RECENT SIGNINGS OPEN UP MARKET FOR KHRIS DAVIS? With Yoenis Cespedes re-signing in New York and Justin Upton inking a long-term deal with Detroit, the stagnating outfield market seems to finally have jumped to life. Dexter Fowler and Austin Jackson still have to find homes. As the latter two are primarily center fielders, though, it’s […]
Category: Articles
The Minnesota Small-Market Con
While I may disagree with Bud Selig’s arguments regarding small-market franchises and what needs to be done to support them, there is no argument against Milwaukee’s position as a small market. With 882,210 television homes in its media market, per Nielsen, only Cincinnati (868,900) is a smaller major-league market. Milwaukee ranks 35th and Cincinnati ranks […]
When Brewers Pitchers Hit, It Ain’t Pretty
Over the past fifteen years, the Brewers’ pitchers have been roughly average at the plate, at least depending on how one chooses to interpret the numbers. Their cumulative .345 OPS ranks tenth out of all thirty teams, but it is of course remembering that they — along with the rest of their National League brethren […]
Rolling Out the Barrel: Arizona Dreamin’
Folks, I’ve got some great news for y’all: We are officially within a month of Milwaukee’s pitchers and catchers reporting. Though it seems so close (and yet so far), our first piece today has enough ways to fill up those days to last you into Spring Training and beyond. Let’s roll it out: The Hardball […]
Why We’re Wrong To Criticize Lucroy For Wanting Trade
After a relatively toothless December in Wisconsin, the winter weather has finally blanketed the Midwest in January, bringing below-zero temperatures and a handful of flurries. The winter meetings ended over a month ago. The Green Bay Packers departed the NFL Playoffs in a simultaneously exhilarating and soul-crushing manner. The Milwaukee Brewers haven’t made a transaction […]
The Brewers Didn’t Take Advantage of Their Bullpen
Imagine that an old-time baseball player — from, say, a hundred years ago — has somehow traveled to the present. What characteristic of the modern game would shock them the most? Perhaps the increased emphasis on reaching base would come as a surprise, since batting average had dominated for most of baseball history. Or maybe the […]
The Issues with the Chemistry Discussion
Baseball is so fascinatingly complicated. For a long time, this was not believed to be true. Baseball was believed to be a rather simple, or at least a simpler, game. For a long time, people believed that the win-loss record was a good way of determining a pitcher’s talent. Those people also believed in saves, […]
Chris Carter and the Problem with Inconsistent Hitters
Most of the time in baseball analysis, we’ll look at a player’s full-season statistics only. While this generally covers the full breadth of their production, it can sometimes obscure more pertinent details. For instance, Adam Lind (RIP) hit very well overall last season, but his ability petered off toward the end of the season. With that […]
Potential Opportunities for Jorge Lopez
As a reward for his excellent 2015 season in Double-A Biloxi, Jorge Lopez was given the opportunity to make his big-league debut at the end of last season. It did not go all that well — 10 strikeouts and five walks in 10 innings — but it was a fitting cap to a high-quality season […]
Bud Selig’s Coalition Takes Aim
Major League Baseball did not establish its revenue-sharing program without a fight. It took until the 1996 collective bargaining agreement, the first signed after the contentious 1994-95 strike, and that plan was gradually implemented. The current plan, in which 34 percent of all “net local revenue” from all 30 major-league teams is subject to redistribution, […]