Cyanogen5

I am not a Ned Yost hater, but he screwed up on this one. First of all Aquino couldn't even take the out that Everett was trying to give him. After the botched play at third, the bases were loaded with nobody out...in a tie game you go to your best pitcher, period. Cordero should have come in the game. I don't care if that makes him unavailable tomorrow...the focus should be on today. Tomorrow we could blow them out (or get blown out) and he would have an off day anyway. You can't just punt this game...Ned Yost blew it, and that is the bottom line.

Well, according to Baseball This Morning, Freddy Garcia came out of the game last night after having shoulder tightness and throwing in the low 80's...so it is looking like Lieber will not be as available as he was this time yesterday. They speculated that he may be back in the rotation if Garcia can't start the year.

I guess that makes sense...I forget that sometimes it is in the players best interest to be released and that they might ask for it. Hopefully it was a case where the Brewers sat down with Valentine and told him where he was on the depth chart and Valentine made the decision from there. I wish him well and hope he find greener pastures with another organization.

The Joe Valentine is certainly a head scratcher. He seemed to be on the rise...I wonder if there is more to the story.

OK, I figured it was something like that...I was hoping we had raised more than a couple of hundred dollars then (what the chest was showing when I logged on this morning)

I am curious what the previous fund raising thread was for...sometime in October? I was under the impression that it was for renewing the board. Did we not raise very much money then, or was it for something else entirely?

I liked Jose Mieses, and was sad to see Mega Thomas not work out.

Wow, she's pretty http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

It isn't like playing 3B is easier in AA than it is in the Majors...defense is defense, regardless of the level. I am concerned about all of the reports about Brauns defense, but I am choosing a "wait and see" mentality. I am hoping that he can improve the way Weeks seemed to last year...but if not I will still be excited to see his bat in the line up no matter where he plays.

That's the best prediction I have seen on this site this off season!!

I was listening to the Baseball Beat on XM, and a writer on there (don't remember where from, so take this with a grain of salt) was speculating that the Blue Jays signed Thomas to make the sting of dealing Wells hurt less...he thought that the signing made it more likely that the Jays would trade Wells, and thought it would be for pitching. For what it's worth anyway.

Notice I said, a trade centering around...I did not mean to imply that they would be swaped for each other. I am sure we would have to give up much more in the deal, but I am not going to speculate on who it might be. I will leave that to you guys.

Rockies may be interested in a trade centering around Jason Jennings and Brady Clark? I am interested. MLB Hot Stove Report: "Rockies: The future of ace right-hander Jason Jennings could be up in the air. The Rockies would like to sign him to a multi-year contract, but the New York Post reports that Jennings, who could become a free agent at the end of the '07 season, is on the trade market. The Rocky Mountain News reported that Brewers center fielder Brady Clark would be a trade possibility for the Rockies if the Brewers sign Dave Roberts."

The only way I am even partially OK with bringing in Lopez is if it is as a reliever. He is not better than any of our starters...like someone else said, if we want a near 6 ERA, we will do it with one of our minor leaguers who would cost the minimum.

I believe the Seibu Lions don't actually know which team was the highest bidder. I was reading something last Friday...I will look for the link later...that stated that MLB collects the bids and only forwards the highest bid...and only the monetary value...to the Japanese team. I guess that is to make sure favorites aren't played.

Maybe not, but would Garciaparra for 120 games, and whoever we have to replace him for the 40 games he is hurt put up a .900 OPS?

If we are going to sign a guy to be a super sub, how about someone like Mark DeRosa? I don't intend to hijack the thread, but he would come with less risk (less injury history), and should be had for much less money. I don't think he could play shortstop, but he can cover pretty much everywhere else if needed.

I agree that Bonderman most likely isn't going anywhere...but...the big hype over Verlander may make Bonderman a little undervalued. Everyone is talking about how good Verlander is, and the job Kenny Rogers did. Heck, even Nate Robertson started more games in the playoffs than Bonderman did. Has he fallen out of favor? Will the press that the other guys got make management feel any differently about him? While I agree it isn't likely, it is possible. Hey, this is what the offseason is for!!

I didn't figure that it was possible, but since he wasn't drafted I didn't know if he was considered a minor league free agent, or what. Well, he fills our AA/AAA SS vacancy quite nicely if he is what people expect him to be. Hopefully he turns into something special.

Forgive my stupidity, but Perez isn't subject to the rule-V draft is he? Is he considered a free agent signee? How does it work with that? Does he get 4 years now before he is eligible, or is there some provission that allows players like him to sign minor league contracts and not be eligible? It would suck to sign him and then lose him to some other team because he is not on the 40-man.

I wouldn't mind taking a flier on Mike Gallo and Carlos Hernandez. Neither had good years last year, but both are left handed and have had success in the past.

I am very interested to see where he ends up next spring. How much will the Brewers decide to challenge him? I was very surprised to see him in Helena all last year...I hope the Brewers aren't too conservative with him.

Small market teams (like us and Tampa Bay) are perpetually looking to shed their high dollar contracts...even for good players...if they can find cheap replacements that have high ceilings. That is the rebuilding process...and most of us small market teams are perpetually rebuilding. People have targeted Crawford because we currently find ourselve possibly emerging fromt hat rebuilding process and, for a short time anyway, possibly being able to take on salary. Also, Crawfords name has appeared ont he trading block (at least in rumors). What rebuilding team isn't looking for high ceiling arms that they can get in exchange for a large contract?

Thanks Brian. It has now been saved in my favorites here at home where it wont (shouldn't) get lost.

OK, I found a copy I had made of the webpage I am talking about. None of the numbers are changed from last year, so disregard the service time column. I will look when I get home to see if the link is on my home computer, and whether it is still active or not. I pasted the players who, according to last years info, would need to be protected for this years rule-5. I am not guaranteeing this to be a comprehensive list...just some info I remember seeing. Player Years Needed Service Time Needs Protection By Chavez, Ozzie 4 6.309703 2002 Johnson, Kade 3 5.9589043 2002 Barnwell, Chris 3 4.432991 2003 Eure, Jeff 3 4.4549084 2003 Gemoll, Brandon 3 4.432991 2003 Saenz, Chris 3 4.427511 2003 Alliston, Josh 3 3.4603882 2004 Ballouli, Khalid 3 3.4384704 2004 Bibbs, Kennard 3 3.4603882 2004 Crabbe, Callix 3 3.4466894 2004 Hall, Bo 3 3.4384704 2004 Laureano, Wilfredo 4 4.5371003 2004 Rodriguez, Guilder 4 4.509703 2004 Vanden Berg, John 3 3.4603882 2004 Anderson, Drew 3 2.4631279 2005 Beresford, Simon 3 2.490525 2005 Corporan, Carlos 3 2.460388 2005 Corredor, Nestor 4 3.6657534 2005 Deevers, Robby 3 2.460388 2005 Durost, Kenny 3 2.452169 2005 Gwynn, Jr, Tony 3 2.4220319 2005 Heether, Adam 3 2.4494293 2005 Iribarren, Hernan 4 3.6575341 2005 Kloosterman, Greg 3 2.4549084 2005 Lewis, Will 3 2.460388 2005 Lluberes, Rafael 4 3.7068493 2005 Martin, Forrest 3 2.460388 2005 Montalbo, Brian 3 2.452169 2005 Murray, Josh 4 3.400114 2005 Palmisano, Lou 3 2.4658675 2005 Parra, Manny 2005 Rottino, Vinny 3 2.7917807 2005 Septimo, Agustin 4 3.8849316 2005 Slack, Nick 3 2.460388 2005 Stetter, Mitch 3 2.4631279 2005 Trofholz, Terry 3 2.4631279 2005 Vilanueva, Carlos 2005 Walker, Edwin 4 3.4603882 2005 Arias, Victor 3 1.9232875 2006 Baker, Josh 3 1.4466895 2006 Bernal, Luis 3 1.4384704 2006 Blevins, Clay 3 1.4823059 2006 Brady, Josh 3 1.2987442 2006 Breshears, Richard 3 1.3891551 2006 De La Cruz, Carlos 3 1.7561643 2006 De La Rosa, Anderson 4 2.23847 2006 DeCarlo, Derek 3 1.3864155 2006 Dillard, Tim 4 2.490525 2006 Escobar, Alcides 4 2.369977 2006 Fermaint, Charlie 4 2.460388 2006 Fermin, Jorge 4 2.0356164 2006 Festa, Tony 3 1.4384704 2006 Hawk, Tommy 4 2.452169 2006 Labasta, William 4 2.0164382 2006 Malave, Ronny 4 2.4329908 2006 Mannon, Adam 4 2.490525 2006 Marion, Ryan 4 2.4247715 2006 Morrison, Tyler 4 2.452169 2006 Opdyke, Bryan 4 2.4247715 2006 Parejo, Freddy 4 2.9917808 2006 Rasheed, Hasan 3 1.4877853 2006 Richardson, Grant 3 1.4466895 2006 Sollmann, Steve 3 1.4384704 2006 Stanczyk, Ben 3 1.3124429 2006 Theodorakos, Jared 3 1.4740866 2006 Wahpepah, Josh 3 1.4384704 2006 Wooley, Robbie 4 2.3562784 2006 On another note, I finally figured out how to post a table using codes...I wish someone should have told me that tabs were evil!!!