bcf5575

I always hear that a long term deal with someone with Prince's body type is a bad a idea because it wont age well. What about CC's? I would be terrifed to give him a 5 year+ deal - he is a big dude! Seems ripe for back and knee problems in the future. Sheets is the one to sign. He has never been ineffective - only fluke injury and health problems have slowed him down. Contract insurance will cover any major injuries - and there is no reason to think a healthy Sheets wont be a top pitcher...

no - he lied about his height. he is really 5'-8"

trading laporta pretty much proves that Fielder is going to be around for a while yet. I think there is no way he gets traded before his last year of arbitration.

I am pretty anti all star game. i have this impression that anytime a brewer goes to the all star game they suck for the rest of the year. Maybe its cause Carlos Lee blamed his second half free fall a few years back on being in the home run derby and screwing up his swing and because it seems that capuano that hasn't won a game since he went to the game. Because of that, I dont want braun to go with his bad hand, I dont want sheets pitching there, I dont want hart to win the last spot. I would rather have all these guys stay home, rest up, heal up what ever that have banged up.

I think trading him is a good idea. we could probably get a few prospects for him. forget the big league team - I would LOVE to create a dynasty for our AA team!

so you think that a AA player can step in and replace Fielder next year? in his first year at a new position? 40+ hr, 100+ rbi? possilbe, but very unlikley. and what about princes effect on the rest of the lineup? how will braun hit w/o fielder? hart? etc... I also dont see the pitching as "desperate". i still think that can resign sheets (at least make him an offer!) - but if not there is still Gallardo, Parra, Suppan plus lots of money to get another decent guy or 2. a lineup in 2010 that includes: 1B: Fielder 3B: Gamel LF: Braun CF: Hart RF: Laporta + ben sheets every 5th day is a world series team. take fielder and sheets out of that and add lots of prospects and we are not.

amen! i can't believe the love affair that some of you have for minor leaguers. sure some of them will reach their potential and be the next Braun or Prince, but others will become very average major league players like Hardy or Weeks. You arent going to win and chanpionships with a bunch of average guys. Prince was once the prospect we couldnt wait to get up here. Now he is here and he is the man (though not quite the man he was last year - or is it more of a man? its hard to tell reading all of these Prince has to go threads these days) and we want to get rid of him?? The key to this small market thing is to still have Prince around and bring the next guys up and have them all here together for a while. So, for Princes last 2 or 3 years here he gets to share the lineup with Braun, Hart, Laporta, Gamel, Salome. Thats a tough lineup and that can win a championship...

the interview sounded to me like sheets WANTS to be here and that he is somewhat hurt by the fact that the Brewers wont even talk to him about a contract. what else is he supposed to say? the brewers havent offered anything to him yet - he HAS TO test the market!!

i can not believe some of the comments in this thread. 1. I would rather have the draft picks. What??? Getting draft picks is NOT adequate compensation for losing sheets. I don't care if we get 10 draft picks - none of them are bonafide #1 major league starting pitchers. I dont want to just have a great minor league system - I want a great big league team! I am sick and tired of constantly waiting for the next group of guys to come up thru the system. That is where we are now - this is our group of guys that we have waited years for; Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, Hart, Hall, Braun. These guys are ready to enter the prime of their careers and I want to win with THIS group. We will not win with this group unless we have pitching to back it up. The brewers have not developed any pitching to take Sheets place. Gallardo? He is the most promising, but like seemingly all of our pitching prospects he is now injured. Parra has looked pretty good this year, but is no where near sheets level. This is not football where draft picks can make a big splash the same year they are selecterd. I am not interested in waiting 5 years for a draft pick to develop and ease the pain of losing Ben Sheets. 2. If Ben leaves, Melvin will just go get another ace. What? If it was that easy then why are we worried about losing Sheets - everybody must have a staff full of Ben Sheets types already. And what kind of ace are we going to get that isnt going to cost the same as Sheets? why not keep our own guy? 3. I'd rather have 2 #2 starters. Where are we going to get these pitchers? If we can't afford Sheets - then we cant even afford 2 more Jeff Suppans. How many here consider Suppan a #2? Not many - he is an average starter and he costs a lot of money too... I can understand if the Brewers lose a biding war for sheets. but why let it get to that? they are the only team that can talk to him right now. maybe he will give them a "home town" discount - who knows? they might get one now, but they wont get one in November when the yankees and red sox and (gulp!!) the Cubs are offering 6 years $130 mil. in march I got not talking new contract. I dont get it now.

very true - I was making some big assumptions in my post based on what I thought would have been a fair offer...

so figure that the 60 mil must have been over 5 years and would buy out 1 year of free agency? probably something like: 08 - $8mil 09 - $10 mil 10 - $12 mil 11 -$14 mil 12 - $16 mil I would assume tha t the 09-11 salaries are somewhat close to what he could expect in arbitration - so, he basically bet $60 mil in guaranteed money that he will strike it big in free agency in 2012 and make way more than $16 mil. that proves to me that there is no way he will be a brewer in 2012. to turn that down means he is either stupid, greedy, or wants out of milwaukee. 1 freak play can ruin your career (ask corey koskie) - and if that happend he wont see any of this.

this gives me a very bad feeling because i think this is way too premature. he has been a major leaguer for just over a year now and as awesome as he has been, he is not yet Yount or Molitor - 1 great season does not make a career. Should we start the braun-o-meter? NO! Lets enjoy the ride for a while and start worrying about this kind of stuff in 2013...

i think that Yost should be fired for not realizing McClung's potential and getting him in the starting rotation sooner.

how come Hall can only play short "in a pinch"?? He played that spot pretty well a few seasons back...

i hope they give billy a shot at 2b while weeks is out. make it a "here's your chance - prove we are wrong and win your job back." i think that the point has been proven to him that he has to produce or he doesnt play. now he has 2 weeks to get motivated and do something with this chance... i can already see a counsel/dillion platoon at 2b and the branyan/hall platoon at 3b though. just another thing for me to yell at the tv about when I watch the brewers tonite...

My point is that these draft picks might not even turn into Kevin Mench or Laynce Nix. They could be Dave Krynzel. Or Mike Jones. Don't get me wrong - I am glad that we had the picks and I hope these guys turn into something someday. But it doesn't even come close to replacing what a Ben Sheets means to this team...

who is bill?

the brewers need to do whatever they can to resign sheets. it would be a shame for the organization (and the fans) to develop this group of guys (braun, fielder, hart, hardy, weeks, etc) and then cripple the team's chances by not having the pitching to support it. they have no one near Sheets' level on the staff and the team is going no where with out him. Is it a risk to sign him to a long term deal? Yes - a huge one. But it is one that they need to take since they havent had any success in developing his succesor. gallardo might be that guy, but he is coming off of 2 knee surgeries, 1 major one, and who knows when or if he will ever be the same. anybody else that they try to sign is going to cost huge dollars as well and still be a risk. Look what Suppan cost them to get! also, the idea that getting some compensatory draft picks for losing high caliber players makes it worthwhile is garbage. this isnt football or basketball where these guys can help the team out anytime soon. getting 2 extra guys who might possibly turn into a good player in 3-5 years does not make up for losing the ace of your staff...

I disagree. I pitched a lot in high school and college. both times I had a catcher that "called a great game" for my first 2 years. the kind of guy that is the team captain - a leader that everyone respects. the guy you NEVER shake off (i.e. crash davis). then, that catcher graduated and I had a younger inexperienced catcher to throw to. so I have personally experienced both sides. This make a HUGE difference. it is amazing how much easier it is to pitch when you don't have to think. when you just get the sign and throw the pitch - to be able to have trust in your catcher to call the right pitch and to work at setting up the hitter. all you have to do as the pitcher is to hit the spot with your pitch - which is much easier when that is what you are concentrating on instead of worrying about what pitch to throw. i think that having a catcher that can "call a good game" is one of the biggest assets a team can have...

4-2. Sheets is going twice so I expect 2 wins there. 2 of the other 4 starters will step up too, so 4-2...

Cameron is still the guy for the long haul - but ride the hot hand while you can. Kapler should be in there again friday and should continue to see significant time until he cools off.

I don't see how Escobar can be much worse than Hardy offennsivley. JJ is a .240 hitter with, besides a fluke start to last seaon, minimal power. It wont take much for escobar to match that, plus he is way faster than Hardy and can cause problems on the basepaths... For now, take the best offer for either. Have a Dillion/Branyan platoon at 3B (man that sucks - I cant wait for Gamel) and let the other start at SS.

why would you want to trade suppan?? we cant find a competent 4th or 5th starter right now - now we are going to go with Parra as a #2 and will be searching for a 3, 4, and 5. While I agree that Suppan isnt the best #2 guy, he is taking the ball every 5th day with average results. Thats more than you can say for the rest of the staff right now...

one thing that I have noticed is that Prince seems to be swinging REALLY hard lately. Like Jeromy Burntiz hard. almost like he is trying to silence all the the "lack of power" critics by hitting every ball 600 feet. that and I think his head is a mess with this contract stuff.

remember when we had too many arms in the bullpen?? -turnbow -riske -gagne? -stetter -mcclung all thats left is mota, torres, shouse, a demoted starter, and a couple of aaa(a?) guys. yikes!