Thoughts on A Second Half of Frustration for This Brewers Fan
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I'm bitter.
No, I'm extremely bitter.
Cubs fans, your team did not earn its NL Central title. The Cubs were given the title. You can go ahead and name Derrick Turnbow your team's Most Valuable Player now, with runners-up going to the entire pitching staff minus the youngest one of them all, Yovani Gallardo, and Ned Yost.
Yost continued to show his general lack of urgency that I spoke of before, and Turnbow continued to show his general lack of command that lost him the closer role in 2006. He gave up 11 walks in 12 appearances thus far in September and boasts a God awful 9.36 ERA in the month.
But Yost stuck with him--and Matt Wise too--until the end, and it cost the Brewers a division title.
But let's not forget about Chris Capuano, the forgotten scapegoat, who hasn't won a game since May 7, a span of 22 appearances. Capuano had another forgettable performance on Friday, hitting his usual impenetrable wall mid-game. The sight from the stands was all too familiar for me.
And who knew the best spot to get a souvenir game ball was alongside the camera dugouts behind first base, where a lucky fan could grab a number of errant throws from Ryan Braun?
How about Ben Sheets, still without more than 12 wins in a season and one more injury-riddled season like this away from Mark Prior territory.
Looking back on it, I'm not even sure how this team managed to win as many games as they did. But here they are, a winning season--the first since 1992--is still just one win away. But then again, it was one win away in 2005 too and they lost their last two games to finish at .500.
But congratulations, Cubs fans, you're a few more wins away from that regional circlejerk around the state fair's Billy goat exhibit you've been waiting for for nearly a century, but more than likely you'll be back to your coloring books and paint by numbers in a week or two.
But then again, the Brewers can improve by releasing Geoff Jenkins short of his club option and freeing up $7 million for an everyday, consistent corner outfielder who can fill the void until Matt LaPorta is ready in a few years.
What the Brewers are in need of is a guy who gets on base consistently. Rickie Weeks showed a lot of improvement when he was brought back up from the minors but his batting average was still weak despite his power numbers going up. He does show a lot more patience at the plate which is a definite plus moving forward, but he's not exactly where you want him to be.
I'm not sold on Bill Hall as a 35 home run hitter however, and because of his relapse this year I'm not sold on him as your everyday center fielder. I think the Brewers might do some good moving him into left to replace Jenkins and inserting Tony Gwynn Jr. into center. Gwynn's been the only one I've seen who seems like he has the ability to fill that prototypical lead off role the Brewers seem to be lacking.
At this point, do the Brewers have the ability to go out and sign another high profile free agent, or are they still forced to work with what they've got? On the latter end, they run the risk of repeating the disappointing season of 2007.