JohnBriggs12

While I can appreciate the passion you guys have that drives you to write short novels on the travails of the Brewer franchise, my gut response is that you are suffering from serious overreaction syndrome or SOS. How many games have the projected 3-4-5 hitters missed? Look the team backslid last year after having lost a franchise cornerstone in Fielder. Yeah they aren't in the same position they were in 2011. But this isn't the 62 Mets. It's talent base is in the vast middle range. Teams in that range compete and secure playoff berths one year and the next they struggle. Someone compared this year to the efforts in the late 80's and 90's. A short history lesson would reveal that under today's playoff scenario, some of those teams would have qualified for the postseason. In 92 they couldn't counter the then wealthy Blue Jays, who ramped up their playoff push by getting David Cone. Those Brewer teams fell victim either to a. a cheap owner or b. the economics of the game back then. After the 92 season, Molitor and Bosio left for greener pastures and the Brewers nosedived. The Cubs backed up their truck because their management had saddled them with horrific contracts that were going to take years to extricate themselves from anyway. Other than possibly now Braun, the Brewers aren't hindered by such deals. They can and should rebuild on the fly and not let one rather fluky season determine their future. The Cubs also have the ability that once they get what they consider their cornerstone players to the big leagues, they can delve into the premier FA market to insure success. The Brewers for the most part are permanently locked out of that market meaning the only way they can turn a group of solid young talent into champions is to do what they did to get Greinke and focus on a couple years.

It's a long shot if either of those two is in the rotation next year, but my money's on Narveson.

Weeks has been historically bad with RISP. I dare say among regulars in MLB, that his .118 BA with RISP is the worst in the major leagues. I know the modern stat theory is really to ignore situation hitting and that all hitting is random. To some extent that is valid but the key word is some. Some will remember the 92 team that nearly beat out the Jays. Yes that team had Yount, Molitor, Surhoff, and ROY Listach but the guy who kept getting clutch hit after clutch hit was the 9th place hitter Scott Fletcher who with RISP hit .336 and with 2 out and RISP hit .344.

Narveson has strongly voiced his desire to be a Brewer and I think they plan on bringing him back next spring as a NRI, so I don't think he'll refuse an assignment. I kind of expected such a move. I count 39 guys on the 40 man right now, so that isn't an issue either. I suppose somebody could claim him, but not likely.

That is a huge assumption and probably wrong. The relievers that did move were all having great years. The interest in Axford was next to nil. Cubs couldn't move Kevin Gregg either. Think he's in their long term plans?

He's a sure non-tender. He'll get $1.5 - $2 million somewhere. It remains to be seen if Brewers would be interested. Sometimes guys re-discover it.

Lets hope once the major league rosters expand that Halton will be back up and getting a more serious look. His numbers at AAA are almost identical to Gindl's, slightly better than Davis' and clearly better than Morris. He looks adequate in the corner OF as well as 1B too.

I think it's pretty clear Braun took a banned substance. He played Russian roulette with a substance that probably only can be detected shortly after being used figuring the odds of being tested within that period were small. No doubt he was likely sold that multiple players had used the same product and not been detected. He would not otherwise have accepted the suspension. The Biogenisis stuff is a gift to MLB because it proves their testing program is terribly flawed.

Attanasio did not become a near billionaire being stupid. The Brewers don't have the luxury the Cubs had to do a tear down and rebuild. Miller Park is a nice place, but it's not the museum piece that Wrigley is that attracts people regardless of the product on the field nor can the Brewers afford to lose huge parts of their television audience. Even in the good years, the Brewers are always "on the edge", where key injuries mean a fall to oblivion. That's the nature of a small market franchise. There's still a product to sell and to think the owner isn't going to try and sell it is ridiculous. They can put a much better product on the field in 2014. Can they contend? Yes they can. Can they be bad? Yes they can.

I don't think the front office is fooled, so much as it's following a pattern for guys making similar money. Suppan was given one last chance to show he had any value in the final year of his deal before he was cut loose in May. Wolf had a little longer leash as he had some recent productivity, but he was let go in August of his final year. I figure Weeks has between now and Memorial Day (around 100 games) next year to show he's worth keeping beyond that. If he finishes this year around .220, and then isn't up in the .250 range for the first 7 weeks next year, he'll be gone and they'll eat the rest.

Nobody is likely to claim Gamel after he missed 2 years and has never fully established major league credentials. I think Halton is safe at least initially. Fiers may not be. Can't believe Manzanillo lasted this long. Gonzalez is gone, trade or not. Axford is a non tender candidate though he might be brought back for less money. Same could be for Estrada, especially if he does not return and show something the last month. I'm not 100% certain on Badenhop either though he might project low enough to bring back.

Hultzen has had shoulder problems and has only started 6 games this year so they may not be inclined to want to move Walker now and Paxton is more second tier. Now that he's hitting on the major league level, I also don't think they'd want to include Franklin.

I would agree with the full time move idea, though until Ramirez departs, I think he'll transition switching between catcher and 1B next year, again sort of what Torre's career looked like.

Answer: Joe Torre Torre wasn't a bad catcher at all, but his bat needed to be in the lineup everyday. He became an MVP at 3rd Base. Lucroy is a nice pitch framer but he's at best average defensively and he's not an ironman that you can start 150 games behind the plate without it being detrimental to his offense. Obviously they'd go out and find a better offensive catcher to pair with Maldanado if they moved Lucroy. A guy like a Dioneer Navarro would make a lot of sense.

Glad to see Narveson pitching better of late. Would love to see him brought back as non roster spring invitee.

Melvin wants to contend next year. He's said all along he'd only make deals that make the team stronger in 2014. With Lohse's contract, teams weren't going to offer enough to meet that criteria. If things fall apart next year, Lohse's value will still be there. Lohse wasn't as available as the guys who did move. That's the bottom line. I'm a little more surprised there wasn't a stronger market for Aoki, or that Melvin wasn't that motivated. He was the one guy brought up where they seemed to have in house replacements. Maybe he figured with Braun gone, he'd wait until winter to see what his market is. That Gonzalez and Axford didn't move is not a surprise. Neither has been dominant or even close to dominant. If Gonzalez strings together 6-7 strong outings, I think he'll go in August, but for virtually nothing back.

I don't have faith in Gonzalez, why would other teams? He seems more like a guy you deal in August basically for a little cash back.

LouisEly, I think the White Sox got a nice return for Peavy. They got $19 million in salary relief this year and next, and a guy in Garcia who will be an everyday player for them for years to come and could turn into a star. The White Sox are in much more dire straits than the Brewers. They had nothing in position players and plenty of holes to fill so they were seeking an everyday player. Peavy would have been less attractive if he were signed for 2 more years. Lohse's value figures to be higher next year than it is this year.

Lohse was bad then hurt. Peralta was feeling his way. Weeks was awful (1 RBI the entire month). The Brewers won just one game he started. Alex Gonzalez and Yuni were both doing nothing. Lucroy was still in an early season funk. Just getting healthy, getting something close to average production at 1B, and replacing Weeks with even a semblance of a consistent bat, makes this team easily a .500 or better team, and if you are .500 in July, you are usually in the wild card picture and can add players.

I'm fairly certain Aoki didn't bring the significant offers they hoped he would. That could well happen in the offseason. If all he can bring in a middling prospect, how is that going to make a difference? Lohse isn't going anywhere either. If he continues to pitch well next year and the team is out of it, his value in the trade market might be higher than it is now as teams would be taking on less money. The Cubs aren't winning anything other than the admiration of Baseball America. Big deal The Pirates are where they are in large part because of two veteran FA starters, A. J. Burnett and Francisco Liriano (who I advocated strongly for the Brewers to sign last winter) and another shrewd FA pickup, Russell Martin, not because they've developed a plethora of great young talent all blooming at once. Their lineup is solid but not in any way is it far superior to a healthy Brewer lineup. As for St. Louis, lets see how they do without the guy I consider the most valuable player in the league the last 10 years, Yadier Molina. The Bucks never had top talent. The Brewers still do.

You'd rather have an owner content with endless rebuilds? That's a strange business model if you ask me. One way a GM can keep his job is to convince his owner that all these kids he's picked up are one day going to pay off. How many years was Ned Yost given a pass because the roster wasn't good only to find out the guy couldn't manage a talented team either? Perhaps you can make a case that a rebuild is necessary, but a case can easily be made that just as strong if not stronger that when healthy, this is a pretty talented roster. They aren't unloading the young talent they have now. That will continue to progress and develop. They'll likely have a top 7 or 8 draft pick in 2014. The only reason they are getting away with this in Chicago is the reputation of Theo Epstein and the allure of Wrigley Field and its surrounding establishments. I'm not sure they are any closer than when Theo took over. Who's Theo Epstein in the Brewer organization?

I agree he's year to year, which is why you won't see a dismantling of the team, and you will see effort put in to contend in 2014. If it comes to the point where a complete rebuild is the clear option, that will be the job of the next GM. Melvin's not going to embark on that now at age 61. In fact, he's more likely to step down voluntarily if he sees that's there's no other option.

Hart's not going to command much at all as a FA. A guy like Morse could be a relative bargain too in that $7-9 million range. I like Gindl a shade more than Davis, but I'm not sure either is an everyday player, at least on a contender which I still think the Brewers believe they can be (heck they are 40-39 in months not starting with M), and I'm not sure there's enough AB's between now an the end of the year to make that judgment. Plus if you get a FA on a short term deal, they can always be flipped at next year's deadline.

Axford's value is low right now. The Brewers will likely non-tender him this winter, and they will either bring him back at a lower salary or he'll sign elsewhere for significantly less than he'd get in arbitration. So I don't agree Melvin's job is on the line if he isn't dealt.

The FA market for first basemen this year is very deep. In addition to Hart, there's Loney, Morneau, Napoli, Reynolds, and my personal favorite, Mike Morse who's been amazing at Miller Park: .432/.475/.973 in an albeit small sample of 40 PA. None of these guys are break the bank guys, but for the most part, they provide much more quality than what the Brewers have suffered with this year, and are better bets in the short term than what the Brewers have going into next year.