FVBrewerFan

What did it get us? That sort of hindsight isn't productive. He was signed for a reasonable salary and lived up to his contract until this year. If they won the World Series, I'm guessing you would have said it was a great signing? But they didn't win the World Series, true. Then again, they never have- which means every contract they ever had in the history of the organization was bad.

Would be even sweeter if they used that occasion to announce the financing for a new arena is in place, and they're breaking ground later this year. A man can dream.

Although this is the time of year for rumors, this one may have some legs. Reports out there saying Brook Lopez will opt out of the last year of hos contract, and the Bucks are one of the teams he's interested in. I have mixed feelings. Beggars can't be choosers, not sure how long it will be for the Bucks to have a shot at a legit starting Center like this. He has his flaws, but Lopez would fit the legit Center everyone has been wishing they had. Downside? It will cost them a ton, which could mean they don't keep Middleton. It would essentially lock the Bucks in to a big 3 of Lopez, Giannis, and Parker. Just not sure if I would do this or not.

So, what you're saying is we got a utility IF, average-ish bullpen arm and a TBD lower minors pitcher for Gallardo? Sounds about fair.

The problem, as often happens around here, people can take chunks of Braun's record to make a point. Some point to last season, others point to the last few weeks. You can find whatever Braun you want, depending on what time frame you want to us. To me, the bigger question is if/when he can produce a track record of .850+ OPS, do your trade him? And I don't think it's an easy answer. It would be great to have a player like that in his prime, but at the same time it is a big contract- and you just never know when his thumb acts up again, or has some other injury. Yes, you can say that about any player but it's more of a concern with Braun- especially the thumb thing.

We've gone round and round about this in the past, but it's not the aggressiveness that needs to be eliminated. It is the flat-out bone-headed base running blunders. Trying to go 2nd to third on a grounder hit in front of you. Getting picked off 2nd base with no outs. Good example is when Sedar waived Lind around the other day and was thrown out by 89 feet at home. That's the kind of thing that hopefully Counsell can drastically reduce.

Not that you want to reach for prospects, but it would be nice if we can get some "lefthandedness" into the system. You look at the Brewers from MLB down to rookie ball and there is a very little in the way of LH talent- either on the mound or position players.

KRod is under-valued too. There is always a team or two who really needs a closer down the stretch, and KRod is a proven commodity. Will he blow a save here and there? Sure, they all do. But for the most part, he's a veteran closer that's "been there, done that." I hope they don't settle for a Delmonico type guy, they should be able to get a top prospect for him. Lind is another guy who could be more valuable than we think, if there's a few teams looking for a LH bat. No matter how hot Lohse is, he still is nothing more than a #4/5 starter for a true contending team so I wouldn't expect a big return. splitter makes a good point, with some of these guys they don't need to jump on just any offer at the deadline. They have the hot stove league to maybe put together a bigger trade with guys like Gomez, Segura, Scooter, Garza,...whoever they want to put on the table. I still believe Braun can be part of that if he can put together an .800+ OPS year.

Nice to see my guys continue to rake. Rivera 4th in the Southern League in OPS, Ramirez is 6th. These guys have never really been talked about as realistic MLB players, keep it up guys.

June-August will always be very busy, whether they're in 1st place or last. April and May are generally slower, regardless of record. Especially during the week. September is the big month, could swing by 300,000+. If they're in the race, very busy- if not very slow.

+1 Enough guys, please, it's boring. He's a Spurs fan, it's not like he said was a Cardinals fan or something.

30-1. That's some sweet action!

Why? Because his offense will be wasted on a bad/mediocre team over the next 3 seasons. The overwhelming strength of the Brewers right now is AA and below. If they can get a couple top shelf prospects at that level for Braun, they are stocking talent for when they can be relevant again a few years down the road. Oh, and save 10s of millions in the process. I''m by no means against trading Braun if he hits well enough to draw interest, but given his baggage and long term contract, i just have a really hard time seeing another team taking on THAT contract, the baggage, and also throwing in a couple of high quality prospects. I just don't buy the "baggage" issue. I think it's a bigger deal to us since we lived in every day. There are so many guys that got tagged by the PED thing, I just don't think it's an issue. Teams want to know he can hit .850- .900 again without PEDs, injuries behind him, etc. And yes, it will take more than a week or two to prove that. But IF that day comes, I think there's enough teams where his salary wouldn't scare them one bit. They just need to be convinced that "old Braun" is back. (Or even 85-90% of the old Braun, since OPS is down across MLB from a few years ago.)

Yea, since Helena/AZ leagues don't start until later, not a lot to lose by starting these guys in Appleton. If they can be productive, keep them there. If not, bring them down to Helena when the season starts. At least they'll know what they need to work on, and understand what A ball will be like when they get back. I don't think it's adjusting to a longer season that's the issue at this point- that usually shows up late in the season. It's just real young guys who haven't seen this quality of pitching every night.

Tonight look for Butler to be real aggressive. Taking it right at the Bucks, scoring....drawing fouls. They need a way to contain Gasol also, actually surprised they haven't used Plumley for a few minutes here and there on him.

Chandler is the type of guy you want if you're going for the title next year. Nice fit for someone like Houston, GS, etc. He would make the Bucks better NEXT year. I just don't see value in spending any money on guys who won't be a piece of the team in 3-4 years when they can be a legit contender. Zaza and the coaching staff can provide plenty of guidance to a young big, they don't need another old Center for $10MM a year.

Harrison and Gatewood are simply over-matched at this level. They struggled last year in AZ, so it was surprising they promoted them all the way to A ball. I think they should/will be sent to Helena, and very likely that was the plan all along.

Why? Because his offense will be wasted on a bad/mediocre team over the next 3 seasons. The overwhelming strength of the Brewers right now is AA and below. If they can get a couple top shelf prospects at that level for Braun, they are stocking talent for when they can be relevant again a few years down the road. Oh, and save 10s of millions in the process. Or, I suppose, they could stay the course and continue to surround him with guys like Wolf and Lohse and hope they hit a year where everything goes right.

I don't think he's tone deaf. You think he's happy with 4-87 or whatever they are today? This is a guy who wants to win, and win now. In fact to a fault as discussed in other threads. Just because he hasn't fired RR yet, doesn't mean he's tone deaf. Could very well be Melvin is done after the draft, or after the season is over, and the new GM will then replace RR with a new Manager. Now, if we start next season with RR and Melvin still in place, I will email Mark A, send telegrams, and even tweet (will need to set-up a Twitter account first just for this purpose)

I always love these statements from fans. How in the heck would you know how much he cares? The man could go home every night and be miserable for his performance lately and you wouldn't know it. Usually players who are as good as Braun was, do not get there in the first place by having a regular persons work ethic. This stuff just is so dang funny to me. Also, how do you know he will never use PEDs again? He knew there was testing in place last time he got caught, yet someone convinced him he could beat the system. All it takes is someone else to convince him there's something new out there that can't be picked up in a test. Likely? No. Possible? Absolutely.

After the Sanders debacle, Cousins will never set foot in the Bucks locker room.

Agreed, he will never be a top 10 big. But why does he need to be? He's cheap, and offers a ton of value on the court for the player he is today. You may know some inside info on his work ethic, I don't know about any of that. I think as fans sometimes we focus on the negatives rather than what a player CAN do. This team doesn't need Henson to be a superstar, he will always be a guy that's a role player, and every team in every sport needs those guys. Like tmw said, the key is you just can't have him in the game at the same time as another offensively challenged player. Trade him? Sure, if you get a great deal. I don't think trading him to move up in the draft is enough.

If you look at Henson's jumpshoot it looks forced and not fluid. This is something you cannot teach and normally limits there players from significantly improving over time. He has shown little improvement offensively in the three years he's been in the league and likely will never have a consistent mid-range game. What this team so deperately lacks is quality shooters who can stretch the defense and create lanes for our best players (Giannis, Parker and MCW). We cannot rely solely on our defense to get us to the next level. Yes it is working against a team who's offense is average at best but if you match us up against an elite team like Golden State, even with solid defense, we would not stand a chance offensively to compete. Improving overall team shooting and adding more consistent offensive options is what will get the Bucks to the next level of being perennial top 10 team in the league. If you want someone who can do both, I suggested Justin Anderson who projects to be a solid 3 and D guy. This is the type of player the Bucks should be targeting in this years draft. Sorry, I just don't agree with any of this. Not every player needs to have a good jump shot. Henson provides a ton of value on defense, and at times on the boards. (That's where he needs more consistency.) Whatever he does on offense is a bonus. Giannis, Parker, and MCW are the guys that need to develop their jump shots. If those guys are going to be the big guns for the next 10 years, they need to be able to shoot the ball better. They don't need that from Henson. If I remember right, Mutumbo and Rodman didn't have any jump shot either, but I'm pretty sure they were very important pieces on great teams.

We all know there is a risk trading Peralta or Nelson, but there is a risk keeping them also. If they turn out to me mediocre, you look back and say we could have trade them for x. If they're great, can't afford to re-sign them and they walk. What did we get out of it? 3-4 years of great pitching wasted on a mediocre team. I'll go back to page one, when someone said everyone should be tradeable. If someone offers the right deal, you take it. With the team they have now, the only other alternative is double the salary to make them a true contender. Look, there are no guarantees with whatever approach you want to use. I just think the best chance you have is to flood the organization with talent where they're already strong- AA and below. Because yes, some of these guys will flame out. But if you increase the quantity and quality of players at that level, you are much more likely to have a wave of talent at the same time reach the MLB level.

There's two ways the Bucks can go next year. Try to improve their weak spot, or strengthen their strengths. I would do the latter. Give me another long guy who can protect the rim, athletic enough to run the floor. I want 2 or 3 of that type of guy on the court at all times. Other than that, I wouldn't make any changes. Continuity is very important to this team, and I think that will really help in the development of Giannis, Parker, and MCW. Sign Middleton? I suppose so. I'm always hesitant to throw big money at anyone who isn't a part of a big 3. With that said, who's to say he won't be? So I'm fine with it I guess. I see adding a long defender in the draft, pick up a ZaZa type Center to provide bulk against certain match-ups. (I still wonder if Plumley can be that guy.) Only other move I would make is trying to trade Sova for virtually anything- 2nd round pick would be fine. Then Parker would essentially get his minutes. Then give that team a full season to play together. By the end of that season it will be much more clear what is needed to take the team to the next level, and they can then identify those players in the draft, via trade, and free agency. For once, I think the Bucks are ahead of the curve, and they should stay on this path. Build the team on defense and guys who can run the floor, guys who can drive and finish in the half-court. Hot trend now is to spread the floor and have a bunch of shooters, but that will change. And when more teams emphasize defense, the Bucks will already have a 3-4 year head-start.