Baseball Thread 5 - #5 George Brett Has a Story to Tell

He knew they could get him out without even throwing a strike. It's been the book on him for going on two years.

Minaya of course is the last to know this. Great trade.

 

I was working in Wisconsin at the time and we ran it on A1 with tongues firmly in cheek. The Brewers didn't cover themselves in glory with their reaction either, taking it way more seriously than they should have.

Ah, the Wendy Prieb-Selig era. When Milwaukee baseball was in the toilet.

 

Anyone watching the Rangers/Twins?

Is it me, or was Cruz out three times on the same play but called safe?

 

Hey Pete, the Tigers could use your bat again. Wanna come out of retirement?

 

AL Central is starting to get interesting. I'm curious to see what moves the Sox, Tigers and Twins make in the next couple weeks. I'm almost certain the Sox will make a move, of some scale. Figure the Tigers will, too. Don't know about the Twins, though.

 

I agree, but I will give Frenchy this much -- he seems to be making an effort to take more pitches than he did the last year and a half or so. I can see why he's seductive. If he could just learn a little plate discipline his OBP would skyrocket, because nobody throws him strikes. I can't believe Omar traded a useful major league player for him, though. The Braves probably would have given him away for free.

 

Not so sure I'd agree with that optimistic assessment, joe. If he ever learns plate discipline, pitchers would just start throwing breaking balls over the plate, because he still can't hit those -- unless, of course, they don't break.

He's feasted on fastballs since he got into the league, but pitchers have adjusted. If he stops chasing the terrible pitches, they'll adjust again and he'll still have to learn how to hit the breaking ball consistently, which he hasn't done yet.

So he's still got plenty of weaknesses with his long swing, even if he learns to lay off the bad ones. Which he's shown very little evidence of being able to do, even if, yes, his "effort" at doing so seems to be better.

 

Greinke goes seven innings, allows only one run, strikes out seven ... no decision after the bullpen implodes again, allowing three runs in the eighth. Just another day at Kauffman Stadium.

On the other hand, I like how Morton looks sometimes with the Bucs. If guys like him and Ohlendorf can pan out, I'll feel much better about the trades they've made.

 

So the Padres' Edgar Gonzalez gets plunked in the head in the 6th, sits up and walks to the cart before leaving the field and going to the hospital.

But then there's this note from AP:

Wondering who made that call in the dugout, because it seems unusual after an injury that didn't seem terribly serious (despite an HBP in the head, I mean.) I know it's his brother and all, and I know the Padres are in last place, but I can't recall that happening before in the middle of a game. Just curious if Bud Black kicked him out and said, "it's your brother; get outta here, we'll pick you up" or if Adrian asked to leave or how that exchange went.

 

Well then my question would be, how did Frenchy manage to have two successful seasons? He must have been doing something besides just crushing fastballs, because it couldn't have taken two years for pitchers to figure out that he'd swing at balls out of the strike zone AND he couldn't hit the curve. He wouild have been buried quickly if that had been the case.

 

What Francoeur did today or throughout the weekend means nothing,
The Mets have a good chance to win once every five days because of Santana, no other reason.
And I'll take Francoeur over Ryan Church any day.

 

Why not? Adjustments don't happen in a month, and he was showing signs of not being able to do these things back in 2006, his first full season (when he had a dismal OBP of .293). But when you're on a hot streak like he was since his call-up in July '05, that confidence can carry you a long way.

I mean, he's not completely devoid of talent -- the guy is a legitimate major league outfielder, and he's had success at this level. But to consistently succeed over the course of a career, you've got to be able to make serious adjustments, and he's not shown that he can do that. Which is why he's regressed every year since 2007.

Not sure what makes you think he can figure it out, except fanboy hope (and trust me, I had it, too.)