JohnBriggs12

Both will have the option of becoming free agents. I like both of these guys for different reasons. I don't think Braddock should be pigeonholed as a loogy at this point in his career whereas the veteran Byrdak is the definition of one and I think he'd make a nice addition to the bullpen.. He didn't have great year in 2010, but he held lefties to a .213/.271/.373 line in 2010 often being called upon to face the likes of Fielder, Votto and the premier lefty bats. Chacin on the other hand is continuing to rebound from injury problems that derailed his once promising career as a starter with the Jays. He was shaky out of the pen last year with the Stros, but might be worth a minor league deal.

While I'd prefer a righthander, I don't quite get all the negativity about Washburn. While a year off might affect him, it might not and it might actually help him. The fact is Washburn, pitching exclusively in the AL, has not posted an ERA above 4.67 since 1999. For his career, he's allowed fewer hits than innings pitched. He's got 107 career wins. This isn't Doug Davis we're talking about who allows baserunners all over the place or Manny Parra who gives up about 12 hits every 9 innings. This is an accomplished major league starter. He'd essentially be replacing Bush as a number 4. Bush was paid over $4 million last year. I'll take Washburn over Bush any day as long as the price is reasonable enough that if he fails and has to be replaced by say Rogers, they won't think twice about pulling the plug.

Pavano is unlike some other Brewer FA pitchers, because when he's been healthy, he's a true innings eater. He gets outs fairly quickly. Contrast that with human rain delay Davis. Even in Suppan's peak years with the Cardinals, he was basically a 6 inning pitcher. You also have to like that his numbers last year were in the AL. That being said, I agree with the sentiment that you don't sign a guy like that off one of his best seasons because it's simply not good value. Could he be a solid 3-4 type starter? Sure, but Brewers shouldn't pay $10-12 million for that spot. For that kind of money, he'd have to repeat his 2010 season which is unlikely. A better option would be Brad Penny. who's not dissimilar to Pavano, but who's pricetag will reflect missing a large chunk of 2010.

He's got a career BAA of .305. It's hard to spin that as good when the sample size (964 innings) is so large. He pitched half his games in a park that isn't kind to RH power hitters. Put him in more hitter friendly Miller Park where he's been awful (.370/.417/.581 in 11 starts) for half his games and he might be the worst starting pitcher in either league.

According to MLBtraderumors, Tim Brown tweeted Brewers and Braves are making early pushes for Eric Hinske. Interesting. He's a nice lefty bench bat.

Mlbtraderumors is referencing a JonPaul Morosi article that indicates Brewers are one of at least 6 teams heavily scouting McCarthy in the Dominican Winter league. McCarthy has "thrown the ball very well" in the DWL, posting a 2-0 record and 1.96 ERA in 4 starts.

Since it will soon be 2011, I think what he did in 2010 is more relevant. There's lots of guys that had success in 2008 that I wouldn't want in 2011.And in 4 interleague games in 2010 he had an ERA of 0.92 and therefore is a NL CY Young contender...The splits aside, my point is that Gavin Floyd is not a number 1 or 2 starter and won't ever be. He's a number 3. He's good at times, and not so good at others. He's seen by Sox fans and those that cover the team to not have the top of rotation makeup that other guys on that team possess. That's not my observation, but that of those that follow the Sox closely. Would he be useful to the Brewers? Absolutely. Is he an improvement over say Bush? Sure. Is he worth even one year of Fielder alone? Close maybe, but I'd want something else though I doubt it would be Beckum unless the Brewers tossed in a pitching prospect. Now if the Brewers got Floyd and Beckum for Fielder and say Rivas and maybe a bullpen arm, I'd strongly consider that.

Since it will soon be 2011, I think what he did in 2010 is more relevant. There's lots of guys that had success in 2008 that I wouldn't want in 2011.

Sox fans that I know very well and some experts that follow the Sox aren't all that sold on Floyd. Many feel he lacks the intangibles to be anything more than a mid rotation starter. Minnesota, whom the Brewers play every year wore him out last year. He was 0-4 with an ERA of 8.04 against the Twins. Fitting though he's 3-0 with a 0.89 ERA against the Pirates. It wouldn't be a terrible return as his contract is reasonable and he's been solid now for 3 seasons, but I don't think exchanging Floyd for Fielder makes the Brewers a better team next year. As for the fact he has only 2 years left on his contract, I don't think that's a big deal. He preferred the security of a multi year deal very early on, and may again be amenable to a contract extension.

Melvin wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't at least inquire about what Boras is thinking following a less than stellar season by Fielder. I don't think this situation compares in any way with Overbay's. They had to move Overbay to make room for Fielder. They have no such can't miss guy ready to take over at 1st base. It's obvious that they aren't getting calls for Fielder. Teams know he's available and have since July. Roenicke has a 2 year contract. He's not going to want his stud 1B sent away in a deal that is going to pay off in 2013, while hurting the team in 2011 and 2012.

I think most are overvaluing Weeks. To me he's worth about $25 million over 3 years. I can't get around the fact that he's had one very good season (I won't call a year where a guy fans 184 times and hits .269 outstanding) out of 5. True he's had good partial seasons, and good stretches from time to time, but he's never had the consistency associated with an All Star type player. Even last year, he had stretches were he was flailing badly and there's no coincidence that the team struggled when he did.

Except that too many of the same type of pitcher is usually an advantage to the hitters. I'm not totally opposed to Francis but my first priority would be a 2nd RH.

I guess I'm not following the logic about guys needing to be traded for lesser talent. While it's true the Brewers may not get much back, it's also true they don't "need" to trade him either. Florida wanted to save some money in 2011 and may have felt a need, but the Brewers aren't in that situation. They can let Fielder walk after 2011 after using his services another year, get 2 high draft picks and save some cash for 2012 and beyond to use elsewhere.

Another factor in dealing Fielder is that he's the only LH bat in the lineup. Yes, they do have Gamel available, but I think the Brewers are worried that as the only lefty, that RH pitchers will work around him to some extent like they do Fielder and staying patient in that scenario is a lot to ask a rookie, even one with a record of being fairly patient in the minors. I do think Fielder's asking price had to take a hit off his 2010 season. If he were to repeat those numbers, not only is he not a $20 million a year guy, he's more like a $14-15 million per year guy, especially if there's an Adrian Gonzalez out there in the same market.

Brewers already have relievers who could start. One is Kameron Loe who has 46 major league starts, and was quite effective in 10 starts last year for Nashville. As a sinker baller, he'd be unique on the Brewer staff too. Another is Villanueva. He's got 4 pitches which he uses in any count. Generally guys like that are better suited to starting. He had some success starting early in his career, but Brewers showed almost no patience with him after that despite his being at the time a very young guy. Contrast that to the chances given Parra and to a lesser extend Bush who were given full seasons to work through tough stretches. Then there's Tim Dillard who's alternated between starting and relieving his entire career. He was close to lights out after being switched back to starting late last year with Nashville.

Orioles AL rank with Kranitz as pitching coach: 2008: 13th. 2009: 14th. 2010: 13th. Now I realize the Oriole job has some inherent problems but those results don't exactly scream success.

If you're going to shop Lawrie, you should have more than one suitor in the bidding. Otherwise, you aren't maximizing his value.

I would love Kuroda myself, but the Dodgers are reportedly closing in on a 1 year $12 deal for him. Webb is a guy I think is worth the gamble. Penny is another guy that I'd be looking at. He's reportedly recovered and if he is, he's at least a solid #3 starter plus he's righthanded which is my preference. Garland is another good option but coming off his solid year, he may not be the bargain he was last year. The problem with the Brewers though is that they are putting their eggs in the trade basket this offseason as far as addressing the need for a top starter. If they fail to land one via trade, their may be just scraps left in FA and that could lead to spending money on 4th and 5th starter types to fill the rotation. If that happens, that's a bad sign.

Vida Blue and Ron Guidry each posted two of the greatest seasons of any pitchers in the last 60 years. Blue, at age 21-22, compiled a 24-8 record and a 1.82 ERA in 1971. For those that worry about young pitchers going over 150 innings, get this. Blue pitched 312 innings that year with 24 complete games! He allowed just 209 hits, and fanned 301. Louisiana Lightning Ron Guidry went 25-3 in 1978, and kept the Yankees afloat for the first 4 months of that season. He allowed just 187 hits in 273 innings. He posted 9 CG shutouts. It was an electric atmosphere at County Stadium one Friday in early July that year when the 13-0 Guidry and the Yankees faced the upstart Bambi's Bombers and Mike Caldwell who was in the midst of a pretty good season himself. In my minds eye, having been there that night, I can still see Larry Hisle's drive majestically sail over the left field wall for a 1st inning 3 run HR, which was all Caldwell, a renowned Yankee killer, would need that night as he shut them out 6-0 on 4 hits. Hisle, by the way, homered again off of Guidry later in that game. Speaking of Hisle, his injury issues that started early in the 1979 season and that he struggled to try to come back from for several more years, cannot be overlooked. Had he stayed healthy over the next 4-5 seasons, I'm convinced the Brewers win at least one, maybe two more division titles and those Brewer teams, as great as they were, would be looked upon as the offensive equal to the Big Red Machine, and one of the greatest offensive teams in history. I digress though. But Blue and Guidry belong in the HOF, as does John. Blue and Guidry for their incredible seasons coupled with solid career stats, and John for his long term consistency.

The Jays don't really "need" a 3rd baseman. Jose Bautista has played there extensively. They could just move him there and add an outfielder. I don't know how "cost effective" it is to give up a quality arm to fill that spot.

Narveson will likely do at least that as a 5th starter for around $550,000 and he'll get you some big hits too. I think the Brewers have the 5th spot covered. It's the 2 and the 4 spots that need filling. If Washburn's still the guy he was in Seattle for 20 starts in 09 when he put up an ERA of 2.64, and you believe his troubles in Detroit were all injury related, and after a year off he can pick up where he was, then he's more like a 3rd starter and could be a relative bargain. That's a lot of iffs though. Keep in mind too, that his career WHIP of 1.30 is better than any Brewer starter posted in 2010, and far, far better than Doug Davis. Plus all his numbers were done in the AL. While I'd explore other options first, I wouldn't rule him out for the right price.

If the Brewers traded Fielder and Braun, they'd look an awful (and I do mean awful) lot like the 2010 Seattle Mariners.

Recent history suggests that guys that sign early get more than guys that wait. He'll get close to that offer eventually, but not much more. Uggla's a good hitter but defensively, he might be best suited at 1B going forward. I don't see him getting a 5th year personally.

Finding average players at those positions is relatively easy. However, we have exceptional players there, and finding exceptional players is, by nature, very difficult. There are only a handful of players in either league who wouldn't be downgrades from Braun and Fielder. And we're not getting any of them. I agree with thebruce44 - trading McGehee and keeping both Gamel and Braun makes a lot more sense to me than relying on McGehee and Gamel. Also, from the Red Sox perspective what's stopping them from finding the abundant LF/1B types and keeping Lester. Braun had an off year offensively in 2010, his worst in 4 seasons.. I think that's coloring a lot of people here. I also think the defensive knocks on him are largely crock. He tends to be cautious with balls hit directly over his head. That's the toughest ball for any outfielder much less one still adjusting to the position. He runs down a lot of balls in the corner that other LF with less speed don't get to. As for him being disinterested? I don't know how you can tell what's inside a guy by the look on his face. Take nothing away from Lester. He's a great pitcher with a reasonable contract through 2014. If he stays healthy for 4 years, sure he might be more valuable than Braun. But there's a significantly greater injury risk for pitchers and right now I don't see an adequate replacement for Braun.. The solution to finding quality is drafting and developing guys.

Can't figure how they can project 229 innings (14 more than his career high) for Wolf with an ERA of nearly 4.5. Is Roenicke a disciple of leaving guys in too long or are the projecting the Brewer bullpen to not be able to strand any of his runners?