Has this been a disappointing season?

[BrewCrewRising]

Has this been a disappointing season?

First off, I realize that this sounds like a dumb thing to ask since we are at least assured to be tied for first place by the end of the day. We may win somewhere between 83-87 games and probably have about a 50% shot at winning the division. I'm sure had somebody said that this would be case in August back in April, most of us would have thought, wow, pretty good scenario.

But is it?

I think that 83-87 wins is a bit paltry. It seems that to truly be a contender, to be a team that can forge its own destiny, you have to be able to hit 90+. The Cards and the Cubs will always have the capability to leverage that kind of talent, but it's starting to seem like we will never be able to.

I'm starting to think this season has been a disappointment because it revealed that the Crew isn't as good as many had hoped and wanted, and that it may not be in a position to be a true contender in the division in years to come. My reasons for saying this are:

-Pitching: We are thin on our pitching future, IMHO. Yes, Gallardo (excusing yesterday) seems poised to be a great, great pitcher. But we'll be losing Sheets in the near-ish future, Cappy is a shadow of his former self, and we have the albatross that is Suppan's performance-to-contract ratio. Vargas and Bush can be OK, but they can't anchor a rotation. The bullpen, which once seemed like a shining spot of the team, has been woeful. With Wise a FA after this season (and who cares now?), Shouse a FA, Co CO a FA (and sequel to 3-mile island in any case), Turnbow overrated, Spurling a joke, I'm not liking the bullpen's chances either.

-Linup: Prince and Braun have been great, but we can now see that they can't carry the team all the time. Corey Hart has been a great suprise, but I don't see him as a cornerstone to a team. Bill Hall may come back to previous levels. I'm pessimistic about Rickie. I don't know how LF will shake out in years to come (probably LaPorta in a year or two?), but overall, I'm not heartened enough by the lineup. It's good no doubt, but not awe inspiring, and when you couple it with the defensive numbers and the pitching, it's just not enough.

Will we ever be a true 90+ win contender? Or do we just want to think that we will be? If we can't do it this year, what should make us think that we ever will?

Sorry for the very pessimistic thread. But everything seems so very bleak right now.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Bottom line for me is this, unless we win this lousy division the season is a complete and utter failure.

[splitterpfj]

I had this team pegged for 85 wins, ask me when it's over.

 

Whatever happens, this has sure been a strange way to get wherever they're going.

[Ennder]

82 wins is a success, if we don't have a winning record this season then I think its a failure. I think people raised their expectations way too much because of the early season hot streak.

 

I think 2008 sees us with a good shot at a 85-90 win team. Sheets, Gallardo, Parra, Suppan, Capuano, Bush is a decent rotation. The young offensive players should improve more and more and I don't think Menchkins is going to be that hard to replace personally.

[Fear The Chorizo]

As crappy as things look right now, the fact that the Brewers are somehow still in first place is encouraging. Other than the Mets and Dbacks, every other NL team would love to be in our position right now.

 

The fact remains that if Milwaukee takes care of its business, it wins the division and makes the playoffs for the first time in 25 years. To think that the Brewers team would automatically coast to a 95-win season this year after showing no prior ability to do so is a bit too optimistic, no matter how much raw talent is on this roster. This is the first time that the core of this team has gone through the season while having to deal with the pressures of being the team everyone else is chasing.

 

I'd rather be in this position than the Cubs current situation - Soriano's probably out till the end of the month, and Ramirez is back in Chicago right now getting his hand/wrist looked at by a specialist - Their roster is also full of young players right now, the problem for them is that their young players aren't able to carry the load that a Fielder, Braun, Hart, etc can carry. That, and their bullpen is as burned out as ours is, and they don't get an off day for awhile.

[Fatter than Joey]

I tend to agree with the last post.

 

I think that there are some positives -- certainly Braun and Yo are the real deal -- but even with Braun's brilliance, this team seems to be losing more games than they are winning.

It seems like we had our one hole filled by Braun in June, only to have the whole dike burst.

 

I think the rotation is especially disappointing, with none of the pitchers seemingly able to get out of the 6th inning regularly, and Sheets hurt again, this time probably intentionally.

 

The team's overall approach at the plate seems to me to be a disappointment as well. You would think with Fielder and Braun having MVP caliber seasons, they would have driven in more runs than they have.

[Mike2k33]

82 wins is a success, if we don't have a winning record this season then I think its a failure. I think people raised their expectations way too much because of the early season hot streak.

I agree.

 

The only thing that's been disappointing for me is the way some fans have reacted to the rough stretch the team has gone through. People got so high on the Brewers after the 24-10 start they raised expectations on a team that might be too young or is just not there yet.

 

For me this has been a very fun and exciting season. However, I do agree they definitely need at least 82 wins for the season to be any kind of success.

[Ennder]

The team's overall approach at the plate seems to me to be a disappointment as well. You would think with Fielder and Braun having MVP caliber seasons, they would have driven in more runs than they have.

 

Our leadoff hitters have a .337 OBP on the year and our #2 hitters have a .329 OBP so I think thats a lot of the blame. Braun also has the 2nd most RBI in the NL since the day he came up, so its hard to be upset with his RBI totals.

[kgbaseball]

There is nothing to be encouraged about right now. They're 36-45 since the 24-10 start; you know what that tells me? The beginning was flukish. This team has consistently shown since May that it's below average in just about every area. The pitching has been atrocious, the hitting has been all over the place, and the defense was never good to begin with. Sure they're in the division race, but they might win by default. The Cubs clearly have the better personnel at this point even though they just got swept by the Astros.

 

The Brewers could still make the season a relative success by winning the division. The Wild Card will probably be out of reach. Hey, at least Milwaukee gets to miss Roy Oswalt this weekend.

 

And at what point should we stop expecting the team to just finish 500 and expect them to actually have a good record? This team clearly has the players necessary to win a lot of games, but it hasn't translated at all. Who's to blame for that is beyond me.

[Mr QL]

It's been more of the way they been playing lately that has been disappointing. If they don't make the playoffs then yea, it's a disappointing.season after how well they started out.

[Ennder]

They're 36-45 since the 24-10 start; you know what that tells me? The beginning was flukish. This team has consistently shown since May that it's below average in just about every area

 

 

We are 24-25 in our last 49 games even with the terrible stretch we have gone through recently. Just picking the worst case scenario stats is going to make things look bad every time. When the team is on a cold streak everything looks terrible, when they get hot again things will look better again.

 

If you really want to break it down by streaks it goes...

 

14-9 in first 23 games

10-1 in next 11 games

10-20 in next 30 games

19-10 in next 29 games

7-15 in last 22 games.

 

The teams play is all over the place.

[Fatter than Joey]

Braun also has the 2nd most RBI in the NL since the day he came up, so its hard to be upset with his RBI totals.

 

Sure -- but, if he had more dudes in front of him in the lineup with better OBP -- he'd have more runs driven in. -- I am certainly in no way shape or fashion upset with what Braun has done... We probably have one of the best 3-4 punches in all of baseball, it seems like we'd score more runs/win more games with dudes getting on base better -- that has been a disappointment for me.

[SeriesFinale]

http://www.smh.com.au/ffxImage/urlpicture_id_1019441506290_2004/02/16/8einstein.jpg

 

 

"It's all relative."

 

I think given April 1st expectations, a winning season and a September playoff chase would absolutely not be a disappointment, and it's still an extremely real possibility.

 

Given May 10th expectations (or at the least, hopes), those benchmarks are definitely somewhat disappointing.

 

An August fade and a losing season is a major disappointment however you look at it.

[uecker9]

Do the Brewers have 90 solo home runs? Does that seem high or is it me?

[don1481]

Has this been a disappointing season?

 

Frustrating? You betcha. But disappointing? Compared to last year, we should be at least hopeful about our future. The youngsters are starting to show their value (caveat: hopefully JJ will get back on track and stop trying to think he's solely a pull-hitting power hitter and Rickie'll correct his issues - whatever they are - and get back on the positive development path) and outside of having Sheets out and Hall DL'd for a few weeks, this team has stayed relatively healthy. Again - that's more than we could say last year. Our rotation hasn't had to worry about having a revolving door of Designated Rotation Stooges in the 4 and 5 spots of the rotation. As much as I don't think Vargas is an acceptable member of the rotation beyond this season, I'll grant that he is significantly better than what was thrown out there last year.

 

 

We are thin on our pitching future, IMHO.

In terms of immediate help, yes - that's a statement I can agree with. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that we don't trade anyone this offseason (fat chance, I know). We have seven guys that we could throw out there: Sheets, Yo, Bush, Capuano, Suppan, Parra, and Vargas. While it does seem like a lot of our SP depth is now somewhat lacking in the minors - especially at the upper levels - I suspect that if Sheets walks after next season, the Brewers are already planning for a rotation of Yo, Bush, Parra, Cappy, Soup for '10. Of course, the caveat of having Jack Z (plus, in theory, enough draft picks in the first couple rounds to completely change the look of the Power 50) means that this depth is probably not going to be lacking for terribly long.

 

Let's just see what the team ultimately does before calling '07 a disappointment.

[Samurai Bucky]

I don't think I can say I'm necessarily disappointed that they are five games over .500. What I am disappointed about is that they have shown what they are capable of doing, yet seem to fall short of their capabilities. Ahhh... but some may say that "It's just baseball." Sure, that is true to some extent. However, I have to look at the Braves and Yankees who perennially seem to turn it on during the second half of the year. The Braves do it all of the time. Early in the year, they are more than a handful of games back. During the second half, they kick it in and win the division (less last year, of course).

[Ennder]

I dunno, the Braves are 10-11 in their last 21 games including being swept by the Reds at home and the Giants on the road. Not really sure they are turning it on. They are 29-29 since June 1st.

 

Detroit just lost 12 of 16 including being swept by a very mediocre White Sox team at home.

 

Thats just how baseball is, teams have ups and downs. Any time you start to talk about they are X-X since Y date you are walking on thin ice, all 2nd tier teams are going to look pretty bad if you take out their best hot streak.

[RU Rah Rah]

I think many of us -- based less on rabid loyalty and more on a relatively dispassionate analysis of how the roster stacked up against the rest of the teams in the NL Central -- expected the team to finish over .500 and seriously contend for the division title. When the dust settles in October and I can step back from the season, that's the expectation I'm going to judge the team against.

[MoneyballMan]

82 wins is a success, if we don't have a winning record this season then I think its a failure. I think people raised their expectations way too much because of the early season hot streak.

I think 2008 sees us with a good shot at a 85-90 win team. Sheets, Gallardo, Parra, Suppan, Capuano, Bush is a decent rotation. The young offensive players should improve more and more and I don't think Menchkins is going to be that hard to replace personally

I would have written almost the identical assessment. Before the season, I guessed 78-84, which I've been panned for and still hope I'm wrong about. But I've also said anything better than 81-81 would be a nice progression. And we have a young base of talent that many teams would love to have. Sure there are pieces that we should be concerned about (e.g. Suppan's performance vs contract, Sheets' injury proneness and FA after '08, Weeks inability to hit a pitch that isn't straight), but overall we should be very confident that we'll be able to compete in '08 and beyond.

And yes, after the 24-10 start, I was as excited as anyone. So in terms of the opportunity they had to make this a GREAT season, it is disappointing. But that comes from expectations being raised beyond where they should have been after that start.

[Ennder]

There are two things I really want from this team.

 

1) Play over .500 ball to get that monkey off the team's back.

2) Play baseball in a competitive atmosphere down the stretch to give the young guys that experience.

 

Right now both look like they will most likely happen to me so I'm going to be ok with the season. If we continue to tank maybe we'll end up under .500 and I'll be disappointed.

[Phenomenal Smith]

As a someone who isn't a Brewers fan, I am surprised that this is even being discussed. Your team hasn't made the playoffs in 25 years, is in first place in August, and has a rookie who's putting up MVP level numbers. That sounds pretty good to me. OK, so your team isn't the '27 Yankees, you still have a great chance to make the playoffs and anything can happen in a 5 or 7 game series.

[jlau20]

Over .500, I'm very happy. Winning the wild card or division, I'm thrilled.

 

Finishing under .500, I'm disappointed.

[JohnBriggs12]

If someone had told me that on August 9th, Ryan Braun would be hitting .349 with 21 HR and 55 RBI, and Prince Fielder would be leading the league in HR, I would have figured the Brewers were 25 games over .500 at least.

 

So it's been a major disappointment to me.

[HebrewHammer]

Season's not over yet. Plenty of time to pick it back up and storm into the playoffs.

 

Enjoy it, man. Yeah we stink sometimes. We've also had stretches of invincibility. We have to pick it back up eventually.

[GenoSeligPrieb]

Ahh, back to BF.net after roughly a week away from the boards, avoiding the constant Bonds circus on all 4 ESPN outlets, while driving hundreds of miles through the lovely swamps between The Dells and the always-wonderful Sister Bay!

 

I'll admit I did watch the games on Friday, Saturday and Monday, (and listened to yet another Cordero train wreck on Sunday), so it wasn't as if I was out of the loop. But pessimist that I am, very little of this freefall surprised me.

 

- CoCoCo melted down with the Rangers, to the extent that he was replaced as closer. Who's to say that would have never happened again? I could see Ned sending him out there again and again, until he blows 3-4 more save situations, and then it could be Linebrink to close, which would be just fine with me. Think of it this way: Now we don't have to pay $6 million or so to retain Cordero next year, and we can just use that 1st rounder IF we qualify for one, now that CoCoCo's stats are slipping so badly.

 

- Dave Boosh was due for a bad performance or 2. He's not as bad as the 6.13 ERA he put up through his first 10 starts, nor is he as good as he had been during that 1-2 week stretch in late June/early July. He is what he is. Just a guy with an ERA over 5.

 

- Rickie Weeks, with all his various arm, elbow, wrist, hand, knuckle and fingernail spasms at the plate is Kyle Peterson with a bat. All the big numbers in college, talented, a high pick, etc., but his mechanics are just beggin' for a short career. Unless Rickie dramatically alters his approach when he swings, he'll either continue to re-injure every body part hanging off his shoulders and play (badly) through the pain, or he'll watch his limbs fall off like the GI Joe with Kung-Fu Grip my little brother turned into a paraplegic on me when I was 8.

 

- In what will someday be remembered bitterly as the Year of the Overpaid Rotation Hacks, a team picture will be taken in November of SoupCan, Barry Zito, Jason Marquis and Cliff Lee as the Class of 2007 - a collection of so-so pitchers who received contracts this past year to be aces, but who are not capable of performing as such. Oh, they'll still cash those paychecks, but it will be remembered that this past year, their agents promised #1's or #2's, and then delivered #4's or #5's instead.

 

- JJ Hardy is a decent young SS. Not an All-Star. His 30+ home run pace at the Break provides an argument that the All-Star rosters should be measured on a 162-game July to July basis. JJ also still plays WAY too deep, especially when speedy hitters are up, allowing guys like Jose Reyes, Ryan Freel, Jimmy Rollins, and Luis Castillo to beat out grounders to short.

 

One more item, on a completely different subject:

 

Last night, during the Chicago/Cleveland game, Ken Harrelson delivered this gem about Jon Garland:

 

"Ya know, over the years he's been here, there's NO pitcher in baseball who's had worse luck than Jon Garland!!"

 

He's talking about a hack whose career is defined by huge run support, winning games 6-5. Garland is on his way to his 6th straight season of 12+ victories, with all but 1 of those years marked by an ERA above 4.50.

 

What a whopper, Hawk!