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JohnBriggs12

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Everything posted by JohnBriggs12

  1. JohnBriggs12
    Always loved Carlos. Will be tough seeing him a Cub uni. Harder to hate that team now with all their Brewer connections.
  2. JohnBriggs12
    One of the toughest jobs in baseball is coming off the bench and producing. I don't see a ton of AB's for Gamel with this lineup. Maybe a day here and there giving A Ram or Hart a rest or the usual 8-10 games when Braun tweaks something on a swing plus some DH'ing in AL parks. The rest will all be pinch hitting. Overall, maybe 200 or so AB's. I'm not expecting much, maybe .250 to .270 with 8-10 HR. He's probably at best looking at a Greg Dobbs type career.
  3. JohnBriggs12
    Gamel's basically become Bryan LaHair. I don't think he's got that much trade value until he starts putting up numbers in the big leagues. To do so, he now needs someone else to get injured. Nobody is going to give him an everyday job, with less than 250 major league AB's 4 months short of his 28th birthday.
  4. JohnBriggs12
    In his Twin stint, Rauch saved 21 of 25, and the Twins won 3 of the 4 games he blew the save in including 2 where he was credited with the win. So I'm not sure what you are objecting to based on his performance there. Look, he's not a world beater, but he's solid, doesn't walk a ton of guys and takes the ball on a regular basis. And he can close in an emergency As for concerns over his HR rate, it's a little high but mostly because of one year (2011) when he gave up 11. The Brewers got a lot of out of Saloman Torres in 2008, and Rauch is a similar type guy. His WHIP last year was under 1.00. Compare that to the Brewer pen last year: Axford 1.442, K-Rod 1.333, Loe 1.434, Veras 1.507, and Parra 1.653.
  5. JohnBriggs12
    It's very easy to fall into thinking that offseasons have winners and losers. Other than the top guys which are out of the Brewer's reach, most of the guys moving around are not difference makers. If not for an historically poor bullpen performance last year, the Brewers would be coming off of 2 straight playoff appearances. They return the bulk of the the roster that produced the most runs in the NL. They led the league in HR and SB. They should be near the top again next year in both categories. They've made several "addition by subtraction" moves and they likely will make some additional moves between now and opening day. Are there guys that are no longer available that would be good fits? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean they can't find other guys that fit. Plus their payroll is such that they can consider a big in season move.
  6. JohnBriggs12
    I like Saunders too. But the lack of interest by the Brewers on guys like Lannan and Saunders tells me they are pretty confident that Narveson is healthy and ready to go. Narveson is on par with those type guys and he'll command less in arbitration than those guys will as FA.
  7. JohnBriggs12
    Another quality bullpen arm off the market.
  8. JohnBriggs12
    The A's won 94 games last season with Tommy Milone (31), Jarrod Parker (29), Travis Blackley (15), A.J. Griffin (15), Tyson Ross (13), and Dan Straily (7) starting 110 of their 162 games. Prior to last year those guys had combined 37 major league starts. Estrada has almost that many by himself. Washington had arguably the best rotation in the NL but not a heck of a lot of experience either. I'll take talent over experience any day.
  9. JohnBriggs12
    Absolutely. And they are not the only team that will have to do some thinning. The guy from the Dodgers I'd like if he's healthy is Lilly. I think he's every bit the pitcher Dempster is when healthy. He's got one year left at $12 million. Dodgers would probably just take the salary relief. Melvin mentioned "March surprise" in his comments recently and I think it's something like that he had in mind.
  10. JohnBriggs12
    The comments Melvin made could be a smoke screen. There's still a lot of guys out there that are viable rotation options but it appears Melvin is going to play a waiting game and let them come to him. The Brewers do have 6 legit starting candidates heading into ST. I think the ideal number is 7, but if he likes what he has, is getting good reports on Narveson, there's no reason to sign a guy just to sign a guy when come February, there might be a guy who'll take a minor league deal who won't now. Either that or he's got some trade discussions ongoing too. There's also going to be teams with excess arms in March who will need to move guys. Why deal for them now. Wait for teams that have to trim rosters.
  11. JohnBriggs12
    Looks like we dodged the Dempster bullet. Whew. I guess we have Randy Wolf's 2012 season to thank for that. Glad Melvin learned that lesson and stuck to his guns.
  12. JohnBriggs12
    Both sides clearly have had different views on Marcum's value. As teams that might have seemed like obvious destinations like KC and the Cubs have filled spots with others, his value has taken a hit. He's now bordering on falling into the bargain bin. What's left there are the Miamis, Houstons, Pittsburghs, and Minnesotas, none of which seem like contenders. That leaves cash strapped Tampa Bay, and more financially sound Brewers as contenders that could be interested for the right price.
  13. JohnBriggs12
    But do you want Marco Estrada to be our #2 starter? Estrada's peripherals in 2012 were every bit the caliber of a #2 starter: 9.3 Ks/9 innings, a 1.142 WHIP, a 4.93 K/BB ratio. His 2011 numbers weren't far off those. If you believe Estrada is what he showed in 2012, then I'm comfortable with him as the number 2 starter.
  14. JohnBriggs12
    Bruce played more CF in the minors than RF so he could well end up there. They gave up defense but with a rotation that includes Latos, Cueto, Bailey and now Chapman, there are not going to be a lot of ball smoked into gaps, and GAB is a small ballpark any way. Choo is an enormous offensive upgrade over Stubbs.
  15. JohnBriggs12
    Everyone is forgetting Narveson. If they didn't think Narveson were able to come back they wouldn't have offered him arbitration. I seem to recall he was throwing by the time the season ended. Don't be surprised if the rotation starting the year is Gallardo, Estrada, Fiers, Rogers and Narveson. Peralta has options. So does Fiers, but I think they'll give Fiers the benefit of doubt unless he's awful in the spring, and he'll start the season in the rotation. They'll give this group 8 times through, then adjust if need be. Figuring out the bullpen at this point beyond Axford, Henderson, Kintzler and Bradenhop is anyone's guess. There are a half dozen arms that have a chance and that's not counting at least one FA addition. They could stick Narveson out there too.
  16. JohnBriggs12
    Where exactly is Oakland drafting this year? Narveson is in the running for a rotation spot too. He'll make about 10% of what Dempster will and if he returns to his 10/11 form, he'll get pretty close to those numbers too.
  17. JohnBriggs12
    Bill Veeck said it back in 1952, when he proposed teams split revenues from televised games 50/50. He basically said it takes 2 teams to provide the game (entertainment for the fans), and therefore any revenue generated for televising the game should be split equally between the teams participating. Without either team, there is no game to watch. Why should one team benefit because more of the people watching are fans of that team? In football, the big markets don't control the game. That's because pioneers such as George Halas and Wellington Mara were willing to sacrifice team revenues to grow the game and knew that meant keeping all franchises on an equal footing. Had the NFL had guys like Jerry Jones owning teams back then, football would have the same problem as baseball does now. This stuff that it couldn't happen because baseball is so different is nonsense that's perpetrated by guys that still benefit from the status quo, namely the big market owners. It would take a sea change and won't happen but it could.
  18. JohnBriggs12
    Well, Correia is off the board, having agreed to a 2 year deal for $10 million with the Twins. That's another reasonable deal for a guy who could have eaten some innings. I'm beginning to think the Brewers are feeling reasonably confident that the numbers put up last year by Estrada, and Fiers were not flukes and that from Rogers, Peralta, Narveson and Thornburg, they can fill out a rotation that will be competitive enough to win enough games to stay in contention over the first half with one of the best offenses in the NL, then see what is out there for midseason deals for an established starter.
  19. JohnBriggs12
    I disagree with the notion that Hart is "easily replaceable". There were a lot of teams that didn't get near the production Hart provides at 1B. As an example, lets take Houston. They traded Lance Berkman several years ago. Waiting in the wings was Brett Wallace, the 13th overall pick in the 2008 draft. Prior to 2010, Wallace was the 27th ranked prospect by Baseball America (Gamel's never been higher than 34 on that list). What's he done in the big leagues? Well he's hit about as well as Gamel has, only over a much larger sample and that's not very good. How about Justin Smoak? He was picked 2 spots ahead of Wallace in the 08 draft and ranked 13th on BA's prospect list in 2010. How's he done in Seattle? Not every prospect produces at the level Hart has. In fact, most don't. He struggled with inconsistency early in his career too, and only in the past couple of years has he decided his strength is his power, not stealing bases. But given his stated desire to stay, I think the Brewers would be well suited to try and extend him.
  20. JohnBriggs12
    Nobody talks about it, but the disparity in payrolls cheapens championships for teams that are able to buy their way into contention. It's like having a high school conference with a huge disparity in enrollments. The schools with the big enrollments will dominate over time. That isn't good for the sport. Sport is based on competition. It's why the USGA has golf handicaps. Is there an appeal to the David vs. Goliath story? Sure, when it happens, but mostly it's Goliath vs. Goliath. But when Goliath is just one of a handful of teams year after year, nobody outside those markets cares.
  21. JohnBriggs12
    He sees Peralta, Thornburg, Jungmann and others as legit staring prospects, who by 2015 are being counted on to be the rotation here. If they don't make it, there will always be guys like Jackson out there. The need now is a short bridge, not a long one.
  22. JohnBriggs12
    If Moustakas and Hosmer put up the kind of numbers they are capable of, this Royal team is a contender at least for a wild card. They have talent up and down the lineup and their starting pitching should be greatly improved over the what they had last year. Ultimately, though, they still have Ned Yost as their manager, and that will doom them regardless.
  23. JohnBriggs12
    The bad news depending on how you feel about him is now the Dodgers have Greinke, they won't have any interest in Dempster. I think Dempster held out for 3 years because he was waiting on the Dodgers. He had made it clear when the Cubs shopped him last year that LA was his preference (his best bud is Ted Lilly) Now he'll likely settle for 2 years and the Brewers seem to be in the prime position. Speaking of Lilly, I'm sure he'd be available cheap. He's owed $12 million, but Dodgers would have to eat a lot of that to move him. I don't think the Brewers need 2 old guys, but Lilly's presence might enable them to land Dempster at a bit of a discount. Narveson for Lilly with Dodgers picking up half his salary? Both guys coming of shoulder problems and said to be healthy.
  24. JohnBriggs12
    The Dodgers signing Greinke takes away much of the leverage Dempster thought he would have. Dempster and his agent were counting on the Dodgers swooping in if Greinke went elsewhere and offering 3 years. The Dodgers were the best bet to offer him 3 years, but only if they missed out on Greinke. Personally, I'd still stay away, but I think the odds are the Brewers get him but only for two years. Melvin for whatever reason is focusing on him almost exclusively it seems. I'm not all that excited about it and don't think in the long run or even the short run it's a good idea, but 2 years is far better than 3.
  25. JohnBriggs12
    Green would not be a lock over Bianchi. They are talking about Gamel getting time at 3B and OF in ST.
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