Corked Bat

I have a rejuvenated spirit when is comes to the Milwaukee Bucks.  It’s been an enternity since there has been a player as explosive, exciting, and brash as Brandon Jennings.  He alone, has made the Bucks bearable to watch.  It’s like watching  Allen Iverson when he came into the league.

Probably the best baseball writer going right now. Get on his RSS feed.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/1061/wednesday-wangdoodles-29

Folks, let’s face it.  Ryan Grant is just not a good running back.  Average at best.  I understand that the Packers and Mike McCarthy elect to pass more than run, and that’s fine.  They may have, arguably, the best recieving corps in the NFL. (Jennings, Double-D, Finley, Jones, Nelson)  Take advantage while you can.  I agree with that, but when Grant touches the ball, it’s just not there.  His stats are average at best:  http://www.nfl.com/players/ryangrant/profile?id=GRA497823

I also accept the fact that the offensive line has been brutal at best.  Grant just looks lost sometimes.  He doesn’t break tackles.  He drops passes.  There is no explosion, no quick burst of speed.  He is hesitant to take on would-be tacklers.  He just doesn’t have it right now.  The Ahman Green signing is a good move by the Packers. 

 Green is back where he rightfully belongs:

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/65270567.html

There is a great offseason look at the Brewers at the following link.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/10/offseason-outlook-milwaukee-brewers.html

Talks in depth about salaries, free agency and possible trades.

JJ Hardy for Curtis Granderson?

http://www.mlbdailydish.com/2009/10/8/1076963/tigers-shopping-curtis-granderson

JJ Hardy for Brandon Morrow?

http://ussmariner.com/2009/10/20/daves-2010-off-season-plan/

Either way, it’s going to be a fun offseaon for Brewers fans.

The State of the Milwaukee Brewers

There is a lot of finger pointing going on as to why the Milwaukee Brewers are having such a down year.  Coming off a playoff season last year, there were high expectations for this year’s squadron.  However, only one finger is needed when pointing to the source of the Brewers demise this season.  To put it bluntly, the pitching sucks.  It wasn’t ex-pitching coach Billy Castro’s fault.  It’s not Manager Kenny Macha’s fault.  Nope, the blame lies solely on General Manager Doug Melvin.  While the offense leads the NL Central Division in runs scored, the pitching  staff is second to last in the NL with a 4.79 ERA.  The Brewers hurlers are dead last in complete games (1), first in home runs allowed (190) and second to last in .OPS% against (.800).

A lot of negative comments were made about GM Doug Melvin from Brewers fans in Spring Training regarding not resigning C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets.  Snap back into reality here.  Sabathia was never going to turn down an extra $60 million dollars from the Yankees and Ben Sheets was injured, had already burnt his bridges with the Brewers, and was never an option.   Melvin is to blame, however, for not acquiring a pitcher before this year’s trading deadline.  After seeing the success that Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez ( both whom Melvin considered) have done in Philly, Melvin must be disappointed with himself for his lack of pursuit.  Chances for the Red Sox phenom Clay Bucholtz came and went.  So did opportunities for Gil Meche, Jarrod Washburn, Vicente Padilla, and Roy Halladay.  The Brewers were by no means out of the playoff race at the deadline.  They had the pieces in the minor leagues to trade.  They had a disgruntled J.J. Hardy at shortstop to trade and a energetic rookie, Alcides Escobar, to take his place.

With the bad year that Doug Melvin had this year in the front office, neither him or Kenny Macha should be fired for the debacle that is this years Milwaukee Brewers.  Everyone makes mistakes, and overestimates the value of some of his players.  Melvin’s track record speaks for itself, and hell, the man directed the team to the playoffs last year.  Doesn’t that count for something?