Fear The Chorizo

Hoping Jeffress can make good on this opportunity - talent is unquestionable, but having a big arm doesn't make anybody a great pitcher in MLB just by itself. In regards to weed, until the medical marijuana industry stops having "doctors" write bogus prescriptions to anyone who walks in their doors with any kind of bogus ailment, the legit cases where marijuana use may be beneficial medically will be overshadowed by the dreadlocked hippies with "anxiety" or selective OCD. Places like venice beach basically have people handing out signed prescriptions on the street next to medical marijuana stores. I agree that it should be legalized, but taxed heavily and subject to the same scrutiny in the workplace as alchohol is. Marijuana may be effective to treat certain medical disorders, but I don't want a crane operator, bus driver, or cop high/intoxicated/impaired in any way while they are doing their jobs. Even if it's legal, there's going to be alot of types of work where use of marijuana even for medical purposes won't be allowed. The other issue is even if it's legalized, I don't see the drug trade being signficantly impacted - people are still going to want to buy weed without getting taxed on it if it's available to them, let alone other more dangerous drugs like heroin, cocaine, crack, etc. People think that legalizing weed will empty out prisons and ease law enforcement's duties - people thought the same thing after prohibition...unfortunately as is the case with any substance, people find ways to abuse it both physically and criminally after awhile.

After what this winter has been, even NORMAL temps for this time of year seem like a heat wave.

I didn't have the time to look into anything but first round picks with my last post of this thread, but my main point was that unless you're Astros-bad for several years and always picking the no-brainers that make up everyone's top 5, teams have to be good at picking the best signable talent that's available...whether that's in the middle of round 1, 2, 8 or 20 in any given draft. TheCrew, I think we agree, we're just writing it a bit differently. The reason I only used the 1st round picks in my post is the fastest way for overall minor league systems to look alot better in the eyes of the people who look at them for a living is to hit consistently with 1st round picks. A 1st round pick is supposed to be a guy that will be at minimum an above-average MLB player once he's ready, who is talented enough to be a star. Obviously impact talent can be found in later rounds of the draft, whether it be signability, development lapses, or just lack of ability to predict everything. That first round pick should always be made on who each organization thinks has the best chance to be a star in the big leagues, based on their scouting and evaluation. If a team can't hit on 1st round selections with any regularity, I don't trust them to find gems in later rounds of the draft with any consistency, either. You mentioned the 2010 draft. The two picks after Covey haven't made it past A-ball yet and one is out of baseball There's always 1st round busts for every team and teams missing on great players - my point is that the Brewers haven't had what can be considered a big "hit" in the first round since 2008, and they traded Lawrie/Jake O. for veteran pitching. The jury's definitely still out on what those two will end up doing in the big leagues, also. Their last 1st round "hit" to contribute in Milwaukee was Braun in 2005. That's way too long for a small market team. all in perspective is right - the teams you mentioned as having passed over all the 2010 talent like the Brewers have also drafted significant contributors to their teams since 2005...something the Brewers can't say. You reference the Cubs but in 2010, wasn't Hendry still drafting? Not surprised their 1st round pick that year hasn't done much of anything. Not to mention the Angels currently have a poorly regarded farm system, and Tampa Bays' system has thinned out a bit too - largely because they really swung and missed in 2010.

2013 - no 1st round pick 2012 - Coulter & Roach (27th and 28th overall) 2011 - Jungmann and Bradley (12th and 15th overall) 2010 - Covey (14th overall, did not sign due to health issues) 2009 - Arnett, Kent Davis, Heckathorn (26th, 39th, and 47th overall) 2008 - Lawrie, Odirizzi, Frederickson (16th, 32nd, and 35th overall) 2007 - Laporta (7th overall) 2006 - Jeffress (16th overall) 2005 - Braun (5th overall) Since Braun's selection 9 drafts ago, the Brewers haven't made a 1st round pick in the top 5. Teams with highly regarded systems in recent years, the Royals and Pirates, have made SIX top 5 overall picks in the same timeframe. I'm not saying the only way to build a great system is to pick at the top of every draft, as the Cardinals never pick in the top 5. But, when you don't get to pick an obvious stud, you have to be able to identify the best signable impact talent available much more consistently than the Brewers have done recently. That's how minor league systems improve. Still too early on Coulter and Roach, so I won't speculate on who the Brewers could have picked instead that will be better MLB players. In 2011, the Brewers could have picked Fernandez instead of Jungmann, and Chris Reed instead of Bradley...that 1st round draft would've looked alot better than it currently does. In 2010, I don't even want to go through the list of guys the Brewers could have picked instead of Covey because it's turned out to be a very deep and talented draft year...it includes Taijuan Walker though. 2009 the Brewers missed on a few after the Arnett pick, but that will be forever remembered as having the pick right after Mike Trout was drafted. The Brewers did ok with Lawrie and Jake O. in 2008, but they could have also gotten Lance Lynn or Wade Miley instead of Frederickson. 2007 could have been Baumgartner, Porcello, Jason Heyward, although they at least traded LaPorta at his top value for C.C.. Had the Brewers made a different decision in even 30% of these 1st round drafts, their system would look completely different than it currently does. That's assuming their player development wouldn't ruin some of the guys I listed, which is likely part of the current problem.

If I remember correctly, Suppan pitched well in the postseason that year, too - earning him the distinction of being a clutch winner. Didn't Gil Meche and some other questionable FA pitchers get silly contracts too that season? The Brewers were desperate for starting pitching that took the ball every 5 days - Sheets was in the midst of breaking down, and the rest of what they had wasn't dependable (either due to inexperience, injuries, or lack of talent). It's a disgusting way of looking at it, but Suppan's 1st 2 years on that contract were ok, and likely helped the Brewers be good enough to go after C.C. Sabathia at the 2008 trade deadline.

If Keith Law were actually great at what he does and well-respected in MLB front offices, he would be working in one currently - not filling dead-of-winter space on the BOOYAH network's MLB page during Super Bowl week.

Well, since Keith Law hates the Brewers system I actually feel a whole lot better about it. Not saying the Brewers shouldn't be in the bottom half of MLB farm systems, but recent big league promotions and no 2013 1st round pick probably count for a ton with no 2nd year of development to see from the younger prospects. I don't have Insider so can't read the whole article, but since he ranked the Astros 1st my guess is teams that have picked in the top 5 consistently the past few seasons are his highest ranked, with teams like the Rays, Royals, Twins and Cardinals sprinkled in because they each have a couple of Law's top 50 prospects in their organizations. His description of the Brewers isn't accurate, as Victor Roache isn't a teenager. The Brewers didn't have a 1st rounder last year so that probably docked them 5-10 spots in Law's rankings to begin with. Players like Roache, Coulter, Taylor, etc are going to have a big say to how the system is regarded after this season. I agree that a couple of impact starting pitching arms sprinkled though the system would be nice...Arnett, Covey, and the Jungman/Bradley 1st round drafts continue to sting. If you take Thornburg, Peralta, Nelson, Gennet, Davis, Hellweg, Schafer, Gindl out of a farm system that wasn't highly regarded to begin with (I assume he did since all these players graduated into the majors last season), don't have a 1st round pick in 2013, and have uneven starts in the careers of Coulter and Roache, no wonder the Brewers drop so low.

In the long term, I feel like signings like this don't address the root of the problem, which is our minor league scouting and development. So what? Because management can't scout and develop their own homegrown players, they shouldn't be allowed to sign big league free agents? That would just put more pressure on the very thing that's a weakness of the organization. I feel like signing a pitcher of Garza's talent improves the organization, from the top down. Yes, they need to get much better at improving from the bottom up, too, but I don't think signing Garza hamstrings them from a player draft/development perspective. If that's a continued problem, then there needs to be a housecleaning of their scouting/development staff, something that isn't likely unless Melvin goes with them. The problem I see is that Melvin's able to maintain a reasonably competitive major league team on the field regardless of how strong the Brewers' farm system is, and Mark A. isn't ready to just jettison him and do a Marlins, Astros, or Cubs-esque rebuild that would net them multiple top 5 draft picks. Garza's signing helps the big league club and his cost isn't restrictive for the rest of the organization - player scouting and development should be an entirely different discussion. Right now the Brewers have a big league roster that can compete...100-win talent by no means, but it's good enough to earn a playoff spot if things go their way. In all honesty as Brewers fans, with how the game is structured financially today that's about the best we can hope for year in/year out.

LaHair is trainwreck bad in the OF...Since the Brewers already have like 45 guys coming into camp that could play 1b, LaHair isn't good enough to warrant bringing him in on top of everything else they have there. Either make a trade to bring in a drastically better everyday 1B, or try to swing a deal to shed some salary when the timing is right.

I'd argue that signing a free agent starting pitcher to a deal that: 1 - doesn't cripple or hamstring the organization financially 2 - doesn't pay said pitcher beyond his age 34 season 3 - doesn't cost the organization a draft pick, and 4 - improves the overall talent on the MLB roster is absolutely organization building.

I'm not sold on the possibility of Garza or this rotation staying fully healthy for the year. No rotation stays fully healthy for the year...heck, it's January - we don't even know what the rotation is. To me, the Brewers signed the best FA pitcher available that doesn't cost them a draft pick, and at a reasonable price. Solid acquisition that fills a big need on their MLB roster.

me too, but Fiers, Hellweg, Burgos, or even Estrada for the right return on the other hand...

I think Yo has some sort of option for 2015 that may not get exercised, making him a free agent after this season. And Lohse still has 2 more years left. Garza's deal through those two seasons gives the Brewers options to move one from one of these guys if some of the young arms do develop.

I think you see how healthy the veteran arms are during spring training, and see how the young arms are shaping up for the end of the rotation/bullpen spots. Wait for other teams to have pitching/injury issues that would entice them to trade a decent prospect for one of these younger pitchers deemed not to be in the long term plans of the Brewers, along with Weeks and some of his salary. The Garza signing gives the Brewers options in terms of quantity, and should set them up to deal from a position of strength for a change. Hoping DM takes advantage of that opportunity assuming good health for all these arms in the Spring (very wishful thinking).

woke up this morning wondering who was going to go out and get Garza now that Tanaka signed...Garza definitely has arm concerns which has to be the reason he's taking the same deal Edwin Jackson did last year for the Cubs, but if healthy it's a great signing for the Brewers. 13 Mil a season seems like quite a bit below market value for a pitcher like Garza. Also, it gives the younger arms vying for rotation spots on the Brewers added time to develop for the eventual departures of Gallardo and/or Lohse. If anything the Brewers may have some young pitching trade chips to sweeten a deal that unloads Weeks' salary during spring training, too.

Hope the physical looks good, because if healthy that's a great contract for the Brewers - immediately improves the pitching staff this year and allows for Gallardo or Lohse to leave via FA or trade as long as one or more of the young Brewer arms develops in the near future. Budget may be stretched but if they can get a suitor to take some of Weeks' salary off the books Garza's deal isn't crippling by any means.

If this ends up happening, Garza would've signed essentially the same contract (4 yrs 52M) as Edwin Jackson did last offseason.

52M over 4 yrs? Not exactly a fan of the length for a guy with arm concerns, but the annual pricetag would be quite palatable in today's pitching market.

starting to see alot more smoke around this...if Garza ends up happening I'd be shocked if it ended up being a team friendly deal - with Tanaka now gone Garza's among the more valuable FA arms due to no draft compensation tied to him. To me it doesn't make sense for Garza's camp to jump at an offer unless it's ideal with the # of teams still looking to add a starter

Has Kazmir signed with anyone yet?

waiting for the Bronson Arroyo hammer to be swung down on BF.net...

This is one of Holiday's quotes regarding PEDs from that article: The guys that aren't using are against it. We want a level playing field. Everybody wants a level playing field that's not using it what the quote really should be is: The guys that haven't been caught yet are against it. We want the appearance of wanting a level playing field even though everyone knows that from time to time most professional athletes take or have taken some sort of PED to either stay on the field, recover from an injury, and/or get a boost in performance. I'm forgiving Peralta because if I hadn't chosen Clinic X for my 'supplements' and instead opted for Biogenesis, I'd be in Jhonny's exact same situation. IMO, that's a quote that a majority of MLBers (or any other pro sport athlete) would have to admit is correct if they are truly being honest.

I think the 2016 negotiations over the next CBA are going to be alot more dicey than what is currently assumed. Even with the existing revenue sharing setup, MLB's quickly becoming about the haves and have-nots when it comes to TV revenue, and even Scott Boras has been insinuating that big market clubs are getting creative hiding their TV revenues to reduce the revenue sharing fee they need to pay the league. Roughly 1/2 the league that doesn't have these outrageous TV deals due to their market sizes is going to demand the playing field to even out from a TV revenue standpoint. Small market teams can still compete by drafting well, but it gets very difficult if they have sustained MLB success to hit HR's on draft picks at the bottom of each round. There will be growing pushback from the little guys to avoid becoming 2nd division teams. I can't say that I have a solution, but I think something along the lines of a 60/40 revenue split for all games televised on teams' networks. For example, say the dodgers get 324 million in revenue from their TV network for televising 162 games. Divy that up to 2 million per game. Then, for each game the dodgers would get 1.2 million and whoever their opponent is gets 0.8 million. Say their opponent has a network that pays them 1 million per game. Their opponent gets 0.6 million and the dodgers get 0.4 million. For that particular game the Dodgers bring in 1.6 million, and their opponent makes 1.4 million. Spread that out league-wide for all 162 games and revenues might even out alot more.

I like it as long as if Reynolds makes the team, Francisco isn't the LH platoon mate...hoping for a LH hitter with a bit more contact potential...Taylor Green maybe? Also, isn't Morris a LH hitter? if he's able to have a good spring and either make the big club outright or get called up early in the season, that's not a bad platoon mate to pair with Reynolds. Also like that he's got some experience over at 3rd and coupld play there in a pinch if needed. Love that it's a minor league deal - more competition the better and this tells me the Brewers' brass wants Morris to earn the everyday 1B job eventually, but they aren't quite ready to just hand it to him until he proves he can hit MLB pitching.

If anything should have become known after the latest ARod fiasco, it's that the only way MLB's drug testing policy catches PED cheats is if they get sloppy or get their PEDs from the wrong source. Users are and always will be ahead of testers, and the players busted in the Biogenesis scandal would all have gotten away scot-free if they bought their stuff from someone not as seedy as Tony Bosch. Braun got caught - he lied and publicly pleaded the 5th until the Biogenesis scandal blew up and he had no other choice but to admit he used PEDs. I blame Braun for holding that press conference at spring training 2012 - he would've been better off just stating that he was glad with the arbitration ruling and moving forward instead of lying to the press and fans. I'd guess there are at least a dozen more Biogenesis-type providers for players throughout MLB, let alone the other major sports. The only thing the Biogenesis scandal has done is shown these other providers how to conduct their operation in a way that doesn't get their customers busted.