When the smoke clears...

[DuWayne Steurer]

Clancy, I think you're under estimating how truly (historically) bad Braun's defense was at 3rd base. In his rookie year, if you go by just WAR, he cost the team almost as many win with his bad defense as he provided with his bat.

 

The third baseman was not the problem in this series.

[clancyphile]

I think there will be a lot of complaining for many years to come on how the Brewers traded Lawrie for Marcum and nobody will really remember how well he pitched in the regular season.

The thing is... Greinke and Marcum had never pitched in the post-season before. To an extent, they were rookies at that sort of thing.

Keep the team together, and I see a pennant or two in the 2012-2015 timeframe.

 

[fondybrewfan]

This was the most successful Brewers team in my lifetime. I consider it a success for the most part. The Brewers really brought this upon themselves by not beating the Cards late in the season.

 

My overall feeling is TBD because I need to know if this is going to be a one and done type situation or if the Brewers are going to get another crack at this in the near future.

 

More than anything I will remember the monumental failing of a supposedly really good pitching staff. If Marcum is on the team next year all that I will remember is his awful showing this year. Same goes for Grienke but maybe to a lower extent.

[DougJones43]

I think there will be a lot of complaining for many years to come on how the Brewers traded Lawrie for Marcum and nobody will really remember how well he pitched in the regular season.

It's not that people won't remember, it's that if Lawrie turns out to be as good as it looks like he might, one (and maybe another in 2012) good regular season out of Marcum won't at all be worth it.

[carniesandrubes]

This was it, that "go for it" year, just like 2008. Look forward to sub-.500 seasons for the next 3 or 4 years most likely until they decide to "go for it" again in 2015.

 

On the bright side, they've sold a lot of tickets for next year already, so when the team is bad, you'll be able to get some very cheap tickets on the secondary marketplace, and all the bandwagon jumpers won't be there, so that'll be nice.

[kramnoj]

The postseason taught us that they better hold off on signing Greinke to any long term deal and maybe think of locking up Axford instead.

 

There's no reason that these actions should be tied together. The Brewers could lock up both Axford and Greinke if desired.

 

I'm not really sure locking up Axford should be a priority. The Brewers should have control for 4 more years. How much longer do you want him locked up?

[chadomac]

I'm not really sure why some people think next year's team is going to suck. It's going to be essentially the same team minus Fielder and with some bullpen tweaks. If they do an adequate job at upgrading 3B/SS there's no reason they can't win this division again next year, or at the very least compete for the wild card.

[jmeks23]

This team can compete at the very least next year, but some changes do need to be made. Bullpen has to be somewhat reconfigured (please get rid of Loe) and the bench has to be completely re-done. Then there's your questions at 3B, 1B, and SS. That's quite a few questions. Maybe Green can take over 3B, get Reyes or a lower caliber SS and put Gamel or Hart at 1B. Who knows. I just hope this isn't the last chance we had for another 30 years. God just writing that was depressing.

[brewmann04]

There alot of questions need to be addressed but need to take some time away now.

[rluzinski]

How much money the Brewers have tied up already next year? Is that $64 mil on BF.net salary page correct? Hopefully that means they have $25 to play with.

[jeffy]

What's your overall review of the season?

 

 

It has made me realize that as all sports have done, baseball has cheapened the meaning of the regular season. Not to the extent of basketball, hockey, and football, but still, once you expand post-season play to include teams that did not win a division in the regular season, it really kind of makes winning in the regular season almost meaningless. Getting into the post-season tournament becomes what really matters.

 

In a couple years baseball will apparently be playing 162 games in order to eliminate 20 teams from the post-season tournament and to set the seedings for the ten that do make it.

[SconnieKid]

Next year's team is the last shot. After next year they lose the entire pitching staff. I am hopeful that Melvin can find a productive way to spend the $25M they would have given Prince. Outside of Rickie they have to remake their entire infield.

[Mike2k33]

As we were tailgating before Game 2 of the NLDS a couple weeks back a friend of mine asked, "Is this the best Brewers team we'll ever see?" All of us being in our mid-20s, we genuinely had not seen a Brewer team this good. Some pondered the question for a while but for me the answer was a quick and definite "No."

I was a junior in high school when the Brewers lost 106 games. I recall there being no love for the Crew with my peers. There were literally two kids out of over a thousand that somewhat regularly wore Brewer gear. It was akin to being a fan of the game of cricket in Idaho. There were many times during the dark ages in which I seriously thought the Brewers would never make the playoffs. They were a horrible major league team with little in the minors for hope. Add to that the widening gap in payrolls in MLB and it wasn't looking good.

It may have taken nine years to get this far, but to be where we are is an accomplishment in and of itself. As lame as the NLCS was and as disappointing an end as it was, there's still a lot to be grateful for and still plenty of hope for next season.

This was the best Brewers team I've ever seen, but we'll be back and we'll get it done, hopefully sooner rather than later.

[SeriesFinale]

It has made me realize that as all sports have done, baseball has cheapened the meaning of the regular season. Not to the extent of basketball, hockey, and football, but still, once you expand post-season play to include teams that did not win a division in the regular season, it really kind of makes winning in the regular season almost meaningless. Getting into the post-season tournament becomes what really matters.

 

In a couple years baseball will apparently be playing 162 games in order to eliminate 20 teams from the post-season tournament and to set the seedings for the ten that do make it.

I mostly disagree despite going out to a team they were better than over the course of the season--I do think the LDS needs to be a 7 game series.

 

 

[chuckiehacks]

I think they'll have less than $25MM to spend. MLBTR has a good breakdown.

[MJLiverock]

As I lay in bed last night stewing over the loss I thought of next year and started thinking they could easily be just a .500 type team and not a contender. Prince leaving will leave a gaping hole in the offense, putting all the pressure on Braun. The bullpen will be reworked and most likely not as good without KRod in the 8th and odds are Axford doesn't go a whole season with only 1 blown save. The rotation may not be as good as this year either if Marcum is either hurt or mediocre (this last month of his pitching was awful, no command, no movement, just meatballs) Grienke never seemed like an ace, he got his K's but gave a runs, not saying he is bad or anything but less dominating than hoped. Narveson and Wolf are wild cards that could be OK but could be terrible over the course of a season. For all the talk of Hairston's defense he made terrible plays like the rest of the maligned defense. Hart looks completely lost in the OF and again went on a streak of swinging at garbage.

Edit: I should add I realize ZG's ERA was impacted by giving up the long ball and for some reason in my mind it seems he always gave up the the 2 run or 3 run jack so hopefully that improves next year. And part of my frustration is entirely due to his getting knocked around in the playoffs. Marcum is my real worry a guy who gets by with location and not overpowering stuff who suddenly looks terrible for a month in his 30's with injury history makes me worried.

[jmeks23]

If Loe is worth 3MM then I say SEE YA LATER. A sinker baller situational reliever should not be getting more than Takashi Saito just got for being a dominant late inning reliever.

[xisxisxis]

Yuni spot is the only one I worry about. Don't overpay for Furcal or Reyes, but upgrade.

 

I always chuckle to myself whenever someone mentions replacing Betancourt. Yuni will be our starting SS come opening day 2012. Melvin did nothing all year to upgrade the position and while he mouths off about some advanced metrics he clearly doesn't understand the Crapitude that is YunE6. In fact, given Dougies over emphasis on a few AB, Yuni's post-season play solidified his hold on the SS position for another year.

[B2k1121]

Next year's team is the last shot. After next year they lose the entire pitching staff. I am hopeful that Melvin can find a productive way to spend the $25M they would have given Prince. Outside of Rickie they have to remake their entire infield.

You can't predict how the pitching staff will look in 2013. Gallardo will be around, Greinke may be extended, there will probably be a FA addition somewhere, Narveson might be around, a trade might be made, or a prospect may step up. There's no reason to believe it's automatically going to be worse.

[fondybrewfan]

Yuni spot is the only one I worry about. Don't overpay for Furcal or Reyes, but upgrade.

 

I always chuckle to myself whenever someone mentions replacing Betancourt. Yuni will be our starting SS come opening day 2012. Melvin did nothing all year to upgrade the position and while he mouths off about some advanced metrics he clearly doesn't understand the Crapitude that is YunE6. In fact, given Dougies over emphasis on a few AB, Yuni's post-season play solidified his hold on the SS position for another year.

I still say it is highly unlikely Yuni is back; he would be due for a $2 Million raise and Melvin will have an opportunity to improve the position this year. Last year he was probably more or less forced to take him in the Grienke deal and with a $4 Million salary he was hesitant to just dump the guy. My opinion is that there is about a 15% chance that Yuni is back. Doug could find plenty of ways to spend that $6 Million that would be due to Yuni.

 

 

[Baldkin]

Yuni spot is the only one I worry about. Don't overpay for Furcal or Reyes, but upgrade.

 

I always chuckle to myself whenever someone mentions replacing Betancourt. Yuni will be our starting SS come opening day 2012. Melvin did nothing all year to upgrade the position and while he mouths off about some advanced metrics he clearly doesn't understand the Crapitude that is YunE6. In fact, given Dougies over emphasis on a few AB, Yuni's post-season play solidified his hold on the SS position for another year.

I still say it is highly unlikely Yuni is back; he would be due for a $2 Million raise and Melvin will have an opportunity to improve the position this year. Last year he was probably more or less forced to take him in the Grienke deal and with a $4 Million salary he was hesitant to just dump the guy. My opinion is that there is about a 15% chance that Yuni is back. Doug could find plenty of ways to spend that $6 Million that would be due to Yuni.

 

2 Mil of that 6 mil is already spent (Yuni has a 2M buyout), and I believe we got that 2M from KC in the trade for him (via Seattle) so really, his salary next year is the same 4M as it was this year. I really hope that his playoff performance doesn't get him reinstated with the team.

[monty57]

I'm not sure the pitching will maintain, the Brewers only used 6 starting pitchers all year didn't they? That sort good luck health wise doesn't come around all that often.

No it doesn't. Maybe one team a year has that kind of luck with their starters. Usually no team uses less than 7-8 pitchers to start games.

However, Greinke was out for a month and a half, and the shuffling of our rotation to make sure Estrada got as few starts as possible probably had something to due with some underperformance in the first half and Marcum running into a brick wall with innings come playoff time. Also, we didn't have anyone as AAA insurance this season, so we were very lucky we weren't hit with more injuries. Next year, we should have some Major-League-ready arms in AAA, allowing for us to have some injuries without imploding.

 

There's certainly a lot of negativity in this thread, which is probably understandable after this hearbreaking series. We will still be a good team next year with most of our NL Central Champs returning. The Cards will probably lose Pujols, knocking them down a peg. The Cubs will probably sign one of Fielder or Pujols, but they aren't good eonough to contend even with the added bat. Who knows what Reds and Pirates teams will show up, and the Astros will either be in the AL or in the basement of the NL Central. I'm bummed about losing this series, but as time heals the wounds, we'll look back on this year as a good memory, and hopefully we'll be able to add to those good memories in the near future.

[Raw Biz]

There's certainly a lot of negativity in this thread, which is probably understandable after this hearbreaking series. We will still be a good team next year with most of our NL Central Champs returning. The Cards will probably lose Pujols, knocking them down a peg.

I really don't see any way this happens. Pujols will be a career Cardinal.

[bcb3473]

as a cardinal fan i will say this about the brewers and cardinals next season.

the brewers are actually a very good team with some great talent. if they can figure out a way to make sure nyjer morgan isnt back on the team they will be a very solid team. players like that spoil very easily in a clubhouse and i believe morgan was beginning to spoil in the brewers clubhouse. you can use whatever money you were going to give to prince and upgrade shortstop and thirdbase.

cardinals are going to be a very very very solid team next season. with the addition of wainwright we should have one of the best pitching rotations in the central to go along with probably the best bullpen.

should be another very fun year and hopefully we can meet again in the playoffs with the same result!

[SeriesFinale]

if they can figure out a way to make sure nyjer morgan isnt back on the team they will be a very solid team. players like that spoil very easily in a clubhouse and i believe morgan was beginning to spoil in the brewers clubhouse.

You're basing this on what?

 

And as opposed to the alcohol and steroids issues that have surrounded TLR's clubhouses like a lingering infection?