JohnBriggs12

The Cubs did the same thing last year. This is Piniella's philosophy, not anything directed at the Brewers specifically. If they were facing the Giants in the opening week, he'd do the same thing. Sure the Brewers have faced Zambrano a lot, but not in over 6 months. Piniella won't start Lilly vs. the Brewers either this spring. Rich Hill, who started yesterday, is not scheduled to pitch in the first series.

If he's throwing 84-86, that spells trouble.

Hill won't pitch in first series anyway. Piniella is on record saying he wants to split his 2 lefties, so it figures to be Zambrano, Lilly, and Dempster in the first series.

"I could see Crisp for marquis or marmol or howry". It was reported today that Boston turned down Marquis, probably because the Cubs didn't want to pay some of his salary. No way they deal Marmol or Howry for Crisp. Marmol is untouchable and they aren't getting rid of their current closer (Howry). If they were to deal a reliever, it would be Michael Wuertz. Wuertz is somewhat of a luxury for Cubs, but is really quite good. In fact few realize that Wuertz was among the league leaders in runners stranded percentage by relievers in 07.

I don't think picking the Cardinals for last is going out on a limb. Pittsburgh at least has two very good starters in Snell and Gorzelanny. Houston has an imposing lineup and an ace. I don't think the Cardinals even match up with those two much less the top teams in the division.

molitor fan, Did you see Luis Pena? Can we expect him to be part of the pen by September?

It's a stretch to say Vargas "fell apart" after April. He tailed off after mid May when his ERA stood at 2.92, but so did his some of his competition. Vargas' credentials, 43-38, 4.95 for his career, are pretty much in the same neighborhood as Bush or Capuano. But he doesn't have options and they do. If he continues to throw well in Arizona (and they don't), I think he has to be given the edge. If he starts to fade again as the season wears on, they can always make a change. What we are seeing so far this spring (and it's early), is that the starter depth, so cherished by Yost, may actually come from unexpected sources like Jackson and Narveson. But it's still very early. I doubt any decision will be made for another two weeks.

The reasoning behind the Cubs interest is that they have a ton of money invested in this team and they might not want to risk that investment by having an unproven Pie in CF. I've also read some reports that Pie has been swinging for the fences this spring and not making consistent contact like they want him too. While Crisp is no world beater, he's less of a risk than Pie offensively while still providing excellent defense in CF. They could be dangling Murton, or Marquis. Marquis makes some sense for Boston who is low on starter depth with Schilling down.

"help them score 25 to 30 more runs"? If Yost thinks that Kendall will indeed match his .375 career OBP, he should bat him 2nd, not 9th. As for his "extreme double play tendencies", you compensate for that by a novel notion called the "hit and run" using your fastest runner, or the straight steal also using your fastest runner. That makes more sense to me and does not involve reinventing the game.

Narveson has a chance to cement a spot in the Nashville rotation if he continues pitching well. At 26, he appears to be a real nice under the radar pickup by Melvin.

Gwynn will get most of the starts vs. righthanders. Kapler will start vs. lefthanders. Gross will get a start here and there, just enough to keep his bat sharp for his prime duty as a late inning pinch hitter. The real decision time is when Cameron comes back. Who goes then? The 13th pitcher, Kapler or Gwynn? I can't believe they are still toying with a 13 man pitching staff. It's like they are afraid to make a decision (re: eat a contract). I suppose keeping Dillon sharp by playing everyday in Nashville is not the end of the world.

Bush throws a little harder than Villy, and has a good curve, but Villy has a curve he can throw for strikes that he often uses as a first pitch rather than an "out" pitch. Villy's "out" pitch is his superior change.

Villanueva threw 188 innings two years ago, and shut out the World Champ Cardinals for 8 innings on the final day of the season. Last year he posted an ERA of 1.99 in September. He's never shown any tendency to wear down as a starter.

I agree with that, I just was hoping that Yost would seem more open minded about the possiblilty of Manny or Villy supplanting one of the 3-headed/5+ era monster of Vargas/Cappy/Bush. Its not like Parra and Villy haven't shown that they are capable of pitching at the major league level. I have nothing against any of those 3 veterans - I would love to see Cappy get back to his old self and I think maybe Bush would be better off in the penProblem is what is the rotation suppose to look like in August and September when Bush and Vargas are gone....and Parra and Villy both have hit their Inning Limits... I really dont want to see Zach Jackson starting every 5th day because Parra pitched his 155th inning by Mid August... I think the wisdom is see what Bush, Cappy, Vargas and Suppan do with a REAL catcher that helps out command type pitchers.. I dont understand why people say Villy has proven himself.....6 starts in 2006 and 6 starts in 2007...with the majority coming against Sept Callups...to me is NOT a track record its a small sample size...and has shown success because there is no real book on him yet... Its no conidence that Suppan, Vargas, Bush and Cappy had their worst years of their career pitching to Estrada last season.... All valid points and I mostly agree with all of that! Although personally, I do believe Villy has established himself. He was lights out in relief last year until he got overworked and I have yet to see him have real poor start. Yeah he had a good first half in the bull pen until he got overworked.... pitching 2 inning BP sessions..... How fast is he going to get "overworked" when pitching 6-7 innings....instead of 4 innings every every week... His stuff is just like Cappys...below average fastball and lives on the change up.....NEEDS Perfect control... thats why Cappy and Villy...tend to tail off at the end of the year... they get tired their command goes...they then try to work more in over the plate and they dont have the stuff to get people out that way...then they get rocked... When did Capuano ever throw a curveball or hit 92 with his fastball? Villanueva does both on regular basis.

I agree with that, I just was hoping that Yost would seem more open minded about the possiblilty of Manny or Villy supplanting one of the 3-headed/5+ era monster of Vargas/Cappy/Bush. Its not like Parra and Villy haven't shown that they are capable of pitching at the major league level. I have nothing against any of those 3 veterans - I would love to see Cappy get back to his old self and I think maybe Bush would be better off in the penProblem is what is the rotation suppose to look like in August and September when Bush and Vargas are gone....and Parra and Villy both have hit their Inning Limits... I really dont want to see Zach Jackson starting every 5th day because Parra pitched his 155th inning by Mid August... I think the wisdom is see what Bush, Cappy, Vargas and Suppan do with a REAL catcher that helps out command type pitchers.. I dont understand why people say Villy has proven himself.....6 starts in 2006 and 6 starts in 2007...with the majority coming against Sept Callups...to me is NOT a track record its a small sample size...and has shown success because there is no real book on him yet... Its no conidence that Suppan, Vargas, Bush and Cappy had their worst years of their career pitching to Estrada last season.... Why Villanueva have an innings limit? He threw 188 innings (counting AAA playoffs) in 2006, then threw 122 combined in 2007, including 79 out of the pen which is more taxing than starting every 5th day. As for Parra, he's 25 years old and 4 years removed from surgery. He's beyond where he needs to be babied to any great degree.

What's the old saying, players don't get cut, they cut themselves.

Capuano got through 2 innings okay, then...oh well.

Personally, I love the back and forth on the rotation controversy. Spring training is drawn out and rather boring but this keeps it interesting.

The track record that has people wanting Capuano in the rotation was compiled in 2005 and half of 2006. The theory being, he was a pretty good starter not too long ago so he's capable of being that again. But do you want him there even if he's shown no signs of having regained that form to this point? And can't he work on things in Nashville too? So he's paid a lot, isn't it better he finds himself in the minors than he struggles more in the majors? As for Bush and Vargas, has either shown he is any better than a decent 5th starter or a bad 4th starter? Both have logged a fair number of major league starts and are in their late 20's beyond where any improvement is likely. Yet Parra (based primarily on stuff) and Villanueva (based on perfomance as a starter in 12 starts over 2 seasons) show every indication that they can perform at the level of a solid number 3. And really though he's guaranteed a spot because of his contract, does anyone think Suppan is any better than a reliable 4th starter? Depth is nice to have but no team can win divisions if their two top starters don't stay healthy for most of a season anyway no matter how many 5th starters you have. Depth can keep you around .500 but isn't that no longer the goal? To be big winners, the Brewers need to think on the scale that they can take risks. They should go for 90 something wins and risk losing a few more than go for 86 wins but assure themselves of 80. Finally about Villanueva's stuff. He's got 4 major league pitches. His fastball is average, but when he spots it, it sets up all 3 of his other pitches. Because he has 4 pitches, he's much better suited to start.

"Turnbow gettin better" Great. See what you can get for him. I still don't trust him in August and September.

You obviously don't read all my posts Giraldo8. I think there is a rule that teams have to start 4 regulars in spring training games. That Sheets mowed down a bunch of AAA guys and bench players is nice, but it's not the same as if they had a few more major league hitters in the lineup. I don't think it's being negative to point that out just reality. Greg Norton in the 3 hole is not indicative of a good lineup.

Nice performance by Sheets but aren't teams supposed to put more than one starter (Beltre) on the field to start exhibitions?

I thought I read about his diabetes some time ago. I also read somewhere earlier this offseason that Young was working at getting himself in better shape to play some OF this year because Nick Johnson was returning to play 1B. Ron Santo played his entire career with juvenile diabetes. To suggest he "doesn't really have diabetes" is both insensitive and not well informed. Controlling diabetes is no easy task and to suggest he's doing it to cover PED's is ridiculous.

DonMoney4Mgr, Where you been? You're right on the money (pun intended)! I've been making this case it seems forever. Trust me though, there's a lot of guys out there that will argue. trwi, Villanueva is not a soft tosser. His fastball is consistently in the 89-92 range which is major league average. Capuano throws 85-87. Villanueva has 4 major league quality pitches and he uses all 4. Capuano uses 2 most of the time. The times Villanueva gets into trouble are when he doesn't have command of his fastball. When he's able to spot it where he wants which is most of the time, he's very, very tough. As for the Parra innings debate, don't innings pitched at Nashville count? They can control his innings (to the degree they need to) just as easily in Milwaukee. People seem to equate Parra, who will turn 26 in October, with 21 and 22 year old guys. He's not a kid. Yes he had surgery, but that was in 2004.

Anyone for 20 today?