Brewers mentioned in press '11

[Dragonbait]

Since we've become a team to watch... I thought it'd be fun to see what people are saying about us....

Nice article here from a beat writer for the Reds at FSN Ohio.

Knobbler over at CBS (aside from being wrong on a few details) has a nice nod to Brewer's fans in his article on things he'd like to see this year.

[Ennder]

“I love to run; that’s the way I like to play the game,” he said. “In fact, we may run so much that people might ask me, ‘Why are you running so much?’ Regardless of what happens, we will run.”

 

This should make for an interesting year! I will say that the Angels almost always added value with their running and that most of the Brewers that are likely to steal are pretty high percentage at it in their careers. Running isn't a bad thing if used well.

[rluzinski]

I thought there was a lot of discussion about this when Roenicke was hired. Somewhere in here, I think:

Roenicke Hired Thread

I was and still am concerned that he is going to be too aggressive with steal attempts. While Macha might have been too conservative on the base paths, I suspect the pendulum will swing too far in the other direction. Only one way to find out, I guess.

[TooLiveBrew]

FanGraphs posted a piece by Jonah Keri today, titled "Brewers' Defense: Roadblock to a World Series?"

 

When the Brewers traded four young players to Kansas City and snatched away Zack Greinke, the deal triggered two reactions:

 

1) The Brewers traded for Zack Greinke? The Brewers?!?!

2) Too bad they had to take back Yuniesky Betancourt to seal the deal.

 

The Betancourt snark was funny, but few people actually figured it would make a big difference. The Brewers had already nabbed one of the most underrated starting pitchers in the game in Shaun Marcum. Now they were adding one of the best pitchers on the planet in Greinke to team with Yovanni Gallardo and a potent lineup that included the likes of Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks, Casey McGehee, and Corey Hart. This Brewers team owns enough front-line talent to make a serious run this season. So how much harm could one stone-handed statue of a shortstop possibly cause?

 

A lot, actually. So much in fact that Betancourt, combined with the rest of a marginal defense, could torpedo a potential run at a championship.

...

 

By swapping out Escobar for Betancourt, the Brewers could be punting 2 wins of defensive value alone in 2011.

...

 

Still, Yuniesky Betancourt may be the worst shortstop in baseball, and

the rest of the Brewers’ defense isn’t equipped to make up for his

shortcomings. Re-signing Craig Counsell to a one-year, $1.4 million could turn out to be one of the most

important moves of the Brewers’ off-season, given his still-quality

glove. The question is, how often can the Brewers run out a 40-year-old

shortstop? Given the in-house alternative, we may be about to find out.

It's a good read, but most of what he discusses has already been addressed in the Greinke thread & MLB forum.