Reader Poll Results

"Who was the Brewers MVP in 2010?"

Casey McGehee: 18%

Ryan Braun: 9%

Rickie Weeks: 63%

Corey Hart 9%

Prince Fielder: 0%

2010 Milwaukee Brewers Team Awards

After the Milwaukee chapter of the BWAA totally whiffed on the team awards, Miller Park Drunk wrote a post ripping them (mostly the Journal Sentinel staff) to no end for picking Casey McGehee as the Team MVP, as well they deserved to be ripped for that crap. No doubt McGehee had a great season, but to pick him as MVP over say Rickie Weeks, who won our Team MVP award is downright ridiculous and the stats prove it. So this got Jaymes over at The Brewers Bar thinking that members of the Brewers Blogosphere should also vote on the team awards and that McGehee would not get a single first place vote. Here are the results of that vote. Just want to thank Jaymes again for letting me cast my ballot. Here is said ballot:

Team MVP:

1. Rickie Weeks
2. Ryan Braun
3. Prince Fielder

Most Valuable Pitcher:

1. Yovani Gallardo
2. John Axford
3. Randy Wolf

Top Newcomer:

1. John Axford
2. Lorenzo Cain
3. Jonathan Lucroy

Unsung Hero:

1. Kameron Loe
2. Zach Braddock
3. Jonathan Lucroy

Good Guy Award:

1. Trevor Hoffman
2. Rickie Weeks
3. Casey McGehee

Tonight Miller Park Is Mr. Rogers Neighborhood

Tonight, 2004 1st round pick Mark Rogers will finally make his first major league start. Because of two shoulder surgeries it is probably at least 1 or maybe even 2 years later than most would have thought. But, he worked hard made it all the way back and has had his second consecutive healthy season. He still throws in the mid to upper 90's. To me this is a very big deal, Rogers making this start tonight at Miller Park. When a team is starved for young starting pitching that can throw hard like the Brewers are, seeing a guy they drafted and developed finally get there after some adversities, it is pretty cool. Rogers will also make a start vs the Mets in New York next week. It sure would give the Brewers and fan base some hope for the pitching going into 2011 if Rogers can have two good outings to end a down 2010 season. Congrats Mark, go get em now!

VFBC Podcast: Brewers Ink Gallardo To 5 Year Extension

The Protectors Of The Game Of Baseball Coming To Town

With Mike Cameron gone the Brewers no longer "untuckem" after victories. But with the hated St. Louis Cardinals coming to Miller Park this weekend, maybe they should make an exception. Boy would that piss of "Poo Holes" and his deputies in the baseball police. Good opening series win for the Brewers, 2 out of 3 from a very good Rockies team feels good. I should have a podcast up tomorrow with my thoughts on the series and a preview of the Cardinals series. No Parks And Recreation or The Office tomorrow for the second week in a row. Damn.

My Predictions For The 2010 MLB Season

Here is the way I see the 2010 season going down. Last years predictions did not go so well. Hopefully I don't have to say that next year when I predict the 2011 season.

American League

AL East Champs: New York Yankees

AL Central Champs: Chicago White Sox

AL West Champs: Seattle Mariners

AL Wild Card Champs: Tampa Bay Rays

AL Champs: New York Yankees

AL MVP: Evan Longoria

AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez

AL ROY: Austin Jackson

National League

NL East Champs: Philadelphia Phillies

NL Central Champs: St. Louis Cardinals

NL West Champs: Colorado Rockies

NL Wild Card Champs: Atlanta Braves

NL Champs: Philadelphia Phillies

NL MVP: Hanley Ramirez

NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay

NL ROY: Jason Heyward

World Series Champs: New York Yankees

I did not pick the Brewers this season to win the Central or the Wild Card. I feel I jinxed them last season when I predicted they would win the Wild Card. I think they will contend all season for the division and/or the Wild Card and may very well win one of those, but I think they will fall just short and finish second in the Central. But that is why they play the games. It's gonna be a fun and exciting season. I can't wait.

25 Man Roster If Camp Broke Today

If the Brewers broke camp today, this would be my 25 man roster that would be at Miller Park on April 5th when the Brewers take on the Colorado Rockies. Of course, no Jeff Suppan. But I am not Doug Melvin or Ken Macha.

Starting Rotation (5)

Yovani Gallardo
Randy Wolf
Doug Davis
Dave Bush
Manny Parra

Bullpen (7)

Trevor Hoffman
LaTroy Hawkins
Todd Coffey
Claudio Vargas
Carlos Villanueva
Mitch Stetter
Chris Narveson

Catchers (2)

Gregg Zaun
George Kottaras

Infielders (6)

Prince Fielder
Rickie Weeks
Casey McGehee
Alcides Escobar
Craig Counsell
Joe Inglett

Outfielders (5)

Ryan Braun
Carlos Gomez
Corey Hart
Jody Gerut
Jim Edmonds

VFBC Podcast: Rickie Weeks A Key To 2010 Success

VFBC Podcast: Mark Rogers Finally Pitches As A Brewer

Lucroy To Possibly Make Jump From AA to MLB

Per Tom Haudricourt of the JS, Doug Melvin is becoming more and more comfortable with the idea of catching prospect Jonathan Lucroy being the Brewers catcher or at least splitting time in half with a veteran catcher in 2010. I have to say that is quite refreshing to hear. Because I am very comfortable with that idea. Since it means we will more then likely not see Jason Kendall and his wet paper towel for a bat catch 150 games in 2010. I know there are some Kendall supporters out there like my buddy Tom who say; "well he plays great defense and calls a great game." Really? Yeah he did in 2008 when he threw out a crazy number of runners and looked good catching Sabathia and Sheets. What about 2009? Yeah, not so much.

I like the idea of Lucroy because he is the future anyway. And if he seems close and ready now might as well get him in there. He had good numbers at AA Huntsville and is doing great in the AFL. His defense is already there, and he seems to have a bat, with some pop in it. Would be nice to see a catcher in our lineup with a slugging % over .305. Which I think Lucroy could do in his sleep. As stated in the Haudricourt article some other good young catchers in the big leagues have made the jump from AA to MLB. The Dodgers Russell Martin, the Dbacks Chris Snyder and the A's Kurt Suzuki. Seeing Lucroy behind the plate in 2010 would actually make me excited about our catcher for pretty much the first in a long time. See Kendall, Jason; Estrada, Johnny; Bako, Paul; Casanova, Raul; Moeller, Chad; Levis, Jesse; Valle, Dave; etc.

That Didn't Take Long: Gomez In, Hardy Out

I was at work yesterday sitting in my cubicle when the news came down. It had to be sometime between 10:30am and 11am. All of a sudden my cell phone began to vibrate, pick it up. It was a text message from 540 ESPN. I hit "read" and there it was: "Brewers trade SS JJ Hardy to Twins for CF Carlos Gomez.", my initial reaction was, "what the fuck? Really? We didn't trade him for starting pitching?" Then I immediately turned my thoughts toward the fact that this guaranteed the Brewers would not be bringing Mike Cameron back in 2010 to play CF. Which I was hoping they would, but at a lesser rate then the $10 mill Mike made each of the past two seasons. This made me beg the following question to one of my coworkers: "Will the Brewers still untuck after each victory with Cameron no longer on the team?" Back to that matter at hand, JJ Hard for Carlos Gomez. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about the trade. But I think I like it, mostly based off the fact of the potential of Carlos Gomez and that I think Alcides Escobar is going to be a way better player then JJ Hardy ever dreamed of.

What I know about Carlos Gomez is that he is one of the fastest players in all of MLB, plays outstanding defense in CF, was a major prospect in the Mets organization who was traded to the Twins as the main piece in the Johan Santana trade and he has VASTLY UNDERACHIEVED as a offensive player so far. But he is only 24 (turns 24 in December). So he still has upside and there is still time for Gomez to turn it around offensively. His biggest problem is he strikes out too much for a player of his talents and does not get on base enough (.292 career OBP). With Gomez over Cameron, the Brewers will lose nothing as far as defense goes. They will however lose power, which the same can be said going from Hardy to Escobar at SS. If, and I know this is an "if", they (Escobar/Gomez) can hit for average and get on base they will reek havoc on the base paths by stealing bases and being able to go 1B to 3B and 2B to Home on base hits by other players. But the key will be striking out less and taking more walks. Something hitting coach Dale Sveum will have to stress to these two particular hitters. They also need to try to bunt for hits to get on base more. One more thing on the power drop Hardy/Cameron to Escobar/Gomez, scouts and GM Doug Melvin believe over time Escobar and Gomez could develop more power in their games over time.

Maybe the most exciting thing about this trade has nothing to do with the players involved in the deal. It has to do with the fact that Jason Kendall will now more then likely NOT be back in 2010. There is no way the Brewers can have Escobar/Gomez/Kendall all in the everyday lineup. If you are giving up power for speed at CF and SS you can't have a catcher with virtually no power (.305 SLG, 2 HR, 19 2B from Kendall in 2009) or for that matter even doubles power. So I think Doug will either look to trade for a catcher who has a little pop in his bat (Ryan Doumit?) or Jonathan Lucroy may get the chance to be the everyday catcher. Doug did mention this when on Sportsradio 1250 yesterday. Lucroy would be making the jump from AA to the big leagues but other catchers have made the move before and been successful.

So while the Brewers did not get starting pitching help for JJ Hardy, they did get a exciting young CF with lots of potential. They also saved themselves about $17 mill that would have went to Cameron and Hardy. So they have some more money to spend on a free agent pitcher or a pitcher in another trade. I still think the Brewers will move either Gamel or McGehee and may also move Hart and with Gomez now in the fold I think Lorenzo Cain could be trade bait. So lots of possibilities yet in a very long offseason that is just getting rolling. My final verdict on the trade is that I do like it, but Gomez has to get on base more. If he can get that OBP up to even .340 or .350 that would be huge. Because his speed is amazing and if he can consistently get on base he could be a huge weapon for the Brewers. Time will tell.

Red Sox Perfect Team To Gamble On Ben Sheets? Maybe, But Why Not Milwaukee?

Because I still have a tiny glimmer of hope that the Brewers might sign Ben Sheets to a low risk high reward contract to pitch for the team in 2010, I thought I would google Sheets name and check out any news that has recently been written on him. You know to see if there was any new info on his rehabilitation, well I came across this piece written by Evans Clinchy of NESN.com. It actually makes a hell of a lot of sense. The Red Sox were the team who signed three pitchers (Smoltz, Penny and Saito) to their team this past offseason that were coming off injuries like Sheets. So yes, I think the Red Sox would totally make sense for Sheets and it is pretty much on par with how Theo Epstein and their front office work. I still think though that the front runners to sign Sheets are the Texas Rangers. They were close to signing him last year before it was found that Ben was going to need surgery.

Ben Sheets is like crack to me, I just can't quit him. No matter how many times he got hurt, I still believed in him, defended him and wanted him to be a Brewer. So even after missing an entire year of baseball and having surgery on his elbow, I still would love to see the Brewers bring him back. Maybe I'm crazy, but you can't deny the fact that when he is healthy, he is as good as any pitcher in baseball. That includes Lincecum, Santana, Sabathia and Lee. According to Fangraphs, Sheets has been worth more then his contract in all but one (2006) of his MLB seasons. I would really like to see the Brewers brass consider making a run at Ben. Gord Ash even mentioned Ben in the Brewers season ending presser saying that their have been "once in awhile" conversations with Ben's agent.

Perhaps offer him a 1 year deal for $6 mill with an option for a 2nd year or put some performance enhancers in the contract so if he stays healthy and performs he could make more. So, you sign Sheets, trade for a legit #2 type starter and sign either Doug Davis or Jarrod Washburn and you actually have a decent staff built around Yovani Gallardo and not a bunch of #4 and #5 starters. Which as we all know is basically what they had last season. I understand the Sheets signing is a long shot, but I personally would love to see it happen. Take the chance, the risk would totally be worth the reward. If you need evidence of the reward look at Ben's career numbers, it tells it all.

"Mike Cameron in 2010? Yes, Please" Video Blog

"News and Notes" Video Blog

A True Degenerate

I think it is official. I'm 100% a fantasy sports, and specifically fantasy baseball degenerate. Today I have been searching Google for 2010 fantasy baseball ranking position by position. The draft for the league I run won't be for another four and a half months. But I'm already excited and looking to see where players rank to get a step ahead in my draft strategy.