Tbadder

I can see everyone's point who supports Prince; I've got no qualms with that. I just don't see it that way. I think his emotions are getting the best of him. I don't think he was as good last year as the year before, and I think he may already be in a decline because I don't think he respects his body. The incident with Parra may just be boys being boys, but in the professional workplace I find unacceptable and in the end detrimental. Maybe it's not. Maybe treating people like that is okay under the guise of professional athletes. On the other hand, as was pointed out earlier in this thread, I just might be stupid and I owe you all an apology for having an uninformed opinion.

Not a big Prince Fielder guy. The Brewers are more of less hitched to him because he's their only legit lefthanded hitter, but in all honesty I can't wait for Boras to take him elsewhere. I mostly don't like him because I dislike great talents who waste that talent, who don't recognize their shortcomings and fail to improve. But really I did like him until he started to whine about money. His ever increasing girth and his public shaming of Parra make him a dislikeable character in my book. This is, of course, just one man's opinon.

Sad indeed. But ever since the Greeks created the notion of the tragic hero we've seen guys like Prince Fielder come and go. 1st the hero who rescues the people (like Oedipus). Then the long descent (MacBeth) all because of his own shortcomings that he is not even privy to (King Lear). 50 home runs, ebullient personality, team leader--all the hope of the future to a tired people who had been down trodden for years Then the complaints about being rich instead of super rich, then the loss of production, and now a different leader, an uglier leader who has no problem publicly humilating his own teammates. This is the descent. And the talk of revenge ("I'll get mine") making things even uglier. And then there's his association with single-minded people bent not on the good of all, but the good of one at the expense of others. In the battle of the angel versus devil on Prince's shoulders we both know who is winning. And tying it all together is his inability to control his vices, which are literally eating him, leading eventually to his demise, and more bluster, and more... Humor, poor or not, is just another lens to see the truth through. I stand by my metaphor of the tragic hero, but the trully sad thing is the metaphor has to be amended because of the absurdity of the situation--and Prince Fielder ends up being King Lear dressed as a clown.

I would love the look on Fielder's face every time Doug replaces him. I'd get a real close up and just follow Butterbean around. Come to think of it, this is exactly what he needs. A camera man following him everywhere. To the breakfast table, late night in bed with a piece of pizza dangling from his mouth as he sleeps. Come to think of it, maybe Doug could replace him there too. There's real possiblities here. In some cultures public humiliation is a strong tonic for improvement and individuals acting responsibly.

I can't imagine a Boras client allowing a year of free agency to be bought out. It might have happened, but I can't believe it.

I'm much sadder about this than losing CC or Sheeter.

I'm not interested in any pitcher who has produced mightily at the major league level and the club still controls him for three more years and the original club is willing to trade. Who would trade such a player? Are they complete idiots in Detroit (they did trade for DW) or do they suspect something?

I didn't realize they turned a small profit last year--my bad. That certainly is heartening. What isn't so optimistic is the present economy, and the task that lies ahead in remaining profitable in a small market, blue collar town like Pigsville. I agree about the pitching. If the Brewers aren't going to sign anyone then they need to revive the Yankee deal, get them to pay the contracts, and we'll take the two stink bombs they're offering.

No. Realistically I am saying the Brewer organization will never be competitive, except say every 28 years or so, for a few years and then usually only for a Wild Card. The whole structure of baseball is such that small market teams really don't have long term competitive viability. Unless, and this has only been done once (the Twinkies), unless they can continue to churn out major leaguers from the minors--something the Brewers haven't done on a consistent basis. It's not enough to produce a "wave" every four or five years. They need to bring people in on a yearly basis that will hold down their payroll, solidify their rotation, produce relievers, and add one or two regulars as needed. Until they do this I don't believe they will be competitive, and this is such a tall order that it probably remains a pipe dream. The problem with the "wave" is that just like this year, that wave hits arby all at the same time. And as soon as the Brewers have multiple people going to arby that sops up all available monies, and they're right back at the beginning, their hands tied, hoping against hope. Are they even going to be competitive next year as it stands (I realize that could change) no. No. No. No. Their rotation is a shell of its former self and they have to rely on the unreliable, they have no depth in the rotation. In short they are a five hundred team at best. Not to say they won't be interesting, or entertaining, or worth rooting for, but they won't be in the running for a playoff position unless the stars align.

Suppan, Fielder, and Cameron's contract will preclude the Brewers from resigning Sheets unless Mark is willing to lose a lot of money next year.

I'm a little disappointed in Mark. There's absolutely no way a salary cap is going to happen, ever. He's gonna embarrass himself. It almost like he was in somekind of denial when he bought the team. Didn't he know there was no way he could compete long term, consistently? That the best he could hope for was the occasional shot at the wild card?

Well...well...well, good signing indeed. I like the number, but they will have to sign another starter, so next year's number should be closer to 90 million. Now that's gonna cause a domino effect. Expect Cameron to go in a salary dump, and any talk of Sheets coming back should be squashed entirely. If they lost money last year...this year...ugh.

Well... here goes. Kendall will be worse. Fielder will be worse, maybe significantly as he progress to to the mean of all giant burritos (seriously, I expect his obesity to be a significant source of Brewer woe). Lamb is way worse than Branyan. The starting pitching: come on--Soup's heading in the wrong direction. Maybe someone like McClung becomes a long term solution. Maybe Parra improves, okay. Closer should be a wash. Corey--what's up with him? Too much uncertainty there. We got lucky with Kaplar catching the last bit of lightning in his mediocre bottle; I'm willing to bet we don't catch similar lightning. Stronger divisional foes. Can't see more than 81 wins.

Yes, I think you may be right Monty. Organizational desire (a gaping need at 3rd base) will lead to poor decisions (leaving Gamel at 3rd base). This is exacerbated by other needs (left handed hitting) and future possible needs (a hole in rightfield with the possible demise of Corey Hart, and the inevitable hole at 1st base with Fielder departure). In other words--wishful thinking. The real question is not what a ball player can player, but what a ballplayer plays best naturally in order to maximize his value, and to a greater extent, paint a more realistic picture of where an organization is at strength and weakness-wise. The Brewers, it seems to me, do not put in enough effort early in a player's career in making the right choices defensively. it may very well be that Gamel turns into a major league average 3rd baseman. But if that takes four years (like Lamb) and detracts from any meaningful win-total (like Braun did his rookie year) then the Brewers are not solving problems; they're spinning their wheels at best.

Thinking about the Prospect poll I was struck by two things. The three most dynamic bats in the organization (minor league-wise) don't have a major league position. Gamel is obviously going to be significantly below the major league average. Lawrie has a position in name only, and Salome is such an odd duck that many can't conceive of him holding down a major league catching job. Does this constitute a pattern? Are we a team that so favors bats that all else be damned? Is this a true strategy for long term success? It seems to have worked out very well with Braun. Not only did he make the transition to LF, he appears to be an above average defensive player with only a little loss in offensive production. But can Gamel do the same thing? I mean really. Not hypothetically. Are we doomed to repeat a season where most if not all of Gamel's win-production (in 2009 or 2010) is eaten up by a murder of errors? Now I assume that Mat's arm is pretty good considering he's at 3rd. Is it? It seems like he's got wheels, given his stolen base totals. Wouldn't it behoove the Brewers to move Mat to rightfield? What evidence are they waiting for? Does the organization really believe that he'll turn around his awful defensive record after three lousy years already? I know he's showed improvement every year, but realistically does anyone think it's enough? It just seems to me that the Crew need to move him immediately. His bat plays to our needs and Hart is a long term question mark after nose-diving in the second half. Why waste a year only to get what we all know is going to happen--a very offensively productive player who struggles mightily in the field. Is it organizational blindness that insists Mat can become a slightly below average as opposed to his present non-skill set? Not trying to be repetitive, not trying to be confrontational, but is this an example among others of simple wishful thinking? How many of you would move Mat now to ease his transition to the majors and maximize his value, and how many of you would stick it out at 3rd basebase given that if he did ultimately succeed the Brewers would fulfill an even greater long term need?

This kind of contract, which is less than he could've got, shows that JJ wants to be here. I'd sign him long term as soon as possible. Thanks JJ.

Every year I become more and more frustrated with the HOF. It really should be renamed: The Hall of Good Players who play in Large Markets and Bandboxes. Jim Rice? Geez...doesn't this sport have any self-respect.

I'd be against trading for Halladay in that I believe the Brewer system is almost where we need it to be--that is every year supplying a starter, a possible back up and a pitcher or two ready to be a regular. Without a consistent flow the Brewers will always be selling themselves short chasing rentals who never intend to be here anyways. I understand the other point of view, but eventually an organization runs out of prospects and it can mean a half to a full decade of mediocrity as a result. It's not as if Milwaukee is going to be suddenly inundated with money to sign even a few of these guys to cover up short-changing the minors.

I'd be against trading for Halladay in that I believe the Brewer system is almost where we need it to be--that is every year supplying a starter, a possible back up and a pitcher or two ready to be a regular. Without a consistent flow the Brewers will always be selling themselves short chasing rentals who never intend to be here anyways. I understand the other point of view, but eventually an organization runs out of prospects and it can mean a half to a full decade of mediocrity as a result. It's not as if Milwaukee is going to be suddenly inundated with money to sign even a few of these guys to cover up short-changing the minors.

If the Yanks are willing to deal Swisher for Cameron, then I think they can be convinced to give up Kennedy. I wouldn't deal with the Yankees unless Kennedy is involved. When the Yanks are still sucking on Boston's hind teat at mid-season, then we'll find out how much Cameron is really worth. I refuse to be lowballed by another team just to free up money--that's loser mentality. Plus we've got Cain and Gillespie on the horizon. I want no part of Swisher and his dubious contract.

Has Sheets ever given any indication that he would like to come back? It just seems to me that he's doing everything he can to leave. Even taking a huge cut in pay.

Yes, I was trying to say (very poorly) that we need to maximize draft picks wherever possible. I'm hoping that Cameron nets us picks next year and that Shouse still gets us a pick this year. I didn't realize we were in on Smoltz--bravo Dougie! I think we could've signed Saito if we had guaranteed a little more. Of course it's difficult to know exactly what someone else is offerring. But still... And I totally buy into that Milwaukee is not an attractive destination for the vast majority of players.

I love the Red Sox strategy. They are going to end up sticking it to the Yankees. On the other hand the Brewers could be taking the same strategy in order to get draft choices--short-sighted on their part.

It would have to be for a major league ready can't miss prospect pitcher plus one or two more top ten prospects, plus more from the lower levels. I'd say four or five total prospects with one slotting no worse than a #3 starting pitcher.

But who would trade a really valuable commidity for a giant burrito with a lot of demands? If I were Seattle or SF no way would I want Fielder. I'd just sign Dunn and not have to worry about dealing young stud pitching, which is about the most detrimental thing a ball club can do.