This is going to look weird for awhile.

Prince Fielder had his introductory press conference in Detroit today, and if you're interested in reading just about everything that was said, Brew Crew Ball has a near-complete transcript.

The highlights:

• Jim Leyland is going with a 3-4-5 of Miguel Cabrera-Fielder-Delmon Young. Cabrera is "100% on board" with the signing and will play third.
• Predictably asked about his dad, Fielder says "money doesn't take care of" any feelings about the relationship with his father. He quickly brushed off the question before talking about how cool it is for him to come back to the city where he grew up.
• He says he won't change the way he swings to make up for the difference between Miller Park and Comerica Park. "You guys know me, I swing pretty hard."
• He hopes he can give his boys the same memories he had in the clubhouse as a kid in Detroit. Jayden (above) seemed pretty happy to be there.
• On if he's worried about switching to the AL: "I haven't seen all the pitchers, but it's still baseball."

While Prince can be awkward at times in interviews, he handled himself well this afternoon. Hopefully Detroit fans will appreciate him as much as Milwaukee fans did. no comments

Today is Bob Uecker’s birthday, as good an occasion as any to celebrate probably the most revered person in Brewer history. I was really struggling with my original plan of pouring my heart into a post on his influence on my childhood and the development of my fandom, so I thought posting these two fine photographs would be a more fitting tribute:

For those unfamiliar, this is Ueck back in his playing days, attempting to catch batting practice fly balls with a tuba during the 1965 World Series. This is brilliant, but it pales in comparison to…

(Photo: Al Tielemans – SI)

This.

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Prince Fielder is gone. We knew this day was coming for the better part of two years, but now that the day is actually here, it's still hard to actually comprehend. Somebody -- probably Mat Gamel -- is going to be at first base on Opening Day for the first time since 2005.

It's tough seeing Fielder go, but for most fans, I imagine this is a near-perfect situation.

He's going to the AL, where he can seldom hurt the Brewers. He's going to the Tigers, who are both a.) not the Red Sox or Yankees and b.) another Midwest team, so it will still be easy to root for him. The contract ended up being so ridiculous -- 9 years, $214 million, no opt-out clauses -- that no reasonable person can be upset at the Brewers for not bringing him back. And the Brewers will actually be getting a first round pick for losing Fielder, unlike when they lost CC Sabathia to the Yankees and got stuck with a second-rounder.

We can be sad or upset that the Fielder Era is over, but we can also choose to be glad the Brewers took a chance on him when it seemed like few teams wanted to. The guy Michael Lewis called "too fat for even the Oakland A's" in Moneyball wound up hitting .282/.390/.540 for the Brewers, hitting 230 home runs (2nd in club history), making three All-Star teams, and perhaps most surprisingly, only missing 13 games in 6 seasons as a starter, and only one game in the past three seasons. He fell 21 home runs short of Robin Yount's club record, but there's no doubt that Fielder was the best (and most consistent) power hitter in the history of the Milwaukee Brewers.

He was a member of two playoff teams in four years. During his tenure in Milwaukee, the Brewers saw the most success over a six-year period they've seen since 1978-1983. That kind of success leads to a lot of special Prince Fielder memories. I asked you on Twitter what some of your favorites were. These were the most popular.
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Spring Training is about a month away from really kicking into gear, meaning it's just about the time of year when organizational prospect rankings start trickling in. John Sickels of Minor League Ball released his rankings today, and while he likes a few of the Brewers' prospects, the organization still ranks near the bottom of the league.

28) Milwaukee Brewers: There is some talent on the pitching side but hitting looks thin.

While the system as a whole is looking better than it did a year ago following the Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum trades, the Brewers simply lack the high-ceiling guys prospect writers drool over. Taylor Jungmann and Jed Bradley were very solid picks in last year's first round, but you'll struggle to find people who think they'll be much more than #3 starters. That still has a ton of value -- if Jungmann or Bradley end up throwing 200 innings a year as a #3 starter, the pick will be considered a success -- but it won't rank you highly on organizational rankings.

Sickels is also right about the lack of bats in the system. His top hitting prospect for the Brewers was Taylor Green at #5, and as much as we like to joke about how he's the Next Coming, if he ends up being an everyday player, he'll be playing at his ceiling. The next bat on his list is Scooter Gennett at #7, who makes a ton of contact but isn't great defensively and needs to work on his plate discipline. For the most part, it's a bunch of guys who could be solid bench players, but have some pretty glaring flaws in their game.

The outlook can obviously change with a breakout year or two, but we were saying much of the same things last offseason, too. To be fair, Tyler Thornburg did have a bit of a breakout season in the low levels, and now we get to see how he'll fare in a full season at Huntsville. But right now, it's hard to argue much with Sickels' assessment of the system as a whole.

If you're wondering how the rest of the division ranked: St. Louis 5th, Pittsburgh 12th, Chicago 20th, Cincinnati 21st, Houston 25th.

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Ryan Braun was in New York Saturday night to accept the National League MVP award at the annual BBWAA dinner. As expected, he didn't say much -- at least directly -- about his current situation, since a decision on his appeal hasn't been made yet. While he's still unable to directly comment on his failed drug test, he didn't completely ignore the elephant in the New York Hilton, either.

You can watch Braun's speech at MLB.com (embedding disabled), and read the entire text of the speech at JSOnline (mind the "pay" wall). After all the thank-yous, this is the part of the speech most people are interested in:

"I also wanted to take a moment to thank the players association for supporting me throughout my career and especially for supporting me through everything I went through over the last couple of months. Thank you, guys.

"Sometimes in life we all deal with challenges we never expected to endure. We have an opportunity to look as those challenges and view them either as obstacles or opportunities. I've chosen to view every challenge I've ever faced as an opportunity and this will be no different. I've always believed that a person's character is revealed through the way they deal with those moments of adversity.

"I've always loved and had so much respect for the game of baseball. Everything I've done in my career has been done with that respect and appreciation in mind, and that is why I'm so grateful and humbled to accept this award tonight. Thank you again to everybody and I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your evening."

The early reaction to the speech has been interesting. My prediction was that Braun was in an impossible situation -- if he didn't mention the "challenges" at all, there would be a group of writers that would pile on for acting like nothing was going on; if he did mention it, he'd still be criticized for either marring the event with a reminder of the failed test or for not providing more detail. So far, it seems like most of the media is happy with Braun's speech, and is realizing that he probably made the best speech he could, given the circumstances.

• Dan Martin of the New York Post says it's never a good sign when an MVP thanks the union in his speech.
• The New York Daily News got cute with their headline, like they usually do.
• David Brown at Big League Stew says Braun seems genuinely hurt that people are accusing him of cheating.
• Rob Neyer notes how much everybody seems to want to believe Braun. And for what it's worth, he does believe that whatever caused Braun to get popped wasn't taken to gain an advantage.
• Buster Olney, who earlier Saturday suggested the best thing for Braun would be to decline the award, tweeted Braun did a "really great job" with his speech.

While media reaction seems to be positive in the early going, fan reaction is a different story. Just in case you thought most people were taking a smart, sensible, wait-to-see-what-happens approach, try doing a Twitter search for "braun." It's an example of why MLB leaking the test results was so damaging -- even if Braun is (improbably) cleared, he'll still be labeled as a "cheater," "juicer," or "disgrace." If Braun does win his appeal, the common perception is more likely to be that he "got away with it," rather than "he was exonerated."

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Looking back at the 2011 season, the first thing a lot of folks will remember is Nyjer Morgan. Between his propensity for hitting in the clutch, his propensity for hitting every other time as well, his awesomely bizarre interviews, and the celebration currently known as Beast Mode, Morgan became the face of a team that became the face of forty years' worth of Brewer baseball for many fans.

With the 2012 Brewers already looking quite different, one of many questions people might have surrounds his ability to do it again. Morgan's 2011 performance was great, but he is also one year removed from a posting .633 OPS with Washington, where fans who previously loved his personality suddenly found him very annoying as soon as he stopped hitting. Also, between his age (he'll be 31 this year), up-and-down numbers, and lack of offensive secondary skills, there’s a lot of reason to wonder which season was closer to his true skill level, as well as a lot of uncertainty as to what next year will bring. We're going to look at both today, looking at things that might have changed for Morgan last year and what we can expect going forward.

First, it’s worth noting that Morgan's better production seems to have come with a change in approach: Last year, Morgan suddenly started putting quite a bit fewer balls on the ground (his GB% fell to 44.9%, compared to 52.7% in 2010 and 51.4% for his career), while seeing a corresponding spike in line drive rate (always a good thing) as well as a few more fly balls. Given this, it's no surprise Morgan saw a healthy increase in pop (he nearly doubled his isolated power from 2010) and a better batting average, but whether or not the more air-based approach will carry over is another story. Though it’s quite possible that Morgan adjusted his approach or the Brewers coaches tinkered with his swing, it's also something we will never know as fans. So, until the temptation to ask Morgan about it via Twitter gets too great to resist, we’ll just have to take comfort in the fact that there seems to be more to his improved numbers than mere smoke and mirrors.

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ESPN is releasing the first half of its Sunday Night Baseball schedule today, and just like last year, the Brewers are being shut out of the national showcase to start the season.

The list of games ESPN announced:

4/8 - White Sox at Rangers
4/15 - Angels at Yankees
4/22 - Yankees at Red Sox
4/29 - Rays at Rangers
5/6 - Phillies at Nationals
5/13 - Angels at Rangers
5/20 - Cardinals at Dodgers
5/27 - Nationals at Braves
6/3-7/1 - TBD
7/8 - Yankees at Red Sox
7/15 - Cardinals at Reds
7/22-9/23 - TBD

That's a whole lot of AL games -- it isn't until May that we get a National League game, and only four of the 10 announced games are NL games -- but overall it's hard to argue with the decision-making here.

The first Sunday night game of the year features the AL champion Rangers, and while they're playing a White Sox team that won't have a lot going for them in 2012, there should still be plenty of interest in the game. The Brewers are playing the World Champion Cardinals that day, but with no Pujols, no Fielder, and likely no Braun, it's easy to see why ESPN would rather show the AL champs. The Brewers and Cards will at least get a national audience the day before on Fox Saturday Baseball.

After opening weekend, it's hard to find a Brewers game that could be considered compelling for a national audience. The Brewers' Sunday slate for the year:
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By now, we probably shouldn't be surprised when it comes to news about Francisco Rodriguez. The trade bringing him to Milwaukee was unexpected. Very few people expected him to accept the Brewers' offer of arbitration at the end of the season. And now, perhaps most shocking of all, K-Rod is avoiding arbitration by signing a one-year deal for $8 million.

Considering many arbitration projections had him slotted for over $10 million, the $8 million salary actually comes off as a somewhat pleasant surprise. Sure, you could find better uses for $8 million than a set-up man, but considering some of the contracts signed this winter, perhaps it isn't so bad after all.

Ryan Madson, like Rodriguez, had his eyes set on a big-dollar deal to close. He wound up in Cincinnati on a one-year, $8.5 million deal that was lauded as a "steal." Yet the K-Rod deal is still being described by some (most notably Keith Law) as "awful."

A lot of this probably has to do with the closer label. Only $8.5 million and minimal commitment to a shutdown closer? That sure sounds like a sweet deal. The same amount for just a "set-up guy?" That's just absurd, right?

Strip the labels, and the numbers look awfully comparable:



Rodriguez spent half the year as a "set-up guy," and still put together Win Probability Added that rivals Madson's (granted, in 11 more innings). Last season's WPA leaders among relievers does include a lot of closers, but there are plenty that aren't. Topping the list is Washington's Tyler Clippard, who put up a WPA of 5.01 without collecting a single save. Jonny Venters and David Robertson were third and fourth in reliever WPA. Greg Holland, Jim Johnson, and Eric O'Flaherty were other non-closers to put up better WPA numbers than many "real" closers. They often faced tougher situations than their team's closer did, slamming the door on rallies in the 7th or 8th innings while the closer picked up the final three outs.

Closing in Cincinnati -- on a Dusty Baker-managed team, no less -- it's safe to assume that Madson will rarely pitch outside of the 9th inning, and he'll rarely pitch in a non-save situation. Setting up for Milwaukee, Rodriguez will be "free" to be summoned whenever the situation calls for him. Sure, more often than not, Ron Roenicke will use him in the 8th inning. But he won't be chained to that inning the way Roenicke chained Axford to the 9th last season. Axford (or Madson, in Cincinnati) will often face the bottom of a team's order in the 9th inning, while Rodriguez will be charged with stopping a rally by coming in mid-inning and/or facing the meat of the order.

In terms of talent, what Rodriguez and Madson provide are very similar. Madson's probably a bit better than Rodriguez right now, but it isn't because one is a closer and the other isn't -- Madson's better because he walks batters and gives up home runs less frequently than K-Rod does.

Is spending "10% of the payroll" (a percentage that'll be off by $10-$20 million this year, but that's beside the point) for 60-70 innings something the Brewers should be in the habit of doing? Probably not. But if the Brewers shouldn't be doing it, the Reds probably shouldn't be, either. I like Law, I see him as the only reason right now to buy ESPN's Insider, but it takes a bit of a leap in logic to laud one signing while calling the other a mistake, even if one was ultimately an unintended signing. no comments

Craig Counsell's playing career with the Brewers was already pretty much over. The team said early in the offseason they wouldn't be bringing him back, and have added a few Counsell-like players over the past couple months. Today, Counsell's playing career officially comes to a close, with the announcement of his retirement and hiring as Special Assistant to the General Manager.

Counsell has always seemed like a baseball lifer, so it's really no surprise that he quickly found work. When the Brewers told him they wouldn't be bringing him back as a player, Counsell said he would weigh offers for jobs both on the field and off. More details about his new job with the Brewers will be announced later this afternoon, but right now we know that he's staying home for a "significant role." It appears he won't just be a glorified intern.

Counsell's on-field career with the Brewers didn't have as many memorable moments as his stints with the Marlins and Diamondbacks did, but he was always a fan favorite due to his local ties. As a player, he wasn't all that spectacular -- just your typical middle infield reserve with a good glove and not much power. Still, he was capable enough to surprise you. In 2009, he played in 130 games at 38 years old, and hit .285/.357/.408. With Rickie Weeks out for much of the year and J.J. Hardy and Bill Hall being totally ineffective, Counsell's production was big in fielding a competent team that season.

That year would prove to be Counsell's last gasp, and at times it was hard to watch him hit over the past couple years. It seems like every time they show a clip of Aroldis Chapman on MLB Network, Counsell is one of the guys hopelessly flailing at a 100 MPH fastball. While many guys struggle to hit Chapman, it was a little sad seeing Counsell up in those situations knowing he had almost no chance of making contact. It wasn't just the hard throwers that gave Counsell problems the past couple years, either -- he struggled to make solid contact against just about everyone. According to PITCH f/x data, pitchers gave Counsell a fastball 62.7% of the time, and he struggled mightily against them. FanGraphs had him at 6.7 runs below average against fastballs for the 2011 season. Counsell's line drive rate also dropped over 3.5% from 2010 to 2011, while the groundball rate rose over 5%. Then, of course, there was the sad story of Counsell's 50 plate appearance hitless streak (although I do think the story was blown a little out of proportion in national circles, considering the streak took place over two months).

Despite the anemic bat, Counsell was able to provide enough value with his glove to remain above replacement level. Before the team traded for Jerry Hairston, he was the go-to replacement at shortstop or third base when Ron Roenicke wanted to improve the infield defense late in games. Even after the Hairston deal, Counsell continued to provide value with the glove, although playing time did diminish. Counsell only made four plate appearances in the 2011 postseason and did not reach base.

In the end, Counsell will be remembered fondly among Brewers fans. If there wasn't such a logjam to get into the Brewers Walk of Fame, I'd say he has a pretty good shot of someday making it. We'll find out soon what Counsell will be doing for the Brewers in 2012, but it still wouldn't surprise me to see him manage the team someday in the future. no comments

There seem to be two schools of thought when it comes to Mat Gamel. Generally, one camp believes that the Brewers organization has a history of being consistently inconsistent with Gamel, jerking him around and never really giving him a shot. And generally, the other camp believes that Gamel has been given plenty of chances and wasted them by showing up out of shape, possibly contributing to his injury problems.

Both sides make good points. And both sides can be a little...intense. For that reason, Gamel is going to be one of the most-watched (and most-scrutinized) players on the roster this spring. He's going to be dealing with an incredible amount of pressure, and he's going to need the support of management if things don't go well right away.

Doug Melvin appeared on The Big 1070 in Madison on Monday, and was asked about replacing Fielder's offense at first, and backup plans for Gamel.

"Mat Gamel's going to be given every opportunity at first base and he's gonna have to step up and show us he's a big league player."

Well, what if he doesn't?

"We're going to talk to Corey Hart, see if he can play a little first base. He did in the minor leagues. I don't expect him to go over there and be a gold glover or anything like that. So Ron was going to call Corey and see what his thoughts were on doing it, see if he's interested. First base is not as easy a position as people think to play. ... So it's not even close to where people think 'Just throw him over there and play first base.' I find it can be one of the harder positions to play, and when I think people think 'just throw somebody over there,' it's not that easy. A guy coming in to play first, it's not an easy move, but we're going to ask Corey to see if he could play, you know, maybe 30 games there."

Now, it would be easy to overreact to this if you're a Gamel supporter, but 30 games isn't a ton. Will the Brewers need that insurance against left-handed pitching, though? no comments