TooLiveBrew

I have no doubt that if they have another year without a playoff appearance, there will be empty seats like there were in the early 1990s Just fwiw, there is a demonstrated boost from a new stadium where attendance stays increased for appx. the first three years it's opened. But if the Yanks haven't done well after that point, empty seats wouldn't shock me.

Yeah! In the hunt for the WC = mediocrity!

Melvin said one of Johnson's agents, Barry Meister, told him the Brewers fit four of Johnson's five criteria That's a good sign, as there are west-coast teams that probably wouldn't fit each of the other 4 criteria, too. I am hopeful about Unit. Also, Gord Ash rules

ESPN radio said the Yanks have offered Burnett a 5 year deal. You'd think that after getting out of bad deals they wouldn't immediately act like idiots again Someone has to replace Pavano!

Not just for the sake of pooh-pooing, but no. Neither Damon nor Matsui can handle CF anymore, and Swisher just isn't good there either.

'young player' is not = 'good prospect'. Cabrera is just not that special a player with the bat, and there are questions about Kennedy going forward. Many reporters felt his attitude was very lax, and he hasn't been able to translate minor league success into MLB success. Kennedy's probably a solid buy-low option at this point.

Touche. In any event, if Sheets's health isn't a huge risk heading forward, I have no idea why the Brewers haven't made an offer. Maybe they don't want to set the price?

True but elbow injuries like his don't just happen all of a sudden. There tends to be soreness and/or indicators leading up to it that any competent medical staff should be able to recognize. Of course if Sheets was hiding everything then that's a different situation.

The Giants also have Nate Schierholtz & John Bowker as corner OFs/1B so I'm not sure that Nelson would be that interesting to them.

I vote Hoffman for the following reason: "Hoffman is near the end of his career and probably will be looking for a one-year deal at a relatively modest price."

Since it seems so counter-intuitive, I wonder what kind of info Melvin has on Sheets's health/elbow. You'd have to think that if they thought his elbow would be ok, they'd be all about retaining him.

I'm not a fan of Cabrera much at all. And I don't want to see Cam traded away unless the Brewers feel that '10 is a season in which they're not going to go after the WC (which would seem silly to me). Of course if there's a trade where we could fill CF capably (read: not Cabrera or other OBP craters) & the team would be improved overall I'd change my tune on Cam.

The reason people say 'Suppan' when Garland is mentioned is that it's a good comparison. FIP of 4.76 in 2008 (career 4.74; Soup career 4.79) would look pretty ugly in front of the Brewers' defense. Not sure why people think Garland is such an attractive option. Heck even for ERA people, his was 4.90 last year, in the AL West (not exactly a tough division in 2008)

Nor would the Yankees part with Hughes & Kennedy for a package of Hall/Cameron. I doubt we could net Hughes for Cam/Hall

Unless the Yanks sign Teixeira (ranked higher as a Type-A FA than CC) as well. Then we get the sandwich pick & the Yanks' 2d rounder

Kendall 2008 month-by-month batting lines (BABIP in parentheses) -- .294/.365/.388/.753 (.321) .218/.313/.287/.600 (.232) .312/.379/.403/.782 (.324) .169/.267/.225/.492 (.190) .287/.350/.351/.701 (.329) .202/.295/.298/.592 (.203) I'm no expert, but given that Kendall demonstrated that he was still capable of at least getting on base at a good clip for 3 months of the season, I'd have to wager that lightening his playing time load would lead to better offensive performance. With all the wacky up-&-down numbers, imo his season line (.246/.327/.324/.651; BABIP .265) does a good job of displaying his value in 2008. I agree with logan's & rluz's point that Lasik will probably not make much of a change (if any) in Hall's production.

Yeah, the Washington Post reported yesterday that the O's planned to make the switch next year and were shopping Hernandez. I think it's a good move for them. They need to get younger. The O's have been doing a pretty solid job of stockpiling young talent. I still can't believe the M's traded Jones for Bedard.

For the Sheets angle... if the Yanks sign him is the comp pick we'd get for Ben still a sandwich btw. Rds. 1 & 2? So I wonder if Melvin will spend the $15 - 20 million he had earmarked for CC next year? Does this open things up to take on salary all over the place? Adam Dunn, please. I guess my ideal right now is that we'd sign Dunn & flip Hart for SPing. EDIT: "The source said the Yankees believe they can top the Braves' offer to Burnett if it is five years for $15 million per and that the Yankees' interest in Mark Teixeira has waned." If those tidbits are actually true (hard to believe any reports until they're official), that's excellent news for the Crew. As currently constructed, that's a very tall order for this team. Well good thing its's December 10th then. To try & analyze any playoff or WC races right now is almost pointless. But it seems to make people feel better that they can complain. Melvin has said since well before CC signed that if they miss out on him, the SPing would be addressed via trade.

I swear they just have staffers read messageboards & then say, 'We've been hearing whispers that...'

With perhaps the exception of the overrated/overvalued (in 2008) Salomon Torres, our bullpen is in much better shape right now than this point last year. I feel lucky we don't have a GM that wants to blow a chunk of change on the most overpaid FAs (closers).

There have been zero teams to make big moves yet. Unless you count the lord & savior Casey Blake's signing as a big move. Obviously questioning whether or not Melvin has plans to improve the team is over-the-top hyperbole.

Hernandez isn't known for his defense, so I'd have to guess that we could get very similar production from Mike Rivera. Not sure why the Brewers would really be serious players here. "Again, Hernandez is likely headed to Cincinnati, but the Brewers at least were part of trade discussions at some point, and might be lurking in the shadows." So there's the possibility the Brewers asked about Hernandez quite a while ago, and decided to say thanks but no thanks... aka "lurking in the shadows."

He has a big (BIG) fastball That's what I thought I remembered, but didn't want to mis-speak from trusting faulty human recollection. Now that it's confirmed, I can say I remember being almost shocked (I hadn't heard much of Morrow prior to 2008... clearly just my own ignorance) by how nice that heater is. BIG is right. EDIT: Here's a link on Morrow: Prospect Insider scouting report from 2006 draft "At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, Morrow is near prototypical size for a big-league starting pitcher, and his arm is as sound as any in the entire draft. Morrow uses a plus-plus fastball to set up a plus-splitter, which serves as his out pitch. He's had command issues in the past but improved his walk rates this season. ... Here's the scouting report. Fastball: 70 Morrow sits 93-96 with his four-seam fastball that will reach 98-99 at times. He gets enough movement to work in the upper half as he moves the pitch across the strike zone. Split-Finger: 60 Usually sitting in the mid-80s, he developed the splitter after struggling to find a feel for a breaking ball and change. He's very much like current Mariners closer J.J. Putz in this manner. Curve Ball: 40 It's likely that he'll scrap the slider altogether and concentrate on improving his curve ball to give hitters a different look. It's a work-in-progress at this point, which probably adds a year to his timetable in the minor leagues. Command: 45 Much improved from previous seasons, Morrow's control was the key to his success, and his draft stock. But he'll need to continue to develop better command through a consistent release point. Strengths: Not unlike Max Scherzer, Morrow is a no-nonsense pitcher who comes right after hitters with an aggressive diet of hard stuff. His fastball is devastating and the split-finger may turn out to be his golden ticket to the majors. Morrow's size is ideal and he should have very little issues physically with remaining in the starting role. His mechanics are solid and may be altered slightly to assist in better control Weaknesses: Control will be the key to Morrow's career, as it is with most arms. Adding a useful curve ball is the likely difference between Morrow the closer and Morrow the front-line starting pitcher. He's capable of developing into a 200-inning starter with better than league average results. Overall: Morrow wasn't the glamour selection many were hoping for, but he was safer than Tim Lincecum and grossly cheaper than Andrew Miller. ... Comp: Morrow has a lot of similarities to Detroit's Joel Zumaya, but lacks the command and polished breaking ball that Zumaya possesses. Others that are similar: Wade Miller, Matt Clement, J.J. Putz, Jason Marquis. Morrow is most likely a No. 3 starting pitcher with 200-inning, sub-4.00 ERA abilities. If he's able to improve his command above the average grade and add a curve ball to change planes in a pitch sequence, the sky is the limit." Link also has two video clips of Morrow. Keep in mind this is from 2006, before he had thrown one professional pitch.

Per link: 1 yr./$1.25M

Link reports it's 3 yrs./$17.1M for Blake