Tbadder

First, like everyone else this is great news. Macha is already asserting himself rather than letting the inmates run the asylum. I also love how he rejected Gallardo as his number 1 pitcher. Agree or disagree it's his decision and he's got an intelligent reason. I believe that Russ will be right, and that Rivera will not hold his offensive value as his at bats increase. But what if, slim as it might be, Rivera is a late bloomer and has turned himself into an above average hitting catcher. Then Kendall playing too much is effectively limiting Rivera's value, maybe by a lot (though again I admit this probably isn't the case). Given that Kendall is at the end of his career and Rivera is in the late middle part of his career, Jason could be hurting the Brewers by limiting Rivera's trade value. Lets pretend that Mike had 220 ABs last year and he hit .279 with 9 homers, and further lets pretend that this season Rivera hits .286 with 4 homers by the All-Star break. Now Posada goes down and the Yankees are in first place (I know, it ain't gonna happen, but lets pretend). Now Rivera may have established himels as a top flight back up, maybe even someone who could hold down a position for two months and not kill your chances in a pennant/wildcard race. We package Cameron with Rivera and in return we pry loose someone like Hughes because the Yanks are a little desparate. Now of course this isn't gonna happen, but my very small point is, is that if people are producing (like Rivera did last year) you must allow them to follow through because they could establish themselves as a valuable commidity. This is particularly important for small market teams because it gives them more flexibilty financially and talent wise. And again, you can't let some stubborn veteran have his way when it's deterimental to the organization's greater whole.

About the salaries as they stand (thanks for listing And That). Boy, there's food for thought here. Would you trade Kendal for Looper if they were on different teams? Just how bad is Suppan's contract? Couldn't Villy do Hoffman's job? Wouldn't salary dumps be advisable for Hall and Riske (assuming one could do that)? For the money, Weeks is still worth looking at, but what about next year? If the right trade comes along aren't the Brewers obligated to trade Cameron (just in terms of financial stability)? Just think what Melvin could do if Cameron, Suppan, Riske, and Hall weren't on the team! (edit: excessive punctuation --1992)

I like that they got this done. I hate it when a player goes to arby. But I also think he got more than he deserved.

I love when Gagne was honest enough to say he wasn't doing the job. I love that he tried different pitches when he was having all sorts of problems. I loved that he turned it around in the second half, and didn't complain about losing his job. I love this signing and I believe he's gonna stick.

I think this would be an awesome fit. But I also think the Brewers really are tapped out right now. I wonder if Edmonds is too proud, not it the negative sense, like a big head, but in the sense that if he can't do it the "right way" then he doesn't want anything to do with it. And so teams are willing to sign him up as the 4th outfielder/pinch hitter, but what he really wants is catcher's hours, 3 or 4 days outta 5. Sure like to know what he's thinking cause he'd look awesome in a Brewer uniform.

Geez...Angel sounds like a great guy with a little bit of wisdom at a young age. And Lawrie? The look in his eye, his concentration...man oh man I bet we're looking at Braun Part Two.

He's definitely got a shot. This next wave of minor leaguers is gonna be more hit and miss, but from what I read Cain truly has an upside. If his numbers are better in AAA than AA I think he'll be just fine. If he regresses somewhat I'll be more skeptical.

Griffey and Thomas are HOF locks. Too bad Thomas didn't play a HOF position. I wonder what his numbers would've looked like without the huge assist.

In my prediction, unscientific though they be, this is what I dreaded most--the chance that Gamel wins the 3B job. If he does I'll bet dollars to doughnuts they have a slightly below .500 record if he's the everyday 3B. Above .500 without him. Please Doug, please Ken resist the urge and keep Mat in AAA all year.

These do seem fair. Each has warts, but definite strengths. And I agree, it's so early, but Lawrie could totally blow up A and high A in short order. Something tells me he'll never be overmatched.

I prefer to think of Vinny Rottino as Milwaukee's version of Minneapolis' Joe Mauer.

Look, the whole thing about Parra is conjecture. But it's honest and hopefully somewhat intelligent conjecture. I hope that Prince and Braun and Hart have all experienced just a bit of backsliding, and that all will be right with the world. But in the case of Hart and Fielder I don't believe it. If Fielder doesn't change his whole life he'll fade quickly. And Hart has a long swing with a tall man's holes, I doubt he's coming back either. Both are talented and both still have value to the Brewers, but I don't think either will bring us a return that in anyway compares to the return we would have got for them if we had traded them at the height of their powers. TLB: I think that baseball is more akin to history than science, but I get your point. The numbers are are important in retrospect, and it may be that they have some value as a predictor, but they also cannot phantom the immense variables of any human activity. (otherwise we truly wouldn't have to "play 'em") And yes, we've recently, after decades, finally started to produce players. That's a cold comfort if we don't continue to do so given our economic outlier status. And it's also a cold comfort if we have to watch the players we developed go into decline before they turn 28.

Crewin: Awesomely put. Records are just that, a record of the daily, yearly, and career length achievements of every player. They are facts. "This is what happened on June 12th 1957, etc." Expunging them is ridiculous. Puttting an asterisk next to them is meaningless. It's meaningless because we are all going to die. And after we die, the genrations that follow won't care like we do. It's really a mute point. Do any of us care that the Spitball era existed? Do we care that the Deadball Era kept power numbers down? Do we care that players in the 60s were taking amphetamines? It's another chapter in the colorful history that is baseball. I say lets enjoy it. Look the drama it created. I loved Clemens and Palmiero on televsion being all self-righteous. I love Bonds going to trial. It's entertainment after all. If I want to be bored and upset I'd follow politics.

TLB SAID: At least you're not just making wild categorizations. Do you care to try & defend any of this? Touche. It could turn out all right. Parra might be a stud, strong of body and strong of will. But up to this point his body has had to be babied because it breaks down regularly. And his willpower? I just don't see it. For me the incident last year proved that at least there's some doubt there. I know observation is not much cared for around here even though it is considered a primary source in science and history, but my observation is that he gets into trouble and he gets scared, becomes tentative and gives up on his talent instead of trusting it. Endaround SAID: If only the Brewers traded Prince, then we could still have that playoff drought streak in tact! I don't disagree at all. You're absolutely correct. But I also know that for an organization to succeed long term employees must want to be there first and foremost. Based solely on this I think you'll find that Hardy and Braun will both be better Brewers than Fielder, who so obviously wants out. Is anyone gonna be surprised here if Fielder starts to have health problems and his production creeps ever downward until our return on him is significantly less than if we had traded him when his value was at its height? We can't chant the sell high buy low mantra and then ignore it. The Milwaukee Brewers can lay claim with some good reason to being the least successful franchise in the history of baseball. Of course so can other teams like the St. Louis Browns, etc. But our long tradition of incompetence cannot be ignored. We turn out very little talent and when we do we get Ricky Bones in return. If this is no longer true about the Brewers then I am overjoyed. Now prove it. Start cranking out the players like the Twins do. Otherwise, well...I really don't want to think about because I live it everyday as a Brewer fan.

82-79. I reserve to right to lower it if Gamel is the starting 3rd baseman. I'm guessing that Fielder regresses even more. Braunie comes back a little. Hart implodes. Weeks stays the same. Hardy is Mr. Consistent. Bill Hall goes downtown 28 times. Lamb will be like a sheep to the slaughter. Counsell will continue to live in Wisconsin. And Tony Gwynn stablizes the entire club with his heroic efforts!

I think this is great. I hope the fans really support the team again this year even though they'll slip a bit. It really will allow them to make another run before they have to jettison players because of ridiculous salaries. Bravo Milwaukee!

The problem with figuring out what we have is that this is the Milwaukee Brewers and we rarely have anything. If we wait on Parra, we're gonna find out we've got a fragile, weak-minded player, who is never going to be an above average pitcher AND pitch 200 innings a year. I agree that Hart is probably going to be the same player he was last year or regress again, leaving us still needing an outfielder. We waited to trade Sheets and now we're paying the price. We're waiting to trade Prince and unfortunately we're gonna pay the price on that as well. Thank god for Hardy--a genuine commodity. Thank god that Braun is probably going to have a decent career. I've got my fingers crossed on Gallardo. But I fear for the organization if it doesn't start trading young everday ballplayers as soon as they have a good run for pitching they never seem to develop.

Basically, only the Yankees had a good off season. Everyone else was kinda meh to okay to pretty good, Cleveland. I think the Brewers had the 2nd worst off season. Losing two #1 pitchers is a lot. If losing two #1s doesn't keep you outta the playoffs then there's something seriously wrong with the game itself.

Yep, good signing. If this does push Manny's price below 20 million, I'd retire. When you're filthy rich you can stand on your principles.

I'm not upset about the off season at all. Well, except for losing the Sheets draft choices. I think this is going to be a very entertaining team. I hope that Milwaukee will be satisfied with that and go out to support them to the tune of 3.0 million fans, though I think 2.7 is more likely. Adding Looper really was a nice, inexpensive, short term solution, and as the Brewers are constituted now I think .500 or slightly above should happen. However, I don't think they'll be in the Wildcard chase unless they can stay healthy while the Mets do not. I'm betting we'll have enough offensive regression (Fielder, Hart, Cameron, maybe Hardy) to off set any prime year progression.

Ya know the thing I don't get is that Bill seems so intelligent. In interviews he is articulate and obviously has a vision. It just doesn't translate at all on to the field obviously. I wonder if his stance is stopping him from fulfilling his potential which is obviously enormous. I think when the ball comes solidly off his bat it is more wicked than either Braun or Fielder. Oh well...another Brewer story.

And by "might" I mean, mean. God I'm just as pathetic!

I'm sorry. By "it" I might MLB, NFL, etc. For some reason the site or my computer won't let me edit.

Baseball is no more a mess than any other business, institution, etc. It's dirty by nature. Money sullies everyone; the quest for control and power is at the heart of existence. We just hold it to a higher standard than other industries. I, for the life of me, can't figure out why. Artists have been writing since time immemorial about the corruption of society at large. When are we going to recognize the simple truth. Humans innately skirt the rules--sometimes to their long term disadvantage. Humans lack integrity. All of us do. Who hasn't lied, cheated, lived a double standard. It's what we do best. I just wish we'd stop with the adulations of celebrities and thletes. They are just like us. Morally weak, at times pathetic, but ever able to capture our imaginations at times in order to divert our attentions from the truth. they are in short, an ill-conceived coping mechanism.

1) Looper 2) Bush 3) Suppan 4) Gallardo 5) Parra Just trying to limit innings. Gallardo is coming off surgery and I think we should be cautious. Parra needs to be brought along even slower. He could go down at any time. Very fragile. I think Braden and Dave have the mental wherewithal to pitch against other #1s and #2s. Maybe switch Gallardo and Suppan but onyl if the medical staff is 110% certain of his health.