Rumor: WEEI reports KC wants to move to NL, have Brewers come back to AL

[TooLiveBrew]

But Laporta is and was a very good fielder at Firstbase as well... he is being moved because Firstbase is blocked so a Move back over to first for him is not a DH type move...its because he would be he is no longer blocked at first after shipping fielder off...

 

I honestly don't know either way on LaPorta... so I'll bow to you on that one. I do have my questions about him at 1B though, given that he's barely 5'11".

 

 

Braun would be a move because he is a bad fielder over to first...but that Move would make him a PLUS fielder... it would not be like having Ortiz or Dimiti Young playing First...he would be just as good as Overbay was at first...IMO

I don't know about "plus" - just my opinion, obviously... but he would, in all likelihood, make the least negative impact defensively at 1B.

[dadofandrew]

Complete nonsense. The Brewers have arguably 3 better rivalries now than they ever did in the AL, though the Twins one is a bit fabricated.

[snyttri]

I don't think there is anything to the rumor but it might be better for attendance due to more premium games. Twins, White Sox, Yankees, Red Sox, sometimes Cubs.

[nate82]

How many of the people who hate the DH are over 35 I wonder ( I am over 35 btw). I definitely see baseball eventually going with the DH in both leagues once the younger generation who is used to the concept becomes the older generation.

 

Just curious if there are fans who are younger that still hate the DH so much. I personally consider it a part of the evolution of the game just like the wild card and the all star game deciding home field advantage (I know a lot of old school fans hate both of those too).

I hate the DH and I'm only 25.

 

[tomwopat]

I grew up watching the AL, and have fond memories watching Wade Boggs, Alan Trammell, and pitchers ride the pine when they weren't pitching.

 

As a young, impressionable child, the NL was distant, foreign, and cold, with its concrete donut ballparks with artificial turf, unfamiliar stars like Andre Dawson, Tony Gwynn and Steve Garvey, and terrifying mascots like the Philly Phanatic and Youppi!.

[pitchleague]

I'll admit that I do kind of miss the games with the AL teams that I grew up watching. But I enjoy NL style ball many times over. To me, it's more of a thinking man's game with NL rules. Yeah, I could do without the pitcher batting but that would take away double switches and stuff that I like (bunting--a good bunt is a thing of beauty).

 

But, yeah, the DH can stick it. Even in the days of Molitor DHing I wanted to see him play defense. And Ortiz and other present-day DHs should be able to play in the field, too, since conditioning is so "advanced and specialized to be a year-round thing for athletes."

[GenoSeligPrieb]

In the All-Star Game every year, I cheer for the Brewer player(s), but I still root for the American League.

 

And one thing no one mentions is that it was an intense rivalry with the White Sox for quite a while. I can't wait for the next chance to stick it to Pierzynski, The Ozzeroo and Hawk Harrelson.

 

And yes, the Pirates and Reds ARE boring. The Astros too, lately. Part of it may be perception. We see those same 5 teams in the NL Central SO many times that, by June, I'm dying to see the Padres or Nationals hit town.

 

But realistically, Cub fans travel infinitely better than the 2 dozen wallet-on-a-chain guys in stained white tank tops who follow the White Sox on the road. Mark would fight it if MLB forced us to lose out on 20-30,000 Cub fans "invading" The Keg.

[Zycho32]

...why oh why am I getting a 'Hardcore' versus 'Casual' vibe here?

 

Ignoring strategies and opinions about defense, the lone advantage to moving back to the AL would be a potentially better revenue. A bonus may be the DH allowing some additional flexibility to the batting lineup- admit it, you'd rather have Braun play DH full-time and have no concerns about his defense, period.

 

The biggest disadvantage would be the increased difficulty in reaching the playoffs in the AL- fighting off the White Sox, Tigers, and Twins for the penant or grappling with the loser of the Yankee/Red Sox annual Rock Fights for the Wild Card definitely isn't appealing. Add the period of inepitude this team has suffered through while being in the 'Watered-Down' conference and the ensuing reluctance would be obvious.

 

Quite frankly, I could care less which side the Brewers end up on.

[Brewguru2]

...why oh why am I getting a 'Hardcore' versus 'Casual' vibe here?

 

Ignoring strategies and opinions about defense, the lone advantage to moving back to the AL would be a potentially better revenue. A bonus may be the DH allowing some additional flexibility to the batting lineup- admit it, you'd rather have Braun play DH full-time and have no concerns about his defense, period.

 

The DH adds NO flexibility to your line-up. You just put another stick in your lineup and wait for the 3-run homer. No bunting. No double switches. No hit-and-runs. No strategy. No thanks.

 

And I wouldn't want Braun to DH full-time. I'd rather he be a REAL baseball player.

[ozzybourne]

The DH adds NO flexibility to your line-up. You just put another stick in your lineup and wait for the 3-run homer. and save No bunting. No double switches. No hit-and-runs. No strategy. No thanks.

WOW--brew you just solved the brewers biggest concern--ned yost! move this team to the AL, quickly.

[Big Reed]

I am still not convinced baseball needs a 16 /14 league split because of scheduling problems. I believe two 15 team leagues would work just fine! it's not like the current schedules are that great anyway. to make it work, all major league baseball would have to do is add a few more interleague games. I've often thought allowing the Yankees and Boston to play Tampa bay 17 times each was a very unfair advantage. if teams were limited to playing teams in their division only 12 times, and fill in the difference with interleague games, I doubt it would be very hard to come up with a compatible schedule to support a 15/15 division of leagues. The NFL didn't seem to have a schedule problem when it had two conferences of 15 teams. and nobody complained about NFL teams playing out of conference teams. who knows? you could throw in a double header or 2. And for all he naysayers of a 15/15 split and it's schedule problems, I doubt any of you have actually gone the extra mile to try to generate a schedule, have you? Admittedly, the schedule would be different than what we have today. but I heard a lot of grumblings about last year's schedule as well.

 

a second given in adding additional interleague games is that all of the rules mus t be the same. Either both leagues have a dh, or not. the idea of one league using it and the other not using it was stupid and should have never been allowed. like the Declaration of Independence, it should have been unanomous or not initiated.

[TauPentaRei]

 

 

under 35, loathe the DH

 

 

the DH - quite frankly - is unAmerican: slothlike, one dimensional, elitist, static, non-democratic, predictable, reactive

 

 

ooooh and what really burns my britches is Papi and others taking their at-bat and immediately retreating to the clubhouse to watch frame by frame video of the previous pitch's nuances, not to mention the prepped video of whatever reliever might be brought in to face him in end game later innings. Thereby effectively removing the real-time evolutionary art from the game in favor of scientific preparation. I am all for allowing technology into the game but not in such an un-balanced fashion.

 

 

All this talk about "just another stick in the line-up" - though true - is just the tip of the iceberg. The psychological impact can be monumentally rewarding or devastatingly crushing. Zambrano socking a homer to put himself ahead 1 - 0 amps him up something special… hell, Zambrano with a low pitch count in a tie game coming up bottom 6 with a RISP gets to stay in the game - Sheets, maybe not. John Q. Southpaw flaring a duck fart to extend a rally demoralizes a defense, lifts the entire O-squad. More sections of this 7 layer dip include the need for a versatile bench, situational hitting (e.g. the importance of an 8 hole hitter - a COMPLETE nonfactor in AL play), fundamental station to station bunting / hit & run play, substitutional timing (is your long reliever burned up from the night before?), plus more. With no analysis to support the idea, I would guess statistics to show that NL games are closer - due to the absence of the aforementioned stick and the rarity of big innings where your line-up turns over.

The NL is just so much richer textually.

And if the Brewers pitchers could succeed in laying down a bunt (excluding Suppan) with a success rate over 20%, I posit we wouldn't care. We're just so frustrated by the lack of production (excluding Yo) and the precept of having 8 hitters in the line-up.

[DrWood]

I was thinking of Sheets and Gallardo hitting. It would be neat if the home team could decide whether the game is played with a DH or not. Sheets pitching--DH! Gallardo pitching--Let him hit!

 

oh, and Parra is a good hitting pitcher, too.

[aracko]

Whatever makes it easier for Ned is the best thing for the Brewers.

[Tbadder]

geez, I'm just depressed--so many young people...feel death coming on...I'm coming to see you Redd Foxx!

[NeedMoreFans]

I am still not convinced baseball needs a 16 /14 league split because of scheduling problems.

The only "problem" that there would be is an interleague series would always have to be going on, from opening day until the last game of the season (that is unless you give 2 teams 2-3 days off in a row). Lots of people would not like the fact that interleague games would be played during pennant chases.

 

Personally, I don't want to see this happen (it won't). I think in the long run, the NL Central will be an easier division to win than the AL Central, and the Brewers have a chance to be much more competitive in the NL.

[Big Reed]

what's the difference of the brewers playing an interleague series or playing the Pirates during the pennant chase? Both are supposedly meaningless towards the race. However, the brewers might actually win the interleague series. let's face it, the schedule makers can't predict when they make the schedules up what teams are going to be in the pennant races at the end of the year. Who would have thought the padres and brewers series would actually have an impact on who won the NL West and also the wild card? Certainly, the padres would have preferred to play either the rockies or Dbacks in that last series rather than the brewers. Playing the brewers in that last series had the same impact for the Padres as if they had played the Angels or A's.

 

I' m not sure why there are so many fans against expanded interleague play. Expanded interleague play would make it very easy to form two leagues with 3 divisons of 5 teams each. Put Milwaukee in the Al Central and move KC to the AL West. KC obviously wants to move out of the AL central anyway. Moving KC to the AL West makes as much sense as moving them to the NL Central.

 

I'm over 35 and like the dh. I thought NL teams were supposed to be steals, pitching and defense oriented. NL teams win by generating runs in close low scoring games. That's how the NL used to be known. Guys like Mays were known as much for his speed and defense as his homers. Gibson and Seaver would win games 2-1 with no homers. the Yankees would win games 12- 8 with 5 homers. Even Hank Aaron had some speed. That doesn't sound like how the current brewers are designed. the current brewers are a big inning team. that's AL ball. Harvey's wallbangers was an AL team. It seems the brewers are going back to that mentality. For all the people who say they love the NL style of play, the brewers' style of play seems to be a big contradiction. Would brewers fans love the brewers more if they were faster and played better defense with fewer homers? or are brewer fans content to have an AL designed team playing against NL teams? Would brewer fans rather have Prince remain a brewer for life and become a Dh for the brewers? or leave to become a Dh for an AL team? there seems to be a huge contradiction in what brewers fans like for how their team should be designed, and how a normal NL team is designed.

 

I will leave you with this question. if the White Sox were in the NL and the Cubs were in the AL, would more Brewers fans want the brewers to be in the AL or remain in the NL? is the revenue from the Cubs and Cards series the only reason Milwaukee wants to remain in the NL? More money? is that the reason?

[ozzybourne]

hi. this is my first time here. my name is ozzy, im over 35, i like the dh, and i'm a brewer fan. (that wasn't hard).

 

i too support more interleague play, all the time. and i recognize that the dh could be problematic in that situation. things change--wild card playoff games, 2 point conversions, instant replay (soon coming to a mlb park near you), tiebreakers in tennis (talk about changing tradition), rally scoring in volleyball, nhl shootoffs, ......add your own......

 

personally i like starting pitchers to pitch and not be a "quality starter" for a whole 6 innings, then turn it over to a bunch of relievers. talk about traditions in baseball-how far back would you like to go?--before there were closers and holds specialists?

when HOF like fergie jenkins would throw 250-300 innings? that is what has added to your precious strategies--managers have more to deal with now than in the good old days thanks to progress and evolution.

 

so baseball will continue to evolve too, and if making the dh permanent for all teams would facilitate more interleague play--bravo.

but dont negate it for the sake of "tradition" when so much of the great american game has changed already.

[lukevan]

I'd say the main reason would be why change leagues again? I don't think a team would ever consider changing leagues because the team's "style" would fit better there. There'd have to be a better reason.

 

More interleague games = more games against opponents you are not vying against for the playoffs (fewer "playoff-type" games)

 

If we moved to the AL Central, we'd be probably the 3rd best team in the division just ahead of the Twins.

 

Who would have thought the padres and brewers series would actually have an impact on who won the NL West and also the wild card?

 

I'm sure there would've been plenty of people who thought that was possible.

[mletto157]

ozzy - the difference between the DH and the evolution of the "closer" is that one is a MAJOR RULE CHANGE, and the other is just evolution of the game utilizing the already written rules. Adopt the DH in both leagues, or rid us of the ridiculousness of someone making $8+M/yr and only stepping on the field 4 times a game altogether. To be honest the thing I hate most is that the different leagues have different rules. I admit I really loathe the DH, and really hope there was a way to get rid of it completely - but I still think it would be better than it is now if both leagues had it. There isn't another sport out there with different conferences that have different rules - and to be honest, it's completely ridiculous. It makes the biggest game in baseball (the World Series) horrible because one team is used to the rules of that game, and the other isn't. You don't see the AFC being allowed to use the forward pass and the NFC only being allowed to run & lateral. Granted that is a little more of a difference, but my point is the same. MAKE THE RULES THE SAME IN BOTH LEAGUES.

 

And I am under 35 btw.

[ozzybourne]

ozzy - the difference between the DH and the evolution of the "closer" is that one is a MAJOR RULE CHANGE, and the other is just evolution of the game utilizing the already written rules. Adopt the DH in both leagues, or rid us of the ridiculousness of someone making $8+M/yr and only stepping on the field 4 times a game altogether. To be honest the thing I hate most is that the different leagues have different rules. I admit I really loathe the DH, and really hope there was a way to get rid of it completely - but I still think it would be better than it is now if both leagues had it. There isn't another sport out there with different conferences that have different rules - and to be honest, it's completely ridiculous. It makes the biggest game in baseball (the World Series) horrible because one team is used to the rules of that game, and the other isn't. You don't see the AFC being allowed to use the forward pass and the NFC only being allowed to run & lateral. Granted that is a little more of a difference, but my point is the same. MAKE THE RULES THE SAME IN BOTH LEAGUES.

 

And I am under 35 btw.

and i thought the young people want a "change". good thing i don't like to talk about politics--it's really black and white.

 

you are right, the dh was a rule change--just like some of the other examples i pointed out. more changes will occur and i agree with you that the rules should be the same.

 

another rule change-- take away the all star game importance--talk about a joke, or if you prefer a breaking of tradition. why should the mid summer classic have a bearing on the world series? again the game evolves, right or wrong, so lets plan on a DH for all--then interleague play like other pro sports.

[clancyphile]

LaPorta, Braun, Hart and Prince in the same lineup? Sounds good to me. I always preferred the AL because I don't see the point in subjecting ourselves to pitchers batting or to managers trying to figure out how to do a double-switch (I'm looking at you, Dusty & Ned).

I like that idea... especially if it can be done long-term.

Maybe it's time to get the National League to adopt the DH. Then the Crew keeps the Cubs/Cards rivalries and we can still get the DH!

 

:D

[mletto157]

I agree with the all-star game / mid-summer classic - that's completely ridiculous. It's like having the Pro-Bowl decide where the Super Bowl next year should be played (or something along those lines). I think football does it right - the Pro-Bowl is a fun game where you get to see all the favorite all-star players on one field. And it's not like they all play light or anything because nothing's on the line... they're still professional football players and are still extremely competitive and want to win.

[Brewguru2]

Completely off topic (well, kinda off topic) but the all-star game/World Series debate has been brought up.

 

Bud Selig says you can't have the World Series HFA based on better record because of the logistical problems (i.e. hotel rooms, prepping the city, etc.).

 

OK, someone please explain this to me. The AL wins the all-star game. So, with races oftentimes going to the last weekend, you don't narrow the field to 4 cities before Sept. 28. Then, you're down to 2 possible cities as of Oct. 10 (or wherever the goofy schedule has the first round ending this year). Then, you know for sure on Oct. 18 for the Oct. 22 start date. So, 4 days before you knew the exact city.

 

If best record determined it, you would have 7 possibilities on Sept. 28 (instead of 4), but #5, 6 and 7 in that scenario are pretty much long shots. Again, you would narrow it down to 3 possible cities (instead of 4) on Oct. 10. And you would know the exact city on Oct. 18 again for the start.

 

What's the difference? Why can't they determine HFA in a logical manner??