Never Outhustled

Perhaps the most interesting part of that article: First baseman Prince Fielder earned $670,000 this past season, but he is now arbitration eligible and stands to see his salary skyrocket beyond $6 million. The Brewers have quietly let word get around baseball that they might be willing to part with the left-handed slugger. That is clearly the biggest news, even though we've heard that rumor before. I think Melvin really wants to get Fielders fat butt out of here before he gets even fatter and his value drops even more. It would be rediculous to pay him what he going to get in arbitration when his value in wins is so low to this team because of his defense. I think it will help Fielders value that his name is big enough nationally that he's the kind of aquisition that would create a serious buzz for a team.

Guzman is available in the rule 5 draft, and he does seem interesting. However, it should be noted that he played the last few years in hitters parks in hitters leagues.

The Brewers are lucky there's more FA closers this offseason then there are closer spots available. It would be like throwing a winning lottery ticket in the garbage if we traded for a closer. The only reason I'd see Melvin in this conversation is if Kenny Williams still has an interest in Hall.

The 1st goal for Johnson listed in the article is to go to the World Series. That's not a personal stat. We've seen time and again that Johnson is rude, disrespectful, and just a jerk to the general public. However, he hasn't had problems with teammates, and is a tremendous competitor. He's not my favorite option, but he's definately on the list.

Gamel was on more hotlists, but Escobar ranked ahead of Gamel in BA's top ten prospects of the Southern League. Escobar doesn't have much power yet, but that doesn't automatically mean he will never hit for power. He's young and still developing physically, and his homer totals did jump to 8 this past season. Hanley Ramirez was a favorite of BA despite never hitting more than 8 homers in a minor league season. Like Escobar, he was young for his league each season, incredibly thin, and impatient at the plate. Now he's as good as anyone in the majors. BA was right on him, and hopefully Escobar can have a fraction of that success.

All the evidence here points to Greene having a big season next year, his contract year. It would behove anyone to make him a late addition to your fantasy team. Thats what I was wondering? Will Adrian Gonzalez become available? They're slashing payroll, and he starts making money this next season. They have a top 1B prospect in Kyle Blanks, who had a breakout year in the Southern League this past season. San Diego hasn't been able to deal Peavey to fill their holes, maybe they'd be better off dealing Peavey for value instead of being so tied to specific need, and deal Gonzalez for need. I say this because if the Brewers are able to deal Fielder for a SP such as Santana, we would match up well to deal for Gonzalez. The deal: Tampa gets: Cory Hart Milwaukee gets: Adrian Gonzalez, Fernando Perez San Diego gets: Andy Sonnastine, Brad Nelson, Alcides Escobar, Tony Gwynn Jr. The Brewers replace Fielder with a another bigtime hitter, and improve immensely defensively. They control Gonzalez for 3 more years, just like Fielder. The emergence of prospect Brent Brewer makes it easy to deal Escobar, who SD needs desperately. Nelson isn't good enough to start for a contender, but he's a nice gamble for a rebuilding team with a top 1B prospect a year away. Tampa has been looking to add a RF, and has a spare pitching. Sonnastine is a cheap, aggressive strikethrower that SD prefers. Dealing Hart opens a lineup spot for the Brewers to sign a lefthanded bat like Abreu. Perez is an outstanding defender and an On-base machine. He makes a nice 4th OF next year, and is the future CF/leadoffman.

They're different pitchers, as Gallardo is under control for 5 more years, while Santanna is under control for 3 more years, just like Fielder. If the Angels sign CC, they will have little money left to pursue a DH. They'll be left asking themsleves, which is better, SP Santanna/DH Garret Anderson or some other cheap retread scrub, or SP Nick Adenhart/DH Fielder? I think they would pick the latter. Fielder has limited value to Milwaukee because his defense negates so much of his offense, but as a DH the Angels would get full value of his offense. The average DH OPS was well under 800 last year. The Angels need offense from there DH because they'll likely go with Kendry Morales at 1B.

The only other CF available with any production is Jim Edmonds, who would fit the profile of what we would be looking for, but his durability is such a major question mark.

Offering Gagne arbitration would be a fruitless cause, as you don't get compensation for players who sign minor league deals. Soon to be 33 year old middle relievers, with no velocity, coming off a season with a 5.44 ERA, with a long history of injury, don't get major league deals. Offering arbitration to the other 3 is an easy decision, as we would be tinkled pink to get any of them back on a 1 year deal.

The game logs over the last 2 months of the season showed Brewer consistently hitting to the opposite field, whereas Peralta is a dead pull hitter. Brewer will also pick up hits with his blazing speed that Peralta doesn't have. I think that will alow Brewer to be a worthwhile batting average/OBA guy. The question with Brewer now is will his fairly solid production in July and August, combined with his brief but awesome AFL experience ( 1.044 OPS and 0 errors) be enough to earn him a bump to AA to open next season? I predict it will. I think its a decision that could be influenced by the fact that theres not a good SS alternative at AA.

What is Fuentes stats don't you like? His K rate is awesome, his opponent OPS over the last 3 years is 620. He only gave up 17 homers over the last 3 years, covering 189 innings. To me, his numbers are amazing considering he pitched half his games at Coors Field. I think he's the best closer on the market. Its a great year to need a closer. I think it might be a good idea to take advatage of that and get one locked into a multi-year deal this offseason.

As mentioned above, Cleveland signed Kobayashi, and Kansas City signed Yaso Yabuta. The only difference between Milwaukee and those organizations economically is our market is in baseballs top ten in population in the demographic that watches and spends money on baseball, and theres isn't. The Brewers only drawback is a bad TV deal the Selig family locked the team into. I'm not asking the Brewers to spend huge money in Asia, but relievers like Saito and Otsuka were total bargains, and we could find those players too if we were willing to make the investment.

One thing to remember is that the scouting director (Jack Z) that selected Rogers with the 5th pick of the draft is now the GM of a team in complete re-build mode. The Mariners would have no problem hiding Rogers on there roster, they "hid" Carlos Silva in the middle of their starting rotation last year. Also, 2 members of that scouting staff are now working as scouting directors for other teams, so theres enough people out there who know Rogers well. With his upside, I think he would have been 1 of the top 10 picks in the rule 5 draft.

Dejesus hasn't been more valuable than Weeks. In his last 3 seasons, at ages 23, 24, and 25, Weeks posted a 358 OBA and 769 OPS. In DeJesus's last 3 seasons, at ages 26, 27, and 28, he posted a 360 OBA and 780 OPS. Looks like they've been rather similar. Throw in that Weeks is a 2B and Dejesus is a LF, and its easy to see why we'd rather have Weeks.

Dejesus hasn't been more valuable than Weeks. In his last 3 seasons, at ages 23, 24, and 25, Weeks posted a 358 OBA and 769 OPS. In DeJesus's last 3 seasons, at ages 26, 27, and 28, he posted a 360 OBA and 780 OPS. Looks like they've been rather similar. Throw in that Weeks is a 2B and Dejesus is a LF, and its easy to see why we'd rather have Weeks.

Dejesus hasn't been more valuable than Weeks. In his last 3 seasons, at ages 23, 24, and 25, Weeks posted a 358 OBA and 769 OPS. In DeJesus's last 3 seasons, at ages 26, 27, and 28, he posted a 360 OBA and 780 OPS. Looks like they've been rather similar. Throw in that Weeks is a 2B and Dejesus is a LF, and its easy to see why we'd rather have Weeks.

Dejesus hasn't been more valuable than Weeks. In his last 3 seasons, at ages 23, 24, and 25, Weeks posted a 358 OBA and 769 OPS. In DeJesus's last 3 seasons, at ages 26, 27, and 28, he posted a 360 OBA and 780 OPS. Looks like they've been rather similar. Throw in that Weeks is a 2B and Dejesus is a LF, and its easy to see why we'd rather have Weeks.

While he's not a pitcher, Josh Hamilton hadn't played in years, never played above A ball, and wasn't overly productive when he did play. He was selected because of his awesome physical talent, despite a host of off the field issues. Rogers 100 MPH fastball and massive K totals suggest his raw talent is immense. I'm not sure why its a major issue that Rogers hasn't played in years. If he's selected, it would be for his longterm potential, not because a team was looking for an impact player in 2009. Except for the occasional minor league veteran sidearm reliever, I think thats what most rule 5 picks are.

I'm happy they added Rogers. If he regains his fastball, he still has big upside. He's exactly the type of player rebuilding teams stash on there roster for a year and then return to the minors, much like the Brewers did with Enrique Cruz. Many of the players picked in the rule 5 draft are hard throwing A-ballers. Marcos Carvajol and Jorge Sosa are 2 off the top of my head. Sure, his options run out a year sooner, but if Mark isn't ready to stick in a big league bullpen by age 26, I'll be ready to cut bait.

The Royals never thought much of Dejesus as a defender, as Dayton Moore has made numerous deals to keep him from playing CF. The latest was a deal that sent a hard-throwing, effective, cheap set-up man for an aging, expensive CF with mediocre at best offense. He might fit best as a LF, with Braun in RF, if Hart could be dealt for a starting pitcher. I just don't think a team will be willing to give up a starting pitcher any better than Andy Sonnastine, Edwin Jackson, or Glen Perkins for Hart.

The Royals never thought much of Dejesus as a defender, as Dayton Moore has made numerous deals to keep him from playing CF. The latest was a deal that sent a hard-throwing, effective, cheap set-up man for an aging, expensive CF with mediocre at best offense. He might fit best as a LF, with Braun in RF, if Hart could be dealt for a starting pitcher. I just don't think a team will be willing to give up a starting pitcher any better than Andy Sonnastine, Edwin Jackson, or Glen Perkins for Hart.

The Royals never thought much of Dejesus as a defender, as Dayton Moore has made numerous deals to keep him from playing CF. The latest was a deal that sent a hard-throwing, effective, cheap set-up man for an aging, expensive CF with mediocre at best offense. He might fit best as a LF, with Braun in RF, if Hart could be dealt for a starting pitcher. I just don't think a team will be willing to give up a starting pitcher any better than Andy Sonnastine, Edwin Jackson, or Glen Perkins for Hart.

The Royals never thought much of Dejesus as a defender, as Dayton Moore has made numerous deals to keep him from playing CF. The latest was a deal that sent a hard-throwing, effective, cheap set-up man for an aging, expensive CF with mediocre at best offense. He might fit best as a LF, with Braun in RF, if Hart could be dealt for a starting pitcher. I just don't think a team will be willing to give up a starting pitcher any better than Andy Sonnastine, Edwin Jackson, or Glen Perkins for Hart.

I too would love to see the Brewers tap into the Asain market for some relief pitching. However, it won't happen, as the Brewers don't even scout Asia in a penny pinching move.

So because Iribarren went from 307 to 277, Escobar will go from 328 to 260? I think your ratios need some adjustment. Escobar and Iribarren are 2 differnent prospects in the fact that Escobar's bat has been gaining momentum as Escobar matures physically, while Iribarren is losing momentum as he closes in on being maxxed out as a hitter. The fact that Escobar has done what he's done at such a young age shouldn't be ignored, nor should his emerging home run power.