nate82

We can knock the Orioles out of the running for Gallardo as they are one of the 10 teams on his no trade list. Source at about the 40 second mark. Not like this is a surprise as the Orioles are unwilling to trade any of their top two prime pieces so it looks like they were out of it anyway.

I would like to get a 2nd pick in the 1st round and possibly take Tim Hardaway Jr in the late 1st round or early 2nd round. While Hardaway isn't the greatest scoring or defensive SG in the draft he sure is physical enough to play at SG. He is listed at 6-6 and he is rather athletic. I would put his defense at SG as being average to below average but I believe he can improve. He can get to the basket rather well all he needs to do is learn how to shoot from long distance. I would be willing to bet on him improving as he works hard to improve his game. Definitely don't want to see the Bucks taking him where they currently sit but if they can get a 2nd 1st round pick in the 20's I would definitely be interested in taking him there or in the early 2nd round.

I wouldn't mind having Paul Pierce on the team if it meant the Bucks went young at SG and PG but that is probably not going to happen.

Wow labeled already and you probably don't know anything about him.

Boston actually fits this more and would probably do a deal in Gomez and Gallardo. I don't believe the Red Sox are going to resign Ellsbury and the deal that Gomez signed is probably what they would want to give Ellsbury but I do not see Boras agreeing to that. I believe Ellsbury will get something similar to what BJ Upton got from the Braves or at least closer to that than what Gomez received. But I believe a deal involving Gomez to Boston would happen in the off season and not now. I could see the Red Sox giving up Cecchini, Renaudo, Michael Almanzar and Henry Owens. I was thinking of putting Barnes in there as well but that maybe asking for a little bit to much. So that gives the Brewers a 1B prospect with a lot of power in AA, a league average 3B, a strong SP in Renaudo and a work in progress in Henry Owens who could add more velocity. Another idea would be to trade for Rubby De La Rosa, Cecchini, and Blake Swihart. I really like Rubby De La Rosa more than Renaudo, Barnes, or Webster as I think he is more polished and has more tools as a pitcher than any of those three. Watch his fastball at about the 30 second and 50 second marks as it has some really nice movement on his fastball at 98+. http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=17292835&c_id=mlb De La Rosa definitely has the makings of a future ace or at the very worst he is a future late inning reliever. I am not sure he is who I would want in return for Gallardo as the center piece. I would really want something like Renaudo and Barnes along with Cecchini or Swihart.

Well at least you admit that you are old and probably the reason why because there was a lot of "best music" in the 90's and early 2000's and even now. But most people are just stuck in the past and can not even understand that music changes from decade to decade. The 50's music is not anything like the 60's and the 60's are not anything like the 70's and so on and so on. In the 90's you have some great bands in Pantera, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Tool and many more great bands and music from the 90's. There is plenty of good music now it is just that no one wants to change their taste in music and actually discover some good music and most don't want to change what they listen to as being good music. Some good music right now and yes I know it is not the hair metal that you are used to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBMT3OMEPwk

Well for one both Suppan and Lohse have been Mark A ideas. Melvin did not want Lohse and was willing to go with what the Brewers had in terms of youth and Mark A wanted someone with more experience in the rotation which lead to the Lohse signing. Scott Boras didn't even work with Melvin in getting a contract done he only worked with Mark A this whole off season. It is not really speculation as you can follow the evidence or you can just ignore it and call it speculation and nothing more if you want. Mark A was going along with Melvin until the pitching absolutely was garbage in spring training. This then triggered the signing of Lohse which was Mark A telling Melvin sign Lohse now.

Marlins 22-49, Mets 27-41, Astros 27-46, Brewers 29-41, White Sox 29-40, Cubs 29-41 I doubt the Brewers will get the 1st pick even if Braun does not return. Right now the Brewers have the 4th pick in next years draft and they will probably get a pick between 5-10 unless they go on a winning streak like they did last year. The Brewers projected W/L for the rest of the season is 45-47 which would give the Brewers a record of 74-88 which would put them in the top 10 pick range. It is almost impossible for the Brewers to get the 1st pick. It is more likely they will finish with a record that they will get the 5th or 8th pick in the draft.

Yes that is exactly what I am saying. A manager can plead their case for a player to stay or go back down but in the end it is the general managers decision on player movement.

That should be in Blue, right? Gindl is actually still on the MLB roster, right? Wow, RRR never ceases to amaze Gindl is still on the active roster and the manager has very little say on who stays or goes down on the roster. DM is the one who sets the roster.

The Giants have actually had a better offense than most will want you to believe. In 2012 the Giants ranked 12th in runs scored and had a wRC+ of 99 which is just below league average. Not really a pedestrian offense. Now for 2012 the Reds and the Braves actually had a rather pedestrian/crappy offense as both teams had a wRC+ below 100. The Reds had a wRC+ of 93 and the Braves had a wRC+ of 92. So no you can't get away with a pedestrian offense and win the world series you need at least an about average offense which nearly all of the recent world series winners have had a wRC+ of 98 or higher 2012 Giants (99), 2011 Cardinals (112), 2010 Giants (98), 2009 Yankees (117), and the 2008 Phillies (98). If you look back in 2011 the Giants had a wRC+ of 87 and missed the playoffs why did they miss the playoffs that year if there pitching is so great? The answer is because their offense just did not generate enough runs for their pitchers and thus missed the playoffs because of their offense. You can't win with just pitching alone a well below average offense is not going to make it into the playoffs just like a well below average pitching will not.

Normally guys who are have raw power will normally strike out more as they expand their strike zone more.

Hmm, I looked at it 3 times today, they must have made an error and corrected it. There's still a chance then. No there wasn't an error they were just assuming Ratterre would not sign below slot value and would sign for at or around slot value which then would have made the Brewers go over.

For the Brewers not to lose a pick next year they can give Denson $100k plus a signing bonus of $72,530. I am not sure if that would be enough or not to lure him away from a college commitment.

I put this in the other thread but a Haren like trade that the Dbacks did with the Angels would be something I could see Melvin doing this Porcello, Castellanos, and Jake Thompson for Gallardo and Axford.

Right but I don't think any GM past or present would be crazy enough to trade a high level prospect for a relief pitcher especially now when prospects are treated like the worlds greatest diamonds. There is a 99.99% chance that this is correct. This is nothing like the Greinke trade as Axford has a rather low value right now. I don't think the Tigers would do this trade if Axford is pitching like he was 2 or 3 years ago. You might get a top ranked prospect but I don't see how a team would give up their #1 and best prospect. Joe Rogers would actually be an over pay by the Tigers as he already has two good pitches and most scouts believe he can become a starter and if he does he could be a #3 with an upside as a #2 but that is if everything goes perfectly otherwise he is a bullpen guy. The value is just not there for an Axford for a Castellanos trade maybe if you add in someone like Gallardo but would the Tigers want to do that trade? I am not sure though Sanchez just went on the DL and depending on how long he is there I could see the Tigers wanting to a make a move for Gallardo. But that seems like selling low on the Brewers part if they are only getting Castellanos in return for Gallardo and Axford. Would really need something more and I fear that Melvin and Mark A would insist on Porcello coming back with Castellanos in that deal. Not really an ideal trade but kind of reminds me of a the Haren trade a few years ago from the D-backs to the Angels but instead of young pitching and a veteran pitcher the Brewers will get a semi young pitcher and a young hitter. Not bad but not really what I would like to see happen.

2012 AZL Brewers No one named Hernandez was on the team last year that match your description. Players from the DSL. 2B: Jose Sermo SS: Angel Ortega OF: Jose Garcia Edgardo Rivera Jose Pena Dionis Hinojosa

We don't unless you want to trade Braun for him.

I think defensively he doesn't belong in A ball. He caught 33 of the team's first 47 games, which is a little more than 2/3 of the games while getting beat up in every single game I watched on TV or in person. OK maybe I was thinking of someone else on WI who is getting limited AB's. But Helena does have the DH so it should allow him to develop offensively more than he would be in WI I believe. Defensively he is definitely not ready at catcher and I will just leave it as that as I don't believe he should be playing catcher at all anyways.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Ellis back with the Bucks for next year at a rather highly inflated contract.

I wonder if it still would be too much to give up for Blanks? Are you saying the Padres might give the Brewers... a break? I wish. I have wanted to get Blanks on this team ever since Prince left for FA and a little bit before that. It would take a whole lot more than Fiers to get Blanks now you are probably looking at someone like Hellweg plus Nelson and a couple of other players to get Blanks.

What the Phillies got nothing for Pence that is news to me. The Phillies got the Giants 2nd best prospect in their farm system in Tommy Joseph a 1B/C who has a lot of power and is currently ranked as the 3rd best prospect for the Phillies this year.

I wanted to trade Axford in the offseason to Detroit for Porcello but that is out of the question now. I think the best possible outcome for a trade with Detroit and Axford would be Logan Ehlers or Joe Rogers and someone like Hernan Pérez. The Brewers would have to add someone else in the mix and I would look at possibly trying to flip Thornburg or Gonzalez along with Axford if the Tigers were willing to give up Jake Thompson along with Joe Rogers. I don't believe Axford alone will get Thompson as the talent difference is just to much of a gap.

I wonder if it still would be too much to give up for Blanks?

"Thankful to have started the season in Appleton, thanks to all the fans who made it home, I can't wait to be back! On to Helena, Montana!" I couldn't help but be reminded of just how opposite-ly Lawrie conducted himself over similar issues when with the Brewers. Sure don't miss that dope. It's great to see Clint have such a well-adjusted attitude to the lumps you take as a young ballplayer. I'm sure you'll be back to Wisconsin soon enough, Clint! I think this is more to do with getting Coulter more playing time than anything else. He just wasn't getting enough consistent playing time when in WI and I hope he starts nearly every game while in Helena.