JohnBriggs12

You don't blow up a roster that is dominated by quality position players, almost all of whom are 30 and under. Pitching is far more ethereal (those that don't know what that means look it up) and hard to project. You blow up this roster and not only do you need to find pitching you have to find everyday talent as well. Then there is money. We take for granted this team will draw. They "blow it up" and they lose fans that never come back. As long as 61 year old Doug Melvin is at the helm, it will take more than one disappointing season to come to the conclusion to blow things up. I think when healthy this team is behind one team in the division and that's the Cardinals. The chances of them blowing up a very solid roster and somehow getting on even terms with the Cards over the next decade are close to nil. The next 3-4 years they should be competitive, with it very possible that pitching can all come together at least one of those years. It's a pipe dream to think somehow they are going to be a playoff team year after year so take what's possible, and don't spend time dreaming of a day that will never happen.

I really don't think it's a slam dunk and is certainly won't be based on who's been the "face of a franchise". The Brewers have enough problems with attention on Braun's return without putting Gallardo and his arrest for drunk driving back in the spotlight. My guess is it will be Lohse.

And that's the point of this. The Yankees extended 3 offers last season Gained 2 picks. Extended 3 offers this season. Richest team in baseball gaining draft picks as players THEY DONT WANT!!! leave to another team via FA. The idea of compensation is because a team loses a player via FA because they couldn't come to terms with an extension. The compensation is to help the small market teams when they lose players they cannot afford to sign and keep. NY,Boston they can afford to sign and keep these guys but chose not to. They will gain draft picks. Let's see how would Tampa the king of the FA Comps prior to this. Guess what? They are trading away any player that they'd extend a QO to because moneywise they cannot afford that contract and make money. Shields gone. Price will be gone. Now sure, the players they recieve in these trades will likely be better than the draft comp, but they have to forego a post-season looking team with Price headlining it on their staff to moving forward with 1 less ace and whom they get in return in trade. Meanwhile, the team that acquires Price will A, be a big market club and extend him before FA. Or B, extend that QO getting his final year before FA and then receiving that draft pick comp lessening the blow of losing that prospect they had to give up for him. Let's picture 2years from now. Options all picked up. Would the Brewers extend an offer to Gallardo,Lohse,ARam, or Weeks? Based on the rise of contracts my guess is that is 4 players 1yr deals of 15.4mil or 61.6mil on team payroll. They more than likely couldn't extend those QOs to that many FAs to be. NY? Bos? LA? Chc? Won't be a problem. And there in lies the problem. Comparing the Brewers to the Rays is apples and oranges. The Rays play in front of family and a few friends. That's it.

I think the Pirate offense is likely to be below average. and for their bullpen to perform to the level they did in 2013 would be truly remarkable and defy all odds.

Didn't I just read someplace that the 2013 Brewer rookie class was amongst the top in baseball in WAR? Seid isn't going anywhere.

Seems ridiculous doesn't it? Here you have the Cubs playing in a very outdated venue like Wrigley Field which will be over 100 in a few years, and Turner Field won't last past 2017. Of course it's not the first time the Braves abandoned a modern venue for greener pastures. County Stadium was only 14 years old, and one of the most modern stadiums around when the Braves headed to Atlanta in 1966. Fulton County Stadium only lasted 30 years too. Of course, that place had lousy sight lines for both football and baseball. The Omni down there didn't last either, and how much longer will the Georgia Dome be around? They go through sports venues pretty fast in Indianapolis too. Market Square Arena and the RCA/Hoosier Dome were perfectly functional but deemed outdated in a hurry.

The oldest team in the NL just got older. Think the Brewers contending in 2014 is unrealistic? At least the Brewers lineup is mostly guys in their prime. Wonder what they'd offer for Ramirez?

They could do a lot worse than Jason Vargas actually.

Are you forgetting it was Maholm hitting Gomez that spawned the incident in Atlanta? Besides I think Maholm is looking for a rotation spot. The Brewer do need a bullpen lefty, but they should be looking at guys like Javier Lopez.

It's in the answers to questions like that where Melvin has shown he's sometimes quite good at pulling a rabbit out of his hat. This year, we'd know a live bunny rabbit would have a decent chance of out-hitting last year's fill-in 1B's. I don't believe Ike Davis did last year though. I'm pretty sure a platoon of Francisco and Halton could do better than .205/.326/.334. Listening to the Mets telecast team in the last series of the year, they were pretty down on Davis and with numbers like that, it's easy to understand why.

Well the RCA (Hoosier) Dome only lasted 24 years as did the King Dome. So the shelf life for stadiums is getting shorter and shorter. Still, it seems ridiculous to abandon such a modern facility especially for a guy like me who's seen games in Old Comiskey, and the museum that is Wrigley. Turner Field is fine, but some less than desirable areas are just blocks away so I can understand the concerns in that regard. Still the fix should be to fix the neighborhood, not abandon it. Could Atlanta support two teams? Why not put the Rays in Turner Field? I give Miller Park about another 15-20 years and I'm sure there will be calls for something more up to date or better located.

Aoki has the skill set Boston loves and he's a proven major league leadoff hitter. He can foul off pitch after pitch. Bradley was a "Logan Schafer" like .275 hitter at AAA with all of 7 SB. There's no indication he's ready to match Ellsbury's production. Aoki on the other hands numbers pretty well match Ellsbury's. Nava will be 31 in February. He has had one good season in the majors. Aoki is a year older and has two. They are a fair swap. Control time isn't a huge factor for Boston especially for guys over 30. They can afford to extend Aoki. Carp's never been a regular and he turns 28 next year. Boston can re-sign Napoli to play 1B, leaving Carp no position.

I still think the best match is Aoki to Boston. Boston is likely to lose their leadoff hitter Ellsbury, and Aoki possesses just the kind of skills that Boston covets. He fouls off a lot of pitches and uses the whole field. Now Aoki isn't the SB threat, and they'd have to move Victorino to CF, but that's not a huge stretch. Brewers need help at 1B, and Boston could offer either Mike Carp, a natural 1B, or Daniel Nava, who played some their this year and is the added bonus of being a switch hitter. With the savings, Boston could re-sign Napoli.

They had exclusive rights to negotiate with Hart before FA started. I think if they really wanted him, they would have got it done then. My guess is they wanted him only with a substantial discount and Hart and his people declined. Davis figures in here. They may be thinking a Braun move to RF, then Davis in left and Aoki gets dealt, quite possibly bringing a first baseman in return. Fall back is the Francisco/Halton platoon, with Morris still in the wings to take over if Francisco falters, assuming Morris takes a step forward in Nashville.

Errors don't tell the whole story but good defensive players usually make fewer and don't get moved to the OF. He's made 21 errors in 67 games at SS in the minors, a poor .925 fielding percentage. He's probably ok at 2B, his more natural position. The tipoff that he's not that good defensively is that he was signed as a 2B and ended up being moved to the OF.

In case you missed it or were on a safari, Halton isn't in the minors, though with options he could end up back there. He did have over 100 PA in the majors and is on the 40 man. One name missing from your list is Michael Morse. Morse is kind of intriguing because in a small sample (40PA) he's really raked in Miller Park (.432/.475/.973). He had an injury plagued year in 2013, but if he's healthy, a return to the NL where he's put up good numbers, might be the ticket. He also figures to be a buy low guy. My guess is the Brewers would prefer a lefty bat there though and they haven't given up on Francisco. That's sort of where Halton comes in as his platoon partner. They may look into Loney and Morneau too. If Hart were going to return, I think they'd have done a deal by now and not let him get to the open market. There appears to be quite a bit of interest in him.

Weeks will either be released or start the year in a platoon with Gennett. No way do they intend to go back full time to Rickie. Remember they dumped Suppan about 6 weeks into his last year. Don't think they won't just eat the rest of Weeks' deal too. The White Sox would like nothing more than to dump Dunn, but his contract is worse than Weeks and his production isn't even an upgrade over Juan Francisco at this point.

Herrera may be worse defensively than Betancourt. He can't play anywhere so he plays everywhere. Eugenio Velez has the same problem. You can't hide him defensively either. Bianchi is not sweating this one out.

Hasn't Melvin and Attanasio made it clear they aren't going to "not really compete" and why would they do that with Braun, Lucroy, Gomez, all in their primes, and one more year of Ramirez? "Not really competing" will mean attendance under 2 million. Trust me.

George Steinbrenner spent a lot of money and won a lot of championships. Tony LaRussa is a drunk, probably played a part in the explosion of steroids in baseball, and risked the lives and careers of many players with his beanball wars. I don't see how Steinbrenner getting in the Hall of Fame is such a travesty but LaRussa belongs. Steinbrenner exploited his massive revenue advantage over virtually every other team in the game. More than any one man, he prevented baseball from matching the appeal of the NFL, where market size is merely incidental to team success, by nixing revenue sharing for local tv and radio rights. In doing so, what he really accomplished was to render less meaningful each championship he won compared to had they been won on an equal playing field. What George Halas and Wellington Mara were to the NFL, that is pioneers who forsook short term financial gain for the overall good of the league and its product, Steinbrenner was the polar opposite in baseball. Halas and Mara are rightfully in the NFL Hall of Fame. Steinbrenner doesn't deserve the same fate.

The trend is for teams to go with young closers. K-Rod hasn't closed since he was dealt to the Brewers. That was in 2011. Maybe there's some team out there who'd like a veteran, but he's not alone in that market either. K-Rod has very good relationship with Roenicke.

In a blatant example that some "experts" at MLB traderumors have very short memories and/or don't follow the Brewers all that closely, they project Paul Maholm (yes that Paul Maholm, Carlos) to the Brewers. Seriously!

No I wouldn't trade an above average young SS who is under control for multiple years for one pitcher. Miller is one year removed from a 4.74 ERA at AAA. He's also a flyball pitcher who's LD% against was worse than league average. That tells me his FB tends to be straight. Once he loses the inevitable 2-3 mph off his fastball as his innings build up, he'll not be an elite pitcher. That's not even considering the injury risk, quite high for a pitcher who throws as hard as Miller does. Even if Segura is on par with Andrus, and Aybar, that means it's a position you don't have to worry for for 5 more years.

The Angels seem intent on getting immediate pitching help. Trumbo's worth something, but nobody is going to give up a premier pitcher for him. His value might be in the range of an Estrada/Halton combo, but thats about it. Given the Brewers aren't blessed with a plethora of sure fire replacements for Estrada, I don't think they make that deal nor does it seem that's what the Angels have in mind.

K-Rod would add some needed veteran presence to the RH side of the pen. Key is to lock him up early enough to allow non-tendering of Badenhop. I like Javier Lopez as a much needed loogy.