Nader Raider Tim

I've been wondering if Seth Smith of the Rockies might be a good comparison.

I'd be thrilled it Thornburg was able to get 3-5+ starts at Huntsville this year. Then next year is given to opportunity to earn his was from AA to AAA, with a potential mid late year call up, if he earns it. I am not a fan of being aggressive, simply to be aggressive, but when you have players who out perform the level it's time to move them up.

Again coming from someone who isn't a Basketball guy, but I always get sucked into offseason drama. Does the acquisition of Beno Udrih stunt the growth of Brandon Jennings? It seemed like last year the Bucks had a glut of SF's last year. So many that from a novice's perspective players minutes spiked up and down so much because Skiles was trying to play the hot hand or the hustler. Does the glut of PG's lead to a similar situation this year? If Jennings doesn't effort to Skiles liking is Udrih going to be getting mega minutes over him? Jennings seems to be the type of guy that thinks he is amazing, already a superstar, if he is benched for Udrih is that going to motivate him or is that going to send him spiraling downward. With Stephen Jackson who can explode at any time I fear the Bucks may be putting themselves in a position where the have two potentially volatile players.

I keep hoping for a draft day slide for Jan Veesly. Back when I was more into basketball 5-8 years ago Andrie Kiralenko (destroyed the name most likely) was a player I was in love with, and his name seems to always pop up as the comparison with Veesly. I keep hoping that his shooting 44% from the free throw line has him free falling into the Bucks lap. But then again if it is true that he only shot 44% from the free throw line, do I even really want him. I may have actually talked myself out of a player I've been crushing on for a week or two no. Also I saw the Rockets rumor too, and stopped by a fansite and they all are certain that Patterson wouldn't be involved in a deal if both picks were involved. It might have to be Ersan and #10 for Patterson and #23. I think they are underestimating Ersan and the Bucks could still potentially get the higher of the two picks. They also were enamored with the idea of getting Bogut though. Any Rockets rumor may be contingent on another deal or two though. They had were claiming locally they were hearing the Rockets have tried "over 10 senario's to get the #2 pick.

I pay little to no attention to basketball, but I do keep up on the Bucks and catch a game here and there in a bar. So I am going to put out there my uneducated opinion. Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut just don't seem to fit well together. The games I've watched it seems like the fast paced game that Jennings excels doesn't fit Andrew Bogut. Bogut seems slow and unathletic. Honestly I'd like to see one of them go. Derrick Williams as a Power Forward seems like a great pairing to put with Jennings, it would give the Bucks an exciting duo to build around. I am totally not saying I know what is best for the Bucks, in Basketball it seems a bit random how certain teams gel. As an aside I don't know if Jennings will ever fit in ideally with Skiles. The Bucks with a Jennings, Salmons, Delfino, Williams, Gooden/Sanders lineup isn't that amazing but it does have some nice potential, and has the ability to be fun and sexy. Also wanted to bring this up, with Kohl retiring I've been wondering if he's going to be, at least open to the idea of selling or moving the team. Jennings and Williams could be nice pieces to try and market the club to potential buyers. Jennings and Bogut, meh might be a better duo but I doubt it is as marketable. Even if Kohl plans on keeping the Bucks in Milwaukee then Jennings and Williams might be able to boost fan support and help in getting a new stadium. I doubt the Cavaliers would do this but I would be trying to offer Bogut to them for the 4th pick and Sessions and $ filler. The Cav's then could double up on Australians with Bogut and Kyrie Irving. The Bucks could then pull down Kanter and Burks.

Why couldn't there be a Yuniel Escobar on the trade block this year.

Isn't it per day, per email address.

Honestly I am not to worried about the Brewers being able to sign Reed. That may be blind faith but the Brewers do an amazing job at getting their top 10 Round Picks signed. My guess is the Brewers bust out an offer in the 650,000 to 750,000 range with the Enhanced College Scholarship package they seem to offer up frequently.

Norris was drafted by the Blue Jays, there are rumors that he is looking for $3.9 million. That would price him out of even the most optimistic of Brewer budgets.

I would love to have another Brooks Kieschnick, here's to hoping.

I've been internally debating this in my head for a few days now so I guess I just wanted to get your opinions on this. With the rumors of changes being made to the draft hard slotting being the main thing, would this not be a good year to take some risks and try and pay over slot value if a Dylan Bundy, Starling, Hurltzen or Bradley falls to the Brewers. Assuming the Brewers would be willing to pay over slot, in the range of top 3 to top 5 money, wouldn't the Brewers have nice leverage over the player? With the rumors of potentially having true set in stone draft pick slot values set in place, isn't the players leverage diminished? Sure they can enter the draft again, but they could potentially be entering a draft where they would have no ability to get over slot value.

While I undoubtably love the idea of adding high end pitching talent I can't help but go back to the fact that the Brewers seem to have better luck (skill) at evaluating and developing bats. I am no expert here just a relatively casual fan who pays quite a bit of attention to the minor league side of things. When was the last Brewers 1st or 2nd round pick that was a bat that hasn't panned out? With pitchers the track record is much more sketchy. So I guess all I am saying is if the Brewers draft offense in round 1 I as a casual observer will feel more comfortable with it. Round 1 go bats. Round 2-3 go best available (ex Stetson Allie from last year) and rounds 4-10 stockpile your pitching depth and try and hit on the Thornburgs of the world.

I have to admit I am starting to fall in love with the idea of a Javier Baez and Fransisco Lindor haul for the Brewers. Both players seem to have the excitingly high ceilings that the Brewers need, plus both are Bats so hopefully the Brewers can continue their trend of having a higher probability of developing offense. Unlike normal Brewers moves though it seems like both players could have ++ potential with their gloves, which is somewhat of a rarity in the Brewers system. The more I think of it the more I like the idea of drafting the duo (if available, blah blah blah) and pairing them together and just trying to develop them together. A Brewers infield of Braun, Weeks, Lindor and Baez is something I could dream about for a few years. As a tangent, Washington seems to be looking like it will pull down a pretty dang sexy player again this year in Bubba Starling. A three year haul of Strasburg, Harper and Starling looking pretty Franchise changing.

http://www.pinetarpress.com/?p=5993 I just want this mock to come true. 12. Fransico Lindor 15. Taylor Guerreri

Refused is the only option.

“That’s how I try to pitch, to keep my FIP as low as possible.” After winning the Cy Young http://www.fangraphs.com/...einke-clubhouse-dynamic/

Last night at work I was trying to guesstimate what Weeks would end up getting. My prediction was 4 years $48 million with a team option for $15 Million with a $2 million buyout. Weeks gets locked into $50 million and the deal has the potential of being worth $63 million which beats the Uggla deal. If it's any less than that I think Weeks will have given the Brewers a bit of a hometown discount.

Brewers - Evan Longoria, amazing player and an amazing contract. I'd love to have Tulowitzki but I am not comfortable with the Brewers paying him the 150 million he's due, the injuries scare me away. A middle of the order with Braun, Longoria and Fielder is scary. Plus Longoria and Braun are a great cheap offensive duo to build around. Packers - Arian Foster or Jamal Charles. I'd probably go with Charles due to his foolish explosivness. He doesn't need 20 touches to get his yards and with the Packers his versatility would be amazing. Chris Johnson is another name that should be obvious if we are talking RBs but I am going to stay away from him already having a season of 400 touches in I am going to pass. Bucks - I might just be doing this to be contrarian but Blake Griffin. LeBron, Kobe or Durant seem like the obvious choice but I'll pass. I don't know if the Bucks will be good enough with one of the previous mentioned big 3 to win a Championship, so I'll go with upside and roster flexibility. Griffin looks like he might be the next great PF and pairing him together with Jennings should give the Bucks one of hte better young duo's to build around. edit - Dang I take a shower before posting and 2 posters steal Foster, Charles and Griffin...nice picks obssessed with Foster and Griffin and nice one with Charles Jrod

I'd go and just put a standing offer of a Minor League deal with an invite to Spring Trainings and and opt out clause if he isn't in the majors by May 15th. Basically I'd love to have him in a situation where he has to earn his way back onto a major league roster.

Saito is an amazing pickup. When he's healthy he's been awesome for pretty much his entire career. Love this addition, can't wait to see what Melvin does to upgrade SS now. (Perhaps wishfull thinking but this has been an almost dream off season.)

Great move for the Rays, extra supplemental round pick for them. Dang I would love to be a Rays fan this Draft season with all the picks they are going to get.

Any chance the Dodgers might be willing to deal Rafael Furcal? I would doubt it but it might make some sense. They could cut cost's a little bit and they do have a really nice SS prospect in Dee Gordon coming up. It's probably half a season to early to be talking about the Dodgers trading Furcal but it may be doable, plus he would be much cheaper to acquire than a Jose Reyes who was also brought up here as a potential trade target.

I don't even know what to say with this trade. The Brewers are making bold moves. Things could go horribly wrong but the worth is risk the reward. Instead of being a team that can eek out a Wild Card berth this team legitimately is a contender. When was the last time the Brewers went into a season with a player who legitimately could win a Cy Young and a player that could legitimately win a MVP.

I don't see how the Rays would find Cain to be an upgrade over Jennings though. I've read the same things about the Rays and should have addressed it but I view that as the Rays wanting to bring in a proven veteran to make Jennings compete for playing time with. Someone that will act as a placeholder for their young star in the making. Johnny Damon on a 1 year deal would probably the ideal player they would like to sign. More realistic options of what I think they are looking for are Scott Podsednik or Xavier Nady. So I guess what I am saying is that I don't think the Rays view Jennings as a sure fire starter on what they think can be a World Series team. I also doubt that they would think that Cain is a surefire starter on a World Series team.

I don't see how Tampa Bay would want Lorenzo Cain, or I guess I should say I can't see how Tampa would want to give up a player like Garza for Cain +. They do have a hole in the OF but they also have a pretty darn amazing potential replacement in Desmond Jennings. You might be able to try and do a mega deal with Prince and Cain going to Tampa and Garza and BJ Upton going to Milwaukee. That honestly is a deal that I think might make a ton of sense for both teams. From the Brewers perspective they are getting a great pitcher and a CFer with tremendous potential. From the Rays perspective they loose a tremendous player in Garza but do so with an amazing fallback plan Hellickson. They also shed the payroll of Upton and end up getting an OFer to replace him. The Rays OF would still be pretty sexy with a Zobrist, Jennings, Cain starting lineup with Matt Joyce in there too. Dealing with Tampa is tough because they don't have the money to spend that other clubs do. I don't know what Garza and Upton are going to make this year. My guess is it is going to be around the, combined, 14 million mark or so. That won't be to far off of what Fielder would get. (I know he will get more than that but no more than 16 to 18) With all this being said I am not a huge Upton fan but his upside is just amazing and he is a better option than Gomez / Dickerson / FA. Plus it's mostly about getting another controllable Garza type pitcher. Brewer trade - Fielder and Cain Tampa trade - Garza and Upton The other deal that I thinks makes a ton of sense for both teams is with the Marlins. Right now it looks like the Marlins could use a CF, unless they want to play Coghlan there and Wes Helms at 3rd. So a deal based around Lorenzo Cain for Ricky Nolasco might be a nice deal for both sides. I know Cain isn't enough to get Nolasco but an offer of something like Cain, Parra and Rivas should be ballpark i think. The Marlins shed some payroll and fill a need in CF, get an upside arm they can slot at the back of there rotation or in the BP, and a near ready lower ceiling arm to offer a bit more flexability for another cash strapped club. The Brewers lose their starting CFer but get another really sexy pitcher in return. Parra and Rivas are both guys that I am not going to be heartbroken to see leave but do both still have some value. Brewers trade - Lorenzo Cain, Manny Parra and Amaury Rivas Marlins trade - Ricky Nolasco (see if they will throw in Emiliano Bonifacio) I do think both of those trades are win win for both teams. The one with the Rays might not work depending on if the Rays want to try and "go for it" again next season or try and do a 1 year rebuild before going for it again.