ILuvDaBush

The drum beat for the Bill Hall Bandwagon. Bill Hall has Lasik. So can we begin to expect 35+HR?

1. Mat Gamel 3B AAA 2. Alcides Escobar SS AAA 3. Jeremy Jeffress RHP AA 4. Angel Salome C AAA 5. Jonathan Lucroy C AA 6. Brett Lawrie C Rookie-league 7. Taylor Green 3B AA 8. Lorenzo Cain CF AAA 9. Jake Odorizzi RHP low-A 10. Cole Gillespie LF AAA That would be my guess, though I'm very excited to see where Sickels ranks Lawrie. He is notoriously conservative with players who have no track record.

So now that the Bucks are well into this season, who are the cornerstones? I have to think the Prince, Vanilla Sky, and Sessions are the future, while Redd and Jefferson are the present. Bogut seems to be both the present and future. Everyone else seems to be expendable. Chuckie V. would be a good piece to keep, but I doubt we have the necessary funds and he doesn't fit the Skiles-mold. He brings good offense, and good help defense, but he is useless in the post on the defensive side. And I still don't like having to watch Danny Gadz hacking his way to the bench.

Growing up, I was actually a fan of the Pale Hose, and, especially, Frank Thomas. My parents would bring me to Brewer games, and I would pout and wax about how my beloved White Sox would trounce the hapless Brewer fodder we were laying witness to. Then Frank Thomas began his original descent, and I became more fixated on football (as that was the sport I primarily played in HS). However, my freshman year of college (actually the summer after), I was a parkie in Green Bay and many of our young patrons were fans of the Brews. They said I reminded them of a young Richie Sexson because of my height and power, so I slowly gravitated back to the team I grew up loving to hate, but it was more a passing fancy. I would go to games, but only because other friends were going. Then the Brewers drafted a player whose power was comparable to the great ig Hurt, as well as his plate discipline. Well I immediately fell headfirst back into baseball. Then, Richie was traded, and instead of losing all interest, I was enthralled. How could a team trade away the only premier player it possessed? The fact that the Sexson trade became "The Giving Tree" for the organization probably amplifies its importance in my ascension to baseball freak. Since then, Prince/Rickie/Yo/Hart/Bush have become my perpetually underrated faves. What's funny is that I would expound in length about how Ryan Braun was going to take the league by storm, only to have him do so, but to such an extent, I can't help but call him overrated now. And because of this belief, there is nary a fan amongst my friends who thinks I am a "true blue fan" as I would trade Braun at the first FAIR offer (ie, Paps/Ellsbury/Buccholz/Bay...how is that NOT fair?).

Hoffman is probably the top option for our dollar, but that's because the dollar won't be his driver. He will have his pick, and he will probably choose the option that best allows him to begin his onslaught on Mariano Rivera's postseason numbers.

I would be behind the acquisition of Peavy. It could just be the Padres playing us off the Cubs but if it could be done, I would hope Melvin would at least inquire. It continues to seem like the price wouldn't be as steep as the Mariners paid for Bedard last year and it would save us money over what CC would cost. Also, as an aside, Peavy is no slouch with the bat, either. He hit at Petco, but he is no Sheets.

Dye is a FA after this season, so we could theoretically be the recipients of his Walk Year Numbers Spike, or we could be the recipients of a bag of donuts best exemplified by Andruw Jones' Walk Year PLUMMET of 2 years ago. As for Jenks, I just have a hard time giving up the quality the Pale Hose would obviously demand for D-Bow Part Deux.

What's the ceiling on his SB potential? Could he be a 50SB candidate? Even with 35-40 SB potential, and a .300 AVE, along with his defense, he has phenomenal value.

Villy/Brewer for Jenks. We give them two controllable pieces, with upside, for a piece with questionable control. I'm not a huge fan of Jenks, and I think Villy could be better than Parra, but the Brewz are in need of a closer.

Well his potential is so high, the Pirates are willing to wait on his arm.

I'm just worried about the obligatory career resurgence that inevitably comes with selling your soul to Tony LaRussa.

Sabean probably thought JJ's age diminished his value. He doesn't have the experience of a Vizquel or Alou or Renteria.

What I mean is that the Brewers are hopefully shopping at the premium pitching FA bazaar. Last year, they attempted to sign the best FA closer (our own Coco), and when that fell through, we signed the next most expensive relief pitcher to change hands. Hoffman will be able to pick his team, and I doubt money is at the top of his list. I could see him actually going to STL or LAA. Fuentes is an interesting case, and we could be players. But I just continue to hope that we sign K-Rod. His presence in this market is an anomoly.

I wonder if Brent Lillibridge is being considered for their vacant shortstop position. There has been a lot of talk about moving Alexei Ramirez to short, but Alexei doesn't have the arm for short.

The best time to have traded him would have been the year after we traded for him. He is what he is. He limits walks, strikes out his fair share, and can be counted on to give up that one big inning. Even during his near-no-no bid (was there, 5 rows behind home plate), he almost lost it (though, obviously, the biggest culprit was Yost). However, I still hold out hope he can replicate 2006's peripherals, or perhaps exceed them. If and when Sheets comes back, we will need a reliable starter like Bush to take the ball every fifth day, guaranteed. Yo will be a year removed from a torn ACL and Parra's innings will still be monitored. The Soup Nazi...good #5 but I'd prefer more to skip him than to rely on him.

I would be down with signing Dunn to a 4/52-56M deal. He knows the NL Central and as mentioned earlier, we would have one of the most potent "meat-of-the-orders" in baseball. Imagine if we also signed The Muscle. 2B Weeks SS Hardy RF Braun 1B Fielder LF Dunn 3B Muscle/Hall/Gamel, up around May CF Cameron C Kendall, with a sprinkle of Angel P YO!!! What could be a reasonable expectation for R/9? How many HR/9?

And what happens if Prince goes Papi-Plus on the NL and puts up a .315/.435/.680? If he slims down and goes back to the 20 year old who felt completely slighted for the critiques of his physique and the comparisons to his father? I know that line is insane, but he is the ONLY player on the team who could dream of putting up a line like that (.435OBP is out of any realm of possibility for the playboy formerly of THE U). This is a very, VERY big year for Prince. Given his body type, I could easily see this season setting the precedent for what to expect from the Regal One. He could obliterate all comparisons to his father, or he could be out by the second game with a hernia or stroke. So probably at the top of Melvin's X-Mas list should be an ab-roller or Total Gym for Prince.

What about moving Corey to center provisionally? Double switch him to right and put in Jr. Gwynny to man center? Obviously a trade of Cameron would be necessary, and really, are Cameron's contributions on a 1/$10M worth less than what it would take to sign Abreu? Is it so wrong to imagine Cameron could put up an .875OPS next year, free of the 25-game cloud?

If you can get K-Rod for 4/54M, would it be the end of the world? I think the longer K-Rod stays unemployed, the better the chances the Brewers are going to end up with him. He would be the only pitcher on the market outside of the Big Bucket of Gold who could be considered "special." And honestly, even with the dip in velocity, he still can crank it to the mid-high nineties on occasion. He would obviously be worth more to us than Coco would have been, especially given his age. I've long been enamored with K-Rod, and don't see why everyone is so afraid of him. 4/54M is definitely low, but there aren't many teams out there ready to splurge on a closer. And while we would lose a pick, we would gain a top 3-5 closer. But if giving the largest contract ever for a Brewer pitcher...to a closer makes you a bit squeamish, what about a package deal for Putz/Beltre?

(cough) Lofgren (cough). I'm just coughing...saying that given our lack of power lefties in our system, Lofgren would be a good buy-low bounceback candidate.

Agree wholeheartedly about Derek Holland, but then again, with any young pitcher, TINSTAPP, especially such a young one. As for Escobar, I could see him being rated higher than Gamel, if they think his bursitic elbow is a concern. Then again, they could also have Gamel in the 5-10 range if they think his elbow is of no true concern. And as for Angel, if they subtracted points from Jeffress, "Doc Gooden, stuff-wise, would have led the full-season ballers in K/9", then Angel would probably be in the 60-75 range for missing time as well. Wrong or right, our minor league system has the reputation of being drug abusers....and pitcher abusers given the lines put up by our Huntsville squad this year.

What are the chances the Bucks could package Charlie V. with Danny Gadz, and pick up something...less useless? Dare I say I miss the days of Danny Santiago?? No, too far. But I miss Zaza and his untapped (even to this day) potential. Imagine if we would have signed Big Z instead of the Flying Dutchman, for a far more palatable contract, as well. The Larry Harris Regime. Thank you!

They must be feeling the pinch of our economy finally. :-)

Decent pick-up. On a minor league deal, it's a very astute deal. Low risk, high reward. he has 20-25HR power from the left side, so he could be a pretty good pinch-hitter. Also, it would seem that Brad Nelson will be with the big club next year for sure then, or with another organization.

Because the Cubs want to keep Marshall and Fontenot... I guess they think their package of Kevin Hart/Corey Patterson/"Lou Piniella's used jock from last year" should be enough for Jake Peavy, and really, who amongst us could turn down that package, even for our first born?