LouisEly

While Marquette did lose Ellenson, they were something like the 8th youngest team in DI last season. You have another year of experience for Fischer, Cheatham, Wilson, Johnson, Cohen, Carter, Anam, Heldt, plus the transfers in of Rowsey/Reinhardt and the additions of Hauser/Howard. Teams won't be able to key on Ellenson anymore and you have seven guys plus Hauser who can put up double digit scoring on any night. Out: Ellensons (19 ppg) In: Rowsey (19 ppg at UNC-A), Reinhardt (11 ppg at USC), Hauser, Howard The Ellensons accounted for ~25% of their scoring (19 ppg); 75% of their scoring is back plus those four additions (Rowsey and Reinhardt averaged a combined 30 ppg at their previous schools). I think it is a significant net gain, especially if Rowsey and Renhardt can shoot 38% from 3.

When I look at Votto I see a guy who keeps himself in pretty good shape. Assuming he maintains those habits I think he will age better than the average player and could (meaning not definitely, but possibly) maintain decent production until age 40. When I look at the amount of money that the Dodgers, Angels, Red Sox, and Yankees have coming off the books over the next two years - and how three of those teams will be shedding a 1B at a similar salary over the next two - I think he can get moved. Depends on how desperate those teams are to compete/rebuild. The Angels are taking in $150M/year in TV revenue, have Hamilton's contract coming off the books after next season, and are very RH dominant. C.J. Cron + Huston Street + cash for Votto? The Angels would have $100M tied up in four players (Trout, Votto, Pujols, Simmons), but you put Votto's bat in the lineup between Trout and Pujols, and it still leaves some money to pursue pitching and a LH 3B (Moustakas?) or a LH LF (Bruce?) in FA. They Yankees could also make a move. Greg Bird is a nice prospect but has been injury prone. This also might give the Yankees a chance to move Gardner's/Headley's/McCann's contracts off their books. Bird + Gardner + Headley for Votto? Might be more realistic than the Angels. And to echo reillymcshane, Toronto is a possibility with the contracts coming off of their books.

Better yet, runner on 3B forgets to touch home plate. Indians appeal, runner called out.

Found this quote interesting: "That name (Kieschnick) was thrown out there,” Flanagan said. “And obviously being left-handed and playing first base, you never know what you can do with that." Experience playing 1B... I'm thinking double switches, but instead of burning through a lefty for one batter, Ramirez could move to 1B if a RHH (or a couple of them) is up next, then move back to the mound for subsequent lefties. Also would not necessarily need to PH for him; he's not going to be a great hitter in the majors, but he can be good enough to save that PH for later.

In a year where Donald Trump is on the presidential ballot, the only possible outcome of the baseball season could have been Cubs vs Indians. Hell has officially frozen over.

I don't follow the Brewers pursuits of prospects in Latin America that closely, but from what I can tell to me it seems that the Brewers have less of a "varied" interest in Latin America (they are definitely interested), it's more that they choose to play by the rules whereas other teams often choose not to, leading to the Brewers rarely having a chance to sign the best players. An international draft would be very welcome, and I really hope that it includes language that requires all players to be at least 17 years old when drafted. No more signing 16 year olds.

Four months of unemployment and five months of job searching will cause you to do irrational things...

I recommend melatonin, specifically the tablets that dissolve under your tongue. You can get them at just about any place that has a decent size vitamin selection - any large pharmacy, mass merchandiser, large chain grocery store. It's more of a natural sleep inducer.

Really like the La Stella idea. He hasn't been given much if any regular playing time which is tough on a young player. Career minor league OBP of .402 and OPS of .870, much better than (the admittedly younger) Candelario. Also walked more than he struck out in the minors. And a LHH to boot.

With Perez destined for a super-utility role and no upper-level prospect deserving of a shot, the question becomes who is a buy-low candidate that can potentially be flipped at the deadline. LHH power bats always have value at the deadline, and Valbuena's injury should add risk that reduces his value in the open market making him a viable buy-low candidate. Just because the Brewers sign a guy for X number of years doesn't mean they will have him on the payroll for X number of years; if you sign guys who can be tradeable they could end up being just a 2/3rds of a season rental.

Along the lines of #5, four of their five starters are over the age of 30. We can hope for Lohsian and Suppanian like demises as they age.

I understand your overall point, but Gomez was quite the heralded prospect back in 2007-2008. Gomez was ranked in the #50-60 range during those years. My comparison was Gomez to Delmon Young, in response to the posters criticism of Brinson for a Top 75 prospect, in that Gomez was "ranked" much lower than Young but ultimately turned out to be the better player (career 23.8 bWAR to 2.5 career bWAR for Young). Sorry if that wasn't clear.

That is with Liberty Mutual. I spent 15 minutes on the phone with them making sure everything was correct and all discounts were applied. LM does have good rates for my business owner's policy. It's not so easy as switching, as I also have an umbrella liability policy and business owner's insurance (rental property) and the umbrella has to be with the same company as my auto and business owner's in order to cover both for excess liability. Switching means moving all of my policies.

So you would trade a Top 15 prospect who is possibly one of our very very few star potential players for a #50-#75 prospect just because they are at a position of need? Despite such player probably being even less of a sure thing and possess a ceiling half that of Brinson? I also don't get the attention to LHH. We have plenty of those coming through the ranks I don't think we need to downgrade to find one. If we made such a trade my heartbeat may quite frankly stop. No, 1) Just because MLB.com, some other service, or you have Brinson as a Top 15 prospect doesn't mean that he is one. Lots of All-Stars were never Top 100 prospects, lots of Top 50 prospects never became All-Stars. Byron Buxton was the #1 prospect across the board in 2014 but has found the majors so far to be tough sledding, Matt Wieters was the #1 prospect across the board in 2009, and Delmon Young was top-3 for four years in a row; however, Carlos Gomez (and, small sample, so far Keon Broxton) and Jonathan Lucroy have had more productive careers despite not being nearly as heralded as "prospects". Anyone who takes BA, MLB, or BP rankings as gospel is a fool. No one had Woodruff on their list last year despite scouting reports of him regularly working upper 90's; this year he is hitting 98 late in games and led all of MiLB in strikeouts, and should be on everyone's list. (If someone doesn't think that's TOR potential, then I don't know what is.) B) I think Brinson's performance at AAA was a bit of a small sample error because a walk rate of 2.1% does not suggest that success is sustainable; the larger sample - injured or not - suggests the AAA performance was a bit of an outlier (walk rate <5% on the season). In 2015 his great performance was in the Cal League, a notorious hitters league (see: reaction to potential Brewers A+ team in Cal League a few months ago), and his great performance in 2016 was in the PCL. I think he is a Top 100 prospect, but not a Top 15 prospect, thus why I suggested a swap for a Top 75 prospect - because that's what I think he is.

I'm hoping the Brewers can turn some of their surplus OF - perhaps along with a 2nd tier pitcher (not named Hader/Woodruff/Ortiz/Bickford - think along the lines of M. Diaz, D. Williams, J. Perrin, etc.) - into an upper level 3B prospect. I like Brinson, but I'm not entirely sold on him and if there was a 3B prospect that was a top-75 overall prospect available - especially LHH - I'd make that trade in a heartbeat. One local writer suggested trading for Jeimer Candelario from the Cubs One of the Cubs glaring weaknesses is throwing out base stealers, although part of that is definitely on the pitchers. I wonder how much value Maldonado would have to them with Ross set to turn 40. Maybe add in a lower level pitcher, but other than a half season in Iowa Candelario's been nothing special in the minors - he has a career OPS of .776. He won't command that high of a return. Looking at some borderline 40-man decisions (M. Diaz, Ventura, Coulter, Reed, T. Taylor), perhaps they can move one or two of them for a 3B they know they definitely want to protect or who doesn't have to be protected until next year.

My auto insurance increased by 50% when I moved from Madison to St. Louis. With moving to Chicago, it is scheduled to increase by another 50%. The annual insurance premium will be almost 15% of the value of the vehicle. Same driver, same vehicle, haven't had an accident in 15 years or a ticket in 8 years. I love having to pay for the problems that other people cause.

I did some volunteering for an organization in Madison back in 2013 while waiting for school to start. Had to stop for a while due to full-time MBA program, but when I was job searching after graduating I reached back out to them to inquire about helping some more. Never got a response. Was on their email announcement distribution list but that stopped too.

Kenley Jansen gonna get PAID this offseason

Braun is limited to 23 teams, meaning there are six he cannot put on the list. Adding the Dodgers means taking another team off, which presents risks of being traded to that team. You have a team in LA where he is from and has his home who is a legitimate pennant contender. No better situation to ride out the end of your career than that. Why risk it? He's making $100M guaranteed, I don't know that he'll risk happiness for an additional $15M.

Kind of like the Fox Sports broadcasters spending as much time talking to Matt Moore about the Cubs as they did the Giants, if not more. At least one of those two won't make it to the WS.

Interesting article. I wonder if it's time to prohibit signing international free agents until they are at least 17. That will give teams more time to build a longer evaluation on prospects, and give teams one more year until they have to decide whether to protect on the 40-man-roster. As it stands now, teams have to figure out whether to protect international signees who are still in A-ball. In the U.S. I believe kids are ineligible for the draft unless they have graduated HS. I don't recall anyone recently being drafted who isn't at least 17 years old, and it is rare that someone graduates HS who isn't at least 17. Why should 16-year-old international players be able to sign multi-million dollar contracts but 16-year-old U.S. kids can't unless they have graduated HS?

I'm pretty sure that you can get the promotional price from cable/satellite companies even after the 2-years or whatever commitment is up. You just have to commit to another two years.

In college most teams play a 3-guard offense. You only need one C on the floor. Hauser is listed at 6-7, 225, so he can play the F spot along wit Reinhart (6'6") and Cohen (6'6"). Wojo is still playing with Buzzies recruits; Wojo's first recruiting class will only be sophomores. Buzz left the team with nothing for height; Cohen is the only one from Buzzies last class who stayed, and Buzz took Pierce and Hill with him to VT. Malek Harris also bailed when Buzz left, as did Shayok. Pierce (7') and Harris (6'7") would have provided more frontcourt depth. PG: Carter/Rowsey SG1: Wilson/Johnson/Rowsey SG2: Cheatham/Johnson/Cohen/Anam SF: Reinhart/Cohen/Hauser C: Fischer/Heldt They can go 11 deep, and I think can be really good this year.

I think the biggest mistake the Brewers made when it comes to pitching development was not retaining Bosio as pitching coach in 2009. I don't think it is coincidence that Bosio is the pitching coach of the Cubs and that the Cubs have the best staff ERA in MLB. Arrietta was not a TOR starter when he was acquired by the Cubs. Hendricks had nice minor league numbers but was never a top 100 prospect and his 7.7 K/9 in the minors didn't project to what he is doing in the majors. Hammel was nothing special until he came to the Cubs. Bosio was a very successful minor league pitching coach and in 2009 when he was PC at Nashville the Sounds led the league in staff ERA with the most innings pitched coming from the likes of Dillard, Lindsay Gulin (who?), Chase Wright, Chris Cody, Mike Burns, Matt Ginter, Sam Narron, Chris Narveson, Nick Green, David Johnson, and Ryan Houston. He didn't do it riding the coattails of some future major league stars.

He was claimed by a playoff team though.