nate82

Deep down my biggest fear is that Gamel comes into spring training and does something stupid like injure himself while taking batting practice because he didn't warm up correctly or something that he does that lands him in the dog house where he never gets out of it and is either traded or DFA'd because of that.

I doubt that Lawrie would have gotten Pineda last off season. Maybe this off season you could have made that case but with Fielder leaving and there would be a vacancy at 3B I don't see how Melvin would have traded Lawrie for Pineda. Maybe if he had a deal in place with Ramirez. I also believe the Brewers do not make the playoffs without Marcum and Greinke.

Guys that can throw hard and have good stuff don't sign for Looper, Davis, or Wolf like money they sign for Lee and Sabathia type of money. The Brewers really can not afford to do that in free agency so the team is basically stuck with guys like Davis, Looper, and Wolf for free agency additions. I would rather see the Brewers develop their own power arm pitchers but that can be a rather tough task to do. I would prefer the Brewers to sign Greinke to a long-term extension over Marcum as I just don't see Marcum working out over a long period of time. I would rather let the Red Sox and the Yankees overpay for Marcum in terms of years and dollars. Greinke is definitely the player the Brewers should extend. If the price is right and if Greinke will take a deal like what Weaver did with the Angels I would be fine with that but that is probably more fantasy than it is reality.

This essentially screws over the small-market teams like Milwaukee.A rent-a-player deal for the playoff run, which Milwaukee made in `08 and `11, would be practically impossible. And the money to keep a free agent and at least get something would be daunting. Meanwhile, the big-market teams can make the arby offer OR they can just hang back and pick off the Marcums, Harts, and other players practically at will. Not really true at all. Not much is going to change in that regard. There are not that many Sabathia trades every year and basically what this does is makes more Greinke and Marcum like trades happen more as teams will be less willing to give up elite talent because they will lose a draft pick compensation if it is only for half of the year. This then in turn makes the trade market more competitive as more teams like Milwaukee are able to get these players earlier on and improving their chances of winning. What if the rules were set in place before the year and the Indians decided to trade Sabathia before the season started and Milwaukee got Sabathia at the beginning of the year. To me that would have been worth more to the Brewers to have Sabathia for a whole year more so than a half of a season. Sabathia for a whole year and you are talking about the Brewers winning the NL Central versus winning the Wild Card. I believe you are going to see players who are now 1 year away from free agency either traded before the season starts or the team will hold onto them and get the draft picks by offering arbitration. Depending on the player this can be good or bad and along with the salary this could be really good for small market teams as they are probably not going to offer arbitration to the players and getting something is always better than nothing. There will still be KRod trades and the small market teams will do that because the players being given up for these players will probably not amount to anything at all at best these players are AAAA players.

I wonder if Fukudome would do a minor league contract probably not because he could probably get a better deal going back and playing in Japan.

Player OTY: Caleb Gindl Pitcher OTY: Kyle Heckathorn (I think he will figure everything out this year and become a dominant pitcher in the minors)NCBS: Nick Ramirez (I think he is going to mash the ball and that is probably about it)MIP: D'Vontrey Richardson (OK a stretch here yeah I know he had a rather OK season last year but I think again like Heckathorn this is the year Richardson puts everything together and shines) What I am really excited about is are the Brewers going to be aggressive with Arcia and if they are will he be in rookie ball or will they put him in low A? Also Yadiel Rivera is another question mark as I think he could be placed in low A ahead of Arcia. I am also hoping Cameron Garfield will be healthy this year and he can show some promise. He might have to be moved off of catcher with that knee injury he suffered. I am not 100% on that but I believe his bat could improve where he could play 1B or a corner OF spot.

I would love to see Gooden as the starting C as that would mean the Bucks would get a guaranteed top 5 pick in the draft.

Supposedly with the new CBA there is pick trading but there is very little known exactly how it is going to work or if teams will be able to trade picks or trade the players they draft for other players.

I really wish the Nats would have signed Prince as that would have given the Brewers the possibility of getting Gavin Cecchini a lot more likely. But if the Brewers draft any of these players or get the chance to draft them I would be happy: David Dahl, Addison Russell, Jesmuel Valentin Diaz, Lewis Brinson, Albert Almora, Adam Brett Walker, Gavin Cecchini, and Duane Underwood

First the Giants have to make a decision on keeping Cain or Lincecum or both. That leaves very little left over to sign a player like Prince. Now for the Padres they don't really have the cash as they would have to offer Prince a deal similar or better than what Pujols got. Again it is about winning and the stats for Prince going to the Padres doesn't help him out at all and to some extent the Giants also. Secondly Boras really isn't choking at all. The market is rather dry for big time free agents as neither Boston, both New York teams, both Chicago teams, and the Dodgers are not spending this off season for different reasons. If Boston, or one of the New York teams had room for Prince he would actually have been signed already and if the ownership situation with the Dodgers would have been resolved before the off season Prince would be a Dodger already especially after the Angels got Pujols. Finally Prince is not going to accept a shorter deal. He is going to get a deal at a minimum that will be 5-years but I am going to bet on him getting a 6 or 7 year deal with an opt out clause after year 3 which has been a popular thing with a lot of the big named free agents (Sabathia, Rodriguez, etc.).

One thing that has been bugging me about this is that the Mariners have Felix Hernandez who could have gotten them Montero and more. Why trade a younger pitcher in Pineda when you could have gotten more out of someone like Felix Hernandez. If you are looking at the future the Mariners probably would have done better trading Hernandez than trading Pineda. To me this is still a 100% win for the Yankees and a big loss for the Mariners given that they traded the wrong player. Again this is going to come around and bite Jack Z in the butt and will ultimately cost him his job as a GM. This will probably go down as what not to do as a GM when making trades.

The Orioles are definitely not going to sign Fielder unless they give Fielder a rather large contract the same with Seattle. I believe Fielder wants to play for a team that has a chance to compete so that leaves out Baltimore and Seattle unless they give him a contract that is as good or better than the one Pujols got and I don't believe the Orioles or the Mariners will do that. I still believe Prince signs with the Nationals on a 7-year deal where he can opt out after the 3rd year. If the Dodgers sale was further along I would believe they would be a more serious contender for Prince. The only other team that I think could come in and sneak in and steal Prince would be Toronto but I don't think they are all that serious in signing Prince.

I'll use Jungmann as an example, when I watch him pitch, I see a #3 best case early in his career, but he's also likely to at least be #5. He's more likely to contribute at MLB vs a Lopez, but he's also less likely to be someone that will headline a staff. Jungmann could certainly tighten his secondary stuff and be that top of the rotation guy while Lopez could be the next Seth Lintz, While we never know how things will turn out on draft day, I liked the Lopez pick more than the Jungmann pick from an impact talent standpoint. Mostly the opinions on this topic will come down to personal preference, I'm coming from a more pragmatic place, we've traded nearly every potential impact player from the 2nd wave, we desperately need more high end talent in the system. But for the Brewers I actually like these picks. Sure they are not the players I would like to see in the minors but they are players the Brewers need. Right now the Brewers have a lot of #3 ceiling probably #5 type pitchers in their farm system. This is the type of young pitching the Brewers need. I would rather see the Brewers have a lot of #3-5 starters in the farm system because that means the team is less likely to sign a guy like a Looper, Wolf, or Suppan in free agency. Fiers, Scarpetta, Jungmann and others are exactly what the Brewers need in terms of prospects. Peralta who I am not the biggest fan of is probably the only pitcher who could be a #1 or a #2 starter in the majors. While I would love to have more of those pitchers in the minors for the Brewers the reality is that it is just not all that likely to happen. I am actually rather pleased with the Brewers farm system when it comes to pitching prospects but when it comes to the bats that is where the farm is lacking as there is basically no plus power bat in the group and there is only really one toolsy player in D'Vo in the farm system right now. I'll wait and see on some of the other players but right now D'Vo is the only true toolsy player the Brewers have. There is a lot of roster filler for bats but that is about it and the only impact player the Brewers have in terms of a bat in the minors right now has a lot of question marks to him in Gennett. If the Nationals sign Prince I hope the Brewers go with an impact bat with the Nationals pick as the farm system is completely lacking that big bat. I believe the Brewers can relax a little on the pitching for now not ignore it but they can relax on it for now. I really would like to see the Brewers somehow either get Gavin Cecchini a high school SS/2B will probably be a rather good SS in the majors. Deven Marrero who will probably be gone when the Brewers pick is another SS I would love to see the Brewers get into their farm system. Deven Marrero would be an impact SS and would fix that position rather quickly within 2-3 years. From what I have seen of Marrero playing he reminds me of Hardy before his ankle injury. I am not sure you could find a more sure handed and slick fielding SS in the draft than Marrero he has every tool you would want from a SS though his range like Hardy's will not be all that great though he does position himself like Hardy very good and he has the arm like Hardy has. Marrero though will probably be gone within the first 10 picks well before the Brewers get to pick. The Brewers do need to draft more athletic players though as I am always in love with guys who can do more than one thing great. Maybe this is why I like D'Vo better than any of the other Brewers prospects. I really do like the draft coming up this year in terms of bats that the Brewers could get both high school and college there looks to be some very good bats to choose from. Adam Brett Walker is probably my favorite as he reminds me of Adam Dunn and I am a huge Dunn fan. I still wish the Brewers could have gotten C.J. Cron last year as he would have been a fast mover with a good bat at a position of need for the Brewers.

Michael Pineda is a better prospect than Montero. This is going to be a bad deal and one that is probably going to get Jack Z fired in the future as this one is going to turn around and bite him rather hard. People complain about Melvin's trades wow this is just an outright bad trade for the Mariners as they could have gotten a whole lot more than just Montero for Pineda. I don't see Montero staying at catcher and this now gives the Mariners another 1B option with Smoak. I just do not get this deal at all for the Mariners. I doubt the Mariners will be able to keep Felix so this looks to be a bad move on their part.

Baltimore was never really a serious fit for Fielder and it looks as though Fielder doesn't want to play in Seattle I can see why with the parks he would be playing in. The Rangers and the Blue Jays are the only other AL teams that would be interested in Fielder and I don't see the Blue Jays doing anything over five years for Prince. That leaves the Rangers who are currently involved with Darvish and Fielder has to wait for that to play out. Which now leaves really only one NL team unless the Dodgers somehow get new ownership in the next few weeks here who would also be interested in Fielder. To me the Nationals really are the only team here that is a fit for Fielder. I believe Fielder and Boras are waiting on the conclusion of the Darvish situation with the Rangers. If the Rangers don't get Darvish Prince will be in Texas but if the Rangers sign Darvish Fielder will be with the Nationals.

Adam Brett Walker does have incredible power, and he's from Milwaukee. I'm not sure if his power is the best in this class, as prep IF/RHP Joey Gallo (a Russell Branyan clone) and Georgia Southern OF Victor Roache would be in the same conversation. I've written before that I'm a little concerned with Walker's swing, as I think he's going to be prone to strikeouts, possibly as severe as Adam Dunn is. But he also has a Dunn-type upside in regards to productivity. He has been compared to Frank Thomas, but Thomas was an incredible athlete (Auburn TE IIRC) and one of the best, most underrated and complete hitters the game has ever seen. I would think both Walker and Traver would be realistic possibilities for the Brewers when they pick. Cecchini actually is the one player you mentioned that I think may be gone when the Brewers pick (at least where their pick stands now) given his defense and upside at a premium position. Barrett's a future short reliever. Watch him pitch if you can sometime, or find some video online, and you'll see he's about as max effort as they come. Speaking of Cecchini, if he is available, I think the Brewers have to take him, and it's something I've been meaning to bring up in this forum for quite some time. Yes, you should never draft for need, but the Brewers have a severe need for a SS. Jose Valentin's son Jesmuel should be another target of theirs for the same reason. Hopefully Prince signs with the Nationals somehow and the Brewers get the 16th pick in the draft where I think the Brewers could possibly get Cecchini but maybe he will be gone by then who knows. I think Adam Brett Walker would be a perfect pick for the Brewers either their first round pick or in the supplemental round. The one thing I am worried about though is that the Brewers continue with the drafting of fast movers though Adam Brett Walker could be seen as a fast mover. I am hoping the Brewers consider an impact bat this year as they need an impact bat and I thought CJ Cron last year would have been that guy but I would be very happy with Adam Brett Walker as he could be like Dunn but I also agree I don't see any Frank Thomas in him. Dunn really is the perfect comparison with Adam Brett Walker as I think he could possibly be a very valuable 1B or corner OF but more than likely he is destined to be a 1B and he is a huge target at 1B. I did get to see Barrett play a little bit last year but not enough to notice anything. I wonder if he will be available in the 3rd round or later for the Brewers to take because I think he could be a good closer or setup man or a very good bullpen piece for the Brewers. I am going to try and catch some ASU games this year as I am now living in Arizona now so hopefully I can see some games here. Also colby who are the players to watch for in the PAC-12 this year? Do you think Deven Marrero could possibly fall to the Brewers as he is another player I think would be perfect for the Brewers at SS. He will probably be average offensively at SS but I think his defense could well make up for that and from what I have seen from him he reminds me of Hardy before the ankle injury. There is also Brady Rodgers on the ASU team and I believe he was drafted by the Brewers in 09 and it looks as though he maybe a late 1st round, supplemental or 2nd round pick.

Maybe but depending on the writers Bonds, Schilling, Clemens, and Biggio could steal some of his votes away along with Raines. I think the best chance both Raines and Bagwell have at making the hall of fame would be in 2016 when there is really only one big name left and that would be Griffey Jr. though Pettite could take some votes away from them also. 2015 looks to be a very interesting year for the hall of fame. You could possibly have Pedro, Smoltz, and Johnson all going into the hall of fame at one time which maybe the greatest pitching trio to ever be enshrined in one day in a long time.

Braun and Prince are probably locks. Weeks, Yo, and Hart have a chance while Sabathia and Hoffman I could probably find others more deserving than these two.

2. Any other high turnover jobs not involving food? Call center jobs usually have high turnover more so than jobs involving food. There is a lot of burnout from those jobs and most are usually part-time jobs. 3. Is there any place to look I may not be thinking of? Classified ads are almost nonexistent, and I've seen no ads on Careerbuilder for basic entry level jobs. Even though the call center jobs normally state they want experience my general experience with those jobs is that they will hire anyone that is a warm body as long as you can speak clearly

Maddux, Thomas, and Kent won't be eligible until 2014. From http://baseballhall.org/hall-famers/rules-election/future-eligibles : 2013: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Craig Biggio, Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza, Kenny Lofton, David Wells, Julio Franco, Shawn Green, Steve Finley, Roberto Hernandez, Jeff Cirillo, Jose Valentin, Reggie Sanders, Jeff Conine, Jose Mesa, Royce Clayton, Bob Wickman, Ryan Klesko, Aaron Sele, Woody Williams, Rondell White, Mike Lieberthal, Tony Batista, Mike Stanton, Sandy Alomar Jr., Damian Miller, Todd Walker 2014: Moises Alou, Armando Benitez, Sean Casey, Jose Cruz Jr., Ray Durham, Damion Easley, Jim Edmonds, Keith Foulke, Eric Gagne, Tom Glavine, Luis Gonzalez, Scott Hatteberg, Jacque Jones, Todd Jones, Jeff Kent, Jon Lieber, Esteban Loaiza, Paul Lo Duca, Greg Maddux, Matt Morris, Mike Mussina, Trot Nixon, Hideo Nomo, Jay Payton, Kenny Rogers, Richie Sexson, J.T. Snow, Shannon Stewart, Frank Thomas, Mike Timlin, Steve Trachsel, Jose Vidro 2015: Rich Aurilia, Aaron Boone, Paul Byrd, Tony Clark, Carlos Delgado, David Dellucci, Jermaine Dye, Alan Embree, Darin Erstad, Kelvim Escobar, Cliff Floyd, Nomar Garciaparra, Brian Giles, Tom Gordon, Eddie Guardado, Randy Johnson, Mark Loretta, Pedro Martinez, Ramon Martinez, Doug Mientkiewicz, Kevin Millar, Troy Percival, B.J. Ryan, Jason Schmidt, Gary Sheffield, John Smoltz, Julian Tavarez, Jarrod Washburn, David Weathers 2016: Garret Anderson, Brad Ausmus, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark Grudzielanek, Trevor Hoffman, Andy Pettitte, Mike Sweeney, Billy Wagner

He's either racist or the type of guy who has no clue about history, our country, or the extreme bigotry that people went through and still go through today. Or here is another probably more plausible explanation they are friends and joking around. I haven't seen anything that points to him being a racist which I could care less about in a baseball player. Everyone has their own opinion and I could care less about a baseball players opinion on politics, race, religion, economics, or anything else that doesn't pertain to what that player is doing on the field.

I hope the Bucks continue playing like they have. At least they will get a good pick in a very mediocre draft coming up this year. The only player who will probably go #1 that I would like the Bucks to draft would be Andre Drummond from UConn. Not sure he will be coming out after his freshman year but he is probably the only player that I am a little bit excited about coming into the 2012 draft. Another player Rakeem Christmas who will be a project if he comes out after his freshman year is another player I would like to see the Bucks get. Finally Perry Jones is probably the only other player between Christmas and Drummond that I would like to see the Bucks get but Jones is more of a project than Christmas would be. Please Bucks just tank for the whole year and maybe that magical stupid ping pong will give you the #1 pick. (I hate the stupid NBA Draft lottery).

colby what about Adam Brett Walker. To me he looks like the best power bat in the whole draft something that is missing in the Brewers farm system right now. To me Walker looks like a right handed version of Adam Dunn with his long swing but yet he has a decent eye at the plate and will take his walks. The other player that I am intrigued by is Mitchell Traver especially with his size and I believe his fastball could develop into the upper 90's as he currently stands in the mid 90's right now. Jake Barrett at Arizona State looks to be another college pitcher that the Brewers would be interested in drafting similar to Jungman and Bradley last year. But I would prefer Adam Brett Walker other than Gavin Cecchini who I think would probably be a better pick if the Mariners would sign Fielder if he would be available in the 2nd round. I know it is rather early to ask this but do you think either Adam Brett Walker or Mitchell Traver would be available for the Brewers to take either in the 1st round?

There is a way for the Brewers to afford Fielder though the contract would have to be almost nearly all the way back loaded for it to work. If Prince wanted an opt out clause after three years that would even be better. Example of a contract that the Brewers could afford. (note I am not saying the Brewers should do this) 7 years at $175m opt out after year 3. Year 1: $18mYear 2: $22mYear 3: $22mYear 4: $28mYear 5: $28mYear 6: $28mYear 7: $29m The best option would be for a team option after year 4 if the player wanted to be able to opt out after year 3. The biggest risk would be Fielder dropping off by a wide margin of production after year 3 and the team would be stuck with a basically unmoveable contract on their hands. Wouldn't be the greatest contract for the Brewers but the team could afford it not sure Prince or Boras would accept this kind of a deal. The Brewers would be getting one of the better 1B in the league at 3-years and $62m if Prince opted out after year 3.

1. Brewers 2. Badgers football 3. Bears4. Bucks (well sort of haven't really watched many of their games for the last few years) I think I have watched as many NFL games as I have watched Bucks games which totals about 5 in the last few years. The NFL is absolutely boring right now way to much parity and the fact that teams can go 8-8 and can make the playoffs while a team with a better record sits out is rather absurd. Plus I am absolutely bored with the NFL as it is now. The NBA should contract down to 10 teams that way all of the talent can be slimmed down to N.Y., L.A., Miami, Chicago, and Boston. Just place two teams in each of those cities and the NBA would be better off for it.