JohnBriggs12

His numbers the last 2 seasons are star quality that's for sure. I've been saying all along with stars at 3 of the 4 positions up the middle under control through 2016 the Brewers are well positioned to contend despite the doom and gloomers. Not only is Lucroy a star, he's now clearly the team leader along with Gomez. The void of leadership left when Fielder departed has been filled.

You have to realize Melvin is 61. His horizon isn't that far out. For him to leave a legacy here, it's going to need to happen in the next 3-4 years. I don't see a huge FA signing, but if they accumulate enough of a prospect stockpile, he's going to be looking to make an impact deal as he did with Greinke.

Rickie Weeks can't. Mike Cameron couldn't either batting in the middle of the Brewer order despite over 20 HR. Geesh, can't you guys just get off your high horses every time RBI is mentioned? So lets do away with it being part of winning a triple crown then. My point was Francisco needs to be very productive offensively to offset his poor defense. That's regardless of what stat you look at as a measurement of productivity. I just threw RBI out there. I could have just as easily said he needs to slug close to .500. That wasn't the point but thanks for jumping on it anyway. Getting back to Francisco, regardless he should never start a game against a lefty. He's never hit a HR off one in more than 100 PA. So if he's the guy at 1B next year, he'll need a platoon partner.

Aoki looks like he's worn down. He hasn't gotten many off days and he's a little guy in his 30's. Aoki has value but he might be a 4-5 game a week guy, not a full time player. He's worth $1.5 million though, easily. Right now, the Brewers would be better off with 12 pitchers, and having Gindl back up getting time in RF.

Kyle Heckathorn is quietly having a very good year, allowing just a .196 BAA. Could he be a September call up candidate?

Forgetting the numbers, to me he passes the eyeball test. He looks like he's got a clue at the plate. He's not up there flailing or looking like he doesn't belong facing major league pitching. He's got a nice balanced swing. That he looks that solid at 23 is what I like. He seems mature beyond his years.

His defensive numbers have never been horrible and they've improved every year. Remember, he just turned 23 on May 1st.

"Years of discouraging evidence"??? Really? Those 52 extra base hits he had for the T-Rats as a 20 year old in 2010 discouraging? He's a .297 lifetime minor league hitter with a career slugging percentage of .409. Not bad numbers at all for a middle infielder especially considering he was on the younger side for the levels he's been at. His defense has improved every year. This year he's made just 6 errors in 95 games between AAA and the majors. He just turned 23. What doesn't show in his stat lines is his stellar performance in the 2011 Arizona Fall League at the age of 21. Small sample (90 AB's) but against better prospects he hit .411/.470/.556. He's never going to be a huge HR hitter but he does generate enough bat speed to collect a significant number of extra base hits. There's nothing wrong with a stat line of .275/.335/.400 for a 2B. I really think he can do that right now. Assuming some improvement over time, he's got a chance to be a solid major league player.

Rickie Who??

I don't think cost should be a major issue. The question is whether Francisco can be a 25-30 HR guy and be able to drive in 80-85 runs. What he does over the final month and a half may or may not provide an answer. If they commit to Francisco, I don't see Hart wanting to sign here. They may have to find a lesser name or go with a guy like Halton who's really been producing at the level Gindl and Davis did at AAA. Francisco's been a bit of a pleasant surprise with the bat to be sure. But that glove.

I still believe he's still underselling Peralta. In Peralta's last 10 starts, his ERA is 2.10. That's one of the better 10 game stretches by any recent Brewer starter and that includes Greinke. With a 97 MPH sinker and one of the top average MPH fastballs of any NL starter, his ceiling seems higher than a 4th starter. If Thornburg is set to follow that path, I say that bodes awfully well. If his observation that Gennett's BA drops 10 points with every step up, that would make him around a .270 hitter in the major leagues (exactly his BA now). That's not All Star caliber but you can live with a 2B who does that. He probably won't slug .460, but .400 isn't out of his reach.

The Braves might still be in Milwaukee if guys like Logan were allowed to end their careers in Milwaukee. Logan was indeed slipping in his last year as starting SS in 1960, but not to the point where they needed to surrender two outstanding young pitchers, Joey Jay and Juan Pizarro to acquire the very overrated and offensively challenged Roy McMillan. John McHale, who later uttered the infamous lie "The Braves will be in Milwaukee this year, next year and as long as the are wanted", even though he knew an agreement was already in place to move the team, seem determined to trade off every hero the Braves fans loved save Aaron and Mathews: Bruton, Logan, Covington, Crandall, Adcock, Buhl and Burdette were all traded off within a 2-3 year period as attendance plummeted. With the possible exception of Bruton who brought back a decent 2B, Frank Bolling and Burdette who brought handyman Gene Oliver, none of those deals really helped the team either. Not surprisingly, for helping lower the value of the franchise through his inept GM stint, McHale got a piece of the team when it was sold by Lou Perini to the Chicago boys.

Gamel hasn't faced a professional pitcher since May of 2012. He'll be 4 months short of his 29th birthday before he faces his next. He's never had any extended success in the major leagues. If 2014 is a throw away year, so too is 2015 and 2016. Gamel should not be part of any plan, short or long term. If he's still in the Brewer organization, it's much more likely he'll be in corner OF spot in Nashville learning to play a position that gives him the versatility to be a bench player in the majors. His chance to be an everyday major leaguer has come and gone. He'll also be getting much needed time to get his timing and mechanics down after a long, long absence.

They aren't trading Lohse. They'll likely start the year with Lohse, Gorzelanny, either Estrada or Gallardo, Peralta, and one of Thornburg, Nelson, Hellweg, Burgos or even Narveson who'll I think will be in camp as a NRI in case none of the latter 4 look ready in spring. They'll see what the market is for Gallardo. But it's not a given he won't be back. Estrada is another guy who could garner some interest. But they won't deal both.

I think you guys are wrong. Time will tell. I'm not the only one advocating he be traded. It's 50-50 in a JS poll this morning. Sure some will cheer, but many will boo too. The fact is this team in this market doesn't need the drama. Not with a lot of younger players around. I think right now the clubhouse is glad he's not there. As for short memories, teams will want him and will inquire. Their fans didn't get made to look like fools backing him.

I don't think Weeks will ever play another game in a Brewer uniform. Brewers will find a team that will take him after the Brewers agree to pay $8 million of his deal next year. The platoon there next year will be Gennett/Bianchi. This is now clearly Gomez' and Lucroy's team. They are the leaders. The torch has been passed. Those are the guys the Brewer brass wants their young players looking up to and rightfully so. Braun will be a huge distraction here as long as he remains. That's detrimental to the franchise, and will affect a young team. I don't care how good he still may be, he needs to be elsewhere. Maybe he'll need to stick around a while to prove to other teams he can still be a top player and bring a better return. But the Braun trade watch will not go away.

Individually, guys like Gennett, Davis, Gindl, Francisco, Schafer, and Bianchi may not be all that impressive. But they are all decent useful pieces and sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. I'd like to see Halton up here getting a look too. The pitching staff seems to suddenly have all kinds of depth too. Again, no clear ace, but guys that can shut down opponents at any time. Whether or not Braun can be integrated back in here, is the million dollar question. He might be a better fit on a veteran team in a large market. While they sure could use that big bat, the distraction he'd cause might not make it worth it. Would someone out there take that contract? If they did move him, do you plow that money saved into a quality FA bat?

"Bottom line, the Brewers franchise is doing very poorly right now for a myriad of reasons" ??? They have had 2 stars emerge this year. They have a winning record since Braun was suspended. The pitching staff has recorded 10 shutouts in the last 41 games and one run or less in 16 of the last 41. The team ERA since the All Star break is 2.97. It's really a more fun team to watch now than they were in April. Gindl, Schafer, Davis, Bianchi, Gennett, Thornburg, Wooten, Peralta and Hand are all contributing, belying the gloom and doom rankings of the Brewer farm system. All but Bianchi from that group were Brewer draft picks.

The starting pitching went into a collective horrendous slump: Gallardo, 5.97 ERA, Lohse, 6.51 ERA, Estrada, 5.40 ERA, Peralta, 7.71 ERA, Burgos, 8.35 ERA. Those are the times you want your top of the rotation to minimize the damage and they really weren't up to the task. Gallardo and Lohse won one game between them. They also got nothing out of the bottom of their order in May. Weeks didn't drive in one baserunner the entire month generally hitting 6th. His lone RBI was on a solo HR. Gonzalez and Betancourt both hit well under .200. Maldonado hit .119 with 1 RBI. It's not like those guys didn't have opportunities either because the top of the order was getting on base.

Melvin might have had a specific team in mind he thought he'd have a match with (Indians?). Obviously whoever claimed him wasn't that team. Any number of teams could have claimed him.

It's a moot point. Lohse has pitched to his contract so Melvin's not going to just let him go. If next July, if he's there with a sub 3.50 ERA and the Brewers are out of it, I imagine there will be plenty of interest in him.

I'm with you on Joe Block. I still don't know how he ever got the job. It's not that he puts me to sleep or lacks any genuine enthusiasm, it's just he's inept. He's got excellent vocal tone, so it's understandable how he chose a career in radio, but he doesn't describe action very well, and there's no tension build up of any kind as a game reaches it's critical points.

With all the other options available, why would the Brewers consider moving Gindl or Davis, neither of whom is an established major league hitter, to a position they've never played? That's nearly as silly as the thought they went with during spring of moving Alex Gonzalez over there when he was coming off a major knee injury. Now maybe I could see Aoki moving there. At least we know what he'll give you offensively. But I see a lot of decent, yet still reasonable veteran FA out there that I'd go after first.

Fox just landed a long term deal with the USGA starting in 2015. For those who don't follow golf, the USGA sponsors the U.S. Open, the U.S. Women's Open, the U.S. Senior Open, the U.S. Amateur, etc all of which will now be covered on Fox Sports 1, with I assume the big events also on Fox network. Brian Anderson would seem to be a logical candidate for the lead announcer, ie. the Fox version of Dan Hicks, or Jim Nantz unless they trot out Joe Buck.

I'd cross Gamel off the list of possibilities. He hasn't played in 2 years and has a twice operated on knee? I'd also cross off Davis and Gamel. Halton is putting up numbers just as good as those 2 did in AAA and he's familiar with the position. Eventually, Aoki is going to be traded at some point, and I still contend there will be a market for Braun, maybe not this year but certainly next, and Braun is more of a PR nightmare here than he is anywhere. Who ends up at first depends in my mind what they do at 3rd and 2nd. The lineup tilts right handed but if they have a lefty hitter either at 3rd (Green or Francisco) or 2nd (Gennett or someone they deal for), then they can either bring back Hart on a 1 year incentive laden deal, sign a FA like Mike Morse, or go with Halton who needs to see a lot of action in September regardless. Otherwise, they need a lefty bat there, and no not Francisco. I think he's less of a concern defensively at 3B than he is at 1B simply because he's involved in fewer plays at 3B. I'm not big on Morris. He just doesn't seem to be much of an all around hitter. I'd look into FA like Loney or Morneau too. One trade idea: Weeks for Dunn. Despite his HR prowess, Sox are tired of Dunn and Alexei Ramirez. They could move Beckham to SS, and open up a spot for Weeks. A Weeks for Dunn deal would save the Sox $4 million. They need that much and more to induce a team to take Ramirez. Heck the Brewers could even throw in Francisco. I don't think the Brewers are lacking options most of which should result in more typical production from the position. The right side of the infield is the area of focus.