JohnBriggs12

"If Gomez were traded, I'd hope the end result isn't Gerardo Parra as the everyday CF simply b/c his bat's not terribly promising." Parra's going to be a very expensive 4th OF as it is and I agree he doesn't have the punch to play everyday. That might be different if they knew Braun would be back to his old self, and they filled holes at 1B and potentially 3B with potent bats.

The best case scenario is the Brewers bring him back for next year and they make a run in the playoffs. He turns 37 next year. His power has faded and he can't score from 2nd on hits that 98% of the rest of the league can and it takes well hit fly balls to score him from 3rd with less than 2 outs. They won't make a playoff run with him not producing like he did over the last 80 some games this year. Look he's had fine career, but it's coming to an end fast. If the Brewers bring him back and pay him $14 million what do they do when he's hitting .265/.305/.370 in mid June with 4 HR and 25 RBI and Rogers is hitting .320/.370/.480 at AAA and improving defensively at 3B? They won't be able to move him at that salary and likely they won't want to eat $7-8 million. That's a much more likely scenario than him returning to form and being part of a contending team. Now they still might contend in spite of him for a couple months, but he'd still be on borrowed time.

The fact is Ramirez was not a productive player from late June until the end of the season. The Brewers hit their high water mark of 19 games over .500 on June 28th. At the time Ramirez was batting .294/.341/.498 for and OPS of .838. He had 11 HR and 40 RBI. The remainder of the season, he hit .281/.322/.375 with just 4 HR and 26 RBI. Over the final month he, not unlike many others, was terrible: .217/.258/.293 with 1 HR and 5 RBI. The difference is Ramirez is 36 and save the $4 million, he's not under contract to bring back. Best case scenario if they bring him back is he gets rejuvenated rest in the offseason and starts next year like he did this and somebody takes him off their hands in July. Frankly I'd spend the money elsewhere rather than hope a soon to be 37 year old who can't run, and obviously tired down the stretch can rebound off a half season of little production.

Ishikawa's picture is next to "replacement level player" in the dictionary, more so because his ceiling isn't far from his floor. But he's not afraid of the big stage and he's already got one ring and is close to getting another. He's not a bad bench piece to have around, especially if the Brewers were to decide to go with Rogers at 1B.

One more season of 200-300 PAs isn't close to having Smith for 6 seasons. Even if Aoki had posted a better OPS than his .710, this was a smart trade. Smith was a big reason the Brewers got off to their hot start. For 6 weeks he gave them the kind of relief that's catapulted KC to where they are. Unfortunately he couldn't sustain that but very few guys could. That trade opened a spot for Davis who was for the most part a productive bat in the 6th spot in the lineup. Aoki's a handy guy but not sure he'd have had much impact. As long as we're second guessing how about just dumping Ishikawa after he put up .257/.329/.428 for the Brewers in 2012? Those aren't great numbers but in hindsight were much better than they got at 1B the last 2 seasons.

KC's success has little to do with the trades made with the Brewers. They had Cain and Escobar for 3 seasons prior to this one with little success. They are where they are for one reason. Their bullpen, especially their top 3 guys have been historically outstanding. What makes a 162 game season such a grind is having to bounce back from games that are snatched from you late. There was no such stress on the Royals as they had the 7th through 9th locked down the entire season. Credit them for turning a failed starter like Wade Davis who had a negative WAR last year into a reliever where's he's been nothing short of sensational but for the most part it was the relievers that made Yost's job simple. He didn't turn into a brilliant manager overnight. What the Royals have shown is this. A superior bullpen can lead a team to a championship. That defies the prevailing thought that bullpens only matter if you otherwise have a very good team. It might be true that a closer by himself doesn't take a team from mediocre to championship quality, but having 3 outstanding guys locking down the late innings, sure does increase a teams chances. The Royals lineup isn't bad but it's not great. A big reason the Brewers got off to their fast start was the combo of K-Rod, Smith and Thornburg was outstanding the first month. Had they been able to keep that pace up the entire year, the Brewers still might be playing despite some down years by some hitters. The Royals rotation was solid and stayed healthy. Their bullpen which includes no ex Brewers are the difference makers.

Kansas City's bullpen has been ridiculously good all year. Between them Holland, Davis, and Herrera had a 1.28 ERA and 9.0 WAR (Per Baseball Ref) over 204 innings. By contrast, the Brewer's top 3 relievers had an ERA of 3.09 and 2.8 WAR. That's 6 win difference right there. 88 wins and the Brewers match Pitts and SF. These guys have been the difference in the postseason as well. Amazing. Hard to see any team getting that kind of bullpen production in consecutive years. Key move for KC was moving Wade Davis, who was a middling starter at best, into a reliever. Who saw him having one of the most dominant seasons in recent history as a reliever? When a bullpen is as good as KC's, it takes pressure of the rest of the team. Ask yourself, what was the turning point in the Brewer season? It was the game in San Diego when K-Rod got squeezed and blew the save. Over the course of 162 games those kind of losses add up. The Royals don't have the burden of those games in their memory banks for this season. They can't even conceive of losing when they are tied or have a lead late because in their experience, the opponent can't score.

Your best bet to get the lowest price are Ebay auctions. Look up the game, and look for "auction only" listings. Otherwise they'll show you ticket brokers and stubhub listings which tend to be higher. As that game approaches there will be more listings and prices tend to drop. Add tickets you want to your "watch list", then as auction nears it's time limit, be ready to pounce in the last 10 seconds of the auction with your bid. If you prefer the Stubhub route, wait until the last few days before the game. People that have to sell will lower prices as game time nears. A side note, you might do better with two pairs than one group of four. If you are two couples, the ladies can use one pair and the guys the other. Can't tell you how many times I've seen people do that. I've bought many Packer tickets on Ebay and I've gotten very lucky on occasion. In 2010 I grabbed 4 tickets somebody had just listed for face value, even though I was looking for 2 maximum because it was such a deal. Turned out my brother couldn't make it, so I had three extra which I sold in about 20 minutes the Friday before the game on Craigslist for $50 more than I had paid for the 4. I ended up essentially getting paid $50 to go to the game. It covered gas and parking! The last time I bought on Ebay, the person selling them lived out of the area and rarely attended any games, but happened to work for a company that does business with the company I work for. We worked out a deal not just for the game I bid on but for a future game as well, with an understanding that we'd work similar deals in future seasons. You just never know.

Building a winning roster on paper is a lot easier because you can just make the assumption that you sign the guys you target. But that would be an awesome lineup one through seven. Those are the guys I'd target. Whether I'd get them is another story. But I'd try.

No way they build a bench costing $20 million.

C - Lucroy (3.0) C- Maldonado (1.0) 1B - Michael Morse (11.0), 2 year deal, $23 million with team option for 3rd year at $12 million, with $1 million buyout 2B - Gennett (0.5) SS - Segura (0.5) 3B - Sandoval (14.0) 4 yrs, 60 million LF - Davis (0.5) CF - Gomez (8.0) RF - Braun (14.5) INF - DJ LeMahieu (1.7) INF - Hector Gomez (0.5) OF - Clark (0.5) OF - Denorfia (1.7) SP - Garza (12.5), Lohse (11.0), Fiers (0.5), Nelson (0.5), Peralta (0.5) RP - Broxton (9.0,) Duke (3.0), Smith (0.5), Jeffress (0.5), Henderson (0.5), Kintzler (1.0), Thornburg (0.5) There you go for a mere $97.4 million which allows for mid season add-ons, and a bit more if needed to land the Panda. Gallardo's option is picked up but he's dealt to Rockies for mostly prospects and LeMahieu who takes role of Weeks with added benefit of also filling in at 3B. In a surprise, Parra is non-tendered as he's too expensive to be a backup and not good enough to play every day. Denorfia is similar player but a lot cheaper and RH. Big move is the raiding of the Giants, getting Morse and Sandoval in somewhat of a package deal. Both rake in Miller Park. The first of the two to sign is used to attract the 2nd. Should Morse re-signs with Giants before FA, replace him with Cuddyer for the same deal. Clark included to fill in either at corner OF or backup 1B and primary LH power off the bench.

The Royals finished last how many times in the last 15 years? Sooner or later all those high draft picks they accumulated would pay off, either on the field, or via the trading off of guys. The postseason is purely a tournament. Are the Royals the best team in baseball? No. Are they the best team in the AL? No. Can they win the tournament? Sure, any team can.

The most important thing for every single guy to do is not make outs, as often as possible. Regardless of what role each batter is supposedly defined to, not making outs (OBP), is absolutely the most important thing each batter can do. I didn't say it wasn't important or maybe even the most important (though I don't agree), I said it was less important. Batting down in the order ahead of the weakest hitters in the lineup makes it less important than in does batting in front of the strongest hitters. The old saying "a walk is as good as a hit" just isn't true in all cases. If it were there would never be intentional walks. You certainly can't rank hitters strictly by OBP. Generating runs which is the objective usually takes extra base hits. Davis had a very healthy total of 61 extra base hits which helped him generate 139 runs (70 scored and 69 driven in). I'd say Davis contributed more offensively than did Ramirez who only generated 113 runs (47 scored and 66 driven in) because Ramirez only had 39 extra base hits, and couldn't score from first on a double and often couldn't score from second on a single.

It's not about the jobs done by Iorg and Narron, it's about getting some younger coaches. Iorg turns 60 tomorrow. Narron turns 64 in a couple months. They need a coach or two who's played in the last 10-15 years.

I'm completely dumbfounded by the speculation regarding Ramirez. When a 36 year old stumbles like he did the 2nd half of the season with just 4 HR and 26 RBI after June 27th, I'm of the opinion he's at or very close to the end. Half a season is not a short spell and he was as responsible as anyone for the collapse down the stretch. But at least the other guys that stopped hitting, are young enough that one could expect a rebound. Yet everywhere I read speculation that he'll get 2 year deal from $25 to $30 million. Really??? At best this is a guy who'll need to be rested at least once a week who can't run at all, has a walk rate Yuni could be proud of, and who at best might hit 15 HR. If MA has a hole in his pocket, they'd be better off dealing for Ryan Howard and paying half of his salary for a couple years to play 1B. Not advocating that either but at least Howard has a little pop left (23 HR) and his RBI total (95) would have led the Brewers by a wide margin.

I think most agree with that assessment but beyond LaRoche and Morse who's likely to re-up with Giants and maybe Cuddyer if healthy, it's slim pickings in the FA market and they already tried once to pry Morneau away from Colorado and failed. So it's worth noting what fall back names are out there. Clark may well be a better option as the fall back. If they were to sign a RH bat like Morse or Cuddyer as opposed to LaRoche, either of those two can play corner OF if needed and Clark could figure in backing up at 1B and PH.

I don't know if Brewers have a lot of outfielders. They have some CF, but not any big time bat corner OF prospect, at least until Roache approaches his potential. I think the timetable is taking shape. LaRoche is brought in for 2 years and an option to play 1B, after which Braun moves there, and Coulter replaces him in RF.

Look, Ramirez has had a fine career with fine career numbers. Much like just retired Paul Konerko, he's not quite HOF material but fine nonetheless. The issue is what can be expected of him in a year he turns 37. On the 25th of August, it appeared he'd be worth the price to bring him back or at the very least give him a QO, But he was a key cog in a 31 game slide, the worst collapse in franchise history. Is that worth rewarding? Rogers has posted .800+ OPS at ever minor league level above rookie ball including in the pitcher friendly Florida State League. He's never been considered a top prospect because his primary position was 1B and he's never been young for his level. Nonetheless, he was given a chance to play 3B this year, and by all accounts at least didn't fall on his face while continuing to hit. I think he's at least a viable candidate to take over the job there. There's also FA much younger than Ramirez out there that they could choose to go after. If they sign LaRoche to play 1B, I believe he's fully capable of replacing Ramirez's bat in the middle of the order. Can Rogers produce better than the departed 1B combo from last year? That's not a high bar even for a rookie.

Agreed. LET HIM WALK! I couldn't give a hoot about some draft pick compensation for declining at QO. It's way too big a risk in my opinion. Most here seem to want to go young. I just think that $15M can be better spent. A-RAM is a good player and I enjoyed his time in a Brewers uniform, but I don't want him back at $15M. I really don't want him back at $14M and I hope he declines his part of the option. If not, I'd almost be okay with the Brewers declining their half and just giving him $4M and consider it a bonus for his production over the life of the contract. We may not get an All-Star to man 3B in 2015, but $15M can go a long ways when our farm talent begins to mature. There is no need to spend $15M in 2015 when A-RAM being the best option makes us a 82-80 team instead of a 77 win team. I'd rather go 77-85 and pocket $15M to be spent over a few seasons when we can really compete. It's far better to let a guy go a year too early than a year too late. First nobody is going to surrender a draft pick to sign him. He'll end up waiting until after next year's draft if he turns down a QO. Risking having to pay him over $15 million seems outlandish to me. He completely disappeared down the stretch and his power was nearly gone. The buyout makes it reasonable to pick up his option from the Brewers standpoint, but I'd hope he turns down his side, and the Brewers move on and find a more long term solution there.

One thing that bothers me about MLB is that they play 162 game season which we all pay good money to see and follow for 6 months, and the team with the best record is done along with the team tied for 2nd best and the 4th best, while the teams with the 5th, 7th, and 8th best records are still playing. Baseball was king when there was a true World Series between the two best teams that was determined over an entire baseball season, not a handful of games played in football season when 90% of the country is focused on its pro or college teams game that week. I'm not advocating going back to that, but I would go back to just 4 teams in the postseason.

As big a key to improving the hitting is to get Braun back to being Braun, and for Segura to have a bounce back year. Braun's second half collapse had as much to do with the team's failure as anything. Davis was essentially a rookie, and where he batted, usually 6th, OBP isn't as important. Melvin failed miserably in addressing 1B. While he tried to trade for him in July, there were no reports he had any interest in Morneau last winter or Michael Morse (.279/.336/.475). Either of those two would have been better targets than the guys he focused on, FA Loney, and Ike Davis in a trade. LaRoche is the obvious target this year, though Morse is a potential FA again too but seems comfortable in SF. But they are in a position where they'll need to pay a premium price for what will likely be average production from the position. Still average would be a great improvement.

One time well regarded prospect Chris Nelson is available as a minor league FA. As recently as 2012, he posted .301/.352/.458 albeit in Colorado. Might be worth a minor league contract with a ST invite.

Mike Carp is also a minor league FA. Interesting how two names much talked about a year ago as options for the Brewers, Carp and Hart, are now both on the scrap heap. I wouldn't object to bringing either or both in on minor league deals, as long as it's not assumed they make the team as they did last year with Overbay.

Talk of giving up on Segura is ridiculous. What if the Cubs gave up on Castro after he hit .245/.284/.347 in 2013? Very few guys come to the majors and never struggle. Some guys adjust quicker but eventually good players learn to adjust. It was a tough year off the field for Segura. That was a heck of a burden for any player but especially a young one. When he gets through this, and he showed signs in September, he's going to be an even better player than we saw in 2013.

Nobody brings it up, but I'll bet over the course of a game, the time it takes for the catcher to hand a ball that hit the dirt to the umpire and then have a new one put in play, takes an extra 4-5 minutes a game. Add in the fact that more balls are intentionally bounced than back in the day as a pitching strategy (watch if they ever show a complete telecast from the 60's and you almost never see great pitchers throw their breaking balls in the dirt) and to me it's both annoying to watch and time consuming. I don't know when the practice of taking every ball out of play that hits the dirt started, but it should end. Baseball was fine before this practice started. Most of today's pitchers wouldn't know how to make a slightly scuffed ball do anything unusual any way, and if they could, more power to them as that used to be part of the art of pitching for guys like Don Sutton.