he is a quality #4. Marco Estrada has shown flashes; I’m not worried about him too much. The bullpen is what it is. It would be nice to have what they had last season, but they don’t. 

Obviously, picking up a replacement SS and 1B would be great, but it isn’t like quality major league players are falling from every tree. Derrick Lee isn’t going to be better than what they have; he has been in a sharp decline for years. Same goes for Jorge Cantu. My idea starts with two words: George Kottaras. Dump Ishikawa and bring up Martin Maldonado to be the back-up catcher. There may be shortstops available closer to July, but right now they are stuck with Cesar Izturis and Edwin Maysonett. I believe I may have said this before, but I would like to see Maysonett get some time to see what he can offer at the major league level. Everyone knows what Izturis has to offer, and it isn’t much. I would rather go with an unknown and hope to catch lighting in a bottle than go with a guy you know is below-average. 

The season isn’t lost. In fact, it isn’t even close to being lost. It isn’t going to take 96 wins to make the playoffs; it may not even take 86 wins to make the playoffs! Obviously, it would be nice to be 17-12 instead of the other way around, but it is early. One doesn’t even have to look farther than last season with the Cardinals and the Rays. Both teams looked like they were on the outside looking in, not in May, but in mid-to-late-September. Both made the playoffs and, as painful as it is, the Cardinals won the whole damn thing. I’m not saying the Brewers are going to win the World Series, or even that they will make the playoffs, but to write them off in early May is idiocy. 

This is getting ridiculous

New story on ESPN, “Cubs players praise, back Braun collector”. My only question is this: What the fuck difference did it make how this guy performed at his job in the past? That is not being questioned. It is on the same line of thought as “MLB’s drug problem doesn’t wok because of the Braun case.” This one incident does not change anything that happened in the past or, possibly, anything that will happen in the future. It is what it is, and that’s all that it is. It was a SINGLE incident. The drug testing policy (and process) were ‘broken’ in this one instance. That doesn’t mean that it didn’t work before or won’t work going forward. It does mean that it didn’t work THAT ONE SINGLE TIME. Is this single failure indicative of a flaw in the testing procedure? Possibly, but that doesn’t mean that the whole system doesn’t work. Did the arbitrator find, in this one situation, that the collector did not follow appropriate procedure? Yes, but that doesn’t mean that the collector didn’t follow appropriate procedure in the past and won’t in the future. Nobody is hanging this guy out to dry, in fact, he has the complete backing of Major League Baseball. There is no reason for anybody to feel sorry for him or come rushing to his defense. 

Listen, I am not a fan of Albert Pujols. I will go on record (and have in the past) to say that I feel he is one of the laziest players in the game. However, if this same situation happened with Pujols and he was exonerated because the sample wasn’t handled correctly, I would believe the same thing. The only evidence that is out there that Braun is guilty of anything was the positive test. That test was ruled invalid. Hence, there is no evidence that Braun is guilty of anything. It is extremely simple logic and it doesn’t matter if anyone agrees with the reasons that the test was ruled invalid. People that know an infinite amount more about the situation than anybody in the national media or the blogging world have decided that the sample was improperly handled and the test was ruled invalid. Why is there so many that are questioning it, with nothing to go on but the garbled “facts” that have come out since November?

Brewers’ Spring Training Updates

Here is some “news” items from spring training:

• Ron Roenicke is going with a 12 man pitching staff for at least the start of the season. Only 5 guys on the bench, who will they be? If I had to venture a guess (assuming Mat Gamel wins the 1st base job and everyone is healthy): Carlos Gomez, Norichika Aoki, and George Kottaras are the locks and then your guess is as good as mine. I imagine some combination of Cesar Izturis, Taylor Green, Brooks Conrad, and Travis Ishikawa is likely. Logan Schafer and Eric Farris have outside shots if they really impress in Spring Training.
• That leaves the 12 pitchers. Zack Greinke, Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, Randy Wolf, and Chris Narveson will be the rotation again, barring injury. Francisco Rodriguez is the 8th inning guy and John Axford is the closer. Other locks out of the remaining 5 spots are Kameron Loe and Marco Estrada. I’m assuming Jose Veras will be in the pen to start the season. The other two will come from the group of Zach Braddock, Brandon Kintzler, Frankie De La Cruz, Tim Dillard, Manny Parra, and Mike McClendon. Juan Perez is another option.
• Zack Greinke and Randy Wolf will pitch in the spring training opener on Sunday.
• Aaron Rodgers stopped by camp today to hang out with the team and shoot some Brewer commercials. It is a pretty cool thing that one of the best football players on the planet supports the Brewers.
• GM Doug Melvin and owner Mark Attanasio will sit down with Zack Greinke in the near future and try to get an extension worked out this spring.
• John Axford is still looking for his contract for this season. He may sign a one-year deal and work on an extension later.
• Finally, in Ryan Braun news, he is STILL not suspended and haters STILL be hating. No surprise there.