Harold Hutchison

Zach Braddock as a 2010 version of Dan Plesac, circa 1986-1989?

Exactly. It's not tough to see how much more effective he is with his newfound stance. He's much quicker to the ball, and his swing is obviously much more compact. Appears as though he's added quite a bit to his career. I'd really like to see him back, but 2 years 5 million would be about as high as I'd go. The deal I'd offer Counsell: 2010: $2 million 2011: $2.5 million 2012: Mutual option (Player: $1.5 million; Team: $2.5 million)

But if he can get through two an outing, he'd be very valuable in the pen. That said, I'm pulling for him - if only so that the Brewers can boast one of the best (if not THE BEST) pickoff moves in the majors on their staff. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Move McGehee to right, stick DeRosa at third, trade Hart? As for Beimel vs. Shouse, Beimel's my preference - he is nine years younger, and averaged nine more games and 20 more innings per year. Shouse has too much of a risk that he'll suddenly decline - Beimel looks like a surer bet.

Gomez+Gamel+Dave Bush for Johnson. OK, the Brewers go with a Braun-Hart-Gerut OF, and McGehee gets third full-time until Taylor Green comes up to make things interesting. Josh Johnson Gallardo Sharpie Soup Parra Not the best outfield, but it's a good rotation.

LHP Joe Beimel - A reliever who has done well. Over the last four years (2006-2009) he's pitched 72 games, 3.17 ERA. Would be helpful in the bullpen, particularly to complement Mitch Stetter. 2B/3B/LF/RF Mark DeRosa - Utility player who could be valuable depth. He's also played some 1B and SS.

Lost in all of this is the fact that the Brewers have another 3B prospect who is arguably due for Nashville in 2010: Taylor Green, who is arguably more of a Cirillo-type hitter than a pure power hitter. Like Gamel, he bats left-handed.. Green is either trade bait OR he is going to end up at third down the road.

Or, keep Lucroy at C, and move Salome to the OF. The Crew could then trade Hart to free more money for pitching. Salome in LF/RF at $400K + a starting pitcher/two relievers > Hart at $5-6 million.

With Rickie's injury history, another 2B is not a bad idea. Irribarren to back up 2B and CF Heether at 2B/3B/SS/LF/RF? Gamel/McGehee platooning at third... That could work.

Here's one thought for the lineup: ss: Escobar 2b: Weeks lf: Braun 1b: Fielder rf: Hart 3b: Gamel/McGehee c: Lucroy/Salome cf: Gomez/Gerut Pitcher

The Bronco's are 6-1; I wouldn't hate an outcome like that...Is Gomez gonna blossom the way Kyle Orton did? We're losing Cameron, one of the best CFs in the NL, and we dealt a guy who had been one of the best SS in the NL from 2007-2008, and who had slumped in 2009 (big variable in that one - did Ned Yost's departure hurt more than thought?). Escobar may or may not be good. He's fast, but not much power, and OBP skills are lacking. Gomez is fast, and Cameron-level D, but no OBP/power. Overall, this year's been a slump for Melvin. The Lopez trade stank (I'd have just called Escobar up to play second), and the Hardy situation became a year-long soap opera. Shortstop was not broken after 2008. Macha and Melvin managed to take us from one of the best to a great prospect who may or may not live up to his predecessor.

It's official... Macha and Doug Melvin managed to do WORSE than the Broncos did in the Cutler fiasco. ARRRGHHH!!!!!!!!!

The Brewers have done the C-to-OF thing before - Charlie Moore, BJ Surhoff, and Dave Nilsson all moved from C to the OF. Surhoff had good offensive years as an OF, and Nilsson managed to stay on the field more.

Why not stick Salome in the outfield? If the Crew is going to lose Cameron, how about going with Braun in left, Hart in center, and Salome in right?

Cameron's defense is also a big plus in his column.

If Cameron will stay, great. If not... move Hart to center, platoon Gamel/McGehee in left, shift Braun to right, and park Escobar at third.

Lamest excuse I've ever heard. At some point, you have to see if these guys can actually hit major league pitching. For Macha, it must be when a player is 30 years old and washed up. That being said, I was happy with the playing time Escobar got. Wish I could say the same about Gamel though.Macha makes Ned Yost sound smart with that quote. That said, I'd move Gamel to left, Braun to right, and Hart to center if Cameron is to depart. Hart's numbers are iffy for a corner, but should be pretty good for CF. That opens third for McGehee, and second can be handled by Escobar until Weeks is healthy, after which Escobar spells Weeks, Hardy, and McGehee. Think of it this way: Escobar at $450K > Counsell at $1 million plus

With the way things look, I'd go with the following: 2b: Escobar (assume Weeks' wrist isn't 100%) ss: Hardy lf: Braun 1b: Fielder cf: Cameron 3b: Gamel/McGehee rf: Hart c: Rivera/Salome Hopefully, JJ will have rebounded so that when Weeks is 100%, the Brewers can deal either him OR Escobar for some arms down the road. It may be hoping for too much. The Brewers handled JJ about as well as Josh McDaniels handled the whole Cassel/Cutler thing in Denver this spring. EDIT: Rickie took a LOT of time to recover from his wrist injury.

Hire him!

Add an option year, and it would be perfect. Cameron sticks around, and that gives the Crew 25 homer power and top-flight defense in center.

Even more wrong: Doug Davis was traded that off-season, which is COMPLETELY on Doug Melvin.

Have to disagree to an extent. I'd say that Doug Melvin and Ken Macha handled the whole Escobar/Hardy matter only somewhat better than Josh McDaniels handled Jay Cutler in Denver. You have a shortstop who, after 2007 and 2008 had 50 HR, 150 RBI, and an OPS of .803 (http://www.baseball-refer...08-sum:batting_standard) while providing very solid defense. No A-Rod, but easily in the top five shortstops in the majors. Talk about a "not broken" situation, this is a classic case (much as having Jay Cutler at QB was for the Broncos). They should have told him this could affect his service time. Now, a fair bit of trust has gone out the window - and it won't come back 100%. So, now the Crew seems to be facing one of two options: If Hardy gets his swing fixed, and takes the job next spring, then he may very well walk as a FA, and we don't know how long comp picks will be around. I'm all for dropping Macha after this year. The Brewers did not have these kinds of breakdowns when Ned Yost was in at manager.

Folks... this year to date, Escobar's had ZERO extra-base hits in the majors. I'm not sure he's quite the answer. 2B: Weeks SS: Hardy RF: Braun 1B: Fielder CF: Hart 3B: Gamel LF: McGehee C: Salome/Rivera Pitcher

Darren Ford and Steve Hammond to Giants for Ray DurhamThis deal was well worth making. I give it a B+ Matt LaPorta, Zach Jackson, Rob Bryson, and Michael Brantley to Indians for CC Sabathia This deal is an A-. It goes to A+ if the Crew signs their supplemental pick. Gabe Gross to Rays for Josh Butler Boy, is Gabe Gross missed in 2009. If the Brewers don't make this deal, they don't need to deal for Gerut. F. Kevin Roberts and Marino Salas to Pirates for Salomon Torres Torres stepped in when Gagne collapsed. This deal is an A. Had the Crew been able to convince Torres to stick around. it would be an A+. Johnny Estrada to Mets for Guillermo Mota This deal was a wash. Mota did OK. B. Dennis Sarfate to Astros for cash Sarfate... hated to give up a pitcher for just cash. D Andrew Lefave to Nationals for Ray King This deal was a wash. C+ Grant Balfour to Rays for Seth McClung McClung has been pretty good in 2008. Until his experiment as a starter, he was doing the job a bit more often than not. B. Will Inman, Joe Thatcher and Steve Garrison to Padres for Scott Linebrink Linebrink wasn't a bad pickup, but failing to re-sign him meant the Brewers picked up Evan Frederickson - who at WORST is a left-handed Turnbow, and Cutter Dykstra - who might be a good utility guy. Thatcher would have been nice in the pen with Stetter, though. B Jose Capellan to Tigers for Christopher Cody Until coming to AAA, Cody was pwning hitters. And all he cost was Capellan? When Cody becomes a contributor in the rotation, this deal becomes an A+ - it is already an A-. J.D. Closser to A's for Charles Thomas Not a bad deal. C Ben Hendrickson to Royals for Max St. Pierre Can't really argue with this deal. C Brady Clark and cash to Dodgers for Elmer Dessens Was Dessens really worth Brady Clark? No. Clark's skills would be a big help for the Crew. D-. Doug Davis, Dana Eveland, and Dave Krynzel to Diamondbacks for Johnny Estrada, Claudio Vargas, and Greg Aquino Wouldn't Sharpie be nice to have in the rotation now? This deal gets an F. Wilfrido Laureano to Phillies for David Bell Bench player for a minor-leaguer. B. Carlos Lee and Nelson Cruz to Rangers for Laynce Nix, Kevin Mench, Francisco Cordero, and Julian Cordero The only good news is that the comp for losing Francisco Cordero was Jake Odrozzi and Seth Lintz. That could make this an A, but this gets an Incomplete. Jorge de la Rosa to Royals for Tony Graffanino Graffanino stepped in when Rickie got hurt and did well. B-. Mike Adams to Mets for Geremi Gonzalez This was a bust for the Crew. Adams blossomed elsewhere - and Geremi tanked. D+. Enrique Cruz and cash to Rangers for Brian Shouse Shouse's performance alone makes it an A. How well Heckathorn does for the Crew could make it an A+ Brian Wolfe to Blue Jays for Corey Koskie Koskie's acquisition meant the Brewers released Russell Branyan. Half a season of Koskie, or keep 3TO around? I think we know the answer. D-. The Gross, Clark, Adams, and Koskie trades were bad moves. The Doug Davis trade is probably the biggest disaster of the bunch. It was a bad idea at the time, and even worse as the years go by. Sharpie probably would have been a good guy to back up Gallardo. The bad trades have had a BIG effect this season in particular. Who wouldn't like Branyan at third, batting sixth this year? Or Gabe Gross spelling Cameron and Hart in CF and RF - with Tony Gwynn Jr. still in the system for depth? How about Mike Adams and Joe Thatcher in the bullpen for the last two years instead of Riske and Mota? The Chris Cody trade was a VERY good move. As was acquiring Shouse, McClung, Durham and Linebrink. The Sabathia deal was also a good one.

I have to agree vis-a-vis Hardy. After 2008, DM needed to make a decision on Hardy, and punted. Post-2008 was the time to either trade Hardy for pitching, or to sign him to a deal through 2015 or longer. If the latter, then give Escobar plenty of time at second base in Nashville. At the very least, it meant the Crew would not have to make the "panic trade" for Lopez, that cost them an OF prospect with OBP skills the major-league club needed. As for Castro... to be honest, when one of the team's top prospects goes off the tracks as spectacularly as Parra did, and it takes the AAA pitching coach to get him somewhat turned around, that's enough to raise questions. Tack on the fact that on his watch a couple of starters pitched hurt (which is somewhat on them, but his tenure as bullpen coach ON THE BREWERS meant he should have been able to pick up that something wasn't right), and he probably had to go. Doug Melvin did not have a Plan B if Sabathia walked. Letting Maddux walk was another huge mistake.