RockCoCougars

Coupled with Weeks own inconsistency, I can think of about 30 Million reasons, and the pitches those 30 Million reasons could buy.From who? I thought that the organization has a bunch of young cheap stud pitchers that will be ready to step in by 2012? Those guys would be cheap. That said, I'm sure Melvin is salivating over Ted Lilly as we speak. That $30 million could possibly get you three years of him if you are lucky. This would allow Melvin to complete the 'Buy High on an Old Guy' starting pitcher trilogy.

Wow. What is it about Weeks' career .252 AVG, .780 OPS and shoddy defense that makes you say that? Beckham is having a bad (half) year to be sure, but it is seems pretty similar to the year Weeks had in '05...and '07...and '08. Weeks is having a great year, and it is easily the exception. I would love for the 2010 version to be the real Rickie Weeks, but I'm not sure why anyone would be convinced that is the case. This team is desperate for pitching, and tying $10/year up on a terribly inconsistent 2b, when you could theoretically get a comparable (or better), younger player for half as much or less, doesn't make any sense. Rickie wasn't too bad last year either before the injury It appears that he's finally living up to the potential, has turned the corner as a player and is hitting his prime. He's been the best leadoff hitter in baseball this year. Why would I want to wait on a younger guy to go through all of the growing pains that Weeks did and Beckham is now? I can see it now, Beckham would be up and down for the next three years, and then everyone would be clamoring to trade him before he gets expensive. Maybe I'm a cynic on young prospects, but I was around for the mid to late 80's. Year after year, the Brewers were voted the best organization by Baseball America, etc., with only a handful of decent players and no playoff appearances to show for it, with bust after bust lining the way.

This from a guy who advocates signing Rickie Weeks to a big money contract extension. Looking at both players first 180 games or so, their numbers are nearly identical, except for fielding of course, where Weeks' are much worse. I like Weeks fine, but if I can get Beckham for more years and less money, sign me up.Yes I do advocate extending Weeks to a big money contract....if you call a 4-5 year extension at somewhere around $9-$10 million per 'big money' (though the price keeps going up). I'll take the proven, homegrown commodity over some hotshot prospect every day. Beckham may be highly touted and cheap by comparison, but Weeks is by far the superior player at this point, and it's not even close. Beckham may well turn into the next Ryne Sandberg, but that's a very long shot. No matter what the 'experts' say, at this point, odds are that Weeks will have a better career in the end. Acquiring Beckham would likely result in letting at least one of Weeks, Gamel, or McGehee go cheaply, and I think that's asinine. I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm not interested in building a team full of young guys that are highly touted by the pundits. They would be cheaper, but what does that accomplish other than let Mark A. cut payroll and/or sign another overpriced overaged starting pitcher? As I've said, I'd rather 'rebuild' the front office and the manager before I start a rebuilding process with the players. I have no problem trading Fielder, but only for major league ready pitching, and that's not going to happen until the offseason.

I've taken Baseball America with a grain of salt since 1986, when I'm pretty sure that they had Glenn Braggs as the top minor league prospect in all of baseball. I think that they compared him to Reggie Jackson. I would guess that the 'success rate' of their Top 50 prospects is lower than Beckham's current batting average- which is quite low (even including his 'awesome' July). If Beckham develops pinpoint control and a 96 mph fastball, let me know, otherwise I pass.

Wow, I think that Beckham is extremely overrated here. As the past two games have demonstrated, you HAVE to get pitching for Prince. The only way that I trade Prince for Beckham is if the Sox would be willing to take Wolf as well.

Kershaw got suspended for 5 games, so in essence, he will get an extra day off between starts and that is only if he doesn't get his suspension reduced, which it more than likely will anyway.Agreed, suspensions are no big deal for a pitcher. I get a kick out of how some here are so worried about losing one of the relief pitchers to suspension for a few games, yet at the same time, they want to 'sell high' on everyone who is having a good year. Macha can keep taking the 'high road' in cases like this. It doesn't really matter at this point anyway, because he won't be here much longer.

Braun absolutely owned Hanson last year, hitting 3 dongs of him. Combining that with the fact that Hanson walked just one guy in eight innings that day makes this theory a little more plausible than 'wild speculation' in my view. The Braves' Bush League antics this past weekend only furthered that theory for me. Where there's smoke, there's fire.

Weird, I was just wondering what became of him perhaps a week or so ago. Though his pinnacle was Major League, he was also great in Cabin Boy and Natural Born Killers (a brief role).

Point taken, but that would have been tough for him to do on Saturday when the ump was basically bearhugging him.

Again, this wouldn't be an issue if the Braves weren't throwing at the head of Prince just weeks after injuring Braun. We can agree to disagree, but if I'm Prince, I want my pitchers and my managers to protect me, otherwise, what's going to stop the rest of the league from taking liberties? Instead, Macha takes the 'high road', goes to the league, and a reliever gets suspended for 4 days- big deal. As someone else said, a Jeffress fastball into Hanson's ribs would make him think twice about throwing at Brewer hitters. By the way, Gibson didn't always hit guys. A little mid-90's chin music can make quite a statement.

I respectfully disagree. Once again, if this was an isolated incident, maybe I'd be a little less bloodthirsty towards Atlanta. When Braun was plunked by Hanson, a few months back, he was right at the top of the league batting leaders. He takes one on the elbow from Hanson (who is leading the league in hit batsmen by the way), and has done virtually nothing since - despite showing some signs of life the past week or so. This also coincides with a tailspin that the team in general took at about the same time. Now they are purposely going after Fielder? A complete joke. Retaliation is warranted and necessary, you don't go whining to the league like Macha did- a sissy move in my view. The guy shows absolutely no fire. The kinder, gentler, among us here may disagree, but you have to protect your players. In my opinion, it is part of the game, and the pitchers should know better. Then you have a guy like Parra who appears like he's scared to pitch inside for fear of hitting someone. The Grand Slam by McCann was supposed to be an inside pitch, unfortunately Manny left the ball right over the plate. After McCann showboated and took a slow run around the bases, the first pitch to him on his next at bat should have been under his chin if not in his back. Guys like Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale would have done this even without the beanball antics of the Braves and the showboating. I'm not going to look up the stats, but it seems that the Brewers are right near the league league in hit batsmen every year. I'm tired of watching injuries like Braun's cost the team. I remember back in 2000 (I think) the team was making a little run for the Wild Card, then Burnitz got plunked, broke his hand, and the tailspin was on. What the Braves did the past weekend was complete Bush League and they should have been called out for it. Perhaps a brawl would have given these guys a little spark. Instead, Macha goes and whines to the league. I could not see someone like Yost or Garner doing that, but then again, those guys actually had some passion for their job.

I think that it's time to put nice offers on the table for Weeks and Hart. These two have really silenced their critics this season. Lock these guys up with the dead money that comes off the books (Suppan, Hall, Riske). They are both going to get huge raises in arbitration anyway. Trading Weeks or Hart is asinine in my opinion without serious extension discussions occurring first. I think both would be very ammenable to remaining in Milwaukee, and you could probably get both for what was offered Prince.

His value is at its peak, trade him for a high ceiling minor league pitcher.

But Bill and Brian kept insisting that the first pitch to Prince on Saturday was a 'curve ball'. In all seriousness, if I was Parra, McCann would have been ducking down yesterday- Macha or no Macha. He took his sweet time circling the bases after that Grand Slam and deserved one right between the shoulder blades.

Macha is a joke. I never thought that these words would come from my mouth, but I miss Ned more and more each day. Retaliation should have came immediately last night with one of the Braves best hitters. The Brewers had a comfortable lead enough at the time. This is the way the game has been played forever, you protect your players. It'd be one thing if this was an isolated incident to this series, but when that punk Hanson drilled Braun on purpose a few months back, he hasn't been the same since. Perhaps a brawl would fire this team up a little and give them a little more cohesiveness- both things that this manager has failed miserably at.

Hopefully tomorrow, the Brewers can build a nice cushion so they can retaliate. What are the odds that Heyward sits again? His thumb would be a nice target, albeit a moving one. I guess I'd settle for a Parra fastball in the small of his back.

Enough is enough. If somebody doesn't go head hunting this inning, Macha should be fired.

I'm old, but I'm not old enough to have seen Willie Mays in his prime. That said, I would venture that Willie was better than Carlos in center. I wonder what his UZR or whatever was.

Those guys are mostly brutal. I say Hart to first. Outfielders are easier to find.

As I've said, I'd prefer to retain Fielder if possible. One last try this off-season. If not, he should be peddled for a legit pitcher (Garza, Cain, etc.) or an outfielder with some pop in his bat. If Fielder cannot be signed, both Weeks and Hart should be extended with that money. I see Hart as a good replacement for Fielder at first in that scenario. I think that he could handle first base just fine. The last thing that Fielder should be traded for is another infielder, especially one who hasn't shown that he can hit for power without an aluminum bat. I just don't understand how people think that Fielder and Hart can be moved and those 60-65 home runs won't be missed. I cringe when I see outfield proposals with 'Braun/Gomez/Cain'. Cain strikes me as a guy with a Daryl Hamilton type ceiling if he is lucky- meaning very little power, too bad he's not a left handed hitter like Hamilton. So you replace Fielder/Hart with Beckham/Hudson/'stud prospect' pitcher for Hart/Cain, and you are probably losing 30 homers if you are lucky. Those of you who don't like 'small ball 'had better embrace it with that lineup. Even if you put Gamel at first, there still isn't enough room for Beckham. I suppose you just let Weeks walk in that case. I just don't get it. There is money enough to pay some of these guys, why do a lot of you seem to want to build a Florida Marlins type team? Cheap, but with 'heaps of potential' I say instead of starting a rebuilding project, try dumping the manager first. By the way, I didn't start the Jordan/Bowie thing. Above amongst all the Beckham jock sniffing, there was a reference to the Trailblazers not drafting Jordan because they had Drexler.

I just don't get the hype about Beckham, now we are comparing him to MJ? I take it Gamel would be our Sam Bowie then. What makes any of you think that Beckham is so much better than Gamel or Weeks/ McGehee for that mater? 3b/2b is the only position where this organization has a logjam of talent, and you want to add another to the mix? For what it's worth, I don't believe this rumor has any legs anyway. Again, if Fielder's trade value is 'so low', who is going to give him a huge contract in a year and a half? If a team won't give up significant talent now for a younger/cheaper Fielder for two pennant drives, what makes anyone think that someone is going to jump into the fray and offer him a long term 9-figure deal that significantly trumps the Brewers' offer? Is pitching worth that much?

You have no interest in an infielder who was an elite college player and top-10 overall pick, who raked in the few months he played in the minors before being called to the majors just a year after being drafted, who has the pedigree of a top 20 prospect, and who performed well as a 22yro just a year removed from college in his rookie season? Just because he's had a bad first 300 at-bats in this season, his second season, as a 23yro? Clearly you're the type that was clamoring for Hart to be dumped in a trade or non-tendered this past off-season, and probably one of those that thinks Hart is going to return top prospects at the deadline this year because he's hitting now. Baseball is a sport where shortsightedness, particularly with respect to performance, can be devastating to talent evaluation and even a few hundred at-bats or 100 innings pitched is a small enough sample to be inconclusive. Gordon Beckham WILL be a good baseball player. He has the pedigree, collegiate and minor-league track record, physical tools, and baseball skills to succeed. He has also demostrated the ability to put those skills together and perform well at the major league level for extended stretches. If you're selling on Beckham's future (and near future) because of a poor first half this year, I'm buying. The primary reason that I have no interest in Beckham is the fact that the Brewers already have too many third basemen (yes I know he is playing second this year). I could see the Brewers acquiring Beckham, and then giving Gamel away- solely because he has been in Macha's doghouse for whatever reason. I think Gamel can be just as good, if not better than Beckham, and he's a left handed hitter- something the Brewers will have basically none of if Fielder is moved. I could care less about Beckham's 'pedigree'. All I see is a guy with a sub .250 batting average in 750 career plate appearances who hits a home run about once every 45 times at bat. 'Elite college players' and top-10 picks flop more often than not. That may or may not be the case with Beckham. He could be the next Robin Ventura as far as I'm concerned, but 3rd base is not a position of need for the Brewers right now. If they are going to give up Fielder, they had better get some legitimate pitching back (more than Hudson). I'm not giving away Fielder for a bunch of question marks. He has averaged 40 homers for the past 3 seasons, and is only 2 years older than Beckham. What I don't understand is this- If Fielder's trade value is as low is many here suggest, who is going to give him the huge contract after next season? At any rate, I'm pretty skeptical as to the legitimacy of this rumor because Beckham is so highly regarded (overrated) in Chicago and Hudson is currently in the rotation. By the way, I was not 'the type' that wanted Hart dumped for nothing this past off-season. The only way that I would have moved him is if someone would have absorbed Suppan's contract which would have never happened. I wanted Hart to be given another chance because frankly, the Brewers then as now don't have much organizational depth in the outfield (I have a feeling a lot of people will be disappointed in Lorenzo Cain, but that's for another topic) I felt the same about Hardy, but the way he got the shaft last year, moving him was a foregone conclusion. At this point, I don't want 'top prospects' for Hart either, I would prefer to keep him. Maybe it's because I'm a little older than the average poster here, but I'm always skeptical of acquiring these 'rated rookies' from other organizations. The reason for this is that most of them end up flopping. I'd rather keep the proven homegrown commodity over a 'phenom' who is not phenominal enough for another team to hold onto.

I have absolutely no interest in Beckham whatsoever. Listening to the homers on Chicago talk radio last year, you would have thought that Beckham was the next Mike Schmidt. Judging from his performance this year, he's probably closer to being the next Mike Blowers. The absolute last thing that this team needs is another 3rd baseman (not to mention yet another right handed hitter) to block Gamel. I'd be interested in Hudson as part of the deal, but he alone is not enough for Fielder, and I don't see much else in the way of young pitching.

Earliest overreaction ever? How so? It was obvious when Green could barely hit his weight in A ball his first full season that he would never amount to anything. A pitcher with a combined ERA of 7 ish between low A and rookie ball doesn't exactly inspire confidence in his future. If he was a high school kid, I'd cut him a little slack, but a college pitcher drafted in the first round should be better than this. He's not really having control issues either, he's getting hit like Suppan out there.

Looks like he's going to be the worst Brewer 1st round pick since Chad Green, I remember the same sinking feeling when reading about him a year after he was drafted.