nate82

This deal will never happen as it is a very lopsided deal in favor of the Brewers. The Braves would have to be extremely desperate in order to do this deal and I don't see them getting that desperate especially over relievers. You might get one of those players for Axford, K-Rod, and Gonzalez but not both and that is pushing it. I don't believe Atlanta would have any interest in Axford and K-Rod Gonzalez though is another story. Gonzalez is not going to bring over either Graham or Bethancourt. Someone that I could see the Brewers getting for a Gonzalez deal would be Edward Salcedo, 3B or Cody Martin, RHP.

The Bucks are looking at veteran guards to fill a whole if they trade Jennings. Mo Williams is someone that comes to mind that I believe the Bucks would target to play either PG or SG. Hopefully this means they are out of the J.R. Smith and Chris Copeland talks. The Bucks could also trade Ersan for a late 1st round pick and take Hardaway Jr. Now that would be completely tanking for next year! It also looks like Giannis Antetokounmpo will be playing for the Bucks as they have no plans to keep him over seas. http://www.hoopsrumors.com/2013/06/draft-updates-raptors-bucks-mavs-cavs.html

[sarcasm]Don't worry Ridnour will be back on the Bucks!!![/sarcasm]

Or not and they go with another big man forward. ??????? There must be a trade coming right?

Bucks take Sergey Karasev or Shane Larkin is my prediction with the 15th pick. Money is on Sergey Karasev.

Wow crazy Anthony Bennett goes #1. What?

Jennings to be traded? This smells like something Dallas would be interested in. I know there was talks of Jennings to the Mavericks around the trade deadline and a little bit before. I am not sure that getting the Mavericks pick would be what the Bucks are looking for but I would take that pick for Jennings.

I don't believe Henderson will be traded it will probably be Axford and K-Rod who will get traded along with a couple other bullpen arms. This would also open up some roster space to include some players from the minors assuming the Brewers don't get anyone from a teams 40-man. I would also like to see someone like Thornburg, Sanchez, and others get a chance at the late inning reliever role after the deadline. From this article on MLB Trade Rumors it looks as though Axford, K-Rod, and Gonzalez are generating enough noise for a trade.

Most people working in call centers get completely different training and some of them just don't care and want to get you off the phone as quick as possible to increase their numbers. It really does depend on who you get on the other end when it comes to customer service over the phone. Most of the time you will get someone who just doesn't really care and I don't really blame them as the majority of their calls can be categorized under the verbal abuse and you are going to take it calls. After awhile a person is just going to give up and not care any more. Then there are a few people in the call center that if you get lucky enough you will actually get good service from them because they are either new to the job and have gotten the most recent training or have been there for a long time and have gotten used to the verbal abuse. Other times you are in between a transition at the call center a portion of the employees are told to do this when x comes up while other portions of the employees are not told this as their training hasn't been scheduled yet. Yes I know it is frustrating but unfortunately this is how call centers are ran for the most part.

It is going to be hot for the next few days in Phoenix as it is supposed to reach a high of 117 today and 122 for tomorrow and Saturday. I believe it is currently 108 right now in Maryvale and should be around 100-105 at game time.

From Baseball Prospectus article on Hellweg,

Baseball Prospectus on the 2013 Futures Game

Baseball prospectus has their current top 50 out now. No Brewers currently on this list. Top 5 are: #1 CF Byron Buxton (Twins) #2 OF Oscar Taveras (Cardinals) #3 SS Xander Bogaerts (Red Sox) #4 SS Francisco Lindor (Indians) #5 RHP Archie Bradley (DBacks)

You remember correctly. Melvin wanted Bumgarner in return for Hart the Giants said no and only offered Sanchez. The next year the Giants then trade Wheeler for Beltran with no chance of offering arbitration to him.

Hart is very comparable to Lance Berkman in terms of his versatility right now. I don't believe his knees are going to hold up and it would be a very risky gamble by the Brewers if they would do something like bringing Hart back for another year.

I agree as it is mostly a talent thing that is holding most of the pitchers back right now. With the strike zone you are always going to get an umpire that will call a strike zone differently. Just look at the MLB umpires each has a different strike zone as some will give the pitcher the low strike zone but won't give them the high strike zone while other umpires give the high zone but not the low zone. There are even umpires in MLB that will widen the strike zone but keep the upper and lower zone the same. The umpiring in both the minors and majors is not all that consistent while most minor league umpires will call a generous strike zone at different levels it is not all that different in the majors either. Actually in the majors with the rules that umpires have to deal with which I believe are different than in the minors in terms of pace of the game. If the game is dragging on the umpire is going to call a more generous strike zone or a less generous strike zone. You can see it in the games when a team is getting killed and it is late in the game you will see the umpire expand the strike zone a bit more.

I would put Segura in a tie with Machado. Yes Machado has more power in his bat but I like Segura's approach at the plate a lot more than I like Machado. Trout and Harper are at the top of the list with Segura and Machado falling a little behind. The gap between Trout, Segura and Machado is bigger than it is between Harper, Segura and Machado this is only because of the injury history of Harper. I am not sure Harper is ever going to stay healthy especially with the way he plays as he needs to learn when to go all out and when to hold back a little. These four are definitely the superstars of this generation right now.

If the Bucks draft Schroeder I will be watching the Brewers game with the audio stream selected WTMJ or stadium sound selected on MLB.TV.

Hooray? http://replygif.net/i/133.gif Well I hope Mark A and DM learned their lesson this year about acquiring these type of pitchers. But there could be some injury and poor performance bounce back candidates in FA with Phil Hughes, Josh Johnson, Matt Garza, Tim Lincecum, and Edinson Volquez. I think Garza and Johnson will get the biggest contracts and I don't think either is a middlin' starter but age and injury concerns wise it wouldn't be a good idea to give either a long term contract. It could be possible to get Hughes and Lincecum on a 1-year deal which wouldn't be a bad idea if the Brewers traded Lohse and Gallardo or even one of them. At worst they stink it up and you are out money for Lincecum or Hughes and at best you could either trade them mid season or keep them and offer them a QO and take the supplementary pick.

If the Yankees did come calling for Aramis Ramirez there couldn't be a worse team to match up for in terms of prospects. All of the pitchers that I would be interested in from the Yankees are injured and all but one of their top positional players are outfielders. Manny Banuelos would be a nice get for Ramirez but he is injured and didn't look all that great last year before he was injured. Ty Hensley who is in the low minors who is another good pitcher is out for the year also. The next best pitching prospect in my opinion would be Nik Turley and he really isn't all that good either and would project to be at best a mid rotation starter probably more along a #5. Angelo Gumbs would be the next best positional prospect that isn't an OF. While Gumbs is a great defensive 2B his offense is still lacking though he is still young. Like the Brewers the majority of the Yankees top talent is in the low minors well at least the ones that would be realistic in terms of a trade for Ramirez. I think a realistic trade would be Rafael De Paula, Dante Bichette JR, and Bryan Mitchell. Again most of the players that you could expect in return from Ramirez in the Yankees organization are going to be in the low minors. Unless you want to take a shot at Tyler Austin who is in AA. I am not sure I would want Austin as the main piece in a deal for Ramirez. Nothing really exciting in the Yankees organization other than Gary Sanchez. I know scouts like Austin, Slade Heathcott, and Mason Williams but I am not very high on those three OF's as I don't think they will develop the power that most scouts think they will develop. While they are all toolsy players I am not sold on any of them really. The only other player I like in the Yankees organization is Jose Ramirez but I don't believe he would be made available in a trade for Ramirez. Jose Ramirez is probably the best pitching prospect the Yankees have right now.

He may stay but he would then be shut down by early August or mid August if he stays on the active roster. Hellweg along with Nelson are having their innings watched so I doubt he is going to stay up for very long. Though the Brewers could manage Nelson's innings in AAA and then call him up in August or September and have him take over Hellweg's spot in the rotation. I believe Hellweg is going to get 2 starts and then the Brewers will see where Figaro, Narveson, and Estrada are at. If none of the three are ready to come back I wouldn't be surprised to see Hellweg stay in the rotation until one of those three are ready to come back with the Brewers.

[sarcasm]Weeks needs to give back his paycheck![/sarcasm]

I am not sure why anyone would put Maldonado, Gennett, or Schafer as core pieces. Maldonado is a defensive first backup catcher not much value there once he starts to hit arbitration. Actually I would trade Maldonado now if anyone would give me anything of a little value for him. Gennett looks to be very limited in terms of potential and position. He should be a utility infielder but he can only play 2B which is not good. He is not really a core player and once he hits arbitration I would just DFA him or try and trade him as he just won't be worth the contract he would receive in arbitration. As for Schafer a 4th OF should not be a core piece and if he is then you are looking more like the current Astros than you are a team looking to compete. I really like Schafer but in no way is he a core player. There are only two players on the Brewers right now that are core players and that is Segura and Braun every other player on the Brewers can be replaced. To me Lucroy has to start getting better behind the plate in terms of blocking balls and learning how to call a game. He frames pitches nicely but he is below average in game calling and blocking balls. He is just about average to above average offensively and doesn't really do anything great. Now for Gomez I love his defense and his average this year is rather misleading I don't believe he is a .300 hitter more along the lines of a .275 or .285 hitter. If Gomez ever improves his OBP he would move up to the core player as his defense is in the elite category.

I believe the Dbacks are one of the other teams on Gallardo's no trade list. I do not have any proof of this but it is something I believe with his past comments on the AZ law on immigration that he would have the Dbacks as one of the teams on his no trade list.

I believe with the current draft settings you are going to see more signable guys being drafted from rounds 5-10 and guys that are going to be tough signs drafted after round 10. This is a little bit different than it was in the past but it is going down the same road. For example next year if the Brewers get a top 10 pick and instead of drafting a player slotted in that range they go with a player and negotiate with that player to sign for a pick in the 20-25 range. That saved money will then be able to be applied to later rounds. For example the Brewers could get a HS player who has a strong commitment to a college and throw money at the player basically giving him a 1st round signing bonus and being under the draft pool. This is basically what the Brewers did this year in drafting players earlier than they should have been drafted and thus giving them a rather large signing bonus pool for late round players. The Royals also did this with their first pick they took a player who was thought of as being a late 1st round or early 2nd round pick and paying him basically a late 1st round signing bonus. Doing this can help a team draft and sign players in the later rounds for guys who are tough signs.