Can Brewers weather storm without Weeks?

The news of Rickie Weeks severely sprained ankle might go down as the biggest injury to this team since 2008 when Ben Sheets went down at the end of the season and it cost the Brewers a shot to advance in the postseason.
Doug Melvin and the Brewers front office had set their sights on a shortstop or third baseman, but now have to shift gears to possibly bring in a second baseman for three to six weeks. as the Brewers look to make a move in the NL Central standings.
The list of Brewers needs now becomes rather simple and I'm not sure which order to put them in. The lack of a left hander in the bullpen is cause for concern. It hasn't been exposed yet, but it's a weakness that could bite this team when playing a team with strong lefties (read the Phillies). The other need is now a second baseman. Both Melvin and Ron Roenicke have both made it clear you don't replace a Rickie Weeks, so it leads me to my next question, which way to the Brewers go with this move?
The answer might be answered by the rest of the guys on the team and in the lineup when Rickie is out. With Yuniesky Betancourt, Casey McGehee and Wednesday's second baseman, Craig Counsel, both having subpar years at the plate, it would seem offense has to take priority.
Felipe Lopez was acquired and sent to Triple-A, but I'm not sure that would be anything more than a last resort. I'd have to guess sending him to Triple A signals just that. The call-up of Eric Farris, who had played second at Nashville was nothing more than a temporary roster fill to have a second baseman in town if needed. I don't see him logging much time.
It's hard to say what's out there, and as Melvin and Roenicke have both said, teams know the Brewers are desperate and can hike the price and even a midlevel guy. Regardless, I still see something getting done. In 2008, the Brewers went after Ray Durham and he played well. They need to find the 2011 Ray Durham to hold things together at the bottom of the batting order and at second base until Slick Rick returns.
As big as the K-Rod deal was, I'd venture to say, this could be the biggest move Melvin makes this season.


The Bears had been quiet in the crazy world that is NFL free agency to this point, but that all changed today. The big move of the day was one that upset me more than almost any other player on the team other than Brian Urlacher. The decision to trade Greg Olsen to the Panthers for a player to be named and a late-round draft pick, was one that was dictated by Mike Martz no doubt. We all knew he doesn't utilize a tight end, so Olsen was dealt for parts. Truth be told, he might have been my favorite Bear not named Brian Urlacher in the last five years. (Besides Rex Grossman)
The shuffling at tight end does not mean much to me behind Olsen, but it means the team is going to turn more to wide receivers and Matt Forte out of the backfield. Both of those positions were also in the news today with the possiblity of Forte holding out and Roy Williams becoming a target at wide receiver. My take on the Forte issue is quick. He knows a holdout is not good for either side, but at the same time, he is as big a part of the offense as Jay Cutler and is not getting paid anything near his worth. So he is going to do what he has to do. I am not worried he'll miss much time in the regular season.
On the Williams front, I'm not sure I'm sold on him. He took plays off in Detroit and in Dallas and will be the guy that does not have Jay's back when lame media types try to pin the game on him. That's not what they need in the locker room. He is a big target, however, and can get it done with his route running that sit well with Martz in the offensive scheme. That should be the biggest attempt at getting a No. 1 receiver in town for a while and moves Johnny Knox to the No. 2 guy and means we won't see Devin Hester unless it's a four-receiver set. Both things should make both guys better on offense.
It's a wait and see as things unfold on the rest of the possibilities that are out there. It's hard to choose what to and what not to believe when it comes to which teams are linked to which players. With camp opening Saturday and guys reporting tomorrow, things should unfold quickly. Stay tuned.

I now have a little two-part Nussie Hunter for you all. Melanie Iglesias won the Maxim Hometown Hottie Contest last year and is taking over the modeling game. She has a YouTube channel, too, which usually isn't worth a damn. She did put out a video the other day that was pretty cool that I saw on Twitter. Take a look at it. Here's also a photo for you traditionalists out there,
with a link to her Maxim gallery.

Time for Brewers to take control of NL Central

Today was a day off for the Brewers, but it leads into a stretch which has the next 18 games against NL Central foes. It's also a stretch which has 34 of the final 59 games at home for the Brewers.
Let's get right into looking at what's in store for the Brewers. Entering play today they were in a three-way tie with the Cardinals and Pirates (even though the Pirates have two fewer losses than the Brewers).
So here's the breakdown of these next 18 games from what I was looking at on Baseball-Reference.com. The first three are with the Cubs (3-4 on the season against them), six against the Astros (three home and three on the road, 3-3), six against the Cardinals (three home, three road, 4-2 against) and three against the Pirates (5-0 against).
Thinking short term first, on this homestand is three each against the Cubs, Astros and Cardinals. In the first six, they almost NEED to win five of six. Against the bottom feeders, at home, it's what has to be done. Just saying. Both teams are awful and could be dumping talent when they are in town. The pitching matchups go in the Brewers favor during this stretch, as well. The only game in question, really, is the first game of the homestand with Chris Narveson, undefeated against the Cubs, going against Ryan Dempster, who has the Brewers' number. The Crew beats him and things will take a turn where we go for a run at six in a row at home. Stop me if I'm getting greedy at any point, here.
As for the Cardinals series, I'd expect the Brewers to take two of three. This is the home Brewers we're talking about. Have to expect big things.
The talk around Milwaukee sports talk today was that you shouldn't be happy with a 5-6 roadtrip. Be real here people. This is a team that is 21-35 on the road and has been outscored by 63 runs away from Miller Park. It's flat out ridiculous how bad that is. The fact they went 5-6 on this trip is a step in the right direction.I heard many talking a 3-8 or 4-7 trip would be expected. So they exceeded expectations.
The keys are pretty simple. Pitching over the last week has been phenomenal with seven straight quality starts. The offense has just been up and down. Going against the Giants, you just say their pitching was strong and you made a couple mistakes defensively that allowed a couple runs to score which proved to be the difference. The other key has to be the move at the top of the lineup. With Ryan Braun back to full strength this move has yet to even see its full potential, but putting Braun, Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks back to back to back in the lineup is a cluster that teams will have a hard time navigating through an entire game without the impact being felt. Not to mention Corey Hart getting on track along with Nyjer Morgan at the top. Things could really pop over the next week. Should be fun to watch go down.


Of course everyone today is talking about the return of the NFL. It's going to be a wild and crazy week in the world of football and we all win in that regard.
Of course I'm trying to get into following the moves the Bears will make. They have a couple free agents they need to resign. Namely Olin Kruetz and Daniel Manning who played well last season and deserve to have a spot on this year's team. Now there might be some guys let go we don't expect, but as things stand right now, those are the big names that should stay.
The biggest name thus far to be mentioned as on the way out, mainly for salary reasons, is punter Brad Maynard. That normally wouldn't upset me, but finding a guy that can kick well on the Lakefront in Chicago is a bit of an issue.
As for the moves to come. Santana Moss has been rumored, but the most interesting one I picked up in reading some of the Chicago Tribune over the last couple days was Steve Smith. He could force a trade from Carolina and the Panthers would only ask for a third round pick in return. That sounds like something Jerry Angelo and get done. It's going to be a wild and crazy week across the NFL. Hopefully the Bears get things to take shape in the next few days.

Now to the Nussie Hunter portion of today's broadcast. Our good friend Jaime Edmondson celebrated the NFL's triumphant return by taking the liberty of posing in some great NFL T-shirts she sculpted into great works of art. Of course, I'm going to show you the Bears one. You can check the rest of them, here.