brewtank34

Argh. I've always been a Gamel supporter, but c'mon man! Stay healthy for at least a month! That's all we were asking out of you. Now you have no trade potential! This stinks for him as I feel that he was on a really good path last year. Just very sad for him and his family. And sad for the Brewers too because now we have to go with a Green/Gonzo platoon at first. I think Gonzo's the better option as Green at first did notthing for me. He looks out of position and quite frankly, just weird at 1B. Doubt we'll be seeing Morris in the beginning of the year. My hope is that they can sign Carlos Lee for $1.25 mill and let him be our stop-gap until Hart comes back, and then, we still have our power righty off the bench for the rest of the season. Make it happen Doug! Or...trade Green+ for some 1B depth.

Aoki Weeks Braun ARam Lucroy Gamel Gomez Segura

Congrats!! I am a proud father of a 6 month old boy. Needless to say, but he is the greatest joy in my life! I'm very happy for you to be able to experience the same happiness. Here's a few of my tips, but the main one is to remember your child is Innocent! He/She is not doing anything wrong as they are just learning how to get through the day. If you're tired, angry, irritable...DO NOT take it out on the baby for crying too much or keeping you from a task that you've been wanting to get done (or watching a Brewer/Bucks/Packers game) This was the hardest thing for me to learn. It took me about 1 month to click, and once it did, the bond that I was able to create with my son grew epically. Basically, I had to come to the realization that I was battling "Time". More specifically, my time versus baby time. I was trying to do everything I could for my wife, the upkeep of the home, working my job, being a great father but also trying to find time for ME. Trying to find time for ME was still very important to me as I thought that I could still have the life I led prior to the birth of my son. THE PROBLEM with that theory however was that whenever I tried to do something for "me" or "my time", I would get interrupted by my son and his needs. I would get more and more frustrated with this and it definitely affected many areas of m life. This affected my happiness to being a father as well as my relationship with my wife as it created more irritability on my part which my wife of course picked up on. Once she saw my irritability, she became more irritable as well. But then it happened. An Epiphany. I realized that "my time" no longer existed and will not exist for many years. "My time" was now "Baby Time and Fatherhood". There's always going to be a time or challange that will require your attention as a father. But here's the thing...once I realized this, I wasn't upset with that reality. I was immediately focused on my son and because of it, it has allowed me to be a better father and a more relaxed and open father during crisis'. So there you go. Try your hardest to allow yourself to come to terms that "your time" is now "baby time" as your baby's life is now priority 1 for you. Don't get me wrong... I still find time for myself, but if I have to attend to my son, I no longer get frustrated...I get excited! Other tips... 1) Swaddle! Get the SwaddleMe brand from Target. This product alone has allowed my wife and I to sleep throughout the night as it pretty much restrained our son from his herky jerky movements at night which would wake him up...resulting in waking us up. 2) Take many videos and pics! it's fun to go back and track your child's growth and experiences. 3) Try not to purchase new clothes. Go to yard sales, and seek friends who have kids who are looking to get rid of clothes. Newborns and infants grow through sizes like no other and getting second hand clothes will save you a lot of money. 4) Gas Drops: This really helps if your child is constipated. You'll know if they are constipated when his/her stomach gets really hard, hasn't pooped in a while, and crys in pain. 5) As others have suggested...accept the help given/offered to you from family and friends. If your family asks to watch your child for 4 hours so that you and your wife can get 4 hours of non-stop sleep....DO IT AND DON'T ASK QUESTIONS! If people want to cook you dinner, accept it! Sleep though is key. Ask friends, neighbors and family to come over and watch your child for a few hours. They will come running to do so and you'll benefit from the sleep! My son is 6 months and I love him more and more every minute! Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring. Best of luck RobDeer and others!

For teams like Nat's and Dodgers...the term "too much money" does not relate to them. They don't have a budget (well, at least in the same sense as the Crew). They have one thing on their minds. World Series. To them, over spending for an elite BP option is mute. They got their elite BP option and money is an afterthought. For clubs like us, money is always on the forefront, but not for the Nat's and teams like them. Oh how nice it would be to have that mentality. As a fan, my wish for the best possible team to take me to the championship and how my team's owner spends their money is not a care to me. Just put the best players on the field to allow a chance of geting to the World Series/Championship and I'll be a happy fan. Now, if I were employed by the organization, I may have a different philosophy, but as of now, I'm merely a fan and how my owner spends his money is besides the point to me...just give me a chance at the World Series...and that is EXACTLY what the owner of the Nat's is doing for their organization and their fanbase.

Knowing what we know about ARam, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that he's going to stink up the joint in April and most of may. For that reason, I would split my line-up in two. The first being the 1st two months of the year and the second line-up being the rest of the season. 1st 2 months of season: Aoki Weeks Braun Hart Lucroy ARam Gomez Segura For the rest of the season, I'd go with: Aoki Weeks Braun ARam Hart Lucroy Segura Gomez I switched Gomez and Segura in the second line-up because I figured Lucroy could handle being protected by Segura better than Gomez while ARam would benefit from a power threat behind him more.

I have no doubt that Lucroy is a .300 hitter with upside of power and great defense.

Lucroy is quickly becoming one of the main Leaders of this ball club. He's young and talented. No way Melvin trades him away.

Don't under-estimate Narvy. With this signing, I see Narvy (so long as he can prove himself healthy in ST) getting the 4-5 starting position. He is a veteran and one who was looking pretty good prior to the injury. Hopefully, he can pull a Capuano and return to gold...

I appreciate the laugh! I needed that one.

Before Narvy got injured, he was showing very good progress to being a legit 3 in the rotation. He actually was one of our better pitchers before the injury. With that in mind, seeing that we don't have any current lefty's in the starting rotation, I'd be surprised if Narvy wasn't our #3-4 pitcher. Gorzo in the pen is great, but I would like to see another lefty if possible. I've always been a proponent of a 2 lefty BP. Gives the manager more options in the game and an ability to manage the pitching staff better. With only 1 in the pen, the manager is limited. My hopes is that Melvin will be able to trade for another lefty. With that said, how can our farm not have any lefty good enough for BP duty? That's pretty sad. Can anyone with more knowledge of our farm system let me know who our up and coming lefties are?

Based on those stats, he should never see the light of day in a Brewers uniform.

Not an 85 win team a 90 win team. I still believe in 90 wins gets you into the playoffs even with the added 2nd wildcard. Yes the bullpen is going to be bad again as I don't see much of an improvement over last years bullpen. It is possible that they won't be as bad as last year but that bullpen is going to hurt the Brewers again. Not sure how anyone can predict this. Last year this time, we were thinking our BP was one of the best in the NL and the least of our worries. This year could be entirely different or it could be the same. BP's are crazy like that. I like what ATL is doing to their BP, but again, it could go south very quickly for them as well. BP's are a crap-shoot.

I'm fine with this. That's a lot of money for Dempster in my opinion. Way to stand tall Doug!

Paul253 has it nailed here. Nothing else needs to be said on this debate. I hope Melvin is reading this one!

TH just sent out a tweet that he's being told it's not the Crew.

+1 Our fan base is one of the best out there which is evidenced by our annual attendance at MP as well as our TV ratings on FSN. What a weak and disappointing number that is compared to the likes of other teams. I know where never going to be in the same category of the LA Dodgers ($121 milllion) but c'mon! FSN is fleecing MA and the Crew! I'll take the increase as any increase is a good thing, but this is still very disappointing.

Speaking of Fangraphs, I just found a FanGraphs Podcast series on TuneIn Radio. TuneIn Radio is a radio app on Droids. Just an FYI to everyone who loves Fangraphs.

If Melvin could sign Howell, I'd consider this a successful offseason (if we were to do nothing else). Getting a quality left hander in the BP is an absolute must. I'm liking Gamel as our lefty power guy on the bench and if someone goes down (Ramirez, Hart, Aoki), Gamel will be there to provide suitable back-up coverage (assuming he stays healthy himself). While I don't see the Crew landing Hamilton, I wouldn't be upset if we did. It's MA's money, not mine. If that does happen, I would imagine Gomez will be traded for BP help as Aoki would move over to CF and Hamilton over to RF. I don't want the Crew signing Hart to an extension. I love his defense and his bat, but I don't want to block Morris either. Let Hart play out his last year and play the Greinke game with him come deadline. Gamel could move over to first for the 2nd half of the season while Morris gets another minor league MVP. I am ok with some money being spent on SP, but nothing over 3 years. If Dempster could pitch as well as he did in that horrible place they call a field in Chi-town...I'll feel comfortable with him at MP. 1) Howell 2) Don't sign Hart 3) Dempster or Jackson. or 1 year deal for Haren w/incentives.

Waay too much for Dickey. Schafer straight up maybe. Schafer has more value than Maldy IMO, but the two of them together would be outright robbery for the Mets. I would like Dickey on the Crew...but not for that price.

Nicely put. To add.... marketing you and your alter-ego made the Crew a lot of money!! Thank you sir and the best of luck to you and your many alter-egos.

"laughing stock" Wow.... not the smartest philosophy and those who chose to do this/continue this need to be removed from their positions.

Can anyone explain why the wildcard team gets to host the division winner in the first set of games?

Probably not the best idea. Aoki brings something to the table that we so desperately need...a leadoff hitter. Hart is a legit 1B with the power stats that come with it. Gamel unfortunately has not proven he can stay healthy. Gamel off the bench or even traded is the best bet for the Crew. Aoki needs to be in the everyday line-up. period.

To all those who chastised me for having an opinion on Gamel being more of a disappointment that our BP, our record etc... take it easy! It was my opinion that the injury to Gamel has more ramifications to the future of the Brewers than just this awful year of the BP. Gamel is under control for a few more years and with his upside, it would have been nice to see what he could actually do in the majors. He had a great ST and I was excited to see what he could bring to the table now that Prince was gone. Now, he doesn't have a place on our team because Hart is showing great defense at first and Aoki is proving to be an asset out in RF. Now we have to choose whether or not to pay Hart big $$ to be our first baseman for the future or to trade him. His injury forces us to decide whether to trade low on Gamel or to keep him for a bench player. Also, to my comment that he screwed it up....I meant the opportunity to prove he can be a player. Give me a break you guys. I wasn't suggesting that he screwed up his opportunity on purpose by hussling 100% on a foul ball. Relax! The ramifications of Gamels injury are more than what you all are discussing here.

Gamel to me has been the biggest dissappointment this year. Moreso than the BP. Moreso than being 15 games out of 1st in August. I was so excited to see what Gamel was able to provide this year and he screwed it all up. With that said, you can't trade him. His stock has got to be at its lowest possible. use him in RF and 1B to sub. Who knows...with Segura in the starting line-up next season, Segura could be the lead off and have Gamel be the RF. Use Aoki off the bench. There's multiple options out there on how to use him though...he's cheap and he's got lot to prove. We need more guys like that moving forward.