Tbadder

I think Tony G. Jr. should beat the Padres every year until the Padres do the right thing. Trade their top two prospects to us for him.

geez, I'm just depressed--so many young people...feel death coming on...I'm coming to see you Redd Foxx!

80K in AAA. I'm flabbergasted, truly. Man that is excessive.

I agree that Villy doesn't have an excess of plus pitches. But the combination of those pitches, his poise, and his intelligence could make him a #3 pitcher for years. But I do agree that it's just as likely that he ends up a steady #5. I think for now I'd rate him even with Suppan who is a tweener 3/4 for me. Anybody believe he could develop into a #2? (me neither).

Okay--fair enough. Any thing to get rid of the DH.

Tons of draft choices in Jack's capable hands Sheets and Gagne could net us even more next year

Bye Frank Bye Barry Bye Big Papi Bye etc. etc. etc. etc.

Interesting question: would I like the Brewers to tank it and get Yost fired, or be successful and retain Yost long term. I'd definitely vote for the former.

I hope there's nothing to this. I really dislike the AL game. The DH is a joke, a bunch of apoplectic slobs who should've been outta the game long ago. If you can't hit and throw and catch and run get out. Just get out.

This is exactly why I wanted to go after Bedard. I woulda made it worth the Orioles while. I woulda said--here, take Bevard County and Capuano, and Hall.

I was listening to Fox Super Sunday this weekend, and a comment was made that caused me to think about Benny. The guy said, "weak football clubs have a habit of signing expensive players who have injury histories." He gave several examples of prominent players, and then showed the economic fallout that dooms teams no matter if the injuries are flukey or not.

I think when the difference between two clubs is as close as the Crew and the Cubbies, then the acquisition of Roberts could indeed put them over the top. But that doesn't mean the Brewers won't reply in kind. If the Melvin does anything to solidify our rotation with a package of youngsters and major leaguers to obtain a really good starter then it's the Cubs who may be sunk even if they do get Roberts. But to say Roberts scares me, well, it's the truth. P.S. The day is coming very soon when a five year 60 million dollar contract is very cheap indeed!

To me this is a disturbing contract. And it portends disaster for small market teams. How many of these contracts can a small market team dole out before it pushes them to the brink of financial ruin? Don't get me wrong. It's a brilliant strategy for the big market teams. Revenue sharing has hurt big market teams and their competitiveness, so how do big teams punish little teams for developing young talent? By making them pay higher wages sooner obviously. By developing a mentality that abandons the 6 year wait to free agency that enables small teams to threaten the big boys every few years or so, the big markets can assure that small market teams can't use resources for farm development, stadium upgrades and rennovations, etc. Now, this trend might take years to really take hold, but the Tulo and Cano contracts have changed the atmosphere of business. I mean right now--could the Brewers afford 30 million each for Rickie, JJ, Corey, Fielder, Braun? And that's not even taking into account the new contracts for veterans like Sheets or the signing of more mediocre pitchers like Suppan.

I want our 5 best starters in the rotation. And I want then in an order that protects Parra's arm. So: 1) Sheets 2) Suppan 3) Gallardo 4) Villanueva 5) Parra If Parra goes down to AAA I want Bush in the 5 spot. I expect a mistake: 1) Sheets 2) Gallardo 3) Suppan 4) Capuano 5) Bush

Maybe it was .048 and a misprint. I can't believe he'd be aline with a .480.

Just because the draft seems to be working for the Brewers doesn't mean that the system isn't bankrupt, and it is. I'd like to see a system whereby players can declare for the draft (and by players I mean all players including foreign players) once every four years. No slot values, nothing. Every player can try to get as much as they want, any team can pay as much as they want, but it's four susequent years of unsignability if a contract can't be hammered out.

Look, we've got an organizational weakness right now at catcher. It's a serious problem that affects the near term future of a team that could be playoff bound. Lets pay the price. I know it hurts. I know it costs. But then lets learn from our mistakes and let Jack Z. turn the Brewers into Catcher-Central. Lets have other teams come begging us, and we can ask over thwe top prices. It can start now this year with the extra choices. Of course there may not be any catchers to draft that high, well, we'll just have to step away from that strategy then, but it's essential that eventually we implement the strategy if market forces continue to overpay for catchers. All I'm suggesting is that we make market trends work for us instead of against us. If every catcher we trade brings us, oh I don't know, and outfielder and a pitcher. Then every catcher we trade is in affect giving us multiple draft choices. It just seems obvious that a team would want to take advantage of that.

I certainly can see your point of view, but if Jack Z.'s track record is any indication, maybe we get 2 or 3 major league catchers by drafting 4 in the first 100. Put those guys in a trade with the prevailing overpaying-for-catchers-attitude, and a team can solve some problems pretty quickly. It gives a general manager the bullets he needs to hone his team.

You know my attitude is this? If the market for young catchers is overvalued, and then you gotta pony up. I'll overpay for a young catcher every time if the need is there, and I think you can certainly make a case for the need being there. My next strategy would be to focus on young catchers in the draft. If the market says they're that valuable then we need to do whatever we can to corner that market and stick it to the rest of the league. I remember a million years ago when the Pack was in need of cornerbacks. So they just drafted 4 of them in the first six rounds. I think the Crew should consider that approach. We've got seven picks in the first 100, lets burn four of them on catchers.

I think of him in exactly the same way. I'd like to see him hang in there and eventually end up one of those carfty veteran lefties that hang on till they're 40.

I think all the proof we need about Johnny Estrada is: A) look who he was traded for, B) look how many teams he's been on, and C) look how much he signed for. A good catcher is just about the hardest thing to come by nowadays. Heck, a mediocre catcher is all but rare. Why can't he stay put? Well, I have one answer I can only ask you to believe, it's an old line, but I assure you it's true. Here it goes: I have a relative in the Brewer organization, he's got 30 years in, and he's high up. He's says Johnny is a total downer. He's great with certain individuals, but can't keep his mouth shut when it comes to the team. Evidently, on a couple of occasions down the stretch Estrada made the comment that he didn't think the Brewers could win a series. This doomed him in management's eyes and he was gone ever since. Take it for what it's worth.

Oh God--I forgot Sizemore. He'd bring in the chicks! It's Sizemore (ironic name given his looks, hey?). Gotta be Sizemore. Yep, Sizemore. Then I'd clone him as a promotional give-away. It'd make that Veeck disco explosion look like a party at the old folks home.

I'd take Mauer if I knew he was gonna hold up behind the plate. I take Hanley if I really believed he was a shortstop (I'd be surprised if he stayed there more than another year or two). I'd take Liriano or the freaky Seattle guy if not for the injuries. I'd take Utley if I wasn't convinced that Weeks had more talent. Hell, I'd take Honus Wagner if he wasn't dead. In short, I've got no idea--so whenever I'm in doubt I go with the most entertaining option: Gabe Kapler--"he's a winner, you know!"

I like Bush. I like him as 3rd best starter (tied with Villy) behind Gallardo and Sheets. His one inning hiccups have been well docuemented, and I fear we'll have to put up with that. As a #5 starter I'm perfectly willing to accept that. But I don't think Bush is entrenched in the Brewers' thinking like Suppan or Capuano, and that's a real disservice I believe. Of the fence-sitters (Cappy, Vargas, Bush) I think he has the most talent and easily the best make-up. Each has a significant problem: Bush doesn't handle that inevitable one-inning (I like Ennder's explanation here), Vargas just plays brinkmanship constantly (although he seems to thrive more often than not in these situations), and Cappy is just plain Crappy now, psychologically busted, (what happened to the 88 to 91 fastball; it seems like 84 to 87 now?). I'll say this, Capuano is the most important Brewer in spring training this year. If he can regain his form (which I obviously think is a pipe dream) the Brewers could be very much better than last year. And maybe that's Bush's problem. A manager knows what he's gonna get, mister steady. A manager can move him around, the bullpen seems plausible, some might even project him as a better set-up man than starter. But the other two guys are so uncertain, that in Cappy case, you wanna give him a chance to regain his form, which I believe will ultimately cost the Brewers games they'll have to overcome as they duke it out with the Cubbies. I think Bush is the Brewers Hugh Beaumont, and Cappy is the Brewer's Patsy Cline.

Today is always the happiest day of the year for me. NO MORE STUPID FOOTBALL! I celebrate by buying all my friends and family small presents. I take everyone out to dinner, and light a candle in the chapel giving thanks.