Brewers shock baseball-become new darkhorse

[SFGRTB]

The Brewers entered this offseason with the goal of upgrading their rotation. Today, they acquired Zack Greinke, Yuniesky Betancourt, and $2MM from the Royals for Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi. The Royals have confirmed the move in a press release. After already acquiring Shaun Marcum in exchange for Brett Lawrie last month, it's safe to say Milwaukee has accomplished its goal.



Brewers Acquire Zack Greinke: MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com


Greinke-Gallardo-Marcum-Wolf-Narvison, that's what their rotation is shaping out to be, IMO they have the 5th best rotation, behind the Giants/Phillies/Cardinals/Padres. And they can swing it with the best of em'.
I still don't like the NL Central, so I could see them coming out of there.

 

[SFGRTB]

BTW, if the Brewers signed Pavano I would put them right behind SF/Philly in terms of top rotations.

The Brewers also could use a useful SS (Betancourt is about as useful as a pile of shit out there), but it's not a big deal. Carbrera would be a good fit for them.

Isn't it amazing how things change? In the winter meetings, we heard that the Dodgers and Brewers were discussing Prince Fielder, now the Brewers just aquired the best pitcher on the market and are a playoff contender. Gotta love baseball.

 

[calsnowskier]

Looks like every div is essentially a 2-team race now. That is good.

East - Phi, Atl
Central - Cin, Mil
West - SF, Col

I would guess Phi, Cin (they still have the best O in the NL, and that will get then the reg season wins they need), SF win with Mil taking the WC...

 

[SFGRTB]

Looks like every div is essentially a 2-team race now. That is good.

East - Phi, Atl
Central - Cin, Mil
West - SF, Col

I would guess Phi, Cin (they still have the best O in the NL, and that will get then the reg season wins they need), SF win with Mil taking the WC...

Also, outside of the Pirates, I don't see any slouch teams. The NL has loaded itself with young stars and excellent pitching. It seems like teams are finally giving up trying to be the most powerful and are moving towards pitching and D. Someone made this comment earlier, but the NL has one helluvan All-Star pitching rotation.

I like it.

 

[Yoshi]

Well said SF. More power to the NL team that makes it to the World Series since the NL has a helluva shot to win the All Star game this year with that pitching.

 

[gp956]

Well said SF. More power to the NL team that makes it to the World Series since the NL has a helluva shot to win the All Star game this year with that pitching.

Yeah, the nl all-star team staff will be incredible this year.

 

[msgkings322]

Interesting how the NL is attracting all the good pitchers. They surely prefer it, with no DH to pitch to and more pitcher's parks. I think that was a factor in Cliff Lee's decision too, getting to pitch in the NL.

 

[TidrowThePitchingMaster]

Cliff Lee and Greinke coming to the NL, as well as the NL rookie class of '10 clearly superior to the AL's, makes me think a shift in power is coming. The NL might be the better league in terms of talent pretty soon.

NL rookie class:
Posey
Heyward
Tyler Colvin
Ike Davis
Jaime Garcia
Gaby Sanchez
Bumgarner

AL Rookie Class:
Austin jackson
Feliz
Boesch(lol)


In the NL, I see 3 blue chippers in heyward,posey, Bumgarner, as well as 4 solid to good rookies, and the AL, I see 1 blue chipper, Feliz, and 1 solid to good player, Jackson.

 

[SFGRTB]

Cliff Lee and Greinke coming to the NL, as well as the NL rookie class of '10 clearly superior to the AL's, makes me think a shift in power is coming. The NL might be the better league in terms of talent pretty soon.

NL rookie class:
Posey
Heyward
Tyler Colvin
Ike Davis
Jaime Garcia
Gaby Sanchez
Bumgarner

AL Rookie Class:
Austin jackson
Feliz
Boesch(lol)


In the NL, I see 3 blue chippers in heyward,posey, Bumgarner, as well as 4 solid to good rookies, and the AL, I see 1 blue chipper, Feliz, and 1 solid to good player, Jackson.

Don't forget Mike Stanton. Kid is a beast, I'd expect him to hit 30 HRs next year and become one of the premier power hitters in the league.

 

[TidrowThePitchingMaster]

Don't forget Mike Stanton. Kid is a beast, I'd expect him to hit 30 HRs next year and become one of the premier power hitters in the league.

Oh no doubt. Completely forgot about him . That makes 4 blue chippers.

ISO of .248 at the age of 20? Insane. He's also got an absolute cannon in right field.

 

[calsnowskier]

Why does nobody ever mention Daniel Hudson when talking about the top NL rookies in '10? Personally, I had him in 3rd place in the ROY voting, but I RARELY see his name mentioned.

 

[SFGRTB]

Why does nobody ever mention Daniel Hudson when talking about the top NL rookies in '10? Personally, I had him in 3rd place in the ROY voting, but I RARELY see his name mentioned.

I tend to forget about him as well. Wasn't he like 7-2 with a 1.80 ERA with the D-Backs? (to lazy to look up the stats).

In any case, the White Sox again fucked us over by sending young pitching to the NL West.

 

[TidrowThePitchingMaster]

Why does nobody ever mention Daniel Hudson when talking about the top NL rookies in '10? Personally, I had him in 3rd place in the ROY voting, but I RARELY see his name mentioned.

ERA is a bit misleading, had a BABIP of .245 and a strand rate of 83%, but still his K/BB numbers look pretty good. Looks like he pitched about as well as Bumgarner this year. Good call. Underrated arm.

 

[tzill]

Why does nobody ever mention Daniel Hudson when talking about the top NL rookies in '10? Personally, I had him in 3rd place in the ROY voting, but I RARELY see his name mentioned.

Hudson is an interesting cat. He probably has the best changeup in the game b/c of the sidearm run he gets from his motion. However, he's got that funky low arm angle which helps him surprise hitters but also (to my novice eye) looks like an injury waiting to happen.

He's an extreme fly ball pitcher, which is both good and bad. Good, b/c the ARI OF is pretty good defensively but bad, b/c he's going to give up a lot of HR.

I think he projects as a solid #3 type, and was one of the top rookies in the NL this year. However, he'll never have an ERA as low as it was this year again.

 

[msgkings322]

I tend to forget about him as well. Wasn't he like 7-2 with a 1.80 ERA with the D-Backs? (to lazy to look up the stats).

In any case, the White Sox again fucked us over by sending young pitching to the NL West.

Well, they also sent us Uribe and Gamer.

 

[tzill]

Well, they also sent us Uribe and Gamer.

Yeah, but gamer soiled hisself in philthy before arriving here....I think that did him in.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

I'll believe it when I see it guys. We gave up a lot.

 

[msgkings322]

I'll believe it when I see it guys. We gave up a lot.

It seems like Milwaukee is going all in for 2011, with only that year left of Prince and a weak NL Central.

I'll root for ya....hate the Cards and Cubs, and we've seen what our pitching can do to you guys so not too worried there