1994 and beyond - a what "if" dynasty

[Loeffle]

Brewers record 31-41 (11 GB behind the Reds)

Brewers record last week: 4-2

Power Rankings: 23rd (26th)

Finally a good week again that saw us winning series at Atlanta and against St. Louis. We really took advantage of two Cardinals emergency starters and should also have won game 3, where our bullpen gave away a big lead.
Only three games at the Dodgers remain before the All-Star-Game.

We took reliever Scott Bankhead (0-0, 6.86 ERA) off waivers from Boston. Bankhead immediately becomes our 2nd best righty in the bullpen.

Darryl Hamilton watch:
.260/.320/.322 - 14 SB, 1 HR, 21 RBI, -0.6 WAR

Brewers transactions:
To make space for Scott Bankhead,
reliever Bob Scanlan (0-3, 8.25 ERA, 2.13 WHIP) was sent down.

Players of the Week:
NL - Matt Stairs, Montréal - .529, 4 HR, 9 RBI
AL - Don Mattingly, New York - .571, 3 HR, 7 RBI

Notable injuries:
1B Mike Pagliarulo, Orioles - .240, 2 HR, 12 RBI - out for four to five months

Accomplishments:
n/a

Impressive Game Performances:
Butch Henry, Montréal - 7-3, 2.91 ERA - threw a No-Hitter against the Padres

Trades:
n/a

Big contract extensions:
n/a

[Loeffle]

Unsurprisingly the Milwaukee Brewers were not represented at the Sky Dome. In a very one-sided game the AL ripped the NL by a score of 11-1.

[GrimmyDee]

Originally Posted by Loeffle

Trades:
To Indians - 1B Troy Neel (.287, 9 HR, 32 RBI)
To Athletics - SS Omar Vizquel (.307, 0 HR, 17 RBI) and MiLF Nate Rogers

NOOOOOOOOO!!!! Not Omar! He was / is so popular in Cleveland, I am afraid their consecutive home sellout streak would have never happened.

[Loeffle]

Originally Posted by GrimmyDee

NOOOOOOOOO!!!! Not Omar! He was / is so popular in Cleveland, I am afraid their consecutive home sellout streak would have never happened.

Haha, as long they don't trade Albert Belle as well?

[Loeffle]

Brewers record 33-43 (12 GB behind the Reds)

Brewers record last week: 2-2

Power Rankings: 21st (23rd)

A week shortened by the All-Star Game gave decent results and a nice series win at the Dodgers.

We lost OF Matt Mieske (.203/.224/.284, 1 HR, 5 RBI) off waivers to Seattle where he is supposed to replace the injured Ken Griffey. As we are unsure what to do with OF Greg Vaughn we sent him on a rehab assignment until C Rick Wrona comes back from the DL.

Our versatile C B J Surhoff (.300/.335/.485, 5 HR, 39 RBI) signed a 2-year extension worth $1,920,000. The second year is a team option.

Darryl Hamilton watch:
.267/.323/.336 - 14 SB, 1 HR, 22 RBI, -0.4 WAR
slowly, very slowly becoming the leadoff man we were hoping for.

Brewers transactions:
OF Matt Mieske was lost off waivers to Seattle,
OF Greg Vaughn was sent on a rehab assignment.

Players of the Week:
NL - Kevin Stocker, Philadelphia - .599, 4 HR, 10 RBI
AL - Mike Stanley, New York - .588, 5 HR, 8 RBI

Notable injuries:
LF Mitch Webster, Dodgers - .291, 6 HR, 26 RBI - our for four months

Accomplishments:
n/a

Impressive Game Performances:
Cecil Fielder, Tigers - .248, 18 HR; 50 RBI - has 6-hit game against Toronto

Trades:
To Houston - RF Rusty Greer - .298, 5 HR, 29 RBI
To Rangers - MiCF Duncan Watts (#231 prospect) and MiCF Bill McAllister

[jaysdailydose]

Just wanted to stop in and let you know that I'm a fan of what you're doing here, and I will be following along.

Cheers from across the pond!

[Loeffle]

Originally Posted by jaysdailydose

Just wanted to stop in and let you know that I'm a fan of what you're doing here, and I will be following along.

Cheers from across the pond!

Thanks a lot So I keep it going despite losing
Will be on business for eight days, so no updates for some time...

[Loeffle]

Our opening day starter Bill Wegman collected his 10th loss of the season and it's not even July. He took some development hits and is scouted as "emergency starter". He is nevertheless a workhorse, being 4th in the league in innings pitched.
90 % of my players took developments hits, even if my coaching staff is quite good. Normal?

I'm on a business trip for a week, so there won't be any postings for a while.

[Loeffle]

After May gave hope for the future, June was a bit disaster with a 9-16 record. We officially entered rebuild now mode and several big names that don't deliver at all are on the trading block. Unsurprisingly there were no decent offers yet.

At least we can still catch the Cubs?

Who was doing well?
(1) OF Gerald Young who turns 30 soon. He collected an 139 OPS+ by collecting an .462 OPT and stealing 7 bases.
(2) Backups Franklin Stubbs and Troy O'Leary had an OPS+ over 100 as well - the rest of the team did not!
(3) our "new" bullpen did mostly ok. Graeme Lloyd, Scott Bankhead, Mike Timlin and Huck Flener had a WHIP of 1.26 or below and did not lose a game in june.
(4) our rookie teams started their season great by going a combined 17-3. The Beloit Brewers went 10-0!

Who was doing badly?
(1) starting pitching really struggles. Sean Blanton's 4.86 ERA was the best in the rotation. While the other starters had ERAs of 5.17, 5.72, 6.14 and 6.43. No help in sight in the upper minors.
(2) most of the lineup was quite cold as well with B.J. Surhoff (.236/.278/.371) being the biggest disappointment after signing a new deal. Jose Valentin had a low average (.238) but drives in runs (18 RBI).
(3) player development at ML level. Scouts say Teddy Higuera, Sean Blanton, Bill Wegman, Kevin Seitzer and Pat Listach are on the decline.

Huck Flener (too old) dropped out of the top prospects list and is replaced by OF Terry Barlow.

[Loeffle]

Worst teams in baseball are Colorado (28-52), Detroit (29-51), Boston (30-50) and Texas (31-49).

The division leaders are:
New York (49-31)
Cleveland (46-34)
Houston (51-29)
Montréal (61-19)
Cincinnati (47-33)
San Francisco (41-39)

Like in real - Montréal with a season for the history books?

Award winners for June:
Batter of the Month AL - Jeff Bagwell, Houston
Batter of the Month NL - Barry Bonds, San Francisco
Pitcher of the Month AL - Kevin Tapani, Minnesota
Pitcher of the Month NL - Greg Maddux, Atlanta
Rookie of the Month AL - Bob Hamelin, Kansas City
Rookie of the Month NL - Rondell White, Montréal

[Loeffle]

Award winners for June:
Batter of the Month AL - Jeff Bagwell, Houston
Batter of the Month NL - Barry Bonds, San Francisco
Pitcher of the Month AL - Kevin Tapani, Minnesota
Pitcher of the Month NL - Greg Maddux, Atlanta
Rookie of the Month AL - Bob Hamelin, Kansas City
Rookie of the Month NL - Rondell White, Montréal

[Loeffle]

Brewers record 33-50 (16 GB behind the Reds)

Brewers record last week: 0-7

Power Rankings: 27th (21st)

Still winless after the All-Star Game. We entered rebuilding mode, but our players are not really wanted on the trade market.

After Rick Wrona and Greg Vaughn came back from the DL, we had to demote John Jaha and Dave Nilsson (see below).

Darryl Hamilton watch:
.263/.315/.329 - 14 SB, 1 HR, 23 RBI, -0.5 WAR

Brewers transactions:
Recalled from the DL
C Rick Wrona (.305/.365/.556 - 7 HR, 25 RBI)
LF Greg Vaughn (.205/.305/.315 - 3 HR, 13 RBI)
Sent to AAA
1B John Jaha (.176/.333/.353 - 1 HR, 3 RBI)
C/LF Dave Nilsson (.260/.299/.370 - 1 HR, 5 RBI)

Players of the Week:
NL - Barry Bonds, San Francisco - .500, 4 HR, 14 RBI
AL - Ed Taubensee, Houston - .560, 1 HR, 6 RBI

Notable injuries:
n/a

Accomplishments:
n/a

Impressive Game Performances:
n/a

Trade:
To New York - LF Geronimo Berroa - .245, 6 HR, 29 RBI
To Oakland - SP Bob Ojeda - 4-2, 3.61 ERA and MiCF Juan Romo

Big contract extensions:
n/a

[Loeffle]

Brewers record 36-53 (15 GB behind the Reds)

Brewers record last week: 3-3

Power Rankings: 27th (27th)

We managed to finalize a blockbuster deal with Florida - a deal between two teams that won't see the playoffs this year. Key pieces were the Marlins 1B/LF Jeff Conine who is having a career year and our underachieving LF Greg Vaughn, who is still not 30 and only one year away from a 30 HR season. We also added LH 1B Franklin Stubbs and 29 year old prospect Jack "Scruffy" Williams who did great at AAA and another minor prospect. We get two AAA pitchers in addition to Conine that may be good enough for the big leagues next season in Pedro Salinas and Roberto Martínez. A pretty even trade that saves us some money and reduces our log jam in the outfield.

We also lost two of our best batters to injury: SS Jose Valentin and OF Gerald Young.

Oh and Darryl Hamilton heats up!
Darryl Hamilton watch:
.276/.325/.355 - 14 SB, 2 HR, 26 RBI, 0.0 WAR

Brewers transactions:
Recalled from AAA
IF Bill Spiers (.244/.314/.311 - 0 HR, 9 RBI - AAA)
1B John Jaha (.287/.419/.556 - 13 HR, 37 RBI - AAA)
OF/C/1B Dave Nilsson (.367/.412/.719 - 16 HR, 41 RBI - AAA)
Placed on the DL:
SS Jose Valentin (.240/.328/.407 - 7 HR, 49 RBI, 17 SB)
OF Gerald Young (.314/.398/.366 - 0 HR, 17 RBI, 21 SB)

Players of the Week:
NL -Wil Cordero, Montréal - .556, 2 HR, 9 RBI
AL - Tony Phillips, Detroit - .524, 3 HR, 7 RBI

Notable injuries:
CF Lenny Dykstra, Philadelphia - .253, 4 HR, 29 RBI - out for 3 months
SS Luis A Rivera, Yankees - .250, 0 HR, 6 RBI - Career ending injury
RP John Habyan, St. Louis - 1-2-1, 1.69 ERA - Out for 5-6 months
CF Shane Mack, Minnesota - .285, 13 HR, 60 RBI - Out for 4-5 months

Accomplishments:
1B Don Mattingly, Yankees - .329, 8 HR, 40 RBI - 2000th career hit

Impressive Game Performances:
n/a

Trades:
To Florida - LF Greg Vaughn - .203, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 1B/LF Franklin Stubbs - .255, 5 HR, 19 RBI, MiRF Jack Williams, MiCF Terry Barlow and $50,000 in cash.
To Milwaukee - LF/1B Jeff Conine - .349, 17 HR, 60 RBI, MiRP Roberto Martínez (#51 prospect) and MiSP Pedro Salinas (#211 prospect).

To Seattle - C Lance Parrish - .330, 4 HR, 22 RBI
To Pittsburgh - MiRF Juan Valdéz, MiLF Bob Tolbert and Mi1B Darrell Ekins.

To Detroit - SP Jack McDowell - 9-10, 3.47 ERA
To White Sox - SS Travis Fryman - .223, 5 HR, 20 RBI and MiSP Pat Wright (#131 prospect)

To Toronto - RP Willie Blair - 3-1, 6.81 ERA
To Colorado - MiRP Rafael Rivera (#85 prospect) and MiLF Jack Cooper.

To Mets - RP Mike Hartley - 1-1, 4.63 ERA and MiRF Jesús Macias (#149 prospect)
To Minnesota - C Todd Hundley - .260, 18 HR, 34 RBI and $ 500,000 cash.

Big contract extensions:
1B John Kruk, Philadelphia - .325, 5 HR, 43 RBI - 4-year deal worth up to $12,320,000.

[Loeffle]

Brewers record 38-58 (16 GB behind the Reds)

Brewers record last week: 2-5

Power Rankings: 26th (27th)

Rebuilding continues and we managed to ship two expensive and ineffective players away for some mid-level prospects. Opening starter Bill Wegman lost some of his starter qualities during the season and is seen as a solid reliever now. But we are not a team that can spend 15 % of its payroll on a reliever. We added starting pitcher Jaime Navarro to the deal who is a workhorse and only 27 years old. We received minor league pitchers Keith Griffin, Duma Tatarescu, John Robinson and minor league 1B Javier Martínez. Pedro Salinas and Angel Miranda, who was activated from the 60-day DL take the spots on the rotation.
Our payroll is now down to $8,467,100 and we have more than $15,000,000 left for extensions and free agents. In addition our minor league system is not ranked fourth with eight players in the Top 200 prospect list.

Darryl Hamilton watch:
.280/.329/.358 - 18 SB, 2 HR, 29 RBI, 0.2 WAR
finally back in positive WAR territory. Should we resign him?

Brewers transactions:
Recalled from 60-day DL:
SP Angel Miranda (0-1, 6.14 ERA)
Recalled from AAA:
SP Pedro Salinas (1-4, 6.95 ERA - AAA)

Players of the Week:
NL -Madd D Williams, San Francisco - .538, 5 HR, 9 RBI
AL - Ruben Sierra, Oakland - .481, 3 HR, 5 RBI

Notable injuries:
RF Rob Deer, Boston - .235, 15 HR, 43 RBI - out for 4 months
CL Rod Beck, San Francisco - 3-2-18, 4.50 ERA - Out for 6-7 months
LF Raul Mondesi, Dodgers - .346, 17 HR, 72 RBI - Out for 6-7 months

Accomplishments:
n/a

Impressive Game Performances:
n/a

Trades:

To Dodgers - 1B Will Clark - .328, 4 HR, 50 RBI
To Texas - MiSp Chris Miller (#74 prospect), MiCF Augusto Rocha, Mi2B Lynn Adams and MiCF Brentt Dorsey.

To Texas - MiSP John O'Halloran (#122 prospect) and MiC Jorge Fabregas
To California - C Brian Harper - .230, 1 HR, 18 RBI and $648,000 in cash

To San Francisco - RP Bill Wegman - 4-12, 3.91 ERA and SP Jaime Navarro - 5-7, 5.52 ERA
To Milwaukee - MiRP Keith Griffin (#89 prospect), MiSP Duma Tatarescu (#148 prospect), MiSP John Robinson and Mi1B Javier Martínez

To Toronto - RF Chris James - .247, 6 HR, 28 RBI
To Texas - Mi2B Félix Palmeiro

To Minnesota - SS Tony Fernandez - .298, 4 HR, 15 RBI
To Cincinnati - RP Mark Guthrie - 0-2, 4.40 ERA and MiSP Félix Léon (#28 prospect).

Big contract extensions:
n/a

[Loeffle]

Brewers record 42-60 (15 GB behind the Reds)

Brewers record last week: 4-2

Power Rankings: 22th (26th)

No trades this week and we even ended week 17 with winning series against the Padres and the division leading Reds. We are slowly crawling closer to the Cubs and Cardinals, while the No 1 draft pick seems increasingly unlikely. Reliever Mike Ignasiak was activated from the DL, reliever Teddy Higuera sent to AAA and OF Gerald Young sent to a rehab assignment.

Darryl Hamilton watch:
.274/.325/.348 - 18 SB, 2 HR, 29 RBI, 0.1 WAR
He's the only player to make more than a million dollars this season. I really like him, but won't resign him if he wants more than a million again.

Brewers transactions:
Recalled from 60-day DL:
RP Mike Ignasiak (0-0, 2.19 ERA)
Sent down to AAA:
RP Teddy Higuera (2-1, 7.06 ERA)

Players of the Week:
NL -Madd D Williams, San Francisco - .619, 5 HR, 9 RBI
AL - Frank E Thomas, White Sox - .440, 3 HR, 11 RBI

Notable injuries:
RF Dion James, Dodgers - .135, 0 HR, 2 RBI - career ending injury (torn labrum)
SP Danny Darwin, Boston - 6-12, 4.98 ERA - Out for 10 months
SP Bill C Swift, San Francisco - 7-11, 4.16 ERA - Out for 4-5 months

Accomplishments:
n/a

Impressive Game Performances:
SP Randy D Johnson, Mariners - 15-7, 2.52 ERA - has a 16 strikeout game (he's on pace for 388 strikeout season).

Trades:

To Kansas City - LF John Vander Wal - .259, 5 HR, 14 RBI
To Colorado - MiSS Alejandro Ortíz (#105 prospect) and MiCF Paul Thomas.

To Atlanta - CL Alejandro Pena - 1-5-1, 6.13 ERA
To Pittsburgh - MiSS Jim Watson (#145 prospect), MiRP Valentin González (#58 prospect) and MiLF Bubba Smith.

To Cincinnati - RF Junior Felix - .285, 23 HR, 59 RBI
To Detroit - MiSP Bill Smith (#143 prospect), MiRP Félix León (#28 prospect), MiSP Randy Davis (#29 prospect) and Mi1B Mike Kennedy (#140 prospect).

To Montréal - 2B Julio Franco - .364, 12 HR, 40 RBI
To White Sox - RF Matt Stairs - .324, 14 HR, 50 RBI and MiSS Jack Jones (#46 prospect).

Some desperate and crazy "win now" trades.

Big contract extensions:
n/a

[Loeffle]

Brewers record 44-65 (15 GB behind the Reds)

Brewers record last week: 2-5

Power Rankings: 26th (22th)

Back from vacation and back to another losing streak, which ended with two win against the Braves and Cardinals (where we almost blew a 12 run lead).
The trade deadline without us making another deal. We got a bad offer for Gerald Young which would not improve us at all from the Dodgers, so we declined.

Darryl Hamilton watch:
.271/.325/.343 - 20 SB, 2 HR, 30 RBI, 0.2 WAR
Gained another 1/10 WAR, but most likely won't be around next season.

Brewers transactions:
n/a

Players of the Week:
NL - Dave Clark, Pittsburgh - .688, 2 HR, 12 RBI
AL - Jim Thome, Cleveland - .423, 3 HR, 8 RBI

Notable injuries:
RP Paul Assenmacher, White Sox - 2-1-2, 0.73 ERA - Out for 5 months
SP William VanLandingham, San Francisco - 5-10, 3.69 ERA - Out for 4-5 months

Accomplishments:
n/a

Impressive Game Performances:
n/a

Trades:

To Baltimore - CL Bobby Ayala - 0-1-21, 2.89 ERA and RP Bill Risley - 2-0, 2.22 ERA
To Seattle - MiC Jeff Lawrence (#178 prospect), MiSP Jack Mitchell (#38 prospect), Mi2B Javier Rocha and MiRF Sherman Obando.

To San Francisco - C Chad Kreuter - .164, 0 HR, 4 RBI
To Detroit - RF Willie McGee - .188, 0 HR, 3 RBI and MiCF Josh Rowe.

To Yankees - 2B Jerry Browne - .313, 3 HR, 41 RBI
To Florida - RP Steve Howe - 5-3-19, 2.89 ERA and MiSP Mariano Cavazos.

To Colorado - 3B Alan Trammell - .241, 0 HR, 7 RBI
To Detroit - MiSS Allen Ford.

To Dodgers - RF Gary Sheffield - .305, 28 HR, 89 RBI
To Florida - 1B Henry L Rodriguez - .279, 8 HR, 33 RBI and Mi2B Edgardo Sánchez (#23 prospect).

To Philadelphia - RF Jose Canseco - .297, 16 HR, 56 RBI
To Texas - MiCL Thomas Cordero (#26 prospect) and MiLF Júlio Calderón

To Kansas City - 2B Luis Alicea - .208, 1 HR, 8 RBI
To St. Louis - Mi2B Alfredo Martinez and MiRF David Wheeler.

Big contract extensions:
RF David Justice, Atlanta - .320, 17 HR, 58 RBI - 1 year $ 1,900,000

[Loeffle]

As noted last month we went into rebuild mode quite early during the season. Trading away some veteran resulted in a reduced payroll (-33%) and a solid minor league system (improved from 11th to 4th since the beginning of the season). Sadly reliever Roberto Martínez is the only prospect that could make an impact next season.

July ended with a 11-18 record, at least a slight improvement over June (9-16). Our division is rather weak, therefore we are only 15 GB the Reds and with a hot autumn we could finish 3rd.

Who was doing well?
(1) LF Jeff Conine didn't reach his Marlins numbers, but 130 OPS+ (.308, 4 HR, 17 RBI) is very good for our dimensions.
(2) The Dave Nilsson/Troy O'Leary outfield platoon did well, too. Nilsson batted well over .300, while O'Leary was solid in driving in runs.
(3) Mike Birkbeck and Sean Blanton continue to carry the rotation with solid pitching and eating innings despite their rather limited potential.
(4) Relievers Ricky Bones, Graeme Lloyd and Mike Fetters had a very good month.

Who was doing badly?
(1) The bottom of the rotation: Cal Eldred (5.95 ERA), Pedro Salinas (6.45 ERA) and Angel Miranda (6.63 ERA) couldn't get the job done.
(2) Relievers Scott Bankhead (8.31 ERA), Mike Timlin (6.17 ERA) and Huck Flener (5.06 ERA) were equally horrible.
(3) C Rick Wrona struggles badly after signing a new contract and coming off the DL. Batting .190 while driving in 10 (an ok number).
(4) IF and bench players John Jaha (.067), Bill Spiers (.214) and Pat Listach (.233) should not be on a big league roster.

[Loeffle]

Worst teams in baseball are Detroit (42-67), Boston (44-65), Colorado (44-65) and we (44-65).

The division leaders are:
New York (64-45)
Cleveland (61-48)
Houston (67-42)
Montréal (78-31)
Cincinnati (59-50)
San Francisco (59-50)

Award winners for July:
Batter of the Month AL - Frank Thomas, White Sox
Batter of the Month NL - Matt D Williams, San Francisco
Pitcher of the Month AL - Shane Reynolds, Houston
Pitcher of the Month NL - Greg Maddux, Atlanta
Rookie of the Month AL - Rusty Greer, Houston
Rookie of the Month NL - Eddie Zambrano, Cubs

[Loeffle]

Award winners for July:
Batter of the Month AL - Frank Thomas, White Sox
Batter of the Month NL - Matt D Williams, San Francisco
Pitcher of the Month AL - Shane Reynolds, Houston
Pitcher of the Month NL - Greg Maddux, Atlanta
Rookie of the Month AL - Rusty Greer, Houston
Rookie of the Month NL - Eddie Zambrano, Cubs

[Loeffle]

Brewers record 47-68 (15 GB behind the Reds)

Brewers record last week: 3-3

Power Rankings: 25th (26th)

We swept the Cardinals (our first sweep in almost three months), just to get swept by the Dodgers. Seems to be an interesting race with the Cardinals for fourth place in the division. Starting pitcher Angel Miranda (3-3, 4.81 ERA) got injured again (diagnosis pending) after two very impressive starts in a row.

Darryl Hamilton watch:
.270/.321/.343 - 20 SB, 2 HR, 33 RBI, 0.2 WAR

Brewers transactions:
n/a

Players of the Week:
AL - Chuck Knoblauch, Minnesota - .538, 1 HR, 8 RBI
NL - Junior Felix, Cincinnati - .435, 3 HR, 7 RBI

Notable injuries:
RP Mel Rojas, Montréal - 7-1-5, 3.43 ERA - Out for 4 to 5 months (after throwing a shoe to stop a cat from meowing)
SP Mike Mussina, Baltimore - 11-10, 3.64 ERA - Out for 2 months
SP Al Leiter, Toronto - 10-7, 3.30 ERA - Out for 3 months
CL Doug Jones, Philadelphia - 7-4-23, 1.88 ERA - Out for 2 to 3 months

Accomplishments:
n/a

Impressive Game Performances:
SP Pedro Martinez, Montréal - 14-5, 3.41 ERA - 17 strikeouts against the Mets

Big contract extensions:
C Jim Leyritz, Yankees - .240, 3 HR, 15 RBI - 3 year $ 6,140,000