There's a lot to talk about from the weekend. I'm not sure I have time to fit it all in. Let's go team by team starting with my favorite:
Brewers
There's lots of sort-of-big Brewers news since the last time I posted. Since it became official that Macha was the new Manager, the Brewers have been working to complete their coaching staff. Dale Sveum has swallowed his pride and will come back as hitting coach. So if you're keeping score at home, that means Sveum's coaching career as a Brewers has gone bench coach -> third base coach -> bench coach -> manager -> hitting coach. Right?
Interestingly, Mike Maddux will not return. From the Dallas Morning News:
The Rangers will name Mike Maddux pitching coach perhaps as early as Monday, a source with knowledge of the process said Sunday night.
GM Jon Daniels confirmed only that the Rangers had been in touch with Maddux this weekend. He did not confirm or deny the report. The Rangers were able to contact Maddux about the job officially on Saturday, a day after his contract with Milwaukee expired. Maddux, 47, has been the Brewers pitching coach the last six seasons. Milwaukee had extended him an offer to remain as new manager Ken Macha's pitching coach, but Maddux refrained from signing anything until talking to the Rangers.
I can't say that I'm too upset about this. I think it's hard for a fan to know how good of a job a pitching coach or a hitting coach is doing, or how much say they have in bullpen moves and that sort of thing. But Maddux never seemed to do much in that department, and there's a pretty long list of guys that pitched poorly under Maddux and then went on to be solid somewhere else. Maybe that's true of any coach, but I'm interested to see who they hire to replace him, and how the staff looks next season as a result.
Regarding players: the Brewers declined Craig Counsel's option, but it's probably still possible he'll be on the crew next year at a lower salary. We'll see. The Brewers have until today to decide on Mike Cameron's option. I think they shoud take it. The biggest news it that the Brewers have indeed offered CC Sabathia 4 years for $100 Million. We probably won't know much about this for a while. The Brewers have until the 13th to negotiate with Sabathia before other teams can start talking to him. C'mon CC. You know you love Milwaukee.
Packers
The Packers lost to the Titans in a very close, field goal-infested, overtime, road game. It sucks to lose those. That brings the pack to 4-4 at the half way point of the season. The Bears managed to eek out a win against the Lions under the strong arm of.... Rex Grossman? to bring them to 5-3 and in sole possession of the division.
The Packers looked solid against the best team in the NFL. The offense can definitely roll, but is still subject to an occasional miscue. That, and the inability to put the ball in the end zone made it a difficult game to win. The Defense kept the game in reach, but couldn't come up with a stop in OT.
Bucks
The Bucks still have a .500 record after losing their home opener to Toronto and then beating the Knickerbockers in New York or New Jersey or where ever they play. I was at the home opener, and they looked a LOT more like an NBA team then they had during the preseason. The defense looked good for the most part and they all appeared to be trying--even Charlie Villanueva. That seemed like enough to get the crowd into it. In the end, they lost a close one to a better team, but it wasn't a hard loss to swallow. Ramon Sessions is a better point guard than Luke Ridnour. I imagine he'll be the official starter in the near future, regardless of Luke's back spasms. Dan Gadzuric is terrible. The difference between the Bucks when Bogut is on the court and the Bucks when Bogut is not on the court is huge. We could really use a more functional back-up center.
Badgers
I think Bret Bielema's tenure as the Badgers' coach will be coming to an end in the very near future. He basically gave Michigan State one of the Badgers' time-outs in a situation in which they really needed it. It wasn't the only factor in the Badgers' 1-point loss, but it was a big one.
1 day ago
7 comments:
Wow, I know the Badgers have sucked, but ranking them below the Bucks?
Where did you get the information that the offer was 4-100?
I'm not so concerned about Bielema being an idiot on the field. He had a bad day but he's not always a bad game mgr. It's the pereption of his recruiting classes that is most troubling.
Traker, after rereading it, it looks like I was wrong. It's confirmed that an offer was made but I guess the amount and duration are still rumor.
Rumor I've heard has all been skewed to 5-100 lately, which seems way low in light of Sanatana money.
Anyway, this may sound off-point, but gimme a minute. The economy is not very good. My profession gives me insight into the budgeting and workings of several Fortune 500 companies, and their projections for '09 are brutal. I'm not an economist, but in my estimation, the argument will not be whether or not we are in recession; that will be assumed. Rather, it will be whether we've crossed the line to depression.
In such an economy, marketing dollars, which keep so many sports profitable and afloat, disappear.
Is baseball immune to such an economy? I don't see how it could be, but it could be structured to weather such a storm better than other major sports. And as it applies locally, I wonder if 5-100 for CC, while seeming like a relative bargain, is prudent. For the Brewers or the Yankees. For baseball.
I guess I'll miss NASCAR.
Rumor I've heard has all been skewed to 5-100 lately, which seems way low in light of Sanatana money.
Anyway, this may sound off-point, but gimme a minute. The economy is not very good. My profession gives me insight into the budgeting and workings of several Fortune 500 companies, and their projections for '09 are brutal. I'm not an economist, but in my estimation, the argument will not be whether or not we are in recession; that will be assumed. Rather, it will be whether we've crossed the line to depression.
In such an economy, marketing dollars, which keep so many sports profitable and afloat, disappear.
Is baseball immune to such an economy? I don't see how it could be, but it could be structured to weather such a storm better than other major sports. And as it applies locally, I wonder if 5-100 for CC, while seeming like a relative bargain, is prudent. For the Brewers or the Yankees. For baseball.
I guess I'll miss NASCAR.
Mike Francessa of New York's WFAN on the Brewer's offer to CC and how it will compare to the Yankees' offer:
"That's tip money!"
Eh, most people don't tip 80%
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