Brewers: No Playoffs or 2011 Cardinals Repeat ?

The Brewers have fought their way back into the postseason picture in the past month and now sit just two games out of a spot that would match them up against the Braves in a wild card showdown.  The Brewers are this years Cardinals.  They have a team lead by a superstar with some talented hitters and a pitching staff that is solid.  Importantly they are coached very well and believe they can pass the Cardinals in the next weeks, and at this pace they will.  I wasn’t sold on this team but beating out the Pirates the last few days has helping my confidence in the Brewers to go up and if they do end up making the playoffs they will have a sneaky pitching staff lead by Yovani Gallardo.  The Shaun Marcum, a guy who can get a win would start.  Behind him you have two guys who have quietly broken out this year in Mike Fiers and Marco Estrada and they could be tough guys to face.  The Brewers could make a run if they stay hot and their least six games could point them in that dircetion, but first they need to take at least 4, if not 5 games from the Reds and Nationals and play them tough.  If they can do this they could be just like last years Cardinals and though the teams are different, the similarities are there.

Top 10 Brewers Right Now

1 LF Ryan Braun
2 SP Zack Greinke
3 SP Yovani Gallardo
4 3B Aramis Ramírez
5 RP John Axford
6 2B Rickie Weeks
7 RF Corey Hart
8 SP Shaun Marcum
9 CF Nyjer Morgan
10 RP Francisco Rodríguez
HM: Wolf, Gonzalez, Narveson, Gamel

Tigers Sign Prince Fielder

The deal is for 9 years and 214 million, which are both fine and the fit is perfect, it’s the best fit Prince could have and Prince and Cabrera will do more than Prince and Braun did.  he should give the Tigers years of great production and should hit 35-50 HR every year.  He will hit a ton of homers out to right field in Comerica and should feast on AL Central pitching and AL pitching, the transition should make him better.  By the time this contract is done he should be better than Cecil was as a Tiger.  Prince should destroy in 2012 and through his age 34 or 35 season.  He’s everything you want in a power hitter and should put the Tigers over the top.  It’s a great move on both sides.  His wing is perfect too and the Tigers will get monster production and some MVPs possibly too.  He should have some of his best season ahead and they could be amazing.  As far as the logjam, I’d Dh Fielder more than Cabby in 2012 but put Prince at first and Cabrera at third and let Martinez DH, when Castellanos is ready in 2014, stick him at third and move Cabby to DH or left field depending on whether or not you still have Victor.  The Tigers offense is very scary in 2012 and will be even scarier in 2013, Prince is better than Victor though and this team should get better on 2012 and make another deep run.  Prince will hit 45 homers or so for the next few years probably and both sides should enjoy this deal very, very much.

Line-Up Now For the Tigers

1. CF Austin Jackson
2. RF Brennan Boesch
3. 1B Miguel Cabrera
4. DH Prince Fielder
5. LF Delmon Young
6. C Alex Avila
7. SS Jhonny Peralta
8. 3B Brandon Inge
9. 2B Ramon Santiago

Brewers Sign Aramis Ramirez, Trade McGehee

The Brewers have signed the a deal to get Aramis Ramirez for three years.  If Prince leaves he can slip right into the four-spot and hit 30 homers and hit .290 no problem.  The best part for him is that he still gets to go to Wrigley and stay in the NL Central, so expect his beating up on the NL to continue and his 2012 be a lot like his 2011.  His defense is a little below average but the Brewers need him and the defense isn;t much a concern for me at all.  He will be pretty good all three years and maybe four if his option is picked up, I see him a having a good later career, especially on the Brewers.  They got a middle of the line-up hitter who will do some great things with the bat for 36 million a year, which is almost a steal.  This makes the Brewers a lot better and I expect them to stay in it even if Braun is suspended in large part to Aramis, who will just flat-out be a good player for the Brewers.  The Tigers missed out big here and they need a bat like his and for that cheap, it was a miss.  The Pirates then traded Casey McGehee to the Pirates for Jose Veras, who will be a solid bullpen arm but doesn’t quite make up for Saito or Hawkins.  McGehee might be average or below average at first but I expect his first season as a Pirate to be his best, and it will be decent.  Even off the bench, he will be a very nice player and could hit as high as .275.

Do the Brewers or Cards have the edge?

I’d have to say the Brewers because they play so well at home and should win it with their offense but if they make more than two errors again they will lose.  The Cardinals won’t make it easy either,either offense and pitching will be their, especially with Carpenter but Carpenter can be hit off of.  Don’t expect this series to be over without a bang for Braun and Fielder and surprise hero Jerry Hairston.  Marcum needs to get over his bad starts and he can easily and I think he will for this start.  Gallardo is a good guy to go here to, especially with his postseason dominance.  The Brewers are just such a good team a have to stick with them especially at home and when they only have to win two straight games which is easy for them.  They should slug and so should the Cards, just not enough.  Don’t be surprised one bit of the Cardinals win this series but their best chance is to win it in Game 6.  The Cardinals can beat the Rangers if they make it but it will be hard and if the Tigers comeback it’ll be even harder same withthe Brewers except they’ll play botht eams better.

CS Previews

ALCS
DETROIT AT TEXAS
PRECITION: Tigers in 6

NLCS
ST. LOUIS AT MILWAUKEE
PREDICTION: Brewers in 7

Ranking Remaining Teams

1. Tigers
2. Brewers
3. Rangers
4. Cardinals

NOTE ON EACH TEAM
TIGERS: These guys have JV and can beat the Rangers on the road.  Scherzer and Fister should do pretty good too. I like the offense at Rangers Ballpark too.
RANGERS: Not a team to be taken lightly what they’ve done is good and that’s what they are and will be. I think they just lack some starting pitching to win this series.
BREWERS: They can be beat but it’ll be hard. Braun, Fielder, Axford, Greinke will come up huge and if they win the NL Crown, they’ll do it as a team.
CARDINALS: A surprise team who can do really good and will play the Brewers tough. They have everything to be successful in the NLCS but the Brewers are better and it will be tough for them to win but they easily could and even if they don’t they will make it a long series

Versus: CS Version

ALCS
DET-TEX-Edge
C: Avila vs Napoli: Napoli
1B: Cabrera vs Moreland: Cabrera
2B: Santiago vs Kinsler: Kinsler
3B: Inge vs Beltre: Beltre
SS: Peralta vs Andrus: Peralta
LF: Raburn vs Gentry: Raburn
CF: Jackson vs Hamilton: Hamilton
RF: Ordonez vs Cruz: Ordonez
DH: Martinez vs Young: Wash
BN: Worth, Kelly and Betemit vs Murphy, Chavez and Torrelba: Detroit
SP1: Verlander vs Wilson: Verlander
SP2: Scherzer vs Holland: Scherzer
SP3: Fister vs Lewis: Fister
SP4: Porcello vs Harrison: Harrsion
RP: Coke vs Ogando: Ogando
7th: Alberquerque vs Uehara: Alberquerue
SU: Benoit vs Adams: Benoit
CL: Valverde vs Feliz: Valverde
Manager: Leyland vs Washington: Leyland
DET 13  TEX 7

NLCS
STL-MIL-Edge
C: Molina vs Lucroy: Molina
1B: Pujols vs Fielder: Pujols
2B: Schumaker vs Weeks: Weeks
SS: Furcal vs Bentancourt: Furcal
3B: Freese vs Hariston: Freese
LF: Holliday vs Braun: Braun
CF: Jay vs Morgan: Morgan
RF: Berkman vs Hart: Berkman
BN: Gomez, Kotsay and Kottaras vs Craig, Theroit and Punto: Brewers
SP1: Garcia vs Greinke: Greinke
SP2: Jackson vs Marcum: Marcum
SP3: Carpenter vs Gallardo: Carpenter
SP4: Lohse vs Wolf: Wolf
RP: Rzepcynski vs Hawkins: Rzepcynski
7th: Dotel vs Saito: Dotel
SU: Salas vs Rodriguez: Rodriguez
CL: Motte vs Axford: Axford
Manager: La Russa vs Roenicke: La Russa
STL 9 MIL 9

Who has The Better Chance At Winning?

DETROIT AT NEW YORK: I will say the Tigers because Fister is better than Nov and I’ll say Game 1 was a fluke for both because of the way it was resumed.  The Tigers offense will need to step up a bit an if it does it will do awesome and even if it doesn’t live up to it’s fullest it can beat the Yankees.  The Yankees do have a really good shot, especially with their offense.  I also like the Tigers because I think Scherzer could be big in relief and JV could come in to get one or two clutch outs by using his gas.  Benoit and alverde will be ready too and Soriano could let down the Yanks.  The Tigers have a slight edge I think, they are better all-around and can beat the Yankees.
ST. LOUIS AT PHILLY: I have to say the Phillies have the advantage because of Halladay and the fact that they’re just a better team but the Cards have a serous chance at an upset with the way Freese and Berkman are going and the rest of team as shown up.  I also expect something big of Pujols, win or lose.  Carpenter can handle pressure well and will pitch a good game and do what he does best, give up barely any runs if any.  The Phillies lien-up could be the advantage here though and I’ll take them in a close one.  The Phils are the best team in the playoffs and at home too.
EXTRA: if the Brew Crew loses tonight they might not have an edge anymore but I wouldn’t be surprised if they won.  The D’backs [play great baseball though

MLB Pick’em: NLDS Game 4’s

FAVORITE- Cardianls- I like Jackson and the Phillies in 5  UNDERDOG-I just picked the Cards tonight so watch out, especially of Jackson isn’t going good today

FAVORTITE- DIamondbacks- They find the magic and could make a huge comeback and if they do they have a seroius shot at the World Series  UNDERDOG-Brewers- are good enough to hit tonight, win the series and mayeb win tonight but I just don’t think they will

MLB Pick’em: MLB Postseason Games 3 and 4

FAVORITE-Rays- Hellickson is better than Harrison  UNDERDOG- Rangers- Won’t go down easy and offense will be tough but Hellickson and bullpen may slow it down

FAVORITE-Cardinals- Jamie owns the Phillies and it’ an upset alert here but I still expect the Phils to come back from their hole  UNDERDOG: Phillies- Could still win this game

FAVORITE-Tigers- They kill Burnett and Porcello shows up, could be similar to Game 4 of ALDS in 2006  UNDERDOG-Yankees- Season is put of AJ Burnett’s shoulders…that doesn’t sound to good to me

FAVORITE-Diamondbacks- They won’t go down without a fight  UNDERDOG- Brewers- the road record from the first half shows up today but maybe only today