JohnBriggs12

Brewers would actually save $1.5 million in 2010, more if you count the savings on Cameron, and be getting a guy who the last time he played everyday (2007), produced close to a Cameron-type year, .252/.323/.419, 18 HR, 72 RBI. Gerut might be able to match that too, but he'd need a platoon partner, and Matthews wouldn't and bringing in Matthews would allow Brewers to use Gerut to platoon some with Hart in RF. There's a downside risk of course. Matthews would cost $10 million in 2011 ($12 million less the savings on Suppan's $2 million buyout), but if he's still a guy that can play at decent level, at least that's some return on your investment. Again, I'm not saying they should do this or that the Angels are even interested, but just thought I'd throw it out there for discussion.

He's gone 9 straight years in the AL and never had an ERA above 4.70 which would have been 2nd best among Brewer starters. Since the difference between leagues is generally thought to be .25 in ERA that calculates to 9 straight years of never above 4.50. His WHIP exceeded 1.40 once in those 9 seasons and was never higher than what any Brewer starter other than Gallardo put up in 2009. Assuming he's back healthy and that his ineffectiveness as a Tiger had to do with his knee hurting, I'd prefer Washburn over Looper and given his late season injury problem, he's not going to command anything more than what Looper got last year. Washburn isn't going to get you a ton of innings but he's performed consistenly at a level above the Suppans and Loopers.

Get used to it TLB. It's everywhere. That's today's media world. In St. Louis they gush over Pujols. We have to look no farther than GB. The media made a certain QB who won one Super Bowl bigger than the franchise to the point where he himself and many fans actually believed he was. It always helps for fans to always keep things in perspective despite the media. Hyping is their job. That being said, it's hard to overstate how good Braun and Fielder really are. Thankfully, Braun and Fielder both appear to have maintained a team first type humility. Let's hope that doesn't change as long as they are Brewers.

Scratch Kapler. He just re-signed with Tampa Bay.

The difference between Teixera and Fielder is that for Boston and New York, the 2 teams that drove up Teixera's price, Fielder is a DH. Does Prince, who'll only be 27 when he hits FA want to relegate himself to being a DH the rest of his career at that age and do the Yankees and Boston value a completely one dimensional player the same as they would a guy who also plays in the field? If I'm the Brewers, I use Fielder's natural own competitive nature to emphasize that as a Brewer he's not only a bat, but a leader on the field defensively, the same as Pujols. I'd also mention to him that playing the field for 7 or 8 more years enhances his credentials as a future HOFer. I'd be saying to Prince, look when you're 35, you can still get a huge contract to DH in the AL. But from 27 to 34, you are too good an athlete to not play defense. Pujols signed a 7 year deal in 04 (his first arby year) for $100 million. A 7 year, $130 million deal, that buys out his last arby year and goes through 2017 with a $22 million option for 2018, would leave Prince at age 34, still able to secure another big contract to DH. The one team that can upset the apple cart of course is the Mets. But the Mets need a guy now. By holding on to Fielder now, the Mets will be forced to look elsewhere for a big first base bat (Adrian Gonzalez?). Hopefully whoever that is will command enough money from the Mets to take them out of a Fielder sweepstakes. The Dodgers have the cash to bid too. Hopefully, Loney will progress enough that they won't see a need. The Cubs are more likely to re-up Lee for a few more years at much less than it would take to get Fielder and given their contract committments, that's a wise move.

Podsednik was a soon to be 27 year old with a career .695 OPS when the Brewers claimed him off waivers in 03 and he was 2nd in the ROY that year. McGehee was a 26 year old with a .741 career minor league OPS when the Brewers claimed him. Neither proved to be the "definition of replacement level".

I think the same could have been said about McGehee last winter (and Podsednik in 03) and he was out of options was he not? Bourgeois has hit a combined .303 at AAA since 2007 with 89 steals in 113 attempts and he plays all over the field. Compare that with what Lorenzo Cain has done above A ball. Given he still had one option left and the Brewers aren't exactly overflowing with OF that had played above A ball, (they had to re-sign 30 year old retread Adam Stern (a lesser player) to replace him), it's a puzzling move. Not likely to backfire into anything significant, but you never know.

I seriously doubt that was a factor. Bourgeois hit .316 in AAA and can run which in Minute Maid has a lot of value. At worst, think late inning PR for Carlos Lee then replacing him in LF defensively. Would be tough getting one in the gap with Bourgeois in LF and Bourne in CF. I'm a bit puzzled why the Brewers would let him go especially with Cameron's situation up in the air. If they thought he'd clear, they thought wrong. I'll withhold judgement until I see who they needed his roster spot for.

No matter how good a pitcher is, the risk of injury or loss of stuff that could end a career is far greater for a pitcher than it is for a position player (see Mark Prior or Francisco Liriano as an example). Braun is under control for a long time at a reasonable cost and is on his way to a Hall of Fame career. Those guys might come around for your franchise once a generation. Brewers need to develop their own pitching and leave Braun right where he is, in the middle of the Brewer order.

If you equate Fielder with Pujols (and his numbers this year certainly equate), then he's not as replaceable as you think. It's one thing replacing a .275 hitter with 35 HR and 105 RBI. It's quite another replacing 46 and 141, and 110 BB and a .300 BA. As for the weight issue, I think that's a non-issue. You don't put up those numbers if money is your sole motivator. Fielder has tremendous pride. He was determined to rebound from his "off" year of 08. There's no reason to think he won't have 6-7 more years of peak production, especially if he's teamed with Braun. Those two push each other as does the "competition" with Pujols and Howard.

Can you really call it a down season? He was mashing in AAA until they brought him up to sit on the bench for two months. But after he was sent back down he didn't hit (.234/.316/.338 with 55 K's in 154 AB). Plus, he saw a lot more action in the 2 months than McGehee saw in his first 2 months of the season. If anyone could use inactivity as an excuse (and that's what it is) for poor production it was McGehee who had just 45 PA in April and May. You want to talk mashing, check out what McGehee did from June 1st through July 5th (roughly the length of time of Gamel's AAA tear). He was 37 for 96 with 8 doubles, 1 triple, 6 HR and 24 RBI. That was done against major league pitching.

I would be very disappointed if they brought in Mulder (presumably on a minor league or very low non-guaranteed salary) and then tried selling that as one of their two additions to the rotation. That would smack of the acquisition of Trot Nixon from the bargain bin last year to be the solid lefty bat they needed. Mulder has done nothing since 2005. He's a long shot to ever be a solid starter again.

Phillips' page on baseball-reference.com says he was born May 18, 1963. He started his pro career in 1981 which is the year he would have graduated from HS.

It's not McCarver and Buck so much (though they are annoying) it's how FOX produces the game. They aren't produced as a baseball game for baseball fans, they are produced as a reality TV show only without the editing. It's all tight closeups as if somehow seeing the pitcher's eyes adds to the drama or seeing some fan react to a play or seeing a manager's face over and over really makes the game better. Add in the simplistic McCarver talking as if the watcher had never seen a baseball game before and the always smug Buck, and it's completely unwatchable for anyone not with a rooting interest.

Harden doesn't fit the profile of what the Brewers need because none of the returning Brewer starters are good bets to accumulate 210 or more innings because none of the current Brewer starters is a guy who records a lot of quick outs. Harden hasn't pitched more than 150 innings since 2004. The Brewer rotation A. Didn't go deep enough in games; B. Allowed too many HR; C. Lacked depth. Harden solves none of those problems. Assuming 32 starts per starter, he missed 6 requiring a fill in. He allowed 23 HR in 141 innings. He got past the 6th inning just 4 times. Last year, 3 NL teams had their #3 starters exceed 210 innings (Wolf 214, Pineiro 216, and Marquis 214). Not coincidently, all 3 of those teams made the playoffs and oh, all 3 of those guys are FA. If the Brewers are going to take a chance on a guy coming back from injury or absence, I'd rather go with a Duchscherer who as a starter in 08 often got into the 7th, 8th and 9th. I'd even prefer Sheets over Harden because when he was healthy enough to start, Sheets usually gave the pen a rest. In short, 25 starts from Sheets are more useful than 25 from Harden.

They wouldn't just be getting draft picks. They'd be getting 2 years of a premier hitter and run producer, the likes of which this franchise has never had, which puts bodies in the seats that would be elsewhere with a lesser player manning 1B.. Assuming they can't re-sign him, they'd have $15-20 million they would have spent to keep him to invest elsewhere to replace his production or find pitching on the open market..

We do know this about Kendall: He's not the priority Hoffman was either because they want to explore other options and/or they know there's very little demand for an aging, singles hitting catcher. I think it's both. They may well end up with Kendall back, but a lot of other things will happen first.

Thinking a guy is overpaid and not a good fit in your lineup isn't hate, it's realistically assessing where a guy fits in your lineup. Cameron is a contact challenged, mid 20's HR, .250 hitting right handed bat in a lineup (in 08 and starting 09) full of basically that same type of hitter (Hart, Weeks, Hardy, Hall) and he was getting paid a lot. That he lost his 5th spot in the lineup to a rookie in Casey McGehee who drove in runs at a much higher rate, is really an indication that the Brewers weren't getting offensively what they needed out of Cameron. Braun and Fielder were on base a ton. Cameron had 4 more RBI than McGehee in nearly 200 more AB's. McGehee is now settled in as the number 5 hitter. Hall is gone, with Hardy soon to follow. Cameron might not be such a redundant weapon anymore, but he'll be 37 next year. It's time to move on. He's not worth anywhere near $8 million much less $10 million. I'd put his value to the Brewers in the $4-5 million range and that's mostly because his defense is still solid. To another team his value might be a little higher than that because he's a better fit in their lineup. Offensively, he's a $3 million player.

Adam Frost was listed as #2 Indy League prospect by BA. Earlier he was named Rookie of the Year in the Northern League. Quoting BA "Frost played second base and third base before eventually settling in as Winnipeg's everyday shortstop where he held his own as a 22 year old in a league filled with veterans." They questioned whether he could stick at SS in affiliated ball, but speculated his 60-65 speed (Frost stole 30 bases in 38 attempts) on the 20 to 80 scouting scale may fit as a center fielder. Someone from DePere (Frost played at St. Norbert) asked in the chat whether Frost would be picked up and what level he would play at in affiliated ball. The response indicated he was highly likely to be signed and that he was still young enough to play A ball somewhere. Given the struggles of many at Appleton last season, I would think the Brewers would be looking around for guys to play at Brevard next year. They need not look far to find Frost. edit 10/30, Frost was signed by the Royals. Best guess is he ends up playing for Wilmington in Carolina League next season.

Mulder's done nothing in the big leagues since 2005. Any team offering him more than a minor league deal is nuts.

Baldelli does make a lot of sense as would bringing Kapler back to platoon with Gerut in CF. That would still leave a 5th OF spot though and again if you assume both backup IF are lefthanded hitters, it might make more sense to go with a RH bat in the 5th OF like Murton over say Catalanotto. Bourgeouis is the speed option obviously too for that role too. I'm not sure the Brewers are ruling out Cain just yet either if he has a big year in the AFL.

Murton is no more than an afterthought in the crowded Rockie outfield picture. As I think Iribarren and Counsell (two left-handed bats) are most likely to be the backup infielders (barring the re-signing of Lopez) and it's quite possible that Cameron will move on, the Brewers will need to add a right handed OF bat/PH even if Hart isn't traded which is also a possibility.. Murton would be a nice cheap option for that role. He does lack corner OF power and he's below average defensively, but he's always been a guy who gives you quality at-bats.which would be nice to have in late inning PH role.

Sabathia built a home in California. When Tommy Glavine went to the Mets, he was a pillar in Atlanta. Ned Yost kept his home in Atlanta the 6 years he was managing the Brewers. That means nothing. Because just like the Giants had committed so much to Zito, the Braves have a ton committed to Lowe and their first priority is a bat. Hudson is just what Melvin wants. He's a proven #2 starter and has been for a number of years. He keeps the ball in the park. He gets quick outs and can go deep as a result (he's logged 218 or more innings 5 times). When Melvin made the comment a few weeks back that the Brewers might need to take a chance (re: risk overpaying) on a guy coming off an injury, I think he was thinking specifically about Hudson. The Brewers offered Sabathia a ton of money last offseason. The money is there to make a serious run at Hudson especially if they decide not to spend at least $10 million combined on Looper and Bush. It also helps explain the eagerness to get Petersen.

McGehee's grand slam after dropping the pop up was the number one moment and none other came close. That was a priceless moment. Number 2 was Bill Hall's walk off hit in the bottom of the 10th to beat the Cardinals 1-0 on Memorial Day in what was a classic. I choose for that to be my lasting memory of Bill Hall who for all his struggles gave Brewer fans many thrilling moments in his time here. None of the stuff that happened in August or September meant anything so it was hard to get too excited by it.

I disagree. Catalanotto and Counsell both returning might jeopardize a spot for Iribarren, but not Counsell on his own.. I suspect Gerut is going to be in a CF platoon situation with someone. Iribarren has a lot going for him. He's coming off a really good AAA season (.311/.362/.412) with only 5 errors in 98 games at 2B. He'll also be cheap until he's 29. No chance he'd clear waivers. If he's not traded (and that's a possibilty too), I'd give him a 90% chance of being with Brewers on opening day. Given some uncertainty about Weeks, and if Lopez isn't back, Iribarren is next in line to be 2010's McGehee. Heether, on the other hand, would be the other cheap contender for the 6th infielder spot, but he'll have all his options remaining so he'll be the guy who's used to go back and forth as did Iribarren for a couple years to fill in as guys go on DL.