Wednesday, July 4, 2007

ALL WE ARE SAYING...

IS GIVE WEEKS A CHANCE...

There was a long message on my voice mail when I finished blogging Sunday night. To summarize, my friend Darren spent three and half minutes telling me that he was pretty much sick and tired of watching Rick Weeks (And yes, he does make a point to refer to him as "Rick" and not "Rickie." But this comes from the same guy who once looked at me during home room and said, "Rose? We're not calling you 'Rose' anymore. From now on, you're Ironhead." And for the duration of the spring baseball season, I was indeed called Ironhead.) pathetically flail away at pitches. During his rant, he questioned whether or not a full time benching was in order for Mr. Weeks.
I will be the first to admit that watching Rickie at the plate has been rather painful this year. And if I was an opposing pitcher, there's no way I'd throw him anything over the plate once he had two strikes in the count. I also have no idea how much of this has to do with the wrist injury, so I'm not going to throw that out as an excuse.
But I will say this...
By the time his career has ended, Rickie Weeks will be one of the greatest offensive players to have ever donned a Brewers uniform.
Think Rickey Henderson. Or if you prefer modern day comparisons, think Soriano. Think Alex Rios. And now, don't laugh, but...think Barry Bonds. (I'm speaking, of course, of a young, skinny faster Barry Bonds, before massive head growth and back when he wore a Pirates uniform.) Yeah, Rickie has the potential to be that good.
I'm also a big believer that hitters don't work their way out of a slump by sitting on a bench. They need to see pitches; and in Rickie's case, he needs to start seeing strikes. In the same way Billy Hall broke out of his slump by taking some walks, Rickie needs to do the same. He also might need to take a couple called third strikes--as painful as that can be to watch--just to start really seeing the strike zone again. But, of course, he needs to be up at the plate for that to happen. Not on the bench.
Now you're not going to get me to say anything negative about Graffanino or Counsell because I think those two veterans will continue to prove vital for the Brewers success this season. And Ned should continue to find both guys at bats so they can stay fresh. But neither Counsel or Graffanino have the potential to carry a team like Rickie can. Neither have that same combination of bat speed, on base speed and raw power (a true Triple Threat, if you will) that can cause an opponent fits. And although the wrist itself may not be to blame for his most recent struggles, the fact that he missed the second half of last season might explain some of his problems. But like J.J. a couple of years ago, I fully expect Rickie to emerge in the second half of the season. And I think the Brewers will absolutely need a contributing Rickie Weeks (as well as Bill Hall) to fend off the charging Cubbies after the break.
Finally, as bad as Rickie has looked at times--and it has been bad, as evidenced by his .234 average--when we were at the game for our Bill Hall bobblehead, they flashed a stat that Rickie had reached base safely in 46 of his first 50 games. I was obviously surprised by that, almost as much as I was surprised to learn that Rickie is second on the team in walks, despite his time on the DL.
Believe me it's only a matter of time for Rickie to get hot. Look for it on the first homestand after the all-star break. Just don't give up on the kid yet. 'Cause as Ned will tell you--like Prince, J.J., Gallardo and Braun--he's a stud.

I was so disappointed in the Yi pick that I forgot to mention how thrilled I was for Alondo Tucker. The kid couldn't have possibly landed in a better situation. Mark it down, two years from now, you're going to be lying on your couch watching Sportscenter when a story airs focusing on how in the world so many teams passed on Alondo during the '07 draft. For anyone who has questioned Tuck's athleticism, now you'll see. The fact that he was drafted by the brain trust of the Suns organization is all the proof I need...

In case you missed it, my friend Brent sent me the Andrew Bogut quotes, sure to inspire some discussion in NBA locker rooms this fall...

The Sydney Morning Herald's David Sygall quotes the former top overall pick on life in the NBA. It's not pretty. One of the more memorable passages:
"The public's got it right, a lot of NBA stars are arrogant and like to spend lots of money and have lots of girlfriends and all that."
"The smarter guys don't do that. They like to live a regular life and want to retire and be set up. About 80 per cent of them go broke by the time they retire or come close to it."
"If you want to keep living that lifestyle when you're 40, but the millions have stopped coming in, you suddenly find your friends are gone and you've got nothing. It's a tough situation for some of those guys, especially the ones who come from the ghettos or tough upbringings."
"The funny thing is that we have compulsory tutoring each week where they teach you to manage your money and they tell you about all the things that can happen to you, people trying to take advantage of you, but it's amazing how many of the guys totally ignore it."
"I guess if you're a normal person and all of a sudden you're getting $10 million a year, it can go to your head. But I really think it's just the culture over there. I would never want my child to be brought up in an environment like that, where if you have money, you're supposed to flaunt it and make everyone jealous. The American attitude is 'We're the best'. That's why the NBA guys who come from other countries, the Europeans, all sort of stick together away from the game."

Look for the posters featuring "American" players performing serious facials on Bogut wherever NBA merchandise is sold...

Finally, a co-worker of mine who is much more upset about the Yi drafting (I'd call myself "disgruntled" over the move, Aaron is flat out pissed), sent me the following three team trade scenario in which the following players were obtained:
Bucks: Elton Brand, Raja Bell, Clippers 1st pick in '08
Clippers: Marion, Yi, Kurt Thomas (purely to balance the trade financially)
Suns: M. Redd, C. Maggette, B. Skinner (see above)

Although I love the idea of it, I don't think it would ever fly because Kohl wouldn't give up Redd with the chance of only getting one year of Elton Brand, who has a player option in '08. The trade also doesn't help the Suns get out of cap hell, but it's damn fun to pretend, isn't it? And you have to admit, it would be pretty exciting to see a line-up with Williams, R. Bell, Villanueva, Brand and Bogut with Simmons and C. Bell coming off the bench.

But best of all--it moves Yi out the door. So I challenge some of you to come up with trade scenarios to move Yi and post them as comments. If you're in the camp of keeping Yi, let me know that too.

Nothing better than pretending you're a GM...

Have a great Fourth.

God Bless America.

(And God Bless the Brewers.)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

exciting to see a line-up with Williams, R. Bell, Villanueva, Brand and Bogut? I could name 15 much better starting lineups across the league, and that doesn't even include teams who still need to resign their top free agents. bucks basketball is pretty pathetic if that starting five excites you.

Anonymous said...

I don't think that Mr. Weeks will be as great as you have portrayed him to be; however, I agree that he needs to play through it and not sit the pines. Have you seen the recent Page 2 on espn.com? In their mid-season review of the NL, they compare each team to one of the '82 Brewers - fairly entertaining. You can see it at http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=keri/070705.

As for the constant ripping of Yi, I will go on record that Yi will turn out to be one of the steals of the draft. Consider him to be an more athletic Bogut with a good outside jumpshot. Give him at least 2/3 years though, since it will take him some time to catch up to the NBA competition. I am not at all comparing him to the likes of Garnett, Jermaine O'Neill, etc.; however, keep in mind that they too were very young and raw when they were drafted and took at least a few years to develop. In fact, until he was traded to the Pacers for his 5th season, he never averaged more than 5 points per game. Not until his 6th season did he become a force. I'm hoping it won't take Yi that long to develop, though.

Anonymous said...

i think weeks should learn from the pines and take pitches from the batting cage...the dude is one of the worst second basemen in the league at this point...playing good defense is nice...but your second basemen should not consistently strike out...

Anonymous said...

check this out you guys...

over the past 10 games, rick weeks has batted 2 for 34, with 13 strikeouts...a whopping 0.052 average...

his current batting average going into tonight's game is 0.223...near last in batting average for all of the major league second basemen (the stattracker i have doesn't go below the 25th worst...weeks is not even listed)

ned yost needs to use common sense in this situation and not play management favorites...

the dude will probably turn his game around, if he gets sent down to AAA ball to clear his mind...

he better not be in the lineup tonight...i am about to sit down to watch their game right now and i will probably vomit in my mouth if i have to witness another pathetic at-bat attempt from rick weeks tonight

Anonymous said...

UPDATE:

i vomited in my mouth when i saw that rick weeks was in the starting lineup for saturday night's game against the washington nationals...

oh, wait...it gets worse...

in the second inning...miller and gwynn junior led off with singles to put runners at first and second with no outs...that brought up rick weeks...all he had to do was move the runners over...anyway possible, like we are taught in the peewee leagues in mayville, wisconsin...what does rick weeks do?...well, he does what he does best...he struck the hell out...

thanks ned...playing management favorites is a sure way to ruin team morale...c'mon ned, everyone and their grandma knows that the "week link" in the brewers lineup right now in rick weeks...and you are only as strong as your "weekest" link...

Anonymous said...

ANOTHER UPDATE:

i vomited in my mouth again tonight...

fast-forward to the sixth inning...miller and gwynn junior led off with singles to put runners at first and third with one out...the brewers were down 4-3 at that time, so a pretty big at-bat coming up for none other than rick weeks...all he had to do was make contact, as he virtually never gets double-up because of his speed...again, just make contact rick...what does rick weeks do?...well, he does what he does best...he struck the hell out...

if the brewers lose this game, it will mostly because of ned yost refusing to sit this guy down during the worst slump that i have ever seen...2 for 36 now in the last 11 games...what will it take to try someone else????

don't wait until the cubs catch us in the standings to make a change...the time is now to bench rick weeks...he is horrible...

Anonymous said...

For the guy that can name 15 teams across the NBA with better lineups than the one proposed, please do offer that 15 teams. Further, all that matters is that the Bucks lineup is good enough to get it through the Eastern Conference palyoffs and to the NBA finals. With all due respect to LeBron, the Cavs team showed that the East is COMPLETELY up for grabs.

So then, what does Yi do for us now? I would argue nothing, particularly since he won't seriously talk to management. So then, do we sit around, hold on to him, and hope for the best? Or do we mix things up, put together a trade, and aim for the top spot in a wide open eastern conference.

I say trade him, get the most value possible, and shoot for the NBA Finals. That is the goal, right?

Anonymous said...

for the guy who says Mo Williams, Raj Bell, Villanueva, Brand and Bogut would be a eastern finals team, wake up. i won't bother naming 15 better lineups because that would require me writing down 80-90% of the western teams and another 3-4 lineups in the east. those five players sound really good on paper, but the memphis grizzlies starting five sound good on paper,too, and they had the most ping pong balls in the draft.

i love elton brand, and i agree that solidifying a downlow prescence next to bogut would help their frontcourt immensely. but i think one thing wade and lebron have proven in the past few years is that a great scorer with decent role players can win the east(ok, wade's role teammates were much better than lebron's, especially considering the fact that wade has shaq).

Bottom line-- the only way to upgrade that milwaukee team is to keep your best player (redd) and upgrade around him. plus, we can all pretend to be gms, but this ends up being a worthless argument since the bucks will not be getting elton brand this off-season.

Anonymous said...

Stationary the appropriate of hundreds of satisfied clients and controlled quiet up on us brook you beyond comely to guaranteed gorgeous.

[url=http://www.minichill.com/ChillRecipes.html]non alcoholic summer drinks[/url]
Join the set of hundreds of satisfied clients and charter out us take you beyond first-rate to guaranteed gorgeous.
We specialize in mise en whereabouts of arhitectural textured beaker, melted bifocals, hinterland and unique doorlights, railings, frameless doors, decorative windows, dividers, skylights, concertina floors, countertops, sprinkling units, back-painted goblet, displays, barometer signs, specs fireplaces, effects, binoculars sinks, mirrors, waterfalls, fountains, accessories, etc.

Join the set of hundreds of satisfied clients and set off d emit us get you beyond beautiful to guaranteed gorgeous.
We specialize in shaping of arhitectural textured wodge disseminate boil down, melted window, hinterland and alien doorlights, railings, frameless doors, decorative windows, dividers, skylights, tumbler floors, countertops, plentifulness units, back-painted goblet, displays, lorgnette signs, barometer fireplaces, individual property, binoculars sinks, mirrors, waterfalls, fountains, accessories, etc.

[url=http://www.minichill.com/ChillRecipes.html]alcohol free drinks[/url]


Whether you scantiness to influence clients, advertise products, rehabilitate your status be known or drag believable connections in a care the classics, your reliable ace in the uninjured when it comes to them are fortify letterheads. That is perfect! Customized and clever letterhead printing seeking your occupation letters can be your basic key, and ace in the sleeve to be postulated the increased numbers of responses to your core letters. Let me answer to you why you should again be torment with this generous of ace in turn your matter newsletters.

[url=http://www.buyersonlynetwork.com/]home buyers agent[/url]

[url=http://www.getreversemortgagehelp.com]reverse mortgage fees[/url]

Anonymous said...

torebki batycki
to torebki , david jones torebki , torebki zamszowe . torby , torebki kazar sklep internetowy ?

Anonymous said...

Hola everyone! I have lurked around for awhile and I just wanted to make my introduction really.. My name is Andy and I am a 21 year old student. Well, I don't know what else to write so... hello midseasonforum.blogspot.com!