Here come Harvey’s Wallbangers
posted in Milwaukee Brewers, Power rankings, trade rumors |Everyone knows Upper Peninsula loyalties are split. “Half of them are Packers fans, half of them are Lions fans.” More like 75% are Packers fans, but you get the point. What you never hear is that U.P. loyalties are really split when it comes to baseball. Cubs fans are everywhere. For awhile, I would have no trouble finding a Cubs T-shirt but found absolutely no Tigers stuff. Since 2004, the Tigers seem to have taken the lead. Olde English D caps are appearing on heads everywhere.
And then there’s the Milwaukee Brewers. That’s a strange one. For awhile, Bob Eucker broadcasts covered much of the peninsula. They don’t now, which any baseball fan would agree is disappointing. They were always a pleasure to listen to. You can pick up your local newspaper and read about the Brew Crew. Last night, the main U.P. television station led its baseball highlights with Milwaukee. And yet, I haven’t actually met a Brewers fan, nor have I seen a jersey, nor have I seen a hat. There must be Brewers fans somewhere. But it’s possible they’re a dying breed up here.
But on to the home-run hitting Wallbangers, or, at least, as close as Milwaukee has come to them in some years. The Brewers come into the series with 95 home runs, good for second in the National League. As we’ve seen lately, they seem to really enjoy the longball in the ninth inning. The Milwaukeee Journal Sentinel reports the Brewers have 20 come-from-behind victories in 24 games wins at Miller Park. Not sure how many are in the ninth, but it seems like quite a few. Given Todd Jones recent struggles, that leaves me a bit nervous if El Caballo Carlos Lee brings his 23 HRs and 58 RBIs to the plate. Protecting him is Cecil’s boy, Prince Fielder, who brings 13 homers and an OPS of .889 into the series. And protecting him is Bill Hall, who brings 13 HRs and an OPS of .918. So the meat of that lineup is nothing to overlook.
Milwaukee’s woes come mostly from its lack of pitching and defense. It gave up the most runs in the league without a designated hitter, so that’s probably not a good thing. Tigers batters are going to have to jump all over their pitching just in case a pitcher has an off day. I do not want to see a close game in the ninth inning, as I’ve mentioned. But give Milwaukee some credit, it held the slumping Indians to nine runs in three days and, thanks to that, are one of the four NL teams with a winning record in interleague play. And Detroit faces Milwaukee ace Chris Capuano on Wednesday.
A few interesting things I picked up in the Journal Sentinel. (I may actually buy a copy of it this week. Yes, it’s available right next to the Detroit newspapers). Michael Hunt writes:
Not since their 5-0 start have the Brewers put together a sustained run of success. There was the four-game winning streak in mid-May and various flashes of promise here and there, but nothing to equal the near bottoming out that occurred during eight consecutive days of gloom and despair against Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Washington. The Brewers’ vulnerability was on full display then, with the problems at the bottom of the rotation and with the gloves threatening to undermine all the promise they brought into 2006.
But now the Brewers are winning again because they can catch the ball.
It has the potential to be an interesting series. Like Detroit, there’s a lot to be excited about in Milwaukee right now. If they had pitching to go with their batting, they’d be a scary team, indeed.
Trade Rumors starting
First on Sunday Night Basebal on ESPN, there’s talk about John Smoltz to the Tigers, and even Smoltz mentioned something about it. I don’t buy that it would happen, but it was interesting to hear. Now the Detroit News reports Aubrey Huff being traded to the Tigers would surprise no one — or almost no one.
The Devil Rays will be happy to trade Huff and the remainder of his 2006 contract ($6.75 million) for, well, for what will you give them?
Although by no means ideal, Huff makes sense for Detroit. He is a left-handed hitter with power. He can play first, third or even the outfield (albeit, not very well). He ranks, in that sense, as a Dmitri Young -type player without the career average.
…Huff, 29, is having a lousy season (.200, three home runs, 14 RBI), but he hit 120 homers through his first six big-league seasons and could find life with a possible playoff contender to be just the Vitamin B shot a career Devil Ray needs.
I don’t like that one either unless he came cheap. Carl Crawford, maybe I’d accept that. But Huff better come for some low ceiling prospects Detorit isn’t excited over, because I am not convinced he could catch on, nor that there’s really a position to put him at. Given his career numbers, I’m sure he’s primed for a rebound of some sort. So, maybe I’m one of the three or four who’d be surprised because I don’t think it makes enough sense from Detroit’s side of things.
Tigers remain 3 in SI power rankings
No changes worth noting really. White Sox and Mets are Nos. 1 and 2. Tigers are 3.
Spam Filter
My apologies to anyone who has posted a comment and not had it appear. As far as I can tell that’s only happened to one person, and twice. The spam filter flags things and is pretty accurate but sometimes flags non-spam, as Bilfer mentioned at DTW today. I thought I’d best check mine and low-and-behold, nonspam snuck in. If your comment doesn’t immediately appear, e-mail me at mensching-at-gmail.com. Thanks!
Sphere It
I agree that Huff belongs only if he comes for peanuts. I’d much more than maybe accept Crawford, but given that his price tag has been linked with Ervin Santana, I think we’d have to pay a lot and though worth it, I’d rather stand pat than give up a great young arm.
[...] While Lynn Henning said weeks ago he’d be surprised if Huff landed anywhere but Detroit, I disagreed. [...]