Never Outhustled

They could bring up Joe Dillon from AAA, where he has a 981 OPS. He has mashed for several seasons in AAA. Melvin obviously likes him, as he added him to the 40 man roster a few weeks ago. He could at least match Mench offensively, and he's more versatile. Its great news that someone is interested in Mench.

It would have been nice knowing that if the Brewers make the Series, they'd have homefield. Just another reason for me to hate La russa.

Turnbow had a 6.87 ERA last season and has the highest ERA in the Brewer bullpen this season. Melvin is currently seaching for a top setup man to replace him in that role. He's been OK, but hasn't earned a promotion, and theres a chance, be it small, he could fall apart at any time, since he's done it before. I like Balfour's chances of being a quality reliever, but this team will have too many leads to roll the dice on either of those too as its closer.

Mench can't hit anymore, but he has been very good defensively. Salty has never played the OF, so odds are he'd be a wreck out there.

I too am not a fan of Salty, but I wonder if we could use Salty to get what we really want? Could salty land us young top late inning guy, or be used as the center piece of a package to aquire a top starting pitcher? It seems like theres not as many teams that are desperate for catching as usual, who really needs catching? Also, is this Bush's real value, or has Salty's value already taken a hit because of his character issues? And lastly, is Bush the apple of there eye, or would Atlanta be interested in Vargas too?

Endaround explains this pretty well. If I was a pitcher, I'd rather face Graffanino or Gross than Ortiz, Hafner, or Thome. Also, the AL is clearly a superior league right now, and has been for a number of years. It makes sense, given the number of big spenders in that league.

I like Weathers, but I'd definately prefer Otsuka, assuming he proves to be healthy. Otsuka has real impresssive numbers, but there even more impressive when you curve them for park effects and playing in the AL. An argument could be made that Otsuka is better than Cordero. To me, I'd rather give up more for a top guy, because the Brewers have terrific depth.It would be a waste to leave guys like Balfour, Parra, and Thatcher in AAA all season.

Great point. It really says alot for the Brewers player development that not only have so many prospects succeeded, but so many have been instant hits. The Angels had ton of big time position player prospects lately too, but theres have taken forever to adjust to big league baseball.

So much for that small market excuse.

I wasn't interested in Lofton when he was 1st brought up by posters in another thread a few weeks ago, but now that it seems the Brewers have completely lost faith in Gross, I am. Lofton could start in CF now, and be the 4th OF upon Halls return, with Gross going down. Problem is, Lofton makes $6 million this year. Aquiring Otsuka and Lofton would add about $3 million to the Brewers payroll if the deal happened at the dealine, and a little over $4 million if it happened now. To even out the deal, could Texas take Mench back? Joe Dillons 981 OPS in AAA easily translates to enough to replace Mench here. Vargas to Texas also makes sense, as the Rangers are desperate for starting pitching, and Vargas would help them next year too. Gwynn, Vargas, and Mench for Otsuka, Lofton, PTBNL

Whats scary is, not only is Cappy pitching poorly right now, but we entering the part of the season where Cappy has been historically poor. He has always held his spot in the rotation with his strong 1st halves. I don't buy the excuse today that he was tired in the 6th. He should have been well rested after he failed to run when he popped up that bunt attempt earlier, which went for a double play. If he really was that out of juice in the 6th, he could feel free to tell someone.

Heel fast Billy, as we need this deal. Hopefully Hart gets more oppurtunities in CF, to show Melvin how unnecessary Gwynn is. Rosenthal criticized the deal because he thought we shouldn't trade a young everyday starter in Gwynn. I guess he didn't realize we have a team full of young, more talented players already, including 2 very , very good OFs that can play CF.

Ford is definately an ascending prospect. He is outhitting both Cain and Gillespie at BC, and I'd expect him to leapfrom both on the next P50. The FSL is such a tough place to hit, I can't wait to see what he does in the SL next year, despite that being a pitchers league too. The K totals aren't an issue with me, as he will only hit for more power as he increases his pitch recognition.

There is the factless, baseless statement of the year. He had a 3.95 ERA over the last 3 years, and was the MVP of last years NLCS. A statement like the one above belongs in the vent thread. Suppan has always been a slow starter, and strong 2nd half pitcher. When he carries us down the stretch, and in the postseason, I think the naysayers will be much happier. I'm more concerned about Capuano than Suppan at this point, as Capuano has been significantly worse in the 2nd half in his career. 2004-2006 ERA before the break 4.41 ERA after the break 3.41 So even if Suppan is regressing, we could still see an ERA of around 3.90 from here on out. I think we'd all be happy with that. For those that think Suppan is overpaid, wait until you see what FA pitchers get next year. With attendence and TV ratings up again, FA prices will continue to rise. Guys of Suppans caliber will get $12-15 million a year, and we'll be happy to have Suppan under contract. If he's not 1 of our best 5 pitchers this offseason, the increasing FA prices will make him easy to trade. Edit: I'd just like to add that Suppan had a 5.83 ERA before the breal last year, and a 2.39 ERA after the break last year.

JSOnline story about the meeting Yi had with Harris and Larry K and comments on Yi's dominant game last night. New Memphis coach Marc Iavaroni got a good idea about Yi in the forward's first 29 minutes of summer-league play. "He was more physical than we read," Iavaroni said. "You have to scheme him. He's very confident out there. He showed no jitters." "Defensively, he's a quick jumper and he can get out on pick-and-rolls," Harris said. "He's got great hands, he's got quick feet on the offensive end. "He's got a post game; he can shoot it right-handed or left-handed. He can step out and make shots. He's got a great sense for the game. He's a (true) power forward." For Time Warner digital subscribers, or anybody else with NBATV, that game will be replayed at noon today. I have my DVR set. Its channel 140 for those in the Fox Vally. I didn't even realize I had NBATV until now.

If they are so addicted to having Gwynn on the team, whatever. But it doesn't mean he has to start. Platoon Gross and Mench in RF, Hart in CF, and Jenkins gets fulltime duty, as we're entering the time of year he gets real hot. Grench could be an interesting RF.

1. Weeks 2.Hart 3.Braun 4.Fielder 5.Hardy 6.Jenkins 7.Estrada 8.Grench (Gross/Mench) Were getting to the time of year that Jenkins gets hot, so I'm finally ready to let him play fulltime.

I'm getting really, really sick of the Brewers addiction to Tony Gwynn Jr.! Why doesn't he have to earn his MLB spot with good AAA play like everyone else?

As I said in another thread, call up Joe Dillon to platoon with Gross in RF, with Hart in CF. Dillon has been far and away the best hitter in Nashville, and has had a real good AAA career.

Dillon has alot of OF experience, he is average defensively at 1B, 3B, LF, and RF. Career minor leaguer despite outstanding career AAA numbers. He has a cup of coffee with Florida a few years ago, but has never gotten the chance he deserves.Older, but serviceable. Gwynn is a better defender than Dillon, but Dillon would only be playing RF, so the difference wouldn't make a big impact. Dillon is a much better hitter than Nix.

The business side of the Brewers is where Attanosio's effect is felt. The Marketing and Public Relations has improved immensly under his watch. He has had no impact on the baseball side. The team still ranks low in payroll, hasn't been a big spender in the draft, isn't very active in Latin America, and non--existent in Asia. The baseball operations are doing well because Melvin and staff are extremely effient and effective at what they do.

Why in the world would they recall Gwynn? Joe Dillon, unlike Gwynn, is hitting really well in AAA, like he always has, and he is on the 40 man roster too. Play Hart in CF, and platoon Gross/Dillon in RF.

Also, dissing Brantley based on last year's BA rankings, when the guy is obviously having a breakout season this year, is kind of pointless, wouldn't you say? You seem to be basing your opinion on A ball stats, BA, and myself, are basing our opinions on the players raw ability and projectability to the majors, not to AA. You see, as you must, that one guy has off-the-charts plate discipline, but you don't want that inconvenient fact to get in the way of your opinion, so you chalk it up to "growing up in the game" rather than ability, based -- I take it -- on nothing more than, well, not wanting inconvenient facts to get in the way of your opinion. 1st, to address the part I bolded. If you want me to further explain an opinion in the future simply ask, and I'd be happy to. I see no need for you to assume how I got to a conclusion, and I think civil discussions are more enjoyable, and informative, for everyone. No ned to get bristly. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Research has shown, with pretty strong results, that plate discipline at low level baseball doesn't translate into upper levels. Its more of a sign of a hitter being closer to maxxed out than it is a sign of a future big leaguer. So two of these guys are serious hitters, and the third is a "slap hitter"? In fact, there is no good basis for projecting Ford as having more power as a big leaguer than Brantley, and not much basis for projecting Cain as having more. Bat speed is far far better predictor of future power than A ball stats, and I mentioned earlier that scouts consider Ford (and Cain) to have very good bat speed. Like I said, I like Brantley, but only the best of the best position players prospects make MLB. He is not among the best prospects.

That actually may be the most plausible explanation for why they skipped him a level -- maybe they figured the one thing he really needed to work on was something he couldn't work on effectively in the FSL. I think the reason Brantley is in AA is because the organization was most concerned with having its best prospects at the right level. That would be Cain, Ford, and Gillespie. BA had those 3 among the Brewers top 13 prospects, while Brantley didn't make the top 30. Ford outhit Brantley at WV this year. Brantley is a slap hitting corner OF, how is that going to help the Brewers at the big league level? I like Brantley, but he has to really change his game to give him a chance, as big league pitchers won't walk such a weak hitter. but lest I get overly obsessed with Brantley, I have to bow in the general direction of Darren Ford. Now heres a guy I can get excited about. Ried Nichols called him the fastest player he's ever seen recently, and he's not just all speed. He pops some homers (13 in the last year and a half, to Brantleys 2), and that will likely increase as he gains experience. He is not as polished as Brantley, as he didn't grow up in the game, but he has batspeed and awesome raw ability. To me, he has passed Cain as a prospect.

Yes he is , over a full season, but we'd only have him for the part of the year where he wilts. At best, Byrnes would give us a low 700 OPS, and I could see Mench doing that, no matter how bad I think he is. Also, we don't have to give anything up to get Mench, he's already here. (fixed quote -TC)