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Abreu and Dunn are terrible defenders. I really don't think age was/is the issue with either Dunn or Abreu. Cameron is a good defender who can hit.

A couple problems I have with this comparison. Gamel only played a short time. The batting line he put up was league average. Depending on his defense, he would be about 2 WAR over a full season as a league average player. I would say Gamel is a better than league average hitter and probably below average in the field. I think 2 WAR is probably a little low on an estimate for Gamel. Greinke was a 9.4 WAR in 2009. That doesn't mean he is a 9.4 WAR pitcher. I think Braun is clearly less valuable than Greinke, but the WAR's you presented are very misleading. Gamel and Braun over a full season would probably have a total WAR at least in the 6.5-7.5 range. A WAR for a pitcher much over 7.5 looks pretty rare. Edit: I guess thank you to TH and Trenni for looking into the Greinke rumors, if TH even did more than a snotty tweet.

I was going to say low-ball but didn't want to overstate my case.

Gamel could be special, but no guarentees. True, but in this "bad" year he had he was able to put up MLB average stats for a 3B. An expectation of Gamel being an above average bat at 3B or one of the corner outfield spots isn't a stretch at all. Gamel .242/.338/.422 3B .265/.335/.421 RF .270/.345/.446 LF .269/.341/.440 Grienke on a 3 year contract would be great. I would hate to give up Parra or Gamel to get him though. Looking at his contract, I think the original offer(Parra, Gamel, Solome, Hardy) looks like a sort of a low offer for 3 years of Greinke. Per Cot's Contracts Zack Greinke rhp 4 years/$38M (2009-12) * 4 years/$38M (2009-12) o signed extension with Kansas City 1/26/09 (avoided arbitration, $4.4M-$3.4M) o 09:$3.75M, 10:$7.25M, 11:$13.5M, 12:$13.5M o limited no-trade protection in 2009, 2010 o award bonuses: $50,000 each for Gold Glove, All Star, LCS MVP; $0.1M for WS MVP; $0.1M for Cy Young ($50,000 for 2nd-5th place); $0.1M for MVP ($50,000 for 2nd-5th place)

Anything less than 3 points at home on a weekend is disappointing.

How do I make it sound that way? I even added the note that Hardy might be responsible for his own positioning. Do you disagree that Hardy benefits greatly from being positioned correctly? Or that the coaching staff/scouting plays a big role in said positioning? My question would have to be, why bring it up? Every player playing SS for the Brewers will get similar positioning from the coaching staff. Why would it somehow help Hardy but not Escobar? 'Escobar will become a better defender than Hardy' (which gets called into question, and rightfully so, since Hardy is so reliable on the balls he can field) I have yet to see that questioned. Most seem to think Escobar will be better at some point. JJ is so good that there isn't much room to improve over JJ. - 'J.J. is a better defender right now' (& I have yet to see any Escobar-proponent claim otherwise) It was stated earlier in this very thread. I'm exactly not sure when, but I think there's a decent chance it could be next year, but probably would handicap it as 50/50. I think Escobar will be roughly equal to Hardy next season, and surpass him by 2011. And that's not a shot at Hardy -- it's just a reflection of the extra range that Escobar has. Maybe he will. Escobar certainly has the tools. I would probably go a little lower than 50/50 myself. I do agree that he will be equal to JJ on defense, or better, in 2011. Again even the best defensive SS in the league provides little additional benefit over JJ. One thing I have yet to see brought up is unless Macha makes some serious adjustments, his managing robs Escobar of one of his best offensive attributes, SB. In the past I was dead set against Escobar being on the Brewers. I am not really leaning either way on Escobar/Hardy at this point. I think some people have soured on JJ after this year. I think one will be traded. Escobar would probably bring back a guy who would help immediately while JJ is more likely to bring back prospects. Hardy is likely to be more valuable next year overall. We would probably be better off keeping Escobar long term. Whoever gets the guy we trade will likely have made a very good trade. I know this is going to be one of the big issues on the board this off season, along with catching, CF, and starting pitching. I don't think the gap between the 2 sides on this is as big as last year.

That's not fair. People love Escobar because he has the athletic gifts to blossom into one of the great defensive shortstops in the game. While Hardy is the better defender right now, his potential is fulfilled. Escobar absolutely looks like he will become a better defender than J.J. I agree that some of the love for Escobar on defense are the spectacular plays he makes. The question is "when" will Escobar become better than Hardy in my opinion. I don't think that is next year. However, much of his success on defense is also due to good positioning by the coaching staff You make it sound like any guy with athletic ability could play SS for the Brewers. If what you said is true, then Escobar would be a far superior defender to JJ. Right now, he isn't.

Our spots of need at this time are CF, C and starting pitching. The available free agent catchers and starting pitchers are very unimpressive. Cameron looks like one of the best available CF free agents. Our money is probably best spent on Cameron. It would probably be best to pick up pitching through trades.

Take Parra and Gamel out, substitute Hart instead and drop the prospects on the Royals side and I like the deal. We need Parra. Trading pitchers away is something we cannot do. I agree that trading for a player like Hardy makes no sense for the Royals. They are not contending for the playoffs in the next couple years. The only teams that make sense for a Hardy trade are teams that think they are going to be in the playoffs in 2010 or 2011. It makes little sense to trade for Hardy even if a team thinks they can pay him. I don't see any reason for Hardy to sign a long contract without first testing free agency.

I have heard they are cheap to make which makes sense. They don't have big stars. They don't have expensive special effects. They don't have expsnsive sets. Being cheap to make means they don't have to draw to many people. I have never been to one and probably never will.

Bunting was probably a good strategy in those situations. The game is late and close where a run is very valuable.

However, the employees at Trader Joe's are off the upbeat charts, just relentlessly upbeat, to the point where it's bugging me. A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. Herm Albright

So not clutch by A-Rod. I don't know why anybody would want that guy on their team. What a hack.

In the comment section after the post, the first sentence of the second comment pretty much sums up what I think about baseball stadiums without roofs. I would just post it here, but the language is not allowed. Link

I know it tacks on a pretty good chunk of money. I also believe baseball should be played on grass. I would hate to have to play in this crap. I don't like weather effecting the game.

Again I ask, "Why would any sane person build a new stadium without a roof?"

If they called it like that all the time, I wouldn't have a problem with it at all. We see players get that call all the time. I agree with how they call it for the sake of safety. If a player can touch the bag, I have no problem with the out call. Consistency in calls, as always, is the problem here. I agree, it is funny that we are being critical of umpires calling it like they should.

I remember a call earlier this year where the 2B was pulled away from the bag to catch the ball and they still called the guy out at 2B.

Wow, that is a total screw job there. I have seen guys way further off the base get an out call.

I thought those numbers were a score put up by the pitching judge.

and he walks a fair amount and hits every year.

I just had some this afternoon. I liked it. A little sweet taste to it. I think this should go in the beer thread.

or 3)are never healthy enough to pitch most of the year.

So Melvin is an idiot if he doesn't spend money(big money no less) on a player who may or may not play. I would have thought it the other way around.

Overall, JJ makes more plays than Escobar. That is the important thing. JJ, while slower, has good instincts and anticipation that give him range to make up for his lack of foot speed.