Hello Brewershomeplate readers!  It’s been a long time since the unfortunate end to Milwaukee’s Postseason appearance, but with Spring Training fast approaching, it is time to provide a little insight into what I believe the Brew Crew will look like this year.

Offense:

First and foremost…NEXT TO NOTHING HAS CHANGED!  Every starter 1-8 in the lineup (although the order will probably be shifted) was a Brewer starter in 2008.  Although this is great for team chemistry that is many times lacking in today’s free agent era, the offense…well…it plainly and simply was mediocre at best last season.  Pitching carried the team through the season and into the playoffs, though the offense probably got a little more of the limelight what with Ryan Braun’s legendary home runs and such.  Conversely, the bench will be very different in ’09.  Gabe Kapler (Tampa Bay Rays), Russell Branyan (Seattle Mariners), and probably Ray Durham either have parted ways with Milwaukee or are going to.  This is not good news, as those players managed to provide key sparks to the team when it needed it the most.  Notably, Branyan’s ability to hit a home run any time he strode to the plate, or Kapler’s hard-nosed defense and offensive saavy.  Durham managed to keep the struggling Rickie Weeks motivated at 2nd base and came up with quite an impressive highlight reel himself in the waning months of the 2008 campaign.  The bench this year will still feature the ever-dependable vet, Craig Counsell as well as late-season acquisition Mike Lamb, who will probably be a platoon starter with Bill Hall at 3rd base this year.  Several wild cards to make the bench are Trot Nixon (the ex-Boston Red Sox outfielder), Tony Gwynn Jr., Casey McGehee, a 3rd baseman plucked off waivers in the off season, and perhaps Matt Gamel, the highly touted 3rd base prospect.  Mike Rivera will again be Jason Kendall’s backup at catcher.  So look for the offense to be slightly more productive in ’09, considering the chemistry and new hitting coach, Dale Sveum, who should relate to the players a lot more effectively than the departed Jim Skaalen did.

Pitching:

This is where things could get messy.  The two greatest starting pitchers perhaps ever to don a Brewers uniform are leaving.  CC Sabathia is a New York Yankee, and Ben Sheets is being courted by the Texas Rangers, and although he hasn’t signed with anyone (there is talk of elbow surgery in his future), he has made it clear being a Brewer is not interesting to him any longer.  That throws the young Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra likely to the top of the starting 5.  Dave Bush should be number 3, with Jeff Suppan behind him at 4.  The 5th spot in the rotation is a little more confusing, as Seth McClung could be a possible answer here, but his flashes of late-inning brilliance may place him in the bull pen.  Carlos Villanueva will be the set up man or long reliever, as he never really settled into a groove as a starter.  The new member to the pen is Trevor Hoffman, a much safer and predictable new closer than Eric Gagne was, because his best seasons were brought about by his pin-point control and wicked changeup (which he hasn’t lost by the way), not steroids.  Guillermo Mota, Salomon Torres, and Brian Shouse are gone as well as Gagne, and that could create a void Trevor Hoffman, Jorge Julio, and Mitch Stetter may or may not be able to succesfully fill.  Julio has been unraveling his past couple years, and Stetter is quite young (albeit he certainly has talent).  Hoffman is certainly aging, but is definitely serviceable (unfortunately, his mid 80s fastball is a little more hittable than Torres’ low 90s sinkers were)  So the pen should be about as good if not slightly better than in 2008.  The starting rotation will almost certainly not produce another 90 win season, BUT, there is enough talent there for new pitching coach Bill Castro to perhaps mold into a legitimate Wild Card contending staff.

Coaching

Dale Sveum is still a member of the Milwaukee coaching staff, but not in a manegerial role.  He is the hitting coach and Ken Macha, the ex-manager of the Oakland Athletics, is taking the big chair.  Willie Randolph, the ex-New York Met’s manager, will be the bench coach.  Needless to say Macha should do a better job making the tough decisions than Ned Yost did, and Willie Randolph will probably be a little harder on the players than Robin Yount or Dale Sveum before him were, which could certainly be what the younger players need to keep themselves motivated.  Mike Maddux, the wizard of resurrecting pitchers plucked off the scrap heap’s careers is now a Ranger coach, and long-time bullpen coach Bill Castro probably will not do quite as good a job as Maddux did.  But he knows his players and their tendencies well, and that is a very good sign.  All in all, the coaching staff is miles and miles ahead of where it was at this point last year.

My Projected Lineup by Position:

1B: Prince Fielder
2B: Rickie Weeks
SS: J.J. Hardy
3B: Bill Hall/Mike Lamb/Casey McGehee
C: Jason Kendall
LF: Ryan Braun
CF: Mike Cameron
RF: Corey Hart

My Projected Season Numbers

Final record: 87-75
Standings: 2nd place, NL Central, NL Wild Card runner up

The Dave Bush-led Brewers were believed by 100% of TBS analysts to be swept by the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday evening in Milwaukee.  Good thing they’re analysts and not prophets.  The Brewers jumped out to a 1st inning 2-0 lead thanks to some tremendous patience at the plate against the 45-year-old Jamie Moyer.  Mike Cameron and Bill Hall walked to start things off and took 2nd and 3rd on a wild pitch.  Ryan Braun struck out, but Prince Fielder drove in Cameron with a sac fly.  With two gone, J.J. Hardy ripped a single into left that gave the Crew another run.  Braun hit a sac fly in the 5th to make it 3-0, but his offense stranded the bases loaded in that frame.

Bush threw 5.1 innings, yielding 5 hits, no walks, struck out 3, and gave up only 1 run.  In the 6th, Jayson Werth hit the ball out to deep right, where Corey Hart tumbled into the wall with the ball in his glove, but lost his grip on it when he came crashing to the ground.  The play turned into a triple, and Bush was pulled in favor of the young lefty Mitch Stetter, who induced an RBI groundout to big Ryan Howard.  Carlos Villanueva then retired Pat Burrell for the final out.  The pitcher was allowed to hit for himself with one out in the 6th, and singled.  Mike Cameron and Bill Hall did likewise, but Ryan Braun struck out and Prince Fielder flew out to shallow left.  Villanueva proceeded to throw a flawless 7th.

Two veterans chipped in in the 7th to provide a little insurance.  J.J. Hardy led things off with a single and made it to second on a beautiful sac bunt by Corey Hart.  Craig Counsell (owner of two World Series rings) then hit a tough chopper on the right side of the mound and dove headfirst onto the first base bag for an infield single.  Another vet, backstop Jason Kendall lined a run-scoring single to left right after.  Eric Gagne worked around a Jayson Werth double for a scoreless 8th (he retired former Brewer outfielder Geoff Jenkins, who finally got his Milwaukee Post Season appearance, for out number 1).

In the 9th, things got very interesting for Salomon Torres, who surrendered singles to the first three men to greet him.  The bases were juiced with nobody out, but Torres threw a sharp slider that Pedro Feliz chopped into a double play.  A run originally scored on the play, but due to the fact that Shane Victorino bowled over the fielding Counsell at second without sliding, interference was ruled, and Ryan Howard had to return to third base.  The next batter, Carlos Ruiz, bounced back to Torres, who flipped the ball to Fielder at first to seal the 4-1 victory.  Not since Game 5 of the 1982 World Series had the Brewers won a Post Season game.

Offensive MVP: J.J. Hardy (3-4/1R/1RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Dave Bush (5.1IP/5H/1ER/0BB/3SO/0HR/Win-1st)

Alex’s Take:

This was a much-needed win.  It forced a Game 4 featuring Jeff Suppan squaring off against Phillies’ righty Joe Blanton.  The offense looked very patient at the plate on Saturday, and that is the only hope the Crew has of winning tomorrow and giving Sabathia another shot on Tuesday.  Suppan will have to prove that he is truly an October pitcher as well, and that Doug Melvin was wise to invest so much money in him.

Yovani Gallardo had gone 4 months without pitching, as he had gone down to a torn ACL that required what was considered originally to be season-ending knee surgery.  Turns out that 4 months was all the time in the world for the prized young starter.  Operating off a strict pitch count and not even swinging the bat when he came to the plate, the Brewers kept him relatively safe.  Gallardo, in turn, kept the Brewers’ Post Season hopes relatively safe.  Staked to an early 1-0 lead off a Bill Hall RBI double in the 3rd, he went on to mow down 7 Pirates in 4.0 innings, giving up only 1 run off a home run by Steve Pearce in the 4th.  The next batter walked, but Gallardo induced an inning-ending double play by Ronnie Paulino right after.

Then came the bullpen: seven pitchers, six innings, zero runs allowed in one of its finest performances of the year.  Offensively, the Crew was not so impressive for the rest of the first 9 innings.  They actually only stranded 5 runners on Thursday, but they simply couldn’t execute small ball, and it forced extras.  In the top of the 10th, the Buckos threatened big time against Todd Coffey.  With one out, he surrendered a single to Jason Michaels, who then reached second on a fielder’s choice.  Enter Pittsburgh’s All Star center fielder Nate McLouth and lefty Mitch Stetter for the biggest out of his career thus far.  From a 3-1 count, Stetter got McLouth to whiff at that sweeping slider of his, and froze him on another one, recording the punch-out and bringing things to the bottom 10th.

That’s when things got interesting.  Rickie Weeks started things off against Jesse Chavez with a single, and was moved to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt from the catcher Jason Kendall.  Pinch-hitter Ray Durham, who has torn things up at Miller Park this year, was intentionally walked, putting two runners on with only 1 out.  Alas, Mike Cameron failed to end it as he went down swinging.  Craig Counsell then strode to the plate, crazy stance and all, and worked arguably the biggest walk by a Brewer in 2008 (it only took 5 pitches).  This put the game, and with the Mets winning their game on a Carlos Beltran walk-off single moments earlier, possibly the season in the hands of sore and struggling left fielder Ryan Braun.  He needed merely a bloop single or a walk, but the end result turned out to be far more legendary.  On a 2-2 count, he finally got some of his prodigious power into a swing, and the ball went a long, long way.  Braun collected the 1st and only grand slam by Milwaukee all season, as well as the first walk-off shot of his major league career.  If the Brewers manage to reach the playoffs, it will probably be considered the defining moment of 2008, and one of the biggest home runs in Brewer history.

Offensive MVP: Ryan Braun (1-5/1R/1HR/4RBI/0BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: Carlos Villanueva, Eric Gagne, Guillermo Mota, Brian Shouse, Salomon Torres, Todd Coffey, Mitch Stetter(Win-3rd) (6.0IP/6H/0ER/1BB/3SO/0HR)

This one looked great in the first inning, and much less good in the third.  Ben Sheets had gone a mere 2 innings when he exited with right forearm tightness, and this put tremendous pressure on the oft-criticized Milwaukee bullpen as well as new manager, Dale Sveum, to hold on for the last 7 innings against the deadly Chicago lineup.  They did.  In perhaps their greatest collective performance of 2008, seven relievers combined to throw 7 one-run, 5 hit (all singles) innings and seal a huge 6-2 victory on Wednesday night at Wrigley.  Prince Fielder ripped a double down the right field line off Jason Marquis in the first to unload the bases and put his club up 3-0.  Sheets yielded a home-run to Cubs’ third baseman Aramis Ramirez, and went down with an injury he probably received while taking a swing in the top of the third.  Enter Mark DiFelice, who hurled 2 scoreless.  Then new acquisition Todd Coffey for the 5th, Carlos Villanueva for 2/3 of the 6th, and Mitch Stetter to retire Jim Edmonds for the final out of that inning.  J.J. Hardy hit an RBI double in the 7th, and Corey Hart lined a single to left that scored a pair of Brewers and put his club up a commanding 6-1.  Even Eric Gagne pitched in, throwing a flawless 7th inning.  Guillermo Mota did give up a single and a walk, but got through the 8th unscathed.  In the 9th, Salomon Torres struggled, but should have gotten out of it without a run scoring, but Prince Fielder, who had otherwise had a spectacular night, failed to field a low throw from Ray Durham that would have completed a game-ending double play.  A run scored on the play, but Torres came right back to retire pinch-hitter Daryle Ward to wrap it up.

Offensive MVP: Prince Fielder (3-4/1R/22B/3RBI/1BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Mark DiFelice (Win-1st), Todd Coffey, Carlos Villanueva, Mitch Stetter, Eric Gagne, Guillermo Mota, Salomon Torres (7IP/5H/1ER/3BB/6SO/0HR)

Alex’s Take:

The offense seems to be clicking again, Prince Fielder is crushing nearly everything he sees, and the bullpen turned in a great (not just good, but great) performance!  This happened against the Chicago Cubs of all teams!  Dale Sveum, though I don’t know if it was something he said or just his calm demeanor, really managed his pen well tonight, in a game that the Cubs could’ve easily charged back against the Achilles’ heel of this 2008 Milwaukee team.  The key to this series is obviously the rubber match tomorrow, and a tough match up it is.  Dave Bush will be pitted against Rich Harden, a spectacular pitcher who dominated the Crew the last time he faced them.  The offense will probably need 5 runs or more to win tomorrow’s critical game, but the good news is, it seems like they are capable of doing it now.

For once, CC Sabathia cost the Brewers a game.  He gave up 4 runs in 7 so-so innings, and although Prince Fielder seems to have returned, he hit two home-runs, and the Milwaukee offense rallied against Chicago closer Kerry Wood, the Crew dropped yet another important September game.  Now, after leading for months, they are finally trailing Philadelphia by 1.0 game in the Wild Card race.  Ray Durham hit an RBI double in the ninth, and with runners on the corners and two gone, Fielder got another chance, battled, but fell to Wood’s wicked curveball.  Thus it was that Milwaukee fell 5-4 to the Cubs.  Carlos Villanueva gave up 1 run in the eighth that eventually cost the team the game, but Sabathia should shoulder a good portion of the blame for two of the nine hits he surrendered.  One was a two-run double by Aramis Ramirez, and the other was a solo shot by Alfonso Soriano in the seventh.  Take those hits away and the Crew probably wins the game, but hindsight is 20-20 as they say.

Offensive MVP: Cubs 3B Aramis Ramirez (3-4/1R/22B/2RBI/0BB/OK)

Pitching MVP: Cubs SP Ryan Dempster (6.0IP/7H/2ER/1BB/9SO/1HR/Win-16th)

Alex’s Take:

This loss could not have come at a worse time, but it really wasn’t that bad.  The Brewers fought extremely hard, their offense is on the brink of waking up again, and I guess it was inevitable that CC Sabathia was going to lose a game sooner or later.  I like the changes Dale Sveum has made to the lineup, except leading Mike Cameron off, who went 0-4 with 2 strikeouts and grounded into a rally-killing double play.  Every Brewer hitter made some good swings, but the Chicago defense made all the plays they had to, and they deserve credit for that.  The Brewers are now trailing in the Wild Card race, but they do not appear to be folding by any means.  The way I look at it, Sveum has a 12 game (now 11) season and his team is now 0-1 with a hard-fought loss.  There is plenty of time for the Crew to vault back into the W.C. lead, but the offense MUST break out against the Cubs, or the team has to at least win these next two games to put them in a much more manageable position.  If they only take 1 of the remaining 2, it may not be the end of the world, but it depends on what the Phillies do, and they are playing out of their minds right now.

CC Sabathia had himself his shortest start of 2008 on Sunday, but he was good enough to put his team in a position to win their 76th game.  He hurled 6.0 innings, gave up 1 run on 8 hits, struck out five, and didn’t walk a batter.  He was briefly in line for his 9th win, but the Crew pen coughed up the lead.  Pirates ace Paul Maholm pitched his heart out, giving up a whopping 12 hits in 6.0 innings, but only gave up 2 runs, as the Brewers stranded 8 runners with him on the mound (twice they failed to score with the bases loaded and less than two outs).  But Mike Cameron turned in one of the finest games of his career with five hits, one of which scored Corey Hart from second to tie the game 1-1.  Ned Yost then pinch hit for Sabathia with “Captain Clutch,” Gabe Kapler, who immediately drove in Bill Hall to put his club ahead.  David Riske blew the slim lead in the seventh, however.  With two outs in the eighth, Cameron struck again, crushing a majestic homerun that seemed to seal the victory.  But Salomon Torres was unlike himself, and he blew the save by giving up a tying single to Nate McLouth.  It took three more frames.  Carlos Villanueva pitched himself into a world of trouble in the top of the twelfth, loading the bases with none out.  But Guillermo Mota, in what was undoubtedly his best performance as a Brewer, induced a popout to center, struck out Chris Gomez, and retired Luis Rivas himself, keeping the game tied, and receiving a roaring ovation from the 40,000+ fans.  With one out in the Milwaukee twelfth, Rickie Weeks walked.  With J.J. Hardy batting, he stole second with ease.  Then on his bobblehead day, the beloved shortstop hammered a ball into center for a single, and Weeks flew around third to clinch the series sweep.

Offensive MVP: Mike Cameron (5-5/1R/1HR/2RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Guillermo Mota (1IP/0H/0ER/0BB/1SO/0HR/Win-4th)

Alex’s Take:

This was a sloppy win, but a fun one nonetheless.  Guillermo Mota may be turning the corner late in the season for Milwaukee, and if he could continue to control that blazing fastball and nasty changeup of his, he could turn into a very capable reliever in close games, where he struggled often earlier on.  Mike Cameron started off the year so slowly, but has been on an absolute tear in August, when his team truly needs him for their playoff push.  He is hitting .360 in 75 August at-bats, with 8 round-trippers and 16 RBIs.  I guess this is what Ned Yost was talking about when he said that Cameron can carry an offense when he’s on.  The good news is, the other Brewers are hitting well enough that Mike doesn’t have to do it all by himself.

Manny Parra was far from perfect, but was also far from as angry as he has been with himself lately.  He threw 5.0 innings, yielding 2 earned runs on 6 hits and 4 walks (he struck out 2).  The Milwaukee offense gave him plenty of support, and the bullpen defended the lead nicely, sealing a 5-2 victory.  The Crew will not face Houston again this year, but finished 2008 with a record of 8-7 against Cecil Cooper’s Astros.  In the first inning, facing lefty Wandy Rodriguez, Rickie Weeks walked, J.J. Hardy hit an infield single, and Gabe Kapler (starting again in place of the sore Ryan Braun) doubled in Weeks.  Prince Fielder promptly delivered with the first of his two sac flies in the game to put his club up 2-0.  The Astros battled back against Parra, and when he left the game, it was 3-2 Brewers.  Carlos Villanueva threw 2.0 strong innings of relief, and J.J. Hardy hit a two-run blast, his 19th of the year, to extend the lead in the seventh.  Eric Gagne tight-roped out of a bases loaded, no-out jam in the eighth that was not totally his fault in the first place, and Salomon Torres nailed down the ninth for his 24th save of the year.  Parra got his 10th win of 2008 against 6 losses.

Offensive MVP: J.J. Hardy (2-4/2R/1HR/2RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Carlos Villanueva (2.0IP/0H/0ER/0BB/3SO)

*Gold Glove Play of the Game: Gabe Kapler gunned down Mark Loretta at home plate in the fifth inning, to preserve the 3-2 lead and Manny Parra’s 10th win.

Alex’s Take:

This was a good win against a very hot Astros ball club.  Not much more can be said about the 5-2 victory.

Manny Parra bounced back from his string of mediocre starts with a strong outing on Sunday at Miller Park.  He limited the Washington Nationals to 1 earned run on 6 hits in 7 innings.  He struck out 9 and walked none.  The Crew fell behind in the sixth inning, when Parra yielded a run-scoring single to Lastings Milledge with two outs that scored shortstop Christian Guzman and gave Washington a 1-0 lead.  But thanks to a Bill Hall sacrifice fly to score Gabe Kapler in the bottom of the sixth, the game was knotted up right away.

Neither offense made a move until the top of the eighth inning, when the Nats pounded recently-reliable reliever Eric Gagne for 3 runs off of a double and back-to-back homeruns.  Ryan Zimmerman (the Washington third-baseman) fought back from down 0-2 to a 3-2 count, and on the 12th pitch of the battle, he doubled down the left field line.  Austin Kearns, also down 0-2 to Gagne, fought back and hit a booming homerun to put his club ahead.  The next batter, Lastings Milledge, also went deep to swell the Milwaukee deficit to 4-1.  In the bottom of the eighth, Prince Fielder walked with one out (a very unselfish approach considering his hit streak was on the line), Corey Hart struck out looking on a very close call, Bill Hall hit an single that Ryan Zimmerman could do no more with than keep it in the infield, and then Mike Cameron walked to load the bases.  After a pitching change brought the talented Joel Hanrahan into the game, backup catcher Mike Rivera sent a pitch to the left field wall that unloaded the bases and sent the sellout crowd into a frenzy.

With the game tied, the Brewers could not finish the game in their half of the ninth, tenth, eleventh, or twelfth innings.  They managed to draw a season-high 13 walks on Sunday, but stranded a whopping 16 baserunners.  Thanks to solid performances from relievers Salomon Torres, who pitched the ninth and tenth innings, Carlos Villanueva, who pitched the eleventh and twelfth, and Guillermo Mota, who threw a scoreless thirteenth, the Crew was afforded a lot of time to get their act together.  Gabe Kapler was facing an 0-7 day at the plate in the thirteenth, but he wasted little time in clinching victory for the Brewers and the largely reduced crowd.  He hit a walk-off homerun to left for the first such homerun of his career and the first walk-off round-tripper by Milwaukee this season.  Thanks to a St. Louis loss, the Brewers climbed to 3.0 games ahead of Tony La Russa’s ballclub.

Offensive MVP: Mike Rivera (2-3/0R/12B/3RBI/3BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Manny Parra (7IP/6H/1ER/0BB/9SO/0HR)

Alex’s Take:

This one sure took long enough.  The fact that Milwaukee is now up 3-0 in the series against a very beatable opponent shows that perhaps they have turned their home struggles around.  Sweeping the series would be very nice, but it should be considered a successful series regardless of Monday’s outcome.  The Brewers patience at the plate was extremely encouraging, but their nasty habit of stranding runners hurt them all day long.  They could have just as easily lost this game if one of the relievers had slipped up.  But thankfully, no one did except Eric Gagne in the eighth, and it turned out to be a very exciting 67th 2008 win for the Crew.

Manny Parra pitched 4 good innings and 2 atrocious ones.  He gave up 6 earned runs total on 4 hits, 4 walks, and 6 strikeouts.  Carlos Villanueva pitched 2 innings of solid relief.  The Milwaukee offense was basically put to sleep by Bronson Arroyo, and they only scored 1 run off of him.  They finished with 9 hits, but stranded 9 runners.  Arroyo not only baffled opposing hitters, but hit a two-run double to put his team ahead.  First baseman Joey Votto hit a two-run single and Jay Bruce hit a two-run homer for the Reds.  Ryan Braun and Mike Cameron hit meaningless solo shots, and Corey Hart managed an RBI single, but the 3 runs were not nearly enough to make this one interesting.

Offensive MVP: Reds RF Jay Bruce (1-2/2R/1HR/2RBI/1BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: Reds SP Bronson Arroyo (6IP/4H/1ER/2BB/6SO/0HR/Win-10th)

My Take:

I try very hard to tell myself the season is far from over.  I try hard to remind myself that baseball is in fact only a game and the Brewers cannot be influenced by anything I say or do, but the ways they lose again and again and again, the ways they sputter when it matters most, the way no one in their higher management seems to think anything is wrong, do nothing but annoy and embarrass me.  They can’t hit in the clutch, they can’t pitch if they can’t hit because it seems as though the starters put too much pressure on themselves.  The Brewers have a very gifted starting rotation, but a very poor offense.  It is home run happy, and as fun as it may be at times when Milwaukee grabs victories with dramatic round-trippers, they cannot, will not, and are not winning enough games with that mentality.  Being a small market club, the talent will walk away…I’ve seen it before.  Draft picks will be the only compensation, and draft picks take years to evolve into major league caliber players if they evolve at all…Ryan Braun is a rare exception.  If nothing happens this season, guys like Sheets and Sabathia will most certainly leave, forcing younger, less proven pitchers to hold down the rotation.  Fielder may be traded, and that wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to the Brewers, but still, it would be for prospects…little more.  Things would seem far less morose if they were putting up a good effort consistently, but they aren’t.  Things would seem better if they didn’t lose every single game because of poor clutch hitting or poor management of pitching and the bullpen, but they usually do.  I don’t know what to make of this team…I really don’t anymore.

News from Green Bay is that the situation regarding Brett Favre and his stand-off of sorts with the Packers Organization has not really progressed.  Packers’ president Mark Murphy traveled to Mississippi and spoke with the future Hall of Famer, and stated that a large amount of money has been offered to Favre to stay retired, but the man simply wants to play.  He also wants to play with the Packers, but due to the fact that Coach Mike McCarthy has already moved the team on, the team does not really want Favre back as a starter.  He still plans to attend training camp.

Oh yeah…the Brewers lost 7-2 to the Cubs today too.  Manny Parra did fairly well on the mound and very well at the plate with a double and a triple, but it didn’t really matter.  Milwaukee kept on stranding runners in scoring position and flailing like little leaguers at bad pitches.  Ryan Dempster was every bit as dominant as he should have been against a lately-anemic offense, pitching 7 innings only giving up one earned run off a wild pitch.  Parra gave up 5 earned runs in 5.1 innings, and although Carlos Villanueva and David Riske teamed up to pitch 2.2 scoreless frames, Brian Shouse continued his recent struggles and gave up a pair of runs to simply give the Cubs more bragging rights in the lopsided series.  Fielder hit a meaningless homer in the ninth.

Offensive MVP: Cubs SS Ryan Theriot (3-3/1R/0HR/3RBI/2BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Cubs SP Ryan Dempster (7.0IP/1ER/5H/1BB/9SO/0HR)

My Take:

Things are looking very bad right now for the Brewers.  They are making the same mistakes day in and day out with no sign of improvement.  They will be very, very lucky to get out of this series with a win.