JohnBriggs12

Barring a trade or a signing I think all indications are that the opening day bench will be Parra, Schafer, Jimenez, Hector Gomez, and Maldonado. It often comes down to keeping the guys out of options over the guys who still have them. I would expect them to get Clark a lot of work in the OF in AAA and Rogers a lot more work at 3B. A few of the guys optioned out might actually be 2nd on the depth chart if an injury occurs to a regular though.

If enough guys defy the shifts, they'll go away for all but the most dangerous sluggers. That's how I hope it ends, not through artificial rules changes. Pitchers get away with bad pitches that are hit hard into the shifts, and then are not rewarded when they induce what would be easy ground ball outs to "normal" infield positions only to see they've been vacated. That takes from the art of pitching and it skews the stats as much as PED's.

His 2016 option vests if he finishes 48 games in 2015 which would make total of 100 for 14-15. He's done at least that for 9 straight seasons. Sure Philly could play some games to keep him from that total but they'd likely have a grievance filed. So it's not like the Phillies are just on the hook for $13 million. Would he win if he filed a grievance? Philly could easily say they are grooming for the future. " Salisbury hears that the Phillies are committed to moving Papelbon and letting Ken Giles inherit the closer’s role" That quote. 2015 is going to be a losing year for Philly. 2016? Who knows? Having a healthy Giles with experience is better for them than holding on to Papelbon and not seeing Giles get his chance if they succeed in 2016. It's a business call. Why would Papelbon win his grievance? W/o the option he's a Free Agent, free to command whatever money he's believed to be valued. The Option year in value wasn't something that increased his salary. I'd get him having a grievance if he agreed to a contract where he earned 9mil each season in his contract and then had a 20mil option if he completed the necessary amount of games. If I'm Philly, I'd be saying the team was willing to offer him a QO(BS but,) which is more than the 13mil option if the guy really wants to put a stink up about it. The FO wants to make Giles closer. Washington had a 120 games finished clause for Rafael Soriano in which he finished with 106. He needed 62 after 58 the first year. Soriano actually pitched himself out of the ability to finish games because he blew 7Games last season. 5 games that he could have finished but didn't after blowing the lead which would have put him at 111. He went to 7th/8th inning duties came in for a non-save opp and blew that so there's 112 with little attempt in searching. The club could sit him the moment he allows a runner on base and turn to Giles vs letting Papelbon finish the inning. He only had 52 games finished. Just gotta lose 5 game finishes. What is the likelihood he serves up just 2HRs this year? Has a BABIP of .251? A Whip of .90? He's either better today than he has been for his career averages or he experienced a lot of luck. Philly is likely staring at maybe 70wins in 2015. Maybe 65wins. It's not a sure thing even if he's the one handed the ball to close games all season. He failed Twice all season last year to not finish a game when he had the opportunity. 52/66 or in other words 52/54 in his opportunities. Papelbon by my count was handed the ball 11times in non-save opportunites where he completed the game either because he was handed the ball in the top of the 9th and Philly won in the bottom of the inning/ Philly was ahead by 3+runs or the team was losing and he finished the game anyway. They don't have to give him the ball in the 9th inning in those situations. And in that case, he doesn't even have 48 opportunities much less 48 (guaranteed given) finishes as the grievance concern is about. And that's assuming he's healthy for the entire season, not 1 DL stint. Now I guess he was used almost exclusively in the 9th innings, including tie games. So I'm kinda leaving out the games he could have finished as a loser had he allowed Runs to score...But that higher number would be counteractive to arguing to finish games because his ERA certainly would be approaching 3+ if not 4 then if he blew those 9th inning appearances. Anyway, just a 48 Games Finished isn't a guarantee with so many positive factors involved on his side in 2014. one would think he'd be around 60 games finished being that good, if Philly were Milw in 2014. That team is worse, 40 Save opportunities could be very hard to come by. The Phillies need him to be effective in the closer role the entirety of 2015 to generate interest to trade him next offseason. A closer needs to finish 50-55 games just to stay sharp. He won't be used just in save situations, and it would be pretty obvious if they brought in in for a 7th inning of a blowout loss.

It will be interesting to see who opens the season at 3B and 2B for the Cubs as they still intend to keep Bryant in the minors long enough to get another year of control as he's a Boras client. It will likely be Baez at 3rd and Alcantara at 2nd. Both of those guys got exposed a bit by major league pitching. If both hit well in the early going, once Bryant arrives, Alcantara will be in the OF rotation and Baez likely will end up at 2nd. If one struggles, they will send him down to make room for Bryant.

His 2016 option vests if he finishes 48 games in 2015 which would make total of 100 for 14-15. He's done at least that for 9 straight seasons. Sure Philly could play some games to keep him from that total but they'd likely have a grievance filed. So it's not like the Phillies are just on the hook for $13 million.

Sad news that Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks has passed away at 83. In his honor, MLB should mandate one 'lets play 2" doubleheader on every team's home schedule.

Bombers, I don't see why on earth the Brewers would be down on Davis. I thought he had a productive year when guys in the lineup around him weren't as productive. Where he hit in lineup, be it 6th or 7th, getting on at a high clip isn't as important as getting runners on base home, and 61 extra base hits is more than Parra's ever had in one season as is 69 RBI. If Parra were a big OBP guy that could hit 2nd, then I see your point completely, but his OBP the last 4 seasons: .318, .305, .308, .323 don't really cut it at the top of the order. Further the addition of Lind gives them that middle of the order lefty bat they lacked since Fielder left. Parra appealed to them in 2014 because they were so righthanded.

Roache or Goforth should be enough unless the Phillies are paying $10M+ of the remaining $26M he is owed through 2016. I think they'll pay more like $15 million of the remaining $26 and they'll get either Yadiel Rivera or Sardinas in the deal.

It's a very competitive division but no team really stands out as a sure fire winner. The Cubs being contenders might actually even things out at the top as everyone should be knocking everyone else off. I don't see anyone running off and hiding. The Brewers are dark horses to be sure, but it's not impossible. We've said it before but a return to form by Braun gives them All Stars at 3 positions. Brewers are going to be highly dependent on a healthy rotation, further emergence of Wily Peralta, and a breakout of some degree by Nelson. That they seem determined to enter the year with a bullpen that on paper is competitive, I can live with that because if things do fall apart elsewhere, bullpen pieces are usually moveable at the deadline. I see Phillies paying substantial portion (well over 50%) of Papelbon's salary this year with the Brewers taking on the bulk of it for 2016 (likely around $9-10 million). What's that going to cost player wise? Who knows, but I kind of have an inkling it's Sardinas and this was the plan all along. Phils are in full rebuild mode and with Rollins gone, SS is one place they will start.

Look we knew in early November that Melvin thought this team could contend. Why else would they expend an extra $10 million to bring back Ramirez when they could have just parted ways with him for $4 million? I have at least some confidence there will be a market in July for either Broxton or Papelbon or both, particularly with the Phillies picking up salary. I think they are stuck with the entire $14 million owed Ramirez regardless as I can't see him producing to the level of a $14 million player. As it stands with this year's budget with only limited amount available, mostly from the Gallardo deal, they'll probably structure it so Brewers pay less than half of Papelbon's salary in 2015, but significantly more in 2016 when they free up salary.

Brewers have gotten burned repeatedly going for aging/declining relievers: ie: Gagne and 2nd season of Hoffman which was a disaster. I've already had Broxton near the top of the most likely to be wasted money in 2015 list, just behind Ramirez. Papelbon would come in right behind those two. Unless Phillies pay at least half of his remaining contract, then no, no, no!

There's a few pitchers with chances of making major league debuts this year but not many hitters. The guys we've already seen, Rogers and Clark figure to spend some time with the Brewers. Wren is the most likely of the rest. Maybe Yadier Rivera or Adam Weisberger get a shot if injuries affect middle infield or catcher. Taylor and Arcia would have to smoke AA and get an early trip to AAA to have a chance. More likely they'll be seen late in 2016. I think Strong has excellent chance to be called upon at some point, maybe even make the team if they don't add another lefty. Jungmann, Brooks Hall, and Goforth are all on the 40 man also so strong AAA showings by them could earn a MLB debut. Berrada and Marzek seem to be guys that could show up on roster at some point. Maybe even Cravy.

While he could use a consistent 3rd pitch, his biggest issue was fastball command. Not that he walked a lot of guys but he didn't hit his spots with consistency. Fastball command keys everything else. I'm sure one reason the Brewers dealt Gallardo was to boost confidence in Nelson. You don't dominate AAA like he did last year and not have the stuff to be successful in the majors. His Nashville numbers were off the charts good. Peralta also throws a very hard sinker and a slider but really hasn't fully developed an effective 3rd pitch either. Get Nelson a few runs early once in a while so he can settle in and he'll be fine.

I still think best route for them to take with Thornburg is to have him in the Colorado Springs rotation if he's healthy. He was outstanding late in 2013 using a full range of pitches starting. I think after early success with his heat out of the pen, he kind of fell in love with his heater up, and started to over throw resulting in arm issues.

With Nelson it's all about command and confidence in a third pitch. It's very similar to Peralta. Nelson can win in the majors with his stuff. He was the most dominant pitcher in AAA at the time of his call up. He got very little run support and took a couple of tough losses then started pressing a bit. In fact after getting rocked by Cards in first July start, he posted 5 straight quality starts but only recorded one win. In half of his 12 starts, the Brewers scored 2 runs or less. That's tough on a rookie who's trying to prove he belongs in a pennant race. By contrast in 1992, Cal Eldred came up and made 14 starts and got an average of over 6 runs of support per game.

Bombers, with Ramirez's diminishing power production, I don't see how they can afford to sit Davis against RHP. On occasion sure, but Davis was a prime source of power in this lineup last year. Davis slugged .451 vs RHP last year to Parra's .398. I seriously doubt Sardinas makes the team out of spring training. Hector Gomez is out of options and they'll want Sardinas who doesn't turn 22 until May playing everyday.

Fingers crossed he's ready to go. Henderson has great mental makeup for reliever.

None of us would be shocked that's for certain. Apparently the big raise Boras has been holding out for isn't materializing. Hard to hide those 14 HR allowed in 68 innings. Wouldn't doubt that Brewers have given him a standing offer around $4.5 to $5 million.

Spring training always has longshot stories. He must have looked good enough in his workout. I'm sure they are only thinking at looking at him as a loogy.

Is everyone forgetting how effective Thornburg was as a starter the final 2 months of 2013? Until the Garza deal, he was ticketed for a rotation spot last year. I'm sure the Brewers have been getting his medical reports all along and they may well be satisfied that he's ready to go. If so I suspect he'll open the season starting in AAA.

Morris' problem is that he's not unique or special in any way. There are plenty of lefty hitting 1B types in the 26-28 age range who have shown power in the minors to varying degrees but aren't good enough to break through to the majors. Heck the Brewer still have 2 of those types on their roster in Clark and Shane Peterson. Cruz was a RH power hitting corner OF. Bautista played 3B, and was already up in the majors for good at age 25. Jose Guillen was a major leaguer at 21.

While Joba is a decent piece for a real impact I would look into dealing for Kimbrel. The Royals lock down bullpen is what carried them to within a game of a World Championship and Kimbrel's still the best around. Yes he would come with a cost in prospects, but they can turn around and deal him in a year or two and still get a haul back. His contract isn't that onerous (same salary this year as Broxton) and after this year Broxton will come off the books. We're talking the best closer the game who's still only 26.

Joba and Maholm. Brewers have had success turning ex-Pirate lefty starters into useful bullpen arms. Maholm didn't have great success out of Dodger pen last year but he did go 27 innings of relief without allowing a HR and that was really his first taste of relieving. He brings the added bonus of being a guy who could fill in to start if needed and he's a buy low guy. They'd need to keep his locker away from Gomez though! Joba was a reasonably effective workhorse for Detroit last year.

Heard Melvin say they were looking for a guy who could start or relieve. Maholm fits that bill and also gives them a 2nd lefty in the pen. They'd have to keep his locker away from Gomez though. Maholm and Chamberlain to fill out the pen?

Knebel is the most intriguing to me. A reliever that goes in the first round says down the road closer potential to me. Home grown closers mean savings that can be used elsewhere. Still though Kimbrel could be available in a deal with Atlanta in full rebuild mode and Knebel could be part of a package that could get him. As for Sardinas, well Venezuela is the cradle of major league shortstops. It's a great position to have a logjam as they are great chips to use in deal for other needs. Don't think he's a cinch to make the team out of spring training by any means. Diplan is that young pitcher that Melvin likes to get back in deals. His ETA is around 2020 or 2021, so nothing to get too excited about now.