Look, I don't want to be overly presumptuous here and tell Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain or Mike Huckabee their business.
But you want a real way out of this slumping housing market and looming recession?
|
|
| Ryan Braun stays put in Milwaukee but will move from third to LF. (Getty Images) |
Scott Rolen is out in St. Louis, moving north to Toronto.
Miguel Cabrera is out of Florida, having landed in Detroit (with Mitt Romney winning the Michigan Republican primary Tuesday despite blowing a golden chance to put the above in his platform).
Troy Glaus is moving to St. Louis, having been peddled out of Toronto.
And though Ryan Braun is remaining in Milwaukee, he's surrendering his piece of third base real estate -- it's a real fixer-upper, if you get the drift -- for a spacious new place in left field.
It's all impact stuff, and on a micro level, the most fascinating is the move in Milwaukee, where the Brewers last September were so close to their first postseason appearance in 25 years that they were selling playoff tickets.
Until Braun dropped them.
Of all the moves he made this winter -- beefing up his bullpen by adding Eric Gagne, David Riske, Guillermo Mota and Salomon Torres, signing catcher Jason Kendall, adding outfield depth with Gabe Kapler -- Brewers general manager Doug Melvin thinks the most significant was the signing of center fielder Mike Cameron to a one-year, $7 million deal.
"Because it improves our defense," Melvin says. "If Billy Hall adjusts to third base and Braun can get comfortable in left field, then it will be a great move."
The Brewers tied for 12th in the NL last season with a .982 fielding percentage. Most glaring were the mistakes of poor ol' Braun, who, when he wasn't hitting .324 with 34 homers and 97 RBI (an incredibly smashing debut, being that he wasn't even recalled from the minors until early June), was committing 26 errors in 112 games at third base.
The resulting .895 fielding percentage was the lowest for a qualifying third baseman in either league since 1984, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, when San Francisco's Joel Youngblood posted an .887. Ouch.
