joepepsi

Burres is AAA filler. He may work as depth in case of injury however.

Agreed. Media revenue disparity is the real issue. It's important to remember the time of greatest parity in the history of the game was from the inception of free agency right up to the 1994 strike. Revenue sharing and luxury taxes made it more appealing for small market teams to profit by cutting payroll and becoming perennial losers. Meanwhile big market teams were allowed create their own cable networks and rake in millions of dollars. Maybe all media revenues should go into a pot, then be evenly distributed among all teams. It's interesting to me all this salary cap discussion is a result of the Yankees' free agent signings this winter. The reality is their payroll is going to be about the same as last year or a little less.

Really, I don't care what they do with the WBC. It is a contrived joke that gets in the way of Spring Training.

I agree with everything here, except your last sentence. I watch baseball intently, but I admit to be the only person I know who does. I think the main problem with the World Series is the games start too late and move too slow. Weekend games should start at 5 or 5:30 just like the Super Bowl. Weeknight games should start immediately after the local 6 o'clock news. I watched most of the Super Bowl last night, one of the few times ever for me. I was struck by how quick the actual game was played. It started about 5:30 or 5:45 and was over by, what, 9:15?It took forever to start and the halftime extravaganza is long, but the actual game seems to move along at the same pace as a regular season game. This just isn't true with baseball. Baseball needs to be a 3 hour game, tops. It should be over by 9:30 unless it moves to extra innings.

I wonder how much this has to do with whether teams can get insurance on a contract for Sheets?

Really? He's been a league average pitcher his entire career. Some years the ERA's a little better than average, some year's it's worse than average, some year's it's average. In 2007 he was pretty much dead-on league average. In 2008 his ERA was a respectable 4.49 on August 30th. Three bad starts after that pushed his ERA higher. I wish he would have performed a little better last year, but he's been within his career range as a Brewer. I guess he's only a failure if you were expecting him to suddenly get better than he had been his previous 12 seasons. That almost never happens with 32 year old baseball players.

So let's look back on that JJ Putz trade to the Mets. Mets get Putz, Jeremy Reed, and Sean Green from the Mariners. Mariners send minor leaguer Luis Valbuena to Cleveland. Mariners get Heilman, Endy Chavez, Jason Vargas, 3 minor leaguers PLUS, highly regarded Cleveland prospect Franklin Gutierrez form the Indians. Then they trade Heilman for Cedeno and Olson. So, Mariners trade 4 players, and wind up 5 major leaguers + three minor leaguers, who's names I can't find anywhere. Great job, Jack Z!

Ok, time for me to brag. I've done the same comparisons of Rickie to Brian Roberts. Hey, Doug, give me a call, I'd love a career change. One that pays enough to cover the head gasket job I just gave the OK to the mechanic. Of course the comparisons break down on defense. Roberts is an excellent 2B. Good article. Thanks for the link.

Well I was thinking Garland as the 4th starter makes Suppan the 5th. With Bush that gives the team 3 average starting pitchers at the back of the rotation who never get injured. Plus Garland would provide some flexibility to trade Suppan and get out of that contract. Not that any of this matters now..

I don't quite understand why people hate this guy. This is a great deal for the D-Backs; every team should be kicking themselves they didn't get this deal from him. 7 straight years with at least 32 starts. He was darn near great in 2005, very good in 06 and 07. His K:BB rate is trending down, so there is some concern going forward. Still I'd be overjoyed if he was the Brewers' 4th starter in 2009.

wish there was a DH in NL. Then the Brewers could pursue big lefty bats like Abreu, instead of making millionaires out of replaceable talent like Craig freaking Counsell.

Well I was hoping Vinny or Hernan would make the team. I always cheer for the fringe-y types to get at least one decent chance to have a major league career. Guess these two never will. So looks like the non pitcher roster is set. Infield: Prince Weeks Hardy Hall Lamb Counsell Outfield Braun Cameron Hart Trot or Nelson Gwynn or Duffy Catcher Kendall Rivera

I wonder if Prince's weight gain is symptomatic of an attitude all the young Brewers stars seemed to carry into last year. Hart, Braun,Weeks, Hardy, and Prince have been guaranteed starting jobs in Milwaukee since the mid minors. It was the right call to make in the rebuilding years, and Ned seemed to be the right manager for the job. He showed patience and support the first year or two. Last year, these guys came in, all off of pretty good seasons and were guaranteed starting jobs. When they struggled it didn't matter, they still played every day. This is pure conjecture on my part, but it appeared all these guys save Hardy, started the season with a touch of complacency. Their jobs were guaranteed; performance didn't matter to Ned, they still played every day. Rather than being kids were constantly being pushed to get better, and pushing themselves to improve, they seemed to have the swagger of veterans who maybe didn't do enough preparation in the offseason. They thought they were good enough to get by on talent alone. What they found out was the league was onto them, and at various times throughout 2008, each one struggled to make adjustments. My hope for 2009 is that these guys are working on getting better this winter. That they aren't satisfied with last year's performance and want to, borrowing a cliche here, take their game to the next level. My other hope is the new manager approaches each game with an eye to putting out the best lineup for that day, not just penciling in the same group because they are the "starters".

Ever since the days when I watched Oriole fans turn on Eddie Murray, I've noticed how fans tend to blame the best players for their team's shortcomings. No one ever blames Craig Counsell for making the last out of the game; he'ssupposed to make outs. If anything, they blame the manager for letting Counsell bat. But if your big game slugger makes the last out of the game it's because he's lazy, or not clutch enough, doesn't play the game the right way. I agree with Pudster13. Drafting Prince was the turning point of the franchise, imho. Few teams win without a guy like him in the lineup, while many teams spend a generation trying to find a guy who hits like this. Prince had a frustrating year on and off the field, but he is still a cornerstone to the success of the franchise. I think the big guy is the best all around hitter on the team.

How has he wasted his great talent? How has he failed to improve? Didn't he go from hitting 28 homers his rookie season to 50 in 2008. I think it's important to remember most fans are just plain stupid. That's OK, I suppose. They have other parts of their life that are more important and pressing. They give thought to sports about as long as it takes to watch a game. So, they make idiot conclusions based on limited knowledge and shallow reasoning.

I never thought of Kent as a HOF'er until the last year or so. Had he played 1B his career, he'd fall short. But there are few 2B who put up the offense he did. He was certainly no Mazeroski out there, but he didn't deserve the reputation as a butcher either. His fldg pct, range factor, and other defensive metrics hold up pretty well, actually. Even at 40 he was still playing 2b. In all, 2034 games at 2nd. I wonder where that ranks all time? Compared to HOF'ers who are listed as 2B at baseball-reference.com, he'd be about 8th highest in *OPS+, 2nd highest in slugging, 3rd highest in RBI's---one of only three with 1500+, highest by a long shot in home runs. Won an MVP (though Bonds deserved it more that year), an All Star 6 times. Even factoring in today's inflated offense, he's still a Hall of Famer.

He could pitch brilliantly in the next 8 world series', but miss his 9th to injuries and you can bet the phrase "oft injured Ben Sheets" will be all over the media and Brewer fans' lips that 9th year.

This is the 681st post on the Sheets Watch. Incredible, considering there has been nothing to watch on the Sheets Channel all winter....

Honestly, I think the WBC is silly. I like major league baseball and this just gets in the way. It's fake excitement.

It seems high to me, but they have to keep him. This franchise has squandered all goodwill it once had from the fans. But it is a better deal for him than the Red Sox gave Youkilis, isn't it?

I've been an Orioles since I was 6. Only became a Brewer fan in the last few years. I hate this trade. Pie will play left field. His K rate in the minors is 21%. In the majors it's 28%. That's 154 K's in 550 at bats. That's fine if you're Jim Thome and going to hit 45 homers a year. But there's no way he can keep up his minor league .353 obp in the majors with 150 K's a year. I actually liked the idea of a Luke Scott/Freel platoon because it could provide good obp with decent power and speed numbers. Pie and Freel almost certainly guarantees the worst offensive LF in the league. Now Scott becomes DH. Pie was out of options, so he was going to be released before Opening Day anyway. Pie is fast, but has a rotten SB%. Career minor league OPS: Pie: .823; Corey Patterson: .835. What's the over/under on the date Pie is sent to the minors to work on his batting approach and Freel becomes the everyday LF'er? I say June 10. Olson is a 25 year old lefty; a first round pick in 2005. He averaged a K per inning in the minors, a 1.16 WHIP, a 3:1 K:BB ratio. a 2.96 ERA. But now he's done? They give up on him just like that? After his first 33 major league starts? This is a terrible trade. Olson may never be more than a 2nd lefty in a rotation, but even at that he's more valuable than Pie. Especially for a team that was going to rebuild around young pitching.

I wonder if the Angels won't get involved. Seems like they've been pretty quiet all winter.

Then you trade Peavy for good infielders. My point is, sometimes, if it's the right player, you have to be willing to gamble on the long term future if there is a strong possibility for a big short term gain. Like a trip to the World Series. Of course it could all backfire, but that's one reason you try and build a deep farm system: to minimize mistakes.

Well, if they would have had the equivalent of Prince, Braun, Weeks & Parra on the major league team 3-4 years ago, as well as the actual guys in the minors, then yes, that's a trade I would do. The Brewers are a team that has to go for it when they have the opportunity. Peavy would give the Brewers the better chance of winning a World Series in the next 3-4 years than any other move.

I think there's going to be another innings eater/back of the rotation starter added, and a left handed bat, maybe someone like Hinske.