Sometimes we get emails and we don't reply to them. We don't do this because we mean to, but because we forget or because we're lazy or because we just read the email on our iPhone while sitting at the bar and don't have the wherewithal to type out a reply. It's nothing personal. Sometimes we get comments that drive us crazy that we want to reply to, but just don't because like I said we're kind of lazy. It happens. Sometimes we get twitter and facebook messages (because we ask for them) from people who want to know things. When these things happen, we answer your questions. Maybe we don't do it right away and the responses aren't exactly what anyone would call timely, but we do reply. We always reply. We love you guys.

MPD,

I'm interested on who you would pick as manager. Bobby Valentine? How about Tom Trebelhorn. He took a major screwing from Sal (Remember Antoine Williamson?) Bando back in '91 (probably before your time). Bando was the GM who let Molitor go, by the way.

JMB

Ron Roenicke! Nailed it!

Two part question. what's your favorite kind of drunk? Which is your favorite racing sausage?

- CiltantroNate

You know when it's Saturday night and you know that you have the whole night off and you're going to go with some friends and get drunk? Then you all meet up before hand, maybe have some dinner or something, but when you first all get together you don't have a ton to talk about. Like you're talking, there's a game on or something and you are making random observations about it, but you're not really engaging eachother and you're not making fun of each other and laughing, cracking jokes like you usually do. Then you have a couple of beers and all of the sudden you are just cracking a ton of jokes and laughing your asses off. You're not drunk and if it comes down to it you could probably leave right now and drive home fine, but you have that first little taste of a buzz and it's loosened you up a bit. That's my favorite drunk. That first little bit of alcohol combined with a little adrenaline just makes you act just silly, having a good time and buzzed. That's the best.

I think with the racing sausages that most people align ethnically. Like the Mexican guy always like the Chorizo, the Polish guys like the Polish and the gay guy always like the Italian Sausage (hey-o!), but I don't really have that. I'm not enough of anything to define myself to a sausage strictly by ethnicity. Other people align themselves by what they like to eat the most, but that doesn't really work for me either. I like them all and eat them all equally. Yet at the same time a Maxwell Street Polish is one of my favorite things to eat, but I know that every time I've ate one in my entire life I've been in the bathroom fifteen minutes later. So it's not like I'm going crazy for it either because the Polish is just as good to me as it is bad. When it comes down to it I guess I've never really identified a particular sausage as "my sausage" and I tend to play each race by ear. Maybe one day I'm a Hot Dog man, maybe the next I'm with a bunch of my Mexican friends and I root for the Chorizo (mostly out of fear) and maybe the next I decide to take a bathroom break while the race is going on. It's a different adventure every game.

who wins this weekend?

- crimmings

Bartenders.

Judging by the size of Yuni it's going to be dificult to get a ball by him or around him.

You better hope for a poop load of strike outs.

Bob

I'm assuming he's referring to this photoshop:

Which might be exaggerated a little bit, but not nearly enough to make his statement untrue. Can Wisconsin as a whole make a pact to pretend like cheese curds, butter burgers, frozen custard, sausages and everything else don't exist whenever Yuni is around? Seriously, if you work at a restaurant and Yuni comes in and orders, well, pretty much anything just bring him a salad with low fat dressing. Maybe he'll get the hint.

I thought I ordered the double bacon butter burger with chili cheese fries?
Yeah, that's what this is.
This looks like a salad.
I think I know what a butter burger looks like Yuni! I mean, sir!

Honest thoughts on Prince and if he wants to be in Mil this year.

- olegunnerbryan

Never, ever, ever underestimate the power of a contract year. Prince Fielder is playing for $100 million dollars. Nothing Prince does this season will surprise me. MVP is within reach. He could hit 100 RBIs before the All-Star break. Prince could hit 80 homeruns I wouldn't even blink. Anything and everything is in play for Prince this season. Throw in the Brewers being good and Prince wanting to prove that he's worth this $15 million and more, and this is the most underrated subplot of the season heading into spring training. Let's be honest baseball players want two things: to win and to make money. We're getting Prince on the cross hairs of those two things and it is going to be awesome. Can't wait to see what he does this year.

And it's a "on" Prince year!

Who is your daddy and what does he do? That or now that Zaun is gone which Brewer looks most like a serial criminal?

- Ben

I didn't really know how to answer this one because I don't spend that much time looking at the player's faces until the season starts so I emailed our good friend Tyler Maas who is always checking out "the talent" and he had this to say:

Rickie Weeks. Get mad if you want, but wouldn't it be more racist if I excluded a black player from consideration? I dream to one day live in a world where I can make mean-spirited and outrageous character claims about people of ANY race, religion or ethnic background.

But really, it's probably Kameron Loe.

Well, he does own that giant snake. And he has a python.

(Check out Tyler at Bugs & Cranks where he recently wrote about baseball players with porn names.)

We had not one, not two, but three people in the comments attempt to make the case that Anthony Witrado wasn't awful at his job. Some choice quotes:

the fact is that he is very highly regarded in the sports journalism world

I know this because I'm his mother and that's what he told me.

I’m guessing people have a problem with his professionalism, but even though we might not want to admit it, that’s the future of journalism.

Anthony Witrado: the Rosa Parks of dressing like a tool and bad grammar.

You don’t need a reporter to wear a suit and tie to report baseball.

Agreed, but seriously look at this outfit and tell me it's not ridiculous. I dare you to look at this outfit and think there is anything stylish or cool about it.

You can't.

Jealous much?

Not at all. I know you might find this hard to believe, but I don't have dreams about getting a job covering the Brewers for the Journal Sentinel or working at the Sporting News or Deadspin or anywhere else. I write the blog for fun in my free time when I feel like it. That's why I took two weeks off to start the year and two weeks off in December and almost the entire month of November off and so on. It's my hobby.

I do know people that would though. I've met people through this blog that would kill to have an opportunity to do something like that. People with degrees trying to break in, sportswriters who've been laid off, bloggers who want to do the mainstream media thing; people who for all intents and purposes would do everything and anything to get that job and then go above and beyond every single day to do an excellent job doing it because that's what they'd love to do. Would I agree with everything they said? Of course not. I could disagree with everything single thing they wrote, but it'd be fine if I knew that they were working hard at it. It'd be fine if I knew they cared and that's something that Anthony Witrado never gave us. He never cared or showed a work ethic or even proved that he knew how to spell and that's why we hated him. That's why he sucks.

What's the matter, homie. Did you get turned down for a summer intern job a few years back at JS? Check sportswriting (or,for that matter,all newspaper and magazine writing ) around the country and it ain't much better. If you can do better, then put up or shut up. When I first started reading your blog, it seemed funny and had some intelligent thing to say. Now it's just your own personal little bitchfest: "I hate Ryan Braun", "I hate Ryan Braun's restaurant", " I hate Ryan Braun's clothing line", " I hate Ken Macha"..... ad infinitum. Lastly, I object to your use of the word retarded. I have a family member who was born with Down Syndrome and they are kinder and more intelligent than you are. Anthony Witrado has a job. Do you? Do you have the balls to print this? I doubt it.

Jack B

Did you even read that last paragraph?! Are you retarded?!

I find it hard to believe that someone can judge my kind and gentleness based on a few blog posts. I mean, I don't think this baby deer would say I wasn't kind or gentle.

Or these pandas.

Or even this Mexican.

I mean, it's kind of presumptuous of you don't you think?

As far as the negativity you see around here and the rants or "bitchfests" as you would call them, people think they are funny and seem to like them. That's why we do them. We do that sometimes, but we also do other things. Overall though, I'd say this is one of the more positive blogs around. We didn't wave the white flag until much later in the season than almost everyone else and as far as I know this is the only site that has openly said we think the Brewers are going to win the World Series.

Lastly, I object to your use of the phrase "do you have the balls". I had a dog once that was neutered and he was kindler and gentler than your email could ever be. His name was Barney.

Do you think Mat Gamel would auto a orange parking cone @ Brewers on deck for me, and realize he's a douchebag in the process?

- Ryan

God I hope so.

I couldn't get through this without giving a special shoutout to all the Canadians who took the time to comment on our infamous Brett Lawrie post. To all my Canadian friends I just want to say: Allez ont le sexe avec votre mère, la putain. Eh.

I'm DRUNK.

How can that be, you ask?  This email was received at like 6:45 am or whatever.  Here's the thing:  I'm in American Samoa!  Yeah, that's right.  It's not even 2am here yet.  There's this Samoan beer that only comes in 32 oz bottles and has 6.2% alcohol.  So yeah, that's what I've been up to.

But I used to live in Madison.  That's where I learned to love the Brewers.  But I'm really from Minnesota.  That's right, I'm a Twins fan.  But I'm also a Brewers fan.  WRAP YOUR MIND AROUND IT.  I think I've commented on your blog before about how the main difference between the Brewers and the Twins is that the Brewers' pitchers walk guys all the damn time, and that's not ok if you want to win baseball games.

Anyway, just thought I'd finally say hi.  If you want to read about my adventures in American Samoa, here you go:  ayearinsamoa.wordpress.com

I like your blog a lot.  Keep up the good work.

With all due respect,
Ryan

Did I just have a "yup, these are my readers" moment? I think I did and that seems like a good place to end things.

WORLD SERIES!!!!!!

I have a lot of friends who have graduated college and are now on the job market. It's not easy finding a job in today's world, but they are looking and they are doing whatever it takes to get the job. Many of them go so far as to delete their facebook or simply change their names on facebook so as not to be found by potential employers searching the internet. That is part of the job process now. You want to get hired? Prepare to be Googled. Any bad thing you wrote on myspace four years ago, any bad picture you've posted, any racist comment you left on a message board or any sex video you've accidentally sent someone will be found by these people and they won't hire you. If you want a job you need to keep your Google search clean. Don't do anything stupid. Don't piss anyone off. Don't show anything.

(And that's why I only make seven dollars an hour shoveling snow at the graveyard.)

Anthony Witrado is leaving the Journal Sentinel. The worst writer many of us have ever seen (and possibly the worst beat writer at any daily newspaper in the country) has been hired by The Sporting News. For those of you who don't follow these things AOL Fanhouse has folded into The Sporting News who will now be providing all their online content. Which means that bloggers like Bethlehem Shoals of FreeDarko fame will soon be out of work and hacks like Witrado will take his place. I see that working out really well. We've wanted Witrado fired for a long time, but for him to leave for what we're presuming is a better job leaves a bad taste in our mouth. It's like if Jeff Suppan left and won the Cy Young for the Cardinals then took them to the World Series where he was named MVP. It's just not right. These people deserve to fail. They wasted our time with their crappy performances and they need to get what is coming to them. I didn't just want Anthony Witrado to not write for my daily anymore, I don't want him to write anything.

The story on the street is that Garry Howard, former JS Editor, is now the editor at The Sporting News and he is responsible for the Witrado hire. As Al from Al's Ramblings said to me about the hire "it's not what you know, but who you know" and I don't think that has eever fit a situation better. Far be it from me to understand how someone could read that guy's work for however many years (or even see the way he dresses at work) and think he'd do a good job, but that's what happened. I can understand that some people have terrible taste in sports writing, but what I don't understand is how someone could hire Anthony Witrado without Googling him. I mean, seriously, Jeffrey Dahmer has better search results and he murdered 17 people.

When the top four search results for your name say that you waste people's time, need to be fired, that you're a douchebag as well as a post showing how bad you are at your job, maybe you shouldn't get hired for any jobs. Tom Cruise is crazy, a member of a cult and may have brainwashed the hottest girl from Dawson's Creek into carrying his seed and joining his cult; everyone knows this and you still have to scroll down to find anything negative about him. It's insane that anyone could sign off on the hiring of this guy. He is not a talented writer. You know it, I know it and everyone knows it, but there he is going off to work at The Sporting News. Employed by the same people who employ Will Leitch. Explain how that makes sense.

The only thing that makes sense to me is that The Sporting News is going down. That Garry Howard is an idiot and he won't last very long at the job. That is the only thing that makes sense to me. I couldn't be happier that we don't have to deal with Witrado's bullshit writing and terrible chats any longer, but I won't ever truly be happy until he's covering NBA D-League games in North Dakota and working part time at a truck stop as a fry cook to pay the bills. That's when I feel this terrible writer will finally get the justice he deserves for his year's of crappy crap that he has put us through. We'll be even when he's doing that and the paper in Bismarck fires him because they realized kids from the high school could write better than him.

So goodbye Anthony Witrado. We couldn't be happier that you're leaving, but don't think that we'll forget about you. We could never forget you, you are way too terrible to ever forget and we'll be actively rooting for your dismissal until the day it happens.

Braun trends (geek edition)

A lot of you have been curious as to why Ryan Braun's struggles this season are happening at the rate they are, and to find out things like that takes some time, as you can see here in this Fan Graphs blog that breaks down several factors for Braun's season.

And I'm like "I don't know, I'm just paid to write about him for my job. How the hell am I supposed to know why he struggles?"

This is why this is one of my favorite sites.

No it's not. I actually have it on good authority that these are your favorite sites.

1. Bros Icing Bros (RIP)
2. The Dirty (Nik Richie is the shit, yo.)
3. Myspace

The overall theme is Braun seems to be sacrificing power numbers for putting the ball in play more often. However, he is putting it in play with less authority than in the past and that is a major reason for his dip. It is a very interesting breakdown by David Golebiewski.

David Golebiewski? He sounds like a nerd.

But I'll warn you, if you're not a numbers freak/geek/nerd who loves breakdowns, be careful with this post. There are plenty of charts and stats that read like alphabet soup but provide solid information.

Seriously, if you understand anything in this post you are a huge nerd. Do you like Star Wars? Do you play Dungeons & Dragons? Have you ever fantasized about Six from Battlestar Galactica? If so, you'll love this post because this post is for nerds and geeks like you.

So I guess the question is, should Braun sacrifice striking out less in order to hit for more pop?

While we're here A-dub has another question, should he put his pants on one leg at a time or both at the same time? It seems like it'd be a lot faster if he just put both legs in at the same time, but he always seem to fall down. Can any geeks figure this out for him?

Because I am insanely jealous that Anthony Witrado has a job working for the Journal Sentinel and I don't, I am going to make fun of him on a regular basis FJM style. It really has nothing to do with his writing I am just a bitter wannabe. Well maybe it has a little bit to do with his writing.

Okay, it's completely due to his writing. Today's story: Fielder uses fear as his fuel

Phoenix — Looking at him, it's far from obvious.

That he's a pussy.

His imposing stature, the tattoos, the snarling looks, the regal name. All those things just act as his mask.

His mask to hide the fact that he is a wuss.

But the fear is immune to those elements and nestles comfortably inside Prince Fielder, ignoring any resistance from his outward machismo and bravado.

Much like a gay man still in the closet.

His psyche is a breeding ground for that fear. It is a constant within the man.

Like his heartbeat, only wussier.

The fear consumes every aspect of his life, and has so from childhood.

That movie Child's Play? Totally freaked him out.

The home run derby champion, the father, the MVP candidate, the husband, the budding superstar, the son. No matter what he is to so many people, Fielder is still incredibly afraid.

Luckily, his wife makes him get out of bed. Otherwise he'd just hide under the covers.

"I have that fear," Fielder said. "I'm scared. I am.

In just a few paragraphs A-dub has done more to emasculate Prince than the book "Skinny Bitch: a no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous!" ever could. Well done.

"My biggest fear (is) I don't want to let my teammates down. I feel like if I don't do my job, they can't do theirs."

Ohhhhhh. Fear is like pressure. I get it.

More exploration into the 268-pound slugger finds the fear runs much, much deeper.

Hey, you know how Prince doesn't eat meat? That's because he's afraid of a cow kicking his ass! A cow! What an idiot!

It is one thing to be afraid of failing on the diamond when the repercussions could be a loss or a less-hefty contract. It's another thing to be afraid for a family's sake.

"That's scary," Fielder said. "I don't want my kids going to school and hearing, 'Hey, your dad sucks.' There's a lot of things that play in my head that I don't want to happen and that makes me always want to do better.

This is also the reason that Anthony Witrado doesn't have any kids. He hears it enough from jealous people like me.

"That's my main (driving force). I mean, I like baseball, but I don't play for myself. I like seeing other people's happiness that comes from that."

Fielder did plenty of that last season when he batted .299, hit 46 home runs, drove in a franchise-record 141 runs and walked a franchise-best 110 times while playing all 162 games. He also was an all-star and won that event's home run derby.

But when Fielder looks in the mirror, he doesn't see a superstar on the rise. Instead, he sees a man doing everything he can to make sure his family is secure, financially and otherwise, and most importantly, together.

That is, if he even looks in the mirror. You know that movie Candyman? Also freaked him out. You see, he's afraid.

Fielder rarely acknowledges his family life beyond his wife, Chanel, and their two sons, Jadyn, 5, and Haven, 3. His father, Cecil, is normally an off-limits topic with him, and his mother, Stacey, rarely comes up in conversation.

Fielder's parents went through a bitter and public divorce in 2004, and partly because of that, Fielder cut his father out of his life. Their family unraveled and Fielder accused his financially strapped father, acting as his agent, of stealing $200,000 of his $2.4 million bonus when he signed with the Brewers.

That unsavory drama, along with other factors, pushed Fielder away from both parents. He elected to focus on his own family, close friends and career. In fact, when asked what last name his mother goes by, Fielder can't answer.

"I don't know, man," Fielder said as he glanced down and cracked an uncomfortable smile. "I don't even know. It's not really like that (with us)."

Why would A-Dub even ask that? "Hey Prince, I know you don't really like to talk about your parents but what's your mom's last name? I'm just curious." What a dick.

Fielder hadn't spoken a public word about his father in nearly three years and hasn't spoken to him even longer. But on the second day after he reported to camp, Fielder acknowledged the ammunition his father, Cecil, provides for him on the field and off.

On it, he pushes to be better than his slugging dad and not just an all-or-nothing masher. Off of it, he strives to be a responsible, caring family man without the debt and financial burdens that helped destroy Fielder's home life as a younger man.

Yes!!!! All the jokes I've been making about Prince's daddy issues have been true! If he says something about being whipped by Chanel this will be the greatest day of my life.

"That has a lot to do with it," Fielder said. "Growing up, you see certain situations happen, and it scared me as a kid. Me having kids now, I don't want that for them. I don't want the family to fall apart because if that happens, it doesn't matter how much you have. I learned that no (amount of) money can fix that.

I think a double cheeseburger could have helped. Or even a triple. It was only $1.69!!!!

"Everybody is just screwed and everything changes. No matter how much better things got for me, it was never what you see with other families.

"I don't want my two boys and my wife to ever go through that. I want my family around me."

God what a pussy, right? He doesn't want to be a deadbeat dad and he wants his family to love him. What else does he want? Magic beans that grow a beanstalk? Take a Prozac and relax, fear boy.

Hang on a second, my obvious statement meter is going crazy right now.

Fielder was noticeably happier and relaxed after signing his current two-year, $18 million contract because he believed no matter what happened beyond that, he knew he could leave his family with financial security. Even though he knows money can only do so much, it was a big weight off Fielder's shoulders.

WHAT!? THIS IS CRAZY! MONEY MAKES PEOPLE FEEL SAFE!? WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THIS!? NO WONDER I AM SINGLE!

"Coming up through the minors and the whole situation with my dad (and his money troubles) was tough for me," Fielder said. "You start thinking, 'Am I going to be in the big leagues long enough to make money?' It got to the point where I didn't feel like waiting anymore."

Fielder's family situation made him appreciate friends on a much deeper level. He treats people around him, sometimes even casual acquaintances, like family members because as Fielder puts it, "I don't have much family right now because of those situations. So whenever I have a friend, we're going to be tight. I want them to be my family.

	Am I your friend?
	No.

"Unfortunately, the way my life turned out, that's the way things are for me."

Fielder and San Diego Padres outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr., a former Brewer, are best friends. Fielder is godfather to Gwynn's daughter, Makayla, and Gwynn likewise to Jadyn. There are endless stories about how close they are, even dating to their first meeting at Class A Beloit. Without knowing each other, Fielder offered Gwynn a place to live.

Last season, when Gwynn was designated for assignment by Milwaukee during the spring, he retreated to the restroom because he didn't want to cry in front of teammates. Before Gwynn knew it, Fielder was in the bathroom with him, just as emotional.

Because if there is one thing that scared people do well, it's cry.

"That said a lot about him for me," Gwynn said. "Typically there's some type of line that distinguishes family and friends. But in Prince's case, he's my only friend where that line doesn't exist, and I think obviously that has to do with his family situation.

"It's not even a friendship anymore. He's like another family member."

A big, whiny, scared family member.

Those are the people Fielder plays for most of all. He insists he doesn't care what he does as long as his children know "that I played hard and that Daddy did work out there."

If Fielder happens to struggle, his coping skills are getting better in and around the game, leading to fewer busted bats and slammed helmets. However, he admits there still is room for improvement with his wife.

Like, in the boob department?

"I'm getting better at failing and dealing with it at the field," Fielder said. "But I haven't quite got it down at home. My wife takes the brunt of it when I'm grumpy, but she doesn't (play around). She'll tell me, 'You need to take that mess to the bedroom.' "

WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

That grumpiness stems in part from the fear. Everything Fielder does is a product of that beast.

Just when we thought this crap was over, he brings it back. I was actually starting to enjoy this article a little bit.

Fielder is afraid of disappointing the Brewers organization, which is currently struggling with the notion of affording the slugger before he hits free agency after the 2011 season. He is scared to let down his teammates who are looking to him for leadership and to be a middle-of-the-lineup mammoth.

If he thinks this is tough he's in for a rude awakening when he's a Yankee in two years.

Those are the easy obstacles, though.

The more difficult and permanent ones are personal. They are with Chanel and Jadyn and Haven, the people he can't let down.

And they are with Tony Gwynn, Jr, the person he can't help hit.

And they are with his father, who used to bring his young son into his clubhouses and on road trips when they seemed inseparable. Now, that relationship provides a cautionary tale for Fielder, whose biggest fear is not having a warm, loving home to go back to when he takes off the spikes.

Here's a tip to calm your fears, Prince. Don't gamble or steal from your kids. Do that and you're set. You're not your dad.

"With my (non-immediate) family, it is what it is," Fielder said. "But I'm happy right now."

DEFINITION OF IMMEDIATE FAMILY: Spouse, parents and grand parents, children and grand children, brothers and sisters, mother in law and father in law, brothers in law and sisters in law, daughters in law and sons in law. Adopted and step members are also included in immediate family.

Now I'm pretty sure he's not referring to any cousins or aunts or uncles because that wouldn't really make any sense in the context of the article and I doubt that he is referring to his teammates as "my family". Therefore I have to assume that he would be talking about his parents which makes his use of "(non-immediate)" not only pointless, but also incorrect. Well, played A-dub. Well played.

As for you Prince. Well....

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What's that? You want a regular feature making fun of A-dub? You got it! Today's story: Gomez, Slow Down.

Phoenix - I just got done watching some of the position players take BP on one of the back fields and centerfielder Carlos Gomez was in the bunch.

He's about to get real with us and bring some scouting knowledge. Get ready. He used to play, you know.

Before I give you what I saw and what some people are thinking, take a quick look at Gomez's stats from last season with the Twins: 137 games, 315 at-bats, 51 runs scored, 72 hits, 3 home runs, 28 RBI, 14 steals, 72 Ks, .229 average, .287 on-base.

Those last two numbers look pretty bad, especially when you consider that Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum said Gomez did his share of bunting and hitting the ball on the ground last season. And his BA of balls put into play (.286) is still way too low for a guy with that much speed who hits the ball down. But he swings at a lot of pitches and doesn't walk a ton, so that has something to do with it, obviously.

Those numbers don't look bad, they are bad. Regardless, thanks for summing up every scouting report about Carlos Gomez ever written.

Now I'm not saying he hits a ton of balls down, but he does it enough that his average should be higher, and there isn't going to be a huge emphasis on him getting the ball down when he talks with Sveum because he's at least satisfactory for now.

He doesn't hit a lot of balls down, but he does enough of the time that he doesn't need to learn how to hit the ball down because his hitting the ball down skill is satisfactory. For now, at least. Hmm?

With that said, Gomez is well put together (about 6-3, 6-4 and 215 pounds) and has the size and bat speed to hit for power later in his career, maybe even sooner than later. When he does get the ball in the air, his fly balls tend to not do much and he has a tendency to pop-up sometimes, and his BA for balls hit in the air is so low it drags his BABIP waaaaaaay down.

Pop-up sometimes? How about 16.1% of the time he hits an infield fly? That's, like, a lot. Ideally he does have the size and bat speed to hit for power, but the facts are the facts. His career slugging percentage of .373 on fly balls (the league average is around .600) and a HR/FB rate of a paltry 4.6% (average is around 12%) aren't very good. We'd all love him to develop into someone who can hit for more power, but it's not very likely.

By the way, you just wrote "waaaaaay" on a major newspaper's website. You really just did that.

The thing with him seems to be that he is too fast at the plate, much like Rickie Weeks was before. Talking with some people around the cage today, it was discussed that one of the better things to happen to Weeks was adding weight to his frame because it slowed his bat down. Well Gomez won't get bulky like Weeks, but he does need to slow his hands. Even in BP you can see him flying through the zone and hitting a lot of lazy balls in the air.

Carlos Gomez First 3 seasons (2007-2009) OPS: .638
Rickie Weeks First 3 seasons (2003-2007) OPS: .768

EXACTLY THE SAME!

The thing Gomez has to realize, and this was confirmed by people in the organization standing around this morning, is he has the body and natural power to hit the ball hard and hit it out. But when he rushes and looks to be trying to muscle it over the wall, well, that's when he gets into some trouble.

TWO STRAIGHT PARAGRAPHS starting with "The thing", that's gotta be a record.

So a guy who hasn't hit for power in his entire career struggles when he tries to hit for power? It's like Major League 2 all over again!

If Sveum can slow this guy down a bit and get him to hit for gap power, he could be a fun player to watch not only with the glove but at the dish. However, that could take a lot of work from an early look at things.

That sentence doesn't read right to me.

Anyways, it's good to see that A-dub has deduced from one batting cage session what the rest of the baseball world has deduced from watching his entire career. Or five minutes on fangraphs.

I'm not sure if this one can really be blamed on Witardo because it's clear from reading that none of this story is his actual opinion on Gomez, but rather things he heard other people say around the cage. I think Gomez should focus more on hitting ground balls than anything else, but I am about as qualified to speak on this as A-dub is. So what do I know? However, it's good to see that Witardo hasn't changed a bit from an early look at things.