RockCoCougars

Well it looks like Haislip is going to the Greece League. http://www.usatoday.com/s...0-01-23-1189988468_x.htm

The more the merrier as far as I'm concerned. It wouldn't be a bad thing at all to go into spring training with 4 or 5 guys competing for the last two spots in the rotation. It might actually be a good thing if Bedard won't be ready by Opening Day because then maybe the Brewers could get him on the cheap with the hope that he's ready by May or June.

I feel badly for his family, but Bragan was truly one of the villains in the Milwaukee move to Atlanta. He certainly wasn't a favorite of my dad, that's for sure. I found this link, now I know why....check it out. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19660127&id=1wIqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xicEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4022,3427853

Point taken, but I have Gerut penciled in as a regular.

That can largely be chalked up to Melvin's (or Attanasio's) ill-fated decision to give Suppan a four year deal which he did not deserve. This is exactly why the Suppan signing will go down as one of the greatest blunders in Brewers history.

I tend to think the Brewers have enough old guys as it is. That said, it'd be nice to have a left handed hitting bat with some pop off the bench. No way is he getting 400 AB's though.

Agreed on Cameron. He was the king of the meaningless bomb, a-la Marquis Grissom, meaning that the game was generally already decided when he hit them. How many of his home runs were not solo shots or meant anything? Most of what I remember about Cam is cursing at the TV after he struck out again. Add in the fact that he's 37 years old and I'm glad that he's gone, especially at that salary. I've argued this here many times before, but I think he's one of those guys that illustrates the weaknesses of evaluating guys on generallized stats like OPS alone. Look at his stats for last season in clutch situations. Last year, in 'Late and Close' (meaning after the 7th inning in a tied game or with the tying run on deck) situations, he had 87 plate appearances with zero homers and 3 RBIs, a batting average of .239 with 21 whiffs. Brutal. Similarly, in situations with 2 outs and RISP, he hit .232 with 21 whiffs. Those are Jose Hernandez numbers if I've ever seen them. I don't want to hear about his OBP percentage either. I'd pitch around him too if Jason Kendall was coming up next. From mid-July to mid-August, he drove in a grand total of 6 runs playing pretty much every day. Say what you want about RBI's being meaningless, but even his staunchest fanatics here have to admit that is horrible. Let's face it, Cameron is basically Jose Hernandez with a great personality. I won't argue the fact that he's a good guy, but he's not a $10 million ballplayer. I don't care what Fangraphs says. I don't want to hear about his defensive value either, because I'm confident that it will be replaced adequately by Gomez.

I'm not thrilled with Davis, as I'd have preferred Sheets, Garland, and even possibly Washburn. That being said, anything that will bump Suppan from the rotation has to be considered a good thing. Now if the team can pick up a couple of more 'AAAA' starters who have some major league experience (if there are any left) that are willing to go to Nashville, we don't have to hear the 'Suppan is our best option' argument.

I think we can officially dub Alexander as 'Vanilla Haislip' now. The Bucks don't have good luck drafting guys on the lottery based on the fact that they 'can jump out of the gym'.

Yeah, but even if he can hit the low 90's he'd be pretty close with Gallardo as the hardest thrower in the starting rotation. Be careful what you wish for with Sheets signing with the Cubs. A lot of people thought that Favre would get hurt or tank with the Vikings before the season started and look what happened. At least the Packers replaced Favre with Rodgers.... the Brewers basically replaced Sheets with Soup.

They've won four division titles with Beane at the helm, at least.With that pitching staff, they probably could have won those division titles with Dean Taylor at the helm... Well, maybe not, but you get my drift. Are you suggesting a team's personnel has nothing to do with the GM? Do you... like... know what a GM does? Yeah... I know ....like..... what a GM does. The fact is, Beane inherited Tim Hudson, and then got extremely lucky taking two guys in Mulder and Zito (both top 10 picks by the way) that went from college to the majors almost immediately. Pretty much the same thing that happened when Bando drafted Sheets, except lightning struck twice for Beane. Going further, the heart of that lineup in Giambi, Tejada and Chavez was also in place when he took over. Though you may be a Beane disciple, the fact of the matter is that the A's have won nothing since the 'Big 3' pitchers have left. Though the number crunchers seem to think Beane is God, I will go out on a limb and say that Alderson deserves as much of the credit if not more than Beane for those teams.... I know its sacrelige to the believers in the Moneyball bible, but the game is played on the field not by crunching numbers. In my opinion though he's not as flashy (and popular with the stat geeks) Terry Ryan was a much better G.M. I doubt if he'd have been fleeced in trades like Beane was for guys like Hudson, Haren and Harden that's for sure.

Byrnes wasn't even that good when he "was good", plus he's old and seems to be more focused on developing his broadcasting career then playing at this point. I'll pass.

I agree. In my view, Letterman has always had a funnier show than Leno. Letterman should have been hosting the Tonight Show after Carson retired anyways. Leno is a douche, with unfunny, recycled monologues and bits and 100% scripted interviews where he absolutely kisses the guest's rear. Bottom line, I'd love to see Leno's ratings absolutely tank after this. It will be even funnier for NBC when this happens after the Olympic ratings are through the floor.

They've won four division titles with Beane at the helm, at least.With that pitching staff, they probably could have won those division titles with Dean Taylor at the helm... Well, maybe not, but you get my drift.

I hope not, because Beane has never won a thing.... and never even had a winning record without at least two stud (sometimes three) pitchers in his starting rotation.

Exactly. This team cannot afford to give Suppan a chance to start games at the beginning of the season if they want to contend. The only role that he should possibly have is a Dave Burba type long-relief/mop up role, in which he would probably pitch only every fourth game or so anyway. He should either be the 11th/12th guy on the staff or cut in spring training.

I'm not very comfortable with the offensive prowess of that bench. All that I know is that Gamel had better be on the opening day roster. I think that he should start at third with McGahee coming off the bench. One player that I think the team should consider adding is Xavier Nady. The only problem with him is can he throw well enough to play right field anymore. I'd like the team to look at Ankiel too, but apparently he wants a starting job, and probably wants too much cash as well. I think that they need someone with a little pop in their bat to come off the bench.

If Bedard could be ready for Opening Day, I'd be all over him. However, if it's one of those 'early May' things, I don't want any part of him. The way the Brewers luck seems to be with that sort of thing is that 'early May' turns into 'late June', then 'after the break', then 'a setback in his rehab start may mean that he will miss the rest of season'. Haven't seen anything lately, but last I heard it's pretty questionable that he will be ready for the beginning of the season. As I've said on other threads, I don't expect anything out of Mulder. I have no problem inviting him to spring training on a minimum contract with incentives (though I'm worried that they will give him more). He should be signed with the thought that if by some chance he makes a remarkable comeback, it's gravy.

Melvin, Peterson and the others will probably be busy that day at Mark Mulder's throwing session.

That is all well and fine, but this is not a realistic approach for a team with a limited budget like the Brewers.I'm talking about giving Sheets the four year deal pre-injury....obviously the deal would look bad now because he got hurt. That said, giving Jeff Suppan $42 million is a realistic approach? Or even giving Randy Wolf $31 million?

Now that I've watched a season of Macha, I've began thinking that maybe Ned wasn't so bad.... that said, I don't think either of them are anything to write home about. Ned seemed to be poor handling pitchers and the bullpen while Macha is worse with his everyday lineup and player relations. I don't like either of their in-game decision making skills. Keep in mind this is coming from a guy who hasn't liked a Brewer manager since Phil Garner.

It's easy to second guess after an injury, but I'd still have signed him to that contract. I also would never have signed Suppan and Wolf to their deals. The $60 million is roughly the same amount that Suppan and Wolf will earn from the team over the same timeframe counting Suppan last year. No doubt Sheets would have hurt the team less than Suppan last year, even had he not thrown a pitch, so basically what it comes down to is would you rather have Sheets for the next three years or Jeff Suppan for this season and Wolf for the next three. I'd take Sheets in a heartbeat because he's proven he can be an ace, while Wolf is basically a middle of the rotation starter. I'll take my chances on his health because I don't think Wolf is a sure thing to stay healthy himself by any means.

I will be sick as well if Sheets goes to the Cubs. Not sure where the dislike for the guy comes from. People seem to forget that he started the all-star game his last year here and went out there hurt for several starts after sustaining this injury. Ben was probably the best pitcher in franchise history and I'm really convinced that he's going to bounce back. Not sure how bridges were burned with the Brewers and he doesn't want to come back, but it must be due to the team refusing to negotiate a new contract with him. I can see both sides, but most of us should be able to relate to how upset one can get when a new employee is brought in to your workplace, makes more money than you and is incompetent....just saying.

If Canseco says he's lying, I believe it 100%. I know a lot of people don't like Canseco, but he's been proven as the most honest person in this whole mess, and in my opinion he's done as much as anybody to clean up the game.

This team needs a scoring guard, pure and simple... just not enough options. When Ridnour is your best option on offense you have a problem. Adding a guy like Ray Allen in his prime would probably make this a 50 win team.