Gobias Industries

A major theme of this discussion was about how often it's already pointed out, and that it may be closer than a lot of people's "eye-tests" may lead them to believe.

I'd definitely take Hardy, just because of his sure-handedness. Weeks' main problem is the pivot, otherwise I'd say he's just about average in everything else. It's is so frustrating to see him make a great play one inning, and botch a routine the next. This is a good discussion, because I do feel that fans overstate Weeks defensive liabilites, and overrate JJ's abilities. I mean, come on, 5 to 10 plays a beer league softball player would make? That just simply is not true. The only play that I thought was truly horrible was the miscue in the playoffs. Of course, Bill Hall didn't do him any favors, but as Kurjian said, that play needs to be made 100 out of 100 times. I'm fairly certain I could have made that play, and so could have a lot of non-professionals. He did make some terrific plays in the field, which he didn't seem to do in years past. The Peavy vs Sheets duel on 9/6 featured a great play with a runner on 2nd with 2 outs by Weeks. One of the best plays I've ever seen a 2nd baseman make and definitely was a huge moment in a big victory. It hardly got any praise around here, or even in the media, whereas the miscue against the Cubs in July had people questioning whether he'd play another inning in a Brewer uniform again, and even led to the infamous Hardricourt "It's big boy time" line.

Price is really, really good. It is almost frightening how similar he is to CC in just about every way. What a nucleus that team has.

Beltre and JJ Putz is a start. Outside of that, I don't see who they'd want. I don't think they're a good match with the Brewers. (Maybe Jeff Clement is somewhat tradeable?)

Off topic, but I couldn't believe how overpriced everything was during the playoffs. When I was at the game on Sunday, the 9/11 hat they wear, and every other hat for that matter, was 45.00. So ridiculous.

I'd assume they'd lose some leverage if Hardy was signed. Only one option (Escobar) for the trading partner.

I don't want Hart gone because he had a bad stretch. I made a thread in the middle of August about dealing him this offseason. If he's a + 850 OPS player, year in and year out, sure, fine with me, keep him. If he could play a decent CF I would love to lock him up. I don't think he's either right now. Maybe the league has caught up to his tee ball approach. The only way I want to see him traded this offseason is for Greinke (No way Royals do that straight up) or for a package that includes Brian Roberts and moves Weeks to CF. Roberts, Guthrie, and Scott for Hart, Escobar, Nelson, and Braddock. If we could have some sort of under the table agreement with Hardy on a long term deal, trading Escobar right now wouldn't be a bad idea. His value is sky high right now, and the only way it ever gets higher is if he proves he can hit at an above average level in the ML, and there's just no way you can count on that imo.

What does WPA mean? Outside of errors, I'd have to question any stat that has Weeks ahead of Utley.

The Brewers would have been the laughingstock of the league if they passed on Weeks after the Rays took Young. I doubt any team in the league would have done so. He certainly had a down year this year, but you can't just say he's definitely regressing. The same for Corey Hart. Go look at Pat Burrell's stats in 2003. He was improving from 2000 to 2002, and then out of nowhere put up a terrible line of .209/.309/.404 in 2003. Many people said he was a bust, and he turned out to be just fine. Rickie improved every year from 2005 to 2007. Sure, he underpeformed this year. But I see no reason to believe he's gonna continue to get worse. His second half line this year .263/.378/.451 isn't too far out there.

Wow. Russell Branyan got a C?!?! With preseason expectations taken into account, he was clearly one of our MVP's this year. As twobrewers said, CC Sabathia is probably never in a Brewer Uniform without Russ carrying us in June.

Really? Roberts can turn into two 1st round picks if we didn't resign him. It clearly upgrades our offense, which killed us down the stretch. This years offense was overmatched in the playoffs. I should add if we didn't resign either CC or Sheets, I would offer Derek Lowe a 3 year deal and sign Bob Howry if he didn't require comp picks. Gallardo Lowe Parra Bush Suppan

If you think Hart is the player he was in 07, I could see your point. I personally think the guy is something between 07 and 08, which makes him replaceable imo. Hardy won me over this year. I would try to lock him up, and moving Escobar or Hardy off of SS is a waste. Escobar's value to the Orioles would be off the charts. Cheap for six years and unlimited potential.

Brian Roberts 2B Luke Scott RF Ryan Braun LF Prince Fielder 1B JJ Hardy SS Aubrey Huff 3B Rickie Weeks CF Jason Kendall C There is a ton of R/L balance in that lineup. Billy Hall can get some starts all over the diamond against LHP.

The Weeks discussion on the ML Forum got me thinking about trading Corey as well. I'd really like to see the team do something drastic this offseason, while keeping the core guys (Braun, Hardy, Fielder, and Gallardo imo). I think the Orioles match up well with us: Corey Hart, Alicides Escobar, Brad Nelson, and Zach Braddock for Brian Roberts, Aubrey Huff and Luke Scott. Why the Orioles do it: If BAL is smart, they completely blow up everything. They made a step in the right direction last offseason, but that team still can't compete in that nasty division. This trade gives you 2 sure things in Hart and Escobar, a cheap 1B to replace Millar, and a good young LHP prospect. A Hart, Jones, Markakis OF is very good right now with plenty of upside. They desperately need a SS; they could still be starting Mike Bordick for all I know. Why the Brewers do it: If I was the GM, I would immediately decline Cameron's option and tell Weeks to start breaking in a OF glove. I think Rickie could handle CF. It's the routine things that kill him at 2nd, almost all footwork related. Center would allow him to use his number 1 asset, speed. Also, Weeks is an upgrade in OBP over Cam, so we improve on our biggest need there. Roberts would be a 1 year stopgap, but would also net us comp picks, and improve our OBP production from 2B in 08. Luke Scott could take over for Corey in RF. Corey's the better overall player, but Scott is the better OBP guy. I'd only want Huff if he could play 3B. I know now isn't the most opportune time to trade for him after his MVP-ish 08 season, but he fits a need at 3B for this team. Yes, this trade hurts our OF defense a bit, but Roberts has to be an upgrade over Weeks at 2nd. I think the small drop in defense would easily be offset by the improvement in not making outs at the plate.

Wow. Nearly every person went overboard. Someone even had Corey at a .415 OBP!

Before the season, there was a designated thread where members could post their season projections. It was said someone was gonna aggregate the numbers, and then post. Any mods know where this thread is?

Uh Oh. The Time Warner Bros. are back at it tonight. http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTbx9G4OdIMI0AJ16jzbkF/SIG=1259r1hg8/EXP=1223242182/**http%3A//www.mlb.com/images/2005/07/02/RSEf2PyL.jpg

I know both of those girls in the pic with CC. Was it invite? Because I can't see how either of them would have gotten invited.

I think we're all so used to such liberal strike zones that it seems weird when borderline pitches are called a ball like they should be. I had no problem with the zone. He shold of just blew him away with a fastball after it was 0-2.

I have now heard it all.

A lot of the change-ups that Hamels threw yesterday were strikes, and still were unhittable. I think it was Weeks' first AB were he took a called 2nd strike that looked to be a ball, but the K-Zone showed it was just barely on the outside corner, and just barely high enough as well. A lot of his change-ups were like that. I agree with you on our approach being terrible though. From the 1st inning thru the 8th, the hitters didn't alter their approach once. Even the announcers picked up on it yesterday. With the way we are always out in front of the change up, it makes you think everyone is sitting fastball. Wisely, Hamels just kept feeding them change-ups in hitters counts.

Chone Figgins did it this year. .276 BA with ~.370 OBP and a ~.310 SLG.

Toby at the end was a huge buzz kill. I don't know why they needed to show that.

At least the "Time Warner Brothers" will be regulated to bench role today. I'd like to see this offense put up a 5 spot for a change. Is that too much to ask?

If Ray is close to 100%, I wouldn't be surprised if Rickie doesn't start another game this series. And he is a good bet to get traded in the offseason. So I guess if all things go a certain way it's possible. His defense is just amazingly inconsistent. He makes a really tough play in the 1st, and screws up the easy one in the 3rd. If he was raking, I could live with it. But he hits like your average middle infielder.