Braun's comments: Latest: Braun Issues Statement, "Wasn't trying to call anybody out"

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I think this could end up being some healthy conflict in the organization that might stimulate a move from Melvin for a starting pitcher, but I do hope that we don't have to overpay in the process, and obviously Melvin knows this because he's taking his time trying to get a good read on the market to make a move in the next 25 days. As for Braun, it isn't his place to be bickering at the front office because his job is to produce runs and not to banter to the media, but his frustration is understandable. Let's take a look:

 

1. Gallardo

2. Looper

3. Suppan

4. McClung

5. Burns

 

A rotation like that will not get a team to the playoffs unless 80 wins is good enough to win the NL Central this year. Bush coming back will help us out, but we really need Parra to come back refreshed and ready for a stretch run just as Rickie Weeks did 2 years ago after a short minor league stint in the mid season. If we add another Doug Davis type or hit the jackpot with a healthy Bedard or Javier Vazquez, then we can start talking about 90ish wins again.

[shelmark]

I'm with Melvin on this but I think he should've kept his disgust in house and not gone through TH. Braun has no business saying the things he said, so what if they are true. Bill Hall is a terrible baseball player, but should Braun come out and say it. Suppan and Looper both pitched very well in Chicago, and Braun should just shut his mouth and play. If Braun was not a Brewer I think it would be very difficult to like him. But on the other hand, Doug is smart enough to know that he shouldn't play this out in the media.

[shelmark]

Tuesdays,

 

I completely disagree with the idea that this will somehow stimulate a move for a starting pitcher. Don't you think Melvin spends about 10 hours a day trying to figure out how to get one, only to have the punk come out and insinuate he has to move faster or else? If anything this could hurt Melvin's leverage with other teams. I do agree with you about the current rotation, however. It is ugly and Burns needs to go back to AAA ASAP. Davis would be a fine pickup as he goes deep into games and helps the bullpen situation, and since I have a DVR now the games would not be 5 hours long.

[trwi7]

Well I think Doug Melvin made a very fundamental mistake. Talk about pulling out a small sample to try to prove a point. It concerns me he would say something like this and worry about such a small sample.

 

Didn't Braun use a small sample only referring to the Cubs series? I didn't hear him saying anything after Burns gave a quality start against New York.

 

I just think Braun made a mistake about going public with this. Everyone knows the problems with this team, obviously Melvin knows so why does Braun have to say it? When the best pitcher available right now is probably Doug Davis there's not a lot of pitching in the market and with more teams looking for pitching than there are good pitchers available right now, then it's pretty obvious why there's no moves being made. Guys like Davis are being overvalued because they're the best in a weak market. It's not a smart move for the Brewers or any team to overpay for a guy like Davis.

[phxMILWfan]

Can you even imagine how much of a complainer Braun will be if heaven forbid the team has a bad season? Melvin built this team from pretty much nothing. Braun shows up and to his credit he is responsible for a large amount of the teams success, but here we are 1 game out of first before the all-star break going through a rough month and Braun has to call everyone out. Eventually the rest of the team isn't going to respond to his comments if he makes them several times a year. I'd like my star player to be able to handle adversity without complaining to the media. If a couple years down the road the team wins 75 games is he going to demand a trade?

[jwill535]

Essentially Melvin is telling Braun to shut his mouth and worry about scoring runs and doing his job and leave the business of running the team(which Braun has no business or knowledge of) to Melvin and his support staff.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I think Melvin has every right to be pissed at Braun. He was kind of making it seem like Melvin hasn't been looking to improve the team. Like Melvin said, he's working year-round to improve the team. There just aren't any deals to make out there. I understand that Braun is upset about the pitching, as well he should be, but I completely agree with Melvin that he doesn't have the right to throw them all under the bus like that. Gallardo and Soup didn't come out after their great pitching performances that ended in losses saying that the offense was horrible and needs to score runs for them. It isn't right to throw teammates under the bus like that, and especially not publically. What Braun said is all true, but there is a place where he needs to draw the line. The same goes for Melvin though. I think that everyone is frustrated right now, and it is all just boiling over. It would've been best for Braun to tone it down a little, and for Melvin to not say anything publically in response.

[brewmann04]

Maybe this is just what the Brewers need everyone ticked off . I think everyone has their right to Say but maybe both needed to keep this in House.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Tuesdays,

 

I completely disagree with the idea that this will somehow stimulate a move for a starting pitcher. Don't you think Melvin spends about 10 hours a day trying to figure out how to get one, only to have the punk come out and insinuate he has to move faster or else? If anything this could hurt Melvin's leverage with other teams. I do agree with you about the current rotation, however. It is ugly and Burns needs to go back to AAA ASAP. Davis would be a fine pickup as he goes deep into games and helps the bullpen situation, and since I have a DVR now the games would not be 5 hours long.

 

I do, but you cannot deny that this is added pressure on Melvin to make a move. The casual fans are on Braun's side on this one and Melvin might not want the fan base to turn against him.

 

I will go on record once again to say that I am on Melvin's side on this one, but there might be some good that comes out of this.

[Brawndo the Thirst Mutilat]

For everyone throwing out the "but what he said is true!" defense for Braun's comments, I'm reminded of a scene from the Big Lebowski, which I obviously cannot quote in full given the language rules around here, but if you've seen the film, I shouldn't need to:

 

Walter: Am I wrong? AM I WRONG?

Dude: No, Walter, you're not wrong, you're just...

 

You know how the rest goes.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

One other thing that might come out of this is Melvin might be looking to build up a new team as he might be frustrated with the limited resources that the Milwaukee Brewers have and this might be the ticket he is looking for out of Milwaukee to try and do what he loves: build a team from scratch to the playoffs.

[Postseason2006]

Essentially Melvin is telling Braun to shut his mouth and worry about scoring runs and doing his job and leave the business of running the team(which Braun has no business or knowledge of) to Melvin and his support staff.

 

Have you looked where Braun is at scoring runs this year? Maybe Doug might want to try a little harder at doing his job because one person is doing their's.

[giffted1]

I completely agree with Melvin's comments but wish he wouldn't have made them to the media. No good can come out of this bickering with a tense clubhouse and the appearance that the crew is desperate for pitching being possible consequences.

[mkm13]

Didn't Braun use a small sample only referring to the Cubs series? I didn't hear him saying anything after Burns gave a quality start against New York.

Yes, Braun referred to the Cubs series but I think it is pretty obvious he wouldn't have said anything if they had a top 5 ERA in the NL going into the series. It is obviously a build up from a half season of poor pitching performances. Plus, Braun is not in charge of making the moves so if he is talking about a small sample I am not that concerned about it because he isn't trading for players anyways. The fact Melvin used such a small sample to try to prove Braun wrong is concerning to me because it shows no understanding of the game of baseball..especially to say Braun "made a fundamental mistake". No Doug, you just did. Sometimes it is better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you are not smart than to open it and remove all doubt.

 

Melvin has lived off of Jack Zs success. Just look at the roster and the players he actually has brought in. If it were not for Jack Z, Melvin would have been gone long ago.

[jwill535]

Have you looked where Braun is at scoring runs this year? Maybe Doug might want to try a little harder at doing his job because one person is doing their's.

Which is what he is telling him, shut up and continue to worry about playing and not what I am doing.

 

I find extremely laughable to think that people feel that Melvin is doing nothing to try to improve the team. Just because you dont hear rumors(which he has stated his is careful of instigating) doesnt mean he isnt on the phone. If you think that he is sitting back, throwing his hands up and doing nothing that you are pretty naive.**General statement, not directed at anyone**

[Team Canada]

As others have said already, I don't disagree with Melvin's response, but I wish we weren't watching this play out in the media. I don't see how anything good can come of this that wouldn't be better handled internally.

[jwill535]

As others have said already, I don't disagree with Melvin's response, but I wish we weren't watching this play out in the media. I don't see how anything good can come of this that wouldn't be better handled internally.

From the start this should have been handled internally.

[brewmann04]

Burns Start aganist the Mets Team was not very good at the very Least. Burns is not a major league Starter sorry But have to agree with Ryan.

[jwill535]

Thats fine that Burns isnt a MLB SP, but its not like there are a whole lot of options out there or internally. Melvin cant make the pitching prospects grow more experienced over night, heal all injuries or remove the impulse control of a 2yr old from others.

[Postseason2006]

One other thing that might come out of this is Melvin might be looking to build up a new team as he might be frustrated with the limited resources that the Milwaukee Brewers have and this might be the ticket he is looking for out of Milwaukee to try and do what he loves: build a team from scratch to the playoffs.

W/O free agency, he would've went nowhere in Texas.

[MessiahRp]

Why does Melvin have a beef with Braun's complaints about the windows/shadows? That's fair and legitimate concern from the face of your franchise, and I didn't think they were inappropriate in the least. IMO, Melvin is a little thin-skinned.

I agree here... not to mention the entire weekday day games thing needs to end. Most people work during the day and can't get to the games when they're scheduled this way. Make Saturday and Sunday games day games and make weekday games night games. After all they're losing money when these day games are only half sold. Not to mention I have never been in a ticket package with someone who actually wanted those tickets.

 

I think Braun is correct with what he's saying even if he was impolite in how he was saying it (and honestly Melvin should have handled it better). Every single Brewers fan knew we needed pitching and only those willing to turn a really blind loyal eye were the ones thinking that somehow losing Sheets and CC was going to be made up for with a healthy (but unstretched out) Gallardo and Manny Parra who struggled bad at the end of last year.

 

While Bush's injury hasn't helped any, you had to be naive to think that this staff was playoff caliber. We got pretty lucky early on and this team's record reflects that as far as pitching goes but Looper and Suppan are back end of the rotation guys and Burns and McClung are 'never should be in a rotation' guys. That doesn't bode well for a playoff run this year if Melvin doesn't show some urgency and make a move.

 

Not to mention, I think getting a player we're going to let go after the year is not smart. We don't have a ton of great arms ripping through the system right now (like Boston does)... We need someone long term to help anchor the front of the rotation. A front of the rotation starter with Yo and Bush in the #3 spot allows you flexibility with the back end of the rotation maybe not being so great.

 

Rp

[brewmann04]

Ryan Said what everyone else on this Board already knew, Now we better hope that Manny has his head on straight when he joins the Rotation.

[Fatter than Joey]

I'm puzzled why DM feels the need to go public here. What was he trying to accomplish?

 

Ryan Braun > Doug Melvin.

 

Drop the hammer Mark.

[Baldkin]

I agree here... not to mention the entire weekday day games thing needs to end. Most people work during the day and can't get to the games when they're scheduled this way. Make Saturday and Sunday games day games and make weekday games night games. After all they're losing money when these day games are only half sold.

You do know they are scheduled this way because one team has to travel after the game is over, right?

So they don't get into town where ever they are going next at 3 or 4AM or whatever?

[dadofandrew]

The post about attendance at weekday games is well off the mark. Man y folks only go to day games, and they often out draw weeknight games. Friday and Saturday nights always outdraw Sunday day games, so I have no idea why they would dream of moving more games to weekend days.