Rating the 2011 Brewers

My friend @MilwaukeeBrian asked a number of us who follow the Brewers and write for PocketDoppler.com to offer thoughts on how the team's players fared this past season. Brian asked us to rate players on a 10 scale, with "1" being the low end; he'll add the scores and post the average score. I expect that article to appear later this week, but I thought I would breakout my takes to own my perspective aside from my colleagues:

John Axford    9.5 -- Hard not to give him a 10, but he did blow a couple of saves early.
Marco Estrada    6 -- Filled in well early when Greinke was hurt, and late when Narv cut himself. Mediocre out of pen.
Yovani Gallardo    8.5 -- Often brilliant, but also had periods when he disappeared.
Zack Greinke    8 -- Missed the opening month, took a while to get on track, then outstanding.
LaTroy Hawkins    6 -- Some good innings in low leverage relief.
Kameron Loe    5 -- Best when the stakes were low. Inconsistent.
Shaun Marcum    7.5 -- Carried the staff early, solid in the middle, crashed at the end.
Chris Narveson    6.5 -- Solid #5 starter, but a #5 for a reason.
Frankie Rodriguez   8.5 -- Nearly airtight in setting up Ax.
Takashi Saito    7.5 -- Missed a lot of time with injury, but when given the 7th inning role, usually responded.
Randy Wolf    7 -- Some bad stretches, but a plus #4 starter. Bonus points for his Game 4 NLCS start.


George Kottaras    5 -- Decent back up catcher. Wolf gives him a 10, but the rest of us see a player limited offensively and defensively.
Jonathan Lucroy    6.5 -- Is becoming a good backstop, but took a beating behind the plate that seemed to impact his offense.


Yuni Betancourt     4.5 -- Not as bad as I expected, but below average in the field & at the plate. Bonus .5 for August and playoffs.
Craig Counsell    3 -- Still gave them good defense, but it was painful to watch him hit. Thanks, CC, but it's time to retire.
Prince Fielder    9 -- The team's emotional center, played every day and produced. Subpar defense and AWOL in NLCS.
Taylor Green    4 -- Love his promise and approach, but didn't see what I thought I'd see (albeit in very limited action).
Jerry Hairston Jr.    6.5 -- Exceeded expectations as deadline acquistion. Good postseason diminished by critical errors at 3b.
Casey McGehee    3 -- Kept waiting for him to break out. He never really did. Offered little at the plate or in the field.
Rickie Weeks    8.5 -- Outstanding season ruined by injury. MKE needs more guys with Rickie's heart.

   
Ryan Braun    9.5 -- MVP caliber season sullied by disappearing act in NLCS. Glad he's shut up about shadows at The Keg.
Carlos Gomez    6 -- Made a real impact defensively. Plays hard. Needs to get on base more to be difference maker.
Corey Hart    7 -- Quietly had impressive offensive season. Speed all but gone. Subpar defense costly in NLCS.
Mark Kotsay    6.5 -- Some key hits, nice fill-in when Braun hurt. Defensive liability. Gave them more than I expected.
Nyjer Morgan    7.5 -- Decent defense, several big hits, better than expected offensively. Jolt of energy sometimes double-edged sword.


Zach Braddock    2 -- The talent is probably there, but it was lost in off-field emotional issues.
Frankie De La Cruz    3 -- Glad he got his shot. Hope he enjoyed it as I doubt he will be back.
Tim Dillard    3 -- He wiggled off the hook late in a tense mid-season game, otherwise I didn't see much to be excited about.
Mat Gamel    2 -- Don Money's less than glowing comments combined with consistent underperformance in MLB makes me wonder if Mat is AAAA.
Josh Wilson    3.5 -- A couple of big hits, even a little pop, mediocre defense. He didn't hurt the Brewers but I don't want him back.


Ron Roenicke  8.5 -- People are going to rag on the decision to go with Marcum in Game 6 of the NLCS. But what were the options? Narveson also got lit up that night. Starting Gallardo on three days rest after he got blasted for four in the first inning of his previous outing didn't seem any wiser. There were no good moves to make, yet he had to made a move: In other words, he was in Zugzwang, so I feel a good deal of compassion for him. However, he did lead a team that won a team record 96 games, its first NL division flag and advanced to the LCS for the first time in nearly three decades. Not bad for a first year skipper.

Doug Melvin  9 -- Bold moves to eschew trading Prince in favor of upgrading the rotation and shrewd decisions to bolster the bullpen (e.g. K-Rod, Saito) coupled with acquiring Nyjer Morgan made this stellar year for Melvin. Moreover, it also proved to be astute to deal for Jerry Hairston, Jr. But Yuni Betancourt was more often a weight around their neck than he was a benefit, and thin bench left RR with few desirable options. Still, the bottom line was very good. Melvin would certainly get the blame if the season went badly, so he should get some credit when things go well.

Sadly, the Cards in Six

My distaste for the St. Louis Cardinals has been well-documented, as is my fear that STL presents a highly undesirable opponent for the Brewers in the post-season.   The concerns are numerous:

The Cards surged during September to claim the NL Wild Card and have sustained their good play from the last month of the season. During that time they took five of six from MKE (in addition to taking six of nine from PHL). Not only should they beat the Crew (six seems about the right number of games given the matchups) but the Cards might ride that all the way to a World Series Championship. It's not just the Brewers flaws that will get them, it's that STL is a good team playing great ball right now.

As for the Brewers, their rotation does not seem to be in a good place. Greinke's last start (albeit on short rest) was mediocre. Gallardo battled last time out and was effective, but he struggled, and usually doesn't pitch well coming off games in which he has to labor with high stress innings. Wolf and Marcum are presently a mess. In the bullpen, their closer just blew a save and their set up guy looked to be on the brink of doing the same. Overall, the Brewers staff doesn't seem like it is ready to shut down a Cardinals team that just handled the best rotation in baseball. This is not the kind of group I want to throwing to a brutal middle of the order (plus David Freese, who appears to be emerging as a high quality hitter). Mix in a closer they can't hit (Motte) and a couple of starters who have owned them (Garcia and Carpenter, both of whom they'll see twice) and I don't think the outlook is good for MKE.

 

St. Louis is historically associated with the self-proclaimed "King of Beers." With a handle like that it really is no surprise that the baseball team once owned by the brewery seems to consider itself the arbiter of the game's "unwritten rules" and possessor of the sacred knowledge of "the right way to play the game." This sort of sanctimony is sickening. That is going to make the outcome of this series either completely satisfying (should I be wrong and the Brewers win) or devastatingly disheartening (should my feelings be born out). Either way, it should be good theater.

Favre on Rodgers and Packers

While he has tried to back away from it, Brett Favre can't seem to get out of his own way when it comes to commenting on the Green Bay Packers and the man who replaced him at QB, Aaron Rodgers. Along the way to picking the Packers to beat the Falcons this weekend, NY Times sportswriter Mike Tanier lobbed this perfectly written bomb:

Of course, for some that turning point arrived a little late. “I’m really surprised that it kind of took him so long,” Brett Favre said of the three interminable years it took Aaron Rodgers to lead the Packers to the Super Bowl. Who knew that through all of those quasi-retirements, through his stints with the Jets and the Vikings, Favre was just impatiently waiting for Rodgers to close the deal? Favre did not sound as if  he was trying to insult Rodgers — he has simply lost the ability to compliment people who are not him — but teammates and analysts have rushed to Rodgers’s defense, which he does not really need. It had been peaceful months since the last self-serving Favre rant. What took him so long? 

 Perhaps Favre is just misunderstood. Maybe he didn't mean to insult the Packers or their QB. Perhaps he should offer less ambiguous comments if he's asked again in the future, maybe something along the lines of "I was delighted to see my old team win the Super Bowl. Aaron played well. Their future looks bright." Heck, if he wanted to win back the hearts of the many Packers who have soured on him since he left GB, he might even make that proposed first sentence "I was delighted to see us win the Super Bowl."

Or, perhaps, the best course is simply to decline comment in the future.