Tbadder

You sign Prince and that's all. You doom yourself to a temporary 2 man team and when Braun leaves a one man team. Yo is gone if you sign Fielder. He will simply use up the money. If small market teams want to sign players for large market prices then they must, must have a constant stream of high quality youngsters coming up. That does not describe the Brewers. Bad, very bad idea to sign Fielder at anything but their price.

According to MLB Trade Rumors the brewers have signed the 31 year old centerfielder to play at AAA.

I concur. Damon is a big stage player--no way he wants Milwaukee unless it's a last resort. Don't get me wrong. I'd love to have him for one year if it meant jettisoning Hart. Boy, we would weaken our defense though. Plus, I don't know if you can trust Yankee players anymore; that park inflates SLG. so much.

You maybe entirely correct. But I think the Braun-Fielder combo is now exceeded by the Pujols-Holliday combo. Add that to Milwaukee's long term problems in the starting rotation especially against a Duncan led staff which will inevitably be better and it doesn't look good. You may also be right about the young guys, but I simply disagree. Gomez is almost the definition of a bad offensive player, Hart's long swing hasn't gotten any shorter, Casey should come down to earth, I can't see Escobar being better than Counsell was offensively, Rickie--I love the guy, but come on, do we really think he's gonna make it thru a season. Parra may come around. I think he's got the best chance of the bunch, but I'm not counting on it for another two or three years ala Jorge. Melvin's lost the touch in my opinion. I was a big supporter of him up to this last round of trades and signings. I expect we'll get another Looper type, which simply won't be enough. And I don't believe the Brewers are toast, only that they won't win the division without injury help. There's always the wildcard if big market NL teams like the Mets keep being stupid. My projections may be entirely incorrect but companies need to make those long term projections and it can't look good in the Brewer camp when opposing divisional teams can make anchor signings and they cannot.

This only screws the Cards if they then can't sign Pujols. They don't need pitching if they remain healthy. This signing really puts the Brewers behind the 8-ball. It increases the chances that the Brewers will lose their Fielder window of opportunity. It'll hurt the Cards later in the contract--it always does--but as far as the Crew goes it's put the kabosh on the next 3 years unless injuries rear their ugly heads.

Hardy got us a fourth outfielder. That means we could probably get a #2 pitcher at AAA for Mat. Stay away from the Twins Dougie, they fleeced you once.

I think the deal is a double edge sword for the Cards. I think it means they win the divisions for a few years running (2, maybe 3) but that they'll be unable to get better than they were last year. Okay if you sneak a championship in there, otherwise risky business. Of course paying a guy 17 mil in the fifth, sixth, and seventh year will be galling, but maybe by then that will be the league average salary (we can only hope for the players union sake).

At this point the Hall is becoming so diluted that it is becoming less and less relavent. Except for the initial election every generation has made huge mistakes. The Hall will eventually be the equivalent of the Grammys or Oscars--kind of a funny headshaking experience.

My guess doesn't count until Jan. 20th: then it will be Escobar Lawrie Gamel Lucroy Chapman

I like the Smoltz reasoning, and if he stayed healthy he'd be clearly superior to Garland, Davis, or Washburn. Signing Holiday would win us the division though. We'd lose our shirt financially, but I can't see how we wouldn't take the division.

I'd go Alomar and Blyleven. I'd hold up Dawson as the line in the sand. Nobody gets in unless they surpass him. Same thing for Morris. I'd might go Smith as well, although in general I'd actively work against closers or Dhs from making the Hall

I do agree that is the one chance the Brewers have--a real weak division. The signing of Holiday by the Cards should change that, but we can hope. Good call.

I think it's best not to tie up anymore money. The Brewers aren't really going to be contenders and I can't see them becoming a contender if they add one more solid #4 pitcher. Sure Wolf makes them better in the starting rotation, but offensively we should be worse at 3rd, SS, 2nd, CF and probably no better at RF, LF, 1st and improved only slightly at C. That's why if they are going to spend money, which again I don't want them to do, I'd go for the high reward high risk guys. A #1 or #2 pitcher might make them an outlier for the playoffs but no amount of Washburn, Davis, or Garland is going to improve them enough.

I don't know How Suppan is going to be over 5.00. I'd expect something around that 4.75. It's a contract year my friends and somebody's got to give him 20 mil over three years next winter--don't they?

Braddock's a reliever in my book. It would be an organizational policy of mine that injury types get sent straight to the bullpen, while durable pitchers remain starters. I think that relievers are undervalued around here because starters are so immensely valuable. But when you see how much money people waste on closers and free agent bullpen signings like Hawkins (geez that made me gag--throwing away 7.5 as if it was nothing) developing relievers really gives an organization more flexibilty. Sure, I'd like them all to be super effective starters but that's not going to happen because chronic arm injuries (as opposed to one time injuries) aren't going to stop ever. The guy's a reliever--lets live with it and maximize what value we can instead of beating a dead horse.

I'll tell you who I don't want in the bullpen--Villanueva and Hawkins. Neither of these guys excites me at all. Hawkins is way too hittable for his stuff. I thought Melvin threw away money with that signing. And Villy, well, I was a big supporter, but no more. His stretches of ineffectiveness are killer. At this point I'd cut him if I couldn't get a bag of balls for him. Smith, nope. I can't think of one thing that impresses me. He doesn't have any pitches, heck, I don't even see the grittiness. I'd like to see Naverson as the long lefty and Vargas as the long righty. No way do I want to risk losing Naverson because he's outta options. I agree with whoever said that we should keep him stretched out in AAA, but if I was him and the Brewers put me on waivers because they hoped no one would take me? Well, I'd walk. I also don't want to see Riske pitching again either. He'll just take up a spot for a more deserving and younger pitcher. It's unfortunate what happened, but it did. I'd give him his release. I'm pulling for Lofgren, but he doesn't have enough control. I think the Brewer idea of making him a LOOGY is well justified and I'd rather take a chance on him. Tell, you what, take away two of his four pitches and maybe he'll blossom. Good call Dougie.

Well, that's what I was going to ask. When Boston gets Adrian--now what? Where will Prince go? Will that drive down his price enough to keep him?

Thanks Crew--I totally whiffed on that.

1. Escobar--range, arm, only going get better--his defense makes him, next to Yo, our best pitcher 2. Gamel--I wasn't sold on Mat until I saw that swing up close and personal. This guy can whack. The Brewers need to get over the fact they don't like his personality and make him the third baseman for the next 5 years 3. Braddock--lets stop wishing he's a starter and just accept the fact that he's a lockdown reliever 4. Peralta--he's my guy, love him, his ball is heavy. I swear he throws old tear-stained wash cloths up there--try to hit that! 5. Lawrie--one of a few guys who could easily jump to number one by next July 15, love the power. 6. Lucroy--a completely boring prospect, but ya gotta have solid citizens strewn through your system 7. Rivas--too old, he'll make the majors though, I mean someone has to, right? 8. Wooten--Petersen's right, they draft you for your fastball, and you sign your major league contracts based on control. Sure he'll just be okay, but he won't be dumb. David Weathers when he was acceptable. The eight above are the guys I think are Major League locks. They'll get long looks. They might not be good: 3, 6, 8 could be busts, but they'll see the Bigs and everyone but 8 has a chance to blossom. These next guys I'm less sold on, but one good year and they could make us all extremely excited. 9. Arnett--I'm trusting the Brewers on this one, take away his slider and he doesn't impress in A Ball, not my idea of a college pitcher, but that could be a mute point after 2 starts next year 10. Schafer--I don't see it myself, he's too old for my tastes, but his line last year gives hope; I think he'll nosedive in AAA 11. Salome--a DH, I think we waited too long to trade him, too bad really 12. Cain--has gotten beter everywhere he went, but now has to prove he can get better after a real set-back; I think he gets a cup of coffee as a 4th outfielder 13. Axford--I got a feeling the Brewers don't really like him that much, spending money on Hawkins probably did him in as I see them as roughly equivalent; I don't think he'll make it out of spring training but if he shows enough he could be trade bait to a forward looking team 14. Green--I just can't see him making it, ever. Wrist problems, if what I've read, are more times than not chronic and spell doom The rest of these guys represent hope--lots of hope. "I gotta feeling guys" who have more of a chance to die on the vine ala Brent Brewer than succeed but who could also turn on the jets and become top prospects quickly. 15. Dennis--young enough that he could overcome the injury; if healthy a man among boys in A-Ball. If he's like that in AA and still young enough he could be awesome. I love this guy. 16. Lasker--the quiet pitcher, the longer he's under the radar the better 17. Hall--he's a picther from Texas, do we need to know more? 18. Frederickson--our next Jorge. In other words we'll give up on him and somebody else will reap the benefits. Stop picking up hard throwing lefties Milwaukee! 19. Odorizzi--hmmmm...loved the pick, now other pitchers from the same draft are passing him by. He needs to go to A Ball. Half season away from jumping into the top 5 to 10 20. Davis--I don't know; he hasn't played and isn't a left fielder offensively or a CF defensively; reminds me of the horse from Ren and Stimpy.

I never get sick of total class. Best of luck seth and a long and happy life.

That happened in 2007/08 when the Brewers paid him $6 million. Which is exactly the money I'd like the Cubs to pay Counsell.

Ben and Brett--uber traitors. God, I hope he signs for the Cubs. I'm thinking he deserves at least 3 years for 33 mil.

I'd rather not sign Counsell if other teams are seriously interested (assuming it drives up the price). But if there was ever a guy who deserved a bump in salary it's Craig--great back up, great teammate, classy guy. I think he deserves to have someone overpay him for two years. I sure think he more valuable than Latroy Hawkins.

I hope no one ever forgets the Suppan contract, and that it is constantly brought up. The first question anyone should ask (including Doug Melvin) is, is this a Suppan-like contract? I, personally, would get a "Remember Soup Contract" tattoo. I think a permanent billboard should be erected right outside Miller Park. When it isn't "trade young players for rentals day" it could be "sign aging free agent pitcher day". Or we could just call it "flush your future down the toilet day" and not have to worry about the confusion of alternating holidays.

When you're looking at a 3mil arby price you don't wait. Make the jump Doug! I'd go as high as Taylor Green.