GumbyLives

Yeah, all Helms had to so was make contact. Easier said than done against a guy throwing 100 MPH. Helms HAS to look fastball. He did, Wagner throws a nasty slider, Helms has to commit early, no chance.

The problem here, Gumby, is you're only responding to 1 out of 4 of my points, but i'll indulge.... I only responded to one because it's the most important in my mind. If the Brewers were in any other division in baseball accept the NL or AL central it would be pointless to try to make a couple acquisitions and fool yourself into thinking you can be competetive. But this division has no locks. The Cardinals don't have a SP ready to help them now or they would have them in St Louis. They also have guys like Simontacchi, a step up from Q, Woody with his arm attached by a thread, and Tomko with an ERA near 6. I'm excited there's some talent in AA, but if history is any indicator, half of them will wash out between Huntsville and Milwaukee. I don't see the reasoning in conceding anything in this division beyond this year.

That's a best-case-scenario outlook, and it assumes: - The NL Central will remain tight next year What's to suggest it won't. The Cubs have good pitching that will get better, but Alou and Sosa are a year older. The Cardinals have pitching problems and no talent on the horizon in AAA to help them out. The Cardinal also have a lotta cash dumped into position players and have deep pockets, but I don't see them spending big bucks on any free agents this year. The Reds have little pitching or money to spend on any. The Astro's also have a lot of cash in position talent and no cash to spend on pitching, their weak link. 2 decent starting pitchers, which the Brewers could afford, makes this team .500. Any team at .500 in this division on August 1 is still in it. Why throw away 4 years waiting for the guys in AA to become competitive? Those guys might be here in 05, but you know it will be at LEAST 2 years after that before they're good enough to win. The NL central doesn't have any locks. It's possible to take a team from 70 to 87 wins. That might be enough to win this division this year and next. I don't expect them to sign Millwood, but is too damn much to ask for a couple guys like Ponson, Milton, Batista, or Pavano? Add a decent RF'er and they still have a payroll in the mid 40's. It's stupid to concede this division, it can be had with a few smart aquisitions.