JohnBriggs12

FYI on Escobar: That's what all young baseball players used to look like before the 1990's. Young players in general looked sleek and athletic, particularly Latin infielders.. The body that some describe as "such a twig", is what has enabled him to do what he does. He's added some strength. He's got an extremely athletic frame, wide at the shoulders and narrow at the hips. He started out as I recall at about 145 pounds when the Brewer signed him at age 17. They now list him at 180. He just turned 23. He'll naturally add another 10-15 pounds of muscle and he'll develop more power. Find a picture of Aaron at age 23. Aaron was no more than 170 pounds soaking wet in those days.

Escobar easily in BA and OBP. Slugging will be close but I give the edge to Escobar because even though a higher percentage of Gomez' hits figure to be for extra bases, Escobar will have a lot more hits. Overall OPS, Escobar by 30-40 points

It's obvious that people on this board want the guys who they have targeted since A ball to succeed over waiver claim pickups that they are simply not objective about it. The fact is, producing at the major league level takes more than just talent. That Casey McGehee wasn't this big time prospect doesn't make his production last year a fluke. Because he was stuck behind Aramis Ramirez, he got 3 years at AAA to hone his skills. A lot of guys don't have that opportunity. Not only did he hone his skills to the point he could hit major league pitching, he proved that he wasn't the least bit overwhelmed by the big stage. The comparison to Tim Jarmusz is a joke. Jarmusz has never produced on the Big Ten level. McGehee has produced on the major league level. The nerdy statheads who are predicting this huge dropoff in McGehee's production base it on stats that if you watched him are quite meaningless. They say, he hit fastballs at high rate so pitchers will adjust to that and throw him more breaking balls. What I saw last year was a guy who could lay off breaking balls out of the zone and force pitchers to come in with fastballs. Macha's talked about hitting him 2nd, behind Escobar and Weeks and ahead of Braun and Fielder. Now I'm not the brightest guy around, but what pitcher with Braun and Fielder's spot in the order coming up is going to feel comfortable feeding breaking balls to the guy ahead of them no matter how good a fastball hitter he is? They also point to a high BABIP rate for a guy who hits a lot of flyballs. But what I saw was many of those "flyballs" were line drive rockets hit at outfielders. He had a high BABIP rate because he centered his bat on the ball. That's not to say there aren't things McGehee has to watch out for. He needs to avoid falling into the trap of trying to be more patient of a hitter especially if he's batting 2nd. He had success last year aggressively swinging at hittable pitches early in counts. He should keep that approach. That works for him. He's got a good enough eye that if he avoids swinging at pitches off the plate, he'll get his share of walks.

I know this is going to sound like I'm knocking Counsell, but who would you rather have, 39 year old Counsell for $2.1 million or not yet 30 year old Lopez for $1.75 million? Cardinals get a steal.

Wasn't Mike Rivera the last guy to start a game at 1B not named Prince Fielder?

Then we can completely ignore the 50+ errors that Gamel made in 2007 as they are not at all indicative of his defensive abilities? Apparently it was the fields and official scorers in the Southern Atlantic league that were the problem? I think to ignore errors and fielding percentage is ludicrous. Good fielders don't make as many errors as bad fielders. Sure there's more to it than error totals, but as a rule that statement can't be disputed. In 2007, Gamel's fielding percentage was .826. Bell's was a little better but still not good .869. In the Southern League in 2008, Gamel improved to .919. In the same league last year, with the same fields and the same official scorers, Bell was .929 again slightly better. So both improved considerably in the Southern League. Some of that might have to do with better fields (though minor league field maintenance in general isn't nearly the issue it was 30-40 years ago as minor leagues have become much more refined as businesses) and softer official scoring. We know that most of the time Gamel looks decent at 3B, makes some tough plays and has as strong arm. From purely a scouting standpoint, he passes the eyeball test as I'm sure Bell does. That's one the reason the Brewers seem reluctant to move Gamel. But that doesn't make a guy better than average or even adequate until they prove over time that they have cut down the number of errors. Both may well have the ability to be adequate defensively based on their tools, with a very slight edge to Bell based on slightly better fielding percentages at all levels. But that doesn't make them good right now. That's all I'm saying, and offensively, I think you have to give the nod to Gamel. So why would the Brewers be interested in what they already have?

This thread is the example for the argument for keeping Fielder for 2 more years, and if he turns down your offer and goes elsewhere, so be it. You take the draft pick and you use the money saved to upgrade somewhere else. Fielder isn't worth much in trade for the several reasons. Most teams couldn't sign him either and would be in the same boat as the Brewers. He plays 1B where most teams that have money already have a potent bat, so they aren't going to empty their system of top pitchers for a bit of an upgrade.

The point was that he normally approaches spring training appearances differently than the regular season. He works on pitches in spring and doesn't worry about results. The point of the article that with no sure spot in the rotation, bad results could knock him out of a rotation. Despite this, Suppan said he's not going to do anything differently than he's done in past springs. I frankly don't see the 5th or quite possibly the 4th spot being settled in spring. Whoever gets those spots could lose them a month into the season. The key will be how they line up the replacements. Will they be in the pen or will they sneak a guy or two on the DL and have them making "rehab" starts in Nashville. The fact that Parra had his shoulder "cleaned out" in fall, and that Bush was possibly not fully recovered from his problems, could be used as an excuse to DL either one of them.

Seems to me Gantner used the side arm throw too though I could be wrong. Regardless there's been lots of 2b that throw that way so I don't think you can pinpoint it as the type of throw he's making being the problem. Sometimes you can't just stand in there and deliver over the top without exposing yourself to hits. The fact that it seems to happen in key situations, makes me think it has more to do with the throat area than the arm motion.

I don't need a scouting report to tell me that 88 errors in 334 minor league games at third and a career .897 fielding percentage aren't the numbers good fielders put up. He's pretty "Gamel like" in that he was horrendous in 2007, when he made 38 errors in 108 games and he's improved from awful to well below average since. I don't have a link but baseball-reference has the numbers.

It would be even more stupid on the Brewers part. I'm not overly impressed by any of those 3. Bell hasn't hit as well as Gamel and he's nearly as bad defensively at 3B. Britton has some promise but he hasn't pitched above A ball so he's no sure thing. Arrieta's not all that young (he turns 24 next week), and he had just so-so numbers in half a season at AAA.

Freel tore his hamstring in 08, then missed part of 09 with more hamstring problems. For a guy who built his game on speed especially one that is 33, that is a red flag. He's also been a guy that needed regular AB's to be most effective and I don't think any team is going to hand him a starting job. He'll have to find a AAA job somewhere and prove he can stay healthy and be productive. Given the acquisitions the Brewers already made for Oeltjen and Hopper, I don't see them having interest.

Just because they have 6 candidates (really 7 if you count Narveson and I wish they would), doesn't mean you have 6 quality candidates. I just hope they hit on the best 5. A better solution than a 6 man rotation, is just to rotate which guys you use in the 5th or in the 4th and 5th and keep the top 3 on a regular rotation. Warning, I'm going to go real old school here, but back in Milwaukee Braves heyday, it was Spahn, Burdette, Buhl and then any of Jay, Pizarro, Conley, or Willey. I frankly wouldn't trust Arizona spring training results, so I'd consider going with Gallardo, Wolf, Davis, Bush, Parra the first time through then Gallardo, Wolf, Davis, Suppan, and Narveson the second time through until 2 of the 4 clearly outdo the other two.

Ennder is correct. Detroit had just signed Ordonez as FA, and Craig Monroe in LF and Dmitri Young as DH were both coming off very productive years in 2004. They would not have seen a need to give up their number one pitching prospect for Carlos Lee.

Prince James, Take a look at sites like retrosheet and baseball-reference and look at the ages of players back in the 60's and 70's. Teams were much younger in those days. Young pitchers came up at 20 and 21 regularly, not 23-24 like they do today. Many were done by age 30. Journeymen types were lucky to play until they were 32 or 33. Even the stars didn't do much after 35. You wonder why Ron Santo isn't in the Hall of Fame? He wasn't productive long enough. He was 32 in his last productive year and out of the game before he turned 35. As great as Eddie Mathews was, his last really productive year came at age 32 also and he was done by 37. Roger Maris never reached 20 HR after turning 30 and was washed up at 33. Mantle was washed up at 36. I think it's a good sign that teams aren't overspending for aging players. It means that the supply of young talent is finally catching up after it was decimated by the combination of expansion and youth baseball losing kids to soccer and other sports. And since young players are cheaper, it means teams can afford to pay the truly great players and not lose anything by surrounding them with young guys instead of overpriced veterans on the downside.

1. Eric Farris For the obvious reason I've been arguing for a while that he belongs farther up the prospect list and because if he repeats his 2nd half of last year at Huntsville (.340/.369/.421) and steals 70 bases again, the Brewers really have something here. 2. Amaury Rivas I think he's probably the closest actual starting pitching prospect to the major leagues in terms of readiness. Another good season, and he'll warrant a late season call-up. 3. Jonathon Lucroy Success in 2010 is defined for Lucroy as catching and producing in Milwaukee. The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned. 4. Logan Schafer This is the fall back guy in my mind if Gomez fails. He too could see a late season call-up with a stellar AA season. 5. Brett Lawrie It's time for the production to match the hype. I want to see a .300/.370/.480 season out of him which would be impressive for a 20 year old in Florida.

I wouldn't consider any of those guys to be core guys on the team. Counsell and Gerut are both utility guys at this point, Edmonds may not even make the team. If Zaun fails, they have other internal options. Hoffman is some sort of freak of nature, and Hawkins may fit into the same category. Certainly the three starting pitchers you listed are being counted on, but Suppan's status seems tenuous. I am reasonably confident Davis and Wolf can both be quite solid this year. I think there are fewer question marks on the Brewers team than the Cubs' at this point.I didn't say the Cubs were young. But there core is in their early 30's not late 30's, so there not ancient like the Giants were 2-3 years ago. If a Brewer fan can say he's reasonably confident Davis and Wolf can be solid and that Hoffman and Hawkins are "freakish", then a Cub fan could certainly argue that a Ramirez at 31 and a Derrek Lee at 34 can still be counted on to be as productive as ever. The one guy the Cubs have that's showed age is Soriano, but that's not new this year. I also realize that guys like Counsell and Edmonds are going into this season as bench guys, but how many AB's did Counsell log last year? The answer is over 400. Zaun may give way to a younger guy, but when he was signed they were talking 110-120 starts. I have a feeling if Edmonds makes the team, Macha's going to use him a lot too.

So are the Brewers. Counsel is 39. Zaun turns 38 in April. Edmonds is 39. Hoffman is 42. Hawkins is 37. Suppan is 35. Gerut is 32. Davis is 34. Wolf is 33. Cubs will get a lot younger if 20 year old SS Starlin Castro wins a job.

Where you been? It's been reported all winter that Lilly's out until at least mid-May. By the way the Cubs pitchers and catchers reported on Tuesday, so for the Cubs, it is spring training. I'd wait and see how the Brewers pitchers' health is before I take any glee in sore arms on the north side. By the way, Angel Guzman, who could be a key guy in their pen is also behind schedule

Amazingly after a 14-12, 3.02 season, Rodriguez will earn just $875,000 more than Dave Bush who's never come close to the numbers Rodriguez put up last year. The arby system is indeed hard to fathom.

Adding to what Backupcatchers pointed out, Bourgeois was brought up when Hart was on the DL and Hall had been DFA'd. They were short outfielders. Bourgeois had a solid season at Nashville. He needn't apologize for what he did with the Brewers either. He was 3 for 3 in SB, and played solid defense. Sure he hit just .189, but 37 AB's hardly qualifies as indicative of anything.

InvaderK, To me you are what you're record says you are. It's an excuse when an injury is used to explain poor performance after the fact. I'll grant you it affected him in June, but after nearly 2 months on the DL it was said to have healed and he was still pretty bad. Do I think he can bounce back and be decent? Sure, but decent in the sense he's a useful 4th or 5th starter, not a guy who'll carry you. I do think it's a legitimate concern that he's still hurting/bad and won't be so useful.

He's got 2 chances to make the team: slim and none. Since he was taken in the rule 5 draft, the Brewers have added 3 lefties, A.J. Murray, Doug Davis and Scott Schoeneweis. He would have to be lights out all spring and others such as Narveson, Parra, Schoeneweis would all have to struggle. As bad as Cleveland's pen was last year if he had any aptitude to relieve, the Indians would have tried him. I'm all for the Brewers making a deal to keep him in AAA to see if he can blossom, but he's not worth a major league roster spot on a team with sights on winning a division.

Boo hoo! Waaaah! Sniff sniff... Bill Hall never gave excuses like that. He's not even truthful. Craig Counsell made 13 starts at SS prior to the time Hardy was sent down. What premier SS sits that much? If he's that weak mentally, then good riddance.

Rotation: Gallardo, Wolf, Bush, Narveson, Davis Bullpen: Hoffman, Coffey, Vargas, Hawkins, Suppan, Stetter, Schoeneweis Starters: McGehee, Escobar, Weeks, Fielder, Braun, Gomez, Hart, Zaun Bench: Counsell, Inglett, Oeltjen, Gerut, Lucroy Observations: I don't see Lofgren making the team. He will be returned. They added several lefties after he was taken in Rule 5. Now he's just redundant. No need to save a spot for him. I don't see Edmonds making the team because he will show he can't cover enough ground in CF to play out there and they really want a guy to play a couple games a week instead of Gomez. The last cut will come down to Oeltjen vs. Iribarren and Oeltjen will get the nod on more experience in CF. Iribarren has a chance but he needs to rake at a .400 clip to open eyes. But if Edmonds were to make the team it will be at the expense of Gerut, not Oeltjen or Iribarren to save a million and a half. I don't see Parra making the team. Macha has more of show me attitude in spring than Yost ever did and I think he's going in with real doubts about Parra. Suppan on the other hand is crafty enough to show up ready to get hitters out in spring. He'll do what he has to do to prevent getting cut. Narveson will be the talk of spring from the pitching standpoint and Macha will insist he's in the rotation. I agree that Villanueva having an option makes him the likely odd man out for now thought it's about 50-50 between him and Schoeneweis for the last bullpen spot. I think it will come down to Schoeneweis having a more clearly defined role as second lefty. The Brewers will try to package Parra and Iribarren at the end of ST in a deal. If they can't make a deal, they will try to sneak them both through waivers so the can be assigned to Nashville and hope that many teams will be having trouble cutting down their rosters too and that both may clear. Kottaras will just be released. They made 2 catching moves after they signed him. He was insurance in case they couldn't get anyone else. Lucroy will earn his spot in spring and like Narveson, he'll be the talk of spring from the everyday player perspective. Treanor will back up Salome at AAA. Heether and Gamel have no chance in large part because they are not starters and they have options.