JohnBriggs12

Assuming the Red Sox would deal Bucholz straight up for Hardy (and I think they would in large part because Hardy's swing is ideally suited to Fenway), the Brewers have to ask themselves if Bucholz replacing Parra in the rotation is a big enough upgrade to offset what most think would be a downgrade offensively from Hardy to Escobar. Frankly, I'm coming around to this thinking. First of all, Hardy has been a major disappointment this season offensively. A .669 OPS is not what I envisioned him having when he was tearing up Arizona. Opposing pitchers have figured out he will consistently take mediocre first pitch fastballs down the heart of the plate and they keep getting ahead of him in the count. True, he's likely to have a hot streak at some point, but at best it will take him back to middle of the pack overall among NL shortstops. Escobar on the other hand has heated up big time in AAA. I think Escobar has the potential to be one of the most exciting players in all of baseball and I don't think he's as far away from that as some on here think. He may end up being an upgrade offensively over what Hardy's provided so far this year. As for Bucholz, he too seems ready to be a major league starter. He might not be the stud prospect some Red Sox fans think but he's certainly ready to pitch in a rotation based on his minor league record this year. I'm still not sure Parra is or ever will be a reliable major league starter. If he's not, the Brewers are greatly in need of a young starter. Finally, the loss of Weeks has led to issues at the top of the order. Escobar isn't a patient hitter, but neither was Molitor when he came up and he made that lineup go. The Brewers need that threat on the bases as a distraction if nothing else. McGehee and Counsell are adequate to cover 2nd base and with Hall on the bench they are somewhat protected. Bottom line, trading Hardy now might propel this team.

Fowler's started 43 of the 57 Rockie games and is on pace for 497 AB's. If he picks it up a little, he'll get more. I don't think it's an issue.

Oh we don't know that endaround. I don't understand the concern about either his youth or his bat. First let's talk about youth/inexperience. Escobar has more professional AB's right now than either Ryan Braun or Mat Gamel. Now about his bat. In Hanley Ramirez' last minor league season, he put up numbers much less impressive than Escobar is right now. Ramirez went straight to the majors from the AA Eastern league where he hit a pedestrian .271/.335/.385 in 2005. Escobar was the same age as Ramirez was at AA last year and out hit him by a considerable margin: .328/.363/.434. Let me remind everyone that Ramirez, coming off that year at AA, was NL rookie of the year the next season. By your standards endaround, Ramirez was "hanging on" with his .720 OPS at AA in 2005. There's no way to predict what Escobar would hit in the majors right now but this is one special talent. Just the few times I've seen him in spring games, it's obvious. Special talents defy projections based on historical numbers.

Heether is just another reason McGehee should be getting more PT than he's getting. McGehee posting respectable numbers over more than a small sample of major league AB's increases his (McGehee's) trade value far more than Heether having a big season does for him at AAA. But Heether gives them an obvious replacement for McGehee if Casey is dealt or if McGehee took over full time at 2B assuming either a Weeks trade or move to CF for 2010.

Snell would be a good gamble at the right price. His numbers don't look great this year (he was worse last year) but he's 6 of 12 in quality starts which isn't terrible. He could be a guy that's just worn down mentally from being around a losing franchise for so long. His stuff should be good enough to be a solid starting pitcher.

Villanueva was pretty good last year too. His issues early in the year were commanding his fastball not so much nibbling. Sure Hoffman's arrival helped everyone by making roles more defined, but none of that would matter if these guys weren't capable pitchers. Villanueva has one of the best changeups in the game. He was going to have success sooner or later whether Hoffman was here or not as long as he commanded his fastball.

I actually like Fowler. He's got an OBP nearly 100 points higher than his BA. If he can get his BA up to .280 with the 30-35 steals he's on pace for, I think he wins ROY.

How does one miss what one never really had? Jones will be 27 next year and has never pitched above AA. Only a guy who was once a first round pick would still have a job anywhere in affiliated baseball at this point. Most guys would have entered the real world or gotten their fix pitching in an indy league. I think if the Brewers still want him, he's not going to have too many other options.

Last night's game was a perfect example why Counsell needs to come off the bench. He's a guy you can use when you need a bunt. stoutdude04 is right but there's even more reason to keep Counsell on the bench than his inevitable running out of gas. McGehee needs to play every day at 2B and Gamel everyday at 3B. McGehee's value in the trade market right now is that of a career minor leaguer with a cup of coffee in the majors. If he plays 4 months at 2B everyday, hits .270 with some pop and plays solid defense, now you've not only turned him into a guy with value in the market, you've also freed up the possibility of trading other middle infielders in your system.

If I were Hall's agent, I'd be advising him to accept a trip to the minors. He might never be the player he was in 05 and 06, but he's just making his situation worse right now. He needs steady game action out of the glare for a while. While were at it, I'd play Hall in CF some if they sent him down. As for Gamel, give him a chance to play everyday. This is a guy they refused to include in the Sabathia deal. If you think that highly of him, play him. He's a work in process at 3B. They knew he would be. They can minimize the effect of his defense with late inning moves. Personally I don't think he'll embarrass himself out there. They need his bat in the lineup. I'd be thrilled if he were Ryan Braun of 2007. Braun was bad at 3B but his offense more than made him a net plus on the team. I think Gamel can be better than Braun defensively so he doesn't have to put up monster numbers, just hit a solid .285/.335/.475 and he's an asset.

It's a lot tougher replacing 2 starters named Sabathia and Sheets than it is replacing 4 starters named Suppan, Parra, Looper and Bush. That's assuming none are replaced prior to that which is a very large assumption. I said in another thread one huge reason to give McGehee the everyday job at 2B is the potential to add to your list of tradeable pieces or give you the option of parting with arby eligible everyday players to free up money to pay pitchers. Bottom line is we have no idea if Parra will still be in the big leagues come 2011.

The Braves made a business decision. The same franchise sold the greatest lefthander of all time to the Mets 45 years ago. As beloved as Spahn was and hated the Braves management was back then, it saved Spahn from enduring one of the saddest times ever in Milwaukee (the lame duck 65 season), and it also spared us from seeing Spahn struggle mightily to hang on.

AL: C Mauer 1B Youkilis 2B Hill SS Bartlett 3B Longoria OF Adam Jones OF Torii Hunter OF Jason Bay SP Grienke RP: Francisco NL: C McCann 1B Pujols 2B Phillips SS Ramirez 3B Zimmerman OF Ibanez OF Beltran OF Braun SP Santana RP: Hoffman (You can't do better than perfect) I wanted to take A. Gonzalez but Pujols has him in BA, OBP and SP. Braun is probably the weakest choice. Upton's fanned 50 times and Braun has better OBP so I gave the edge to our guy. Can't understand why anyone would take Upton over Beltran. Tough to leave off: AL: Morneau, V. Martinez, Ichiro, D. Jeter, M. Cabrera. Tough to leave off NL: A. Gonzalez, M. Tejada, O. Hudson, B. Hawpe, D. Wright, J. Upton.

Randy Wells. How quickly we forget.

What I'm trying to figure out is why the Brewers seem intent to continue coddling the 26 year old Parra. Melvin is quoted as saying "you could totally lose him" by sending him out to AAA. Removing Villanueva from rotation in 2008 after just 9 starts didn't result in "losing him" and it wasn't like Villanueva didn't have success starting in both 06 and 07 either because he did. If anything it motivated him and made him tougher. Do we really want to rely on a guy that you have to worry can't handle a trip to AAA or even the bullpen? If that move resulted in "losing him", then he's not worth having to begin with.

They're 31-22 because 6/7ths of the bullpen has been lights out. They've been no better than average in any other aspect of the game but when one aspect is so dominant (assuming the others are average), you are going to win more than you lose. The concern is the starting pitching regressing from average to bad which will affect the bullpen eventually. One thing I'd like to see is Casey McGehee playing everyday at 2B. The long term benefits to this club if McGehee shows he can be a solid everyday major leaguer are enormous. It gives Melvin a plethora of chips to be able to deal in the offseason to shore up needs. Yes Counsell has done a nice job, but over the long run, Counsell's greatest value is to be a bench player. Losing Weeks was a tough blow, but the opportunity to see what you have in McGehee should not be wasted.

If Parra doesn't pitch well Sunday, he should be the one headed to Nashville, not Burns or Smith. McClung's making a solid case for a rotation spot with two 3+ inning outings in his last 3 games. It's not a stretch to think he could go 75-80 pitches in a start.

The Northern League has announced that the new team that will be located in Zion, IL and is part owned by Kevin Costner, will be called the Lake County Fielders. No word on possible copyright infringement lawsuit from either Prince or Cecil or whether team intends to bid on either in free agency.

Dillard has allowed a hit an inning at AAA, has a 1-1 K/BB ratio and a WHIP significantly higher than Burns. That doesn't translate to success at major league level. Chris Smith's numbers suggest he's much more likely to have success against major league hitters out of the pen, than Dillard's do starting. So I'd rather replace McClung's bullpen innings with Smith/Burns than Parra's starting innings with Dillard. If you must keep McClung in pen, then go with Burns.

Fox scares me. The guy can rake. The problem for the Cubs is they won't displace a high priced veteran to find a spot for him to play. He's much more valuable as an AL player too but the Cubs are hampered in dealing him because of their ownership situation. Let's see how Wells does the 2nd time around the league. Rasmus is a nice player too, though he's really no more productive right now than Ankiel has been.

Does Jack Z like Parra enough to take him as main piece in deal for Bedard? One thing's clear, I'd be going after a lefty starter because the Brewers sure don't have one that they can rely on now.

I won't dwell on the fact that last winter I was taken to task for suggesting that too much was being expected from Parra. The excuse for his late season failures last year was that he tired out. I didn't buy it then and I don't buy it now. There's no excuse now. Parra's a guy who's good pitches don't get hit in play and who's bad pitches get crushed. That's not a formula for success for a guy who throws both kinds to almost every hitter. He obviously needs to go down to Nashville to work on finding an actual out pitch that hitters will get themselves out on. Right now he's not performing at a replacement level much less at a level of a quality major league starter. Let McClung take his starts for now. Make a move for Bedard or Washburn in a few weeks so they won't have to go all year with 5 righthanded starters. Move Riske or Weeks to 60 man DL and bring up Chris Smith.

I care about both the hitting and the starting pitching with are both pretty average. Oh when they are hitting HRs in bunches, they appear to be a good hitting team, but in reality, they are closer in runs scored to the bottom team (SF) than they are to the top team (LA). I'd try to upgrade both areas.

I would have gone with Smith or Ginter myself. Not that Burns hadn't earned it, but why take a guy who's fully stretched out and relegate him to the mop up/middle relief role which will result in him not being fully stretched in a few weeks. I'd rather have him in reserve to take a start if need arises.

Adam Frost update: Frost is the youngest player on the Winnipeg Goldeye roster by more than 2 years. With just a half season of pro experience mostly in the lowest class Gulf Coast League in 08, he's among the most inexperienced players in the Northern League that is full of experienced pro players. Still, he's forcing his way into the lineup by hitting .382/.400/.529 in his first 34 AB's. It's still puzzling why Detroit would draft him in the 21st round in 08, then give up on him so quickly but if he keeps raking in the Northern League, some team (Brewers?) should find a spot for him back in affiliated ball.