JohnBriggs12

Blackburn came up awfully big for them down the stretch last year (5 ER in his last 4 starts), all games the Twins won and he allowed the Yanks just 1 run on 3 hits in his playoff start in 5 2/3.. I sure wouldn't lump him in with Swarzack.

I took that into consideration, but he's also supposed to be healthy for spring training. I still would ask for Slowey.I'm with yoshii8. Slowey is the guy I'd want. They won't be able to afford to keep both Slowey and Baker beyond the next year or two if they want any shot at keeping Mauer. The fact that they still caught Detroit last year without having Slowey down the stretch might make them believe he's expendable. I'm not as down as some on Blackburn either. He was remarkably consistent in 08 and 09 with almost identical ERAs and Whips. That he doesn't strike out a lot doesn't bother me in the least. He gives up a lot of hits, but guys pitching in that dome who don't fan a lot are going to give up hits. I'd value Slowey higher than Blackburn though, so I'd need them to throw in a sweetener if they insisted on Blackburn

Interesting. His major league numbers look really ugly. But most of that was as a 23 year old 7 years ago. In his last year in the States, his AAA numbers looked real good, and if you toss out his one start in the majors that year where he allowed 10 earned runs in 3 1/3, he didn't pitch too badly. It will be interesting to see where he lands.

Very similar type deal to what Brewers gave Zaun, only $1 million more. For the extra million, I'd have rather had Olivo, who's 7 years younger and has averaged 17 HR and 56 RBI compared to Zaun's 9 and 37 over the last 4 seasons.

It's hard to find holes on Boston's roster. They are solid everywhere. Cameron might be their weakest link and that's not really a big knock on him. Their top hitters, Youkilis and Martinez may not be as good as the Yankee pair of A-Rod and Teixeira but their close, and the Yankees OF still has some question marks and holes to fill. I can't dismiss the Yankees though.

Everyone's the second coming of Suppan to you Ennder. Let's compare WHIPS for the last 5 seasons for Garland and Suppan: Suppan: 1.38. 1.45, 1.50, 1.54, 1.69 Garland: 1.17, 1.36, 1.32, 1.51, 1.40 The average of Suppan's 5 seasons is 1.51 which equals Garland's worst season. I might add Garland spent 4 of those 5 years in the AL where the pitcher doesn't bat. As for stuff, Garland has lost some zip off his fastball from his early days with the Sox. He use to throw 92-94 back with the Sox in 04 and 05 with a hard slider. Now he works 89-91 mostly but he can still sink it and cut it. But that is still better than the 85-87 that Suppan musters these days. Garland also gets deeper in games than Suppan, having averaged 208 innings compared to 186 for Suppan over the past 5 seasons.

You're aiming too high MNBrew. Tops, the Brewers might be willing to spend another $5 million total. I'm not sure it's even that much. I frankly don't understand your dismissing of Gomes and Thames as not fitting. Gomes played in 98 games last year and posted an .879 OPS. Thames hit 25 HR in 2008 in 342 ABs. If Braun went down, at least those two would plug some of the power gap. All the injured pitchers you list are going to command too much. You need to be thinking a $3 million dollar pitcher and a $1-2 million hitter.

Liriano is not "toast". If he was, the Twins wouldn't have offered him arby in December. No way can he be compared with Prior. Prior hasn't been able to break a pane of glass since 2005 and hasn't pitched anywhere since May of 06. It's also too soon to give up on him as a starter. As recently as August 12th, he went 7 innings allowing 3 hits and 8 K's against KC. That game he was hitting 92 and 85 with his fastball and slider respectively in the 7th inning. The Twins still need infield help. They have 9 pitchers that started at least 5 games last year and are still looking for another veteran. They don't want to deal pre arby guys and can't deal a stiff like Perkins, so that's why Liriano's a likely guy. He indeed may never be the guy he looked like earlier, but he's far from toast. I don't know if the Brewers have a match, but I'd take him for the right price.

I've had a feeling for a while that Braden Looper will be back. I haven't seen his name linked anywhere and I think he could be had for a very low base with some incentives. Davis could slide too. Your list of injured pitchers doesn't include Noah Lowry. The Reds and Pirates have been sniffing there and I wouldn't be surprised if the Brewers showed interest. Your IF and OF lists are incomplete too. If Garciaparra or Loretta want to play for $1 million or Mora for about $2 million, then one of those could make sense because the Brewers need a RH bench bat. You don't list Robb Quinlan, Marcus Thames, Jonny Gomes, Reed Johnson, Rocco Baldelli or Adam Kennedy and a few others. Of those, only Kennedy hits LH so any one of those might have some interest.

No it won't. They have something around $40 million coming off the books in 2012 for just 3 guys (Dempster, Fukudome, and Silva). They'll be big players in FA by then. It's a solid signing. You don't need a burner in CF in Wrigley. Byrd is certainly a better offensive player than Gomez. He'll hit 20 HR in Wrigley if he stays healthy.

First, there is more than patience that goes into walk totals. While I wouldn't characterize Escobar as patient, I also wouldn't label him undisciplined either, as evidenced by just 18 K's in 134 plate appearences last year. It takes 4 pitches out of the zone to walk. To get to the 4th bad pitch, hitters need to swing and miss, or take pitches until they have 2 strikes and then foul off pitches until the 4th pitch out of the zone. Pitchers tend to come right after top of the order hitters with base stealing ability. I would bet that if someone charted the pitches thrown to Escobar, they would be a higher than normal rate of in the zone and Escobar doesn't swing and miss all that much. As for what to expect of Escobar this year? I think if he hit ahead of Braun and Fielder, and got 650 plate appearences, I would project him at .302/.346/.413, with 180 hits, 28 doubles, 9 triples, 8 HR, 38 stolen bases in 46 attempts, 103 runs scored, 51 RBI, 45 BB/HBP, 10 sacrifice bunts, and 68 K's. That's just the tip of the iceberg though. I think by his 3rd season, he will routinely hit about what he did at Huntsville in 08 on a regular basis: .328/.363/.434. Molitor hit .273/.301/.372 as a rookie in 1978. He started 120 games that year, 114 of which he led off. The other 6 he batted 8th. Yet despite just a .301 OBP, that Brewer team led the majors in runs scored with 804 that year, Molitor was 2nd in the ROY voting, and he earned the nickname "The Ignitor", not because he ignited the offense with walks, but with hits and exciting play. Escobar is an exciting player, and burying him in the 8th spot bedause he doesn't walk much is a mistake.

I think a full season of Escobar at SS is a huge upgrade over the 09 Hardy. I also believe that whatever (if any) dropoff McGehee has at 3B, a full season from him will be better than the two months of Hall, 4 months of McGehee/Gamel/Counsell of last year. My concern is 2B. Weeks and Lopez combined for some very good numbers, and in between the Counsell/McGehee pair wasn't bad either. With Weeks coming off another major wrist injury, we don't know what we have. Catcher should be a slight upgrade, but that's not saying much. On paper the starting pitching should be better, but as bad as last year was, the only injury issue was with Bush and that wasn't long term. If they lost a Gallardo or Wolf, it could get real ugly. I'm concerned about Gomez' bat, but the good news is they aren't locked in if he's really bad. He's got minor league options and they could use Gerut there if he struggles. On paper, the bullpen is strong and deeper than last year and for the first two months of 09, it was the pen that got the Brewers into first place. If they get consistent performance from the guys they are counting on, it could be a real strength. The whole key to the season could be the development of their prospects. They should start the year with genuine starting pitching prospects at AA, and some everyday prospects (Gamel, Salome, Schafer, Farris) that could either give the team a boost later on, or be used as trade bait in a mid-season deal.

He's been holding out for a starting gig. But there isn't much of a market for him as a starter considering his age and lack of production last year. That being said, he'd be a nice alternative if the Brewers traded Hart. I don't see him getting over $3 million and probably less than that if he's signed as a 4th outfielder.

He hit just .250/.319/.433 last year, and turns 35 in February. Sure, he's versatile, but other than 3B, he's not a good defensive player, he doesn't run all that well and the only 2 seasons he exceeded an .800 OPS were in hitter friendly Texas and Wrigley. He's overrated in part because he's very media savvy. I think this is a bad signing myself. They are going to have to play him at 1B. Sandoval is entrenched at third and the outfield in SF is too big for the slow DeRosa. He'll be among the bottom in the league at that position especially playing in the NL West. The Yankees got a younger, better player in Nick Johnson for $5.5 million for one year. Giants could also have waited on Adam LaRoche's demands to come down (as they will) and gotten a better player for not much more than what they are paying DeRosa.

Capuano is not playing winter ball.

It's an analysis of one pitcher so I don't put much stock into it. Obviously, what the count was when a pitch is thrown matters. It also can't measure some things, like whether on a particular day a pitcher is slowing his arm motion and giving away his changeup. If you want a better analysis, I suggest going on SI website's vault, and downloading the July 8, 1968 issue that has cover story on Ted Williams Science of Hitting.

Vargas could fill the 7th inning role. Villanueva was effective at times even in a bad year in that role and very effective there in 08. Stetter is still around too and can get righthanders out too. They could opt to still bring back Weathers. He's not going to command much. Coffey's had one good year. Selling high on him is not a bad idea at all. Hughes still has ace potential. I'd take that deal in a heartbeat. A rotation of Gallardo, Wolf, Hughes, Bush, and Parra, shouldn't require as much help in the 7th inning anyway. But no way the Yankees do it. Hughes was so effective in the pen last year, he's on track to be Rivera's successor.

Toronto gave up about the equivalent of a Villanueva and Chris Dennis though it's likely Chavez was a bit higher rated than Dennis.

LaRoche is unrealistic in his "demands". He's not going to get that from anyone. But if I'm the Braves, I prefer him over DeRosa even though DeRosa can spell Chipper. Haven't been a Braves fan since 1965, so just a "neutral" observation on my part, but isn't Freddie Freeman at least 2 and more likely 3 years away and hardly a sure thing at this point?

pingman, Since Cabrera is a switch hitter and better from the right side and figures to play RF, I would think the Braves could expand their search for another bat to include both RH and LH hitters. Which begs the question why not just bring back Adam LaRoche?

Why is anyone comparing this signing to the Brewers signing of Suppan? There is a $25 million dollar difference. At worst, Marquis figures to be about what Suppan figured to be 3 years ago when the Brewers paid him $40 million. If Marquis pitches like he did last year, it's a real nice pickup for the Nats. They won't make the playoffs, but the Nats figure to be greatly improved if they can add a bullpen arm or two.

This could be good news for the Brewers because the Yankees were looking at the FA crop and this move should take them out of that market. With Nats settling on Marquis, and Yanks dealing for Vazquez, the number of potential suitors for the middling guys left has dwindled and the likelihood one could drop into a range the Brewers could afford increases.

I think it's ridiculous that the Brewers are putting any stock in the belief that after not pitching effectively in the majors for 5 years (his last season with any measure of success was 2005), and virtually not pitching at all since 06 that he's going to become even a serviceable major league pitcher at any point, much less 2010. I'm hard pressed to think of anyone who's ever done that. In assessing where a team is at this time, I look for positive and negative signs. That they are seriously looking at a guy like Mulder is a huge negative as it's a sure sign they don't have faith in what they have and they are desperate. I give Mulder less chance of impacting the 2010 Brewers than John Halama and I don't give Halama much of a chance. At least Halama has been pitching over the past several seasons even if much of it's been in independent leagues.

With Jose Molina gone, and just marginal prospect Cervelli and aged Posada on their roster, this could be a good opportunity for Mike provided they don't go after anyone else. The fact that he was snapped up in just over a week is a good sign.

Ever since Escobar hit .281/.348/.342 as a skinny 17 year old in the Pioneer League against 20-22 year olds, he's shown he can hit at every level. He hit .328 at AA at age 21 and followed that up at age 22 hitting a combined .299 in 555 ABs divided between AAA and the majors. Hart hit .302 at AA at age 21 and hit .281 the following year at AAA. Weeks hit .259 in AA at age 21. Yes he hasn't shown the power of Hart or Weeks yet but he's a much more accomplished base stealer in the minors than either of those two. I even think he'll hit with moderate power (15-18 HR per year) once his body fully matures. He's hitting .398/.438/.503 this winter in Venezuela, leading that league by a wide margin and batting 3rd. All you doubters will be proven wrong. It's just a matter of time. Escobar has tools to be an All Star.