nate82

Trading away Narveson will not hurt the Brewers all that much. The Brewers have a couple of options to replace Narveson in the rotation with Fiers, Peralta, and Estrada. Going further into the future you have Thornburg, Scarpetta, and Rivas who can fill in as #4's and #5's who will be cheap. The Brewers have a lot of starting pitching that they can put into the #4 or #5 spot in the rotation right now and if you can trade away someone like Narveson and get younger at another position you do that all day long. This is why I would like to see Hart, Narveson, McGehee, or Marcum traded. The Brewers need to get some more young talent into the farm system that can replace what the Brewers have currently. As for the article here I would not do the trade for Headley as that is a rather big risk to gamble on by giving up a young starter in Thornburg. I do believe the Brewers are going to trade McGehee I just don't believe it will be for an impact player like a Headley could be. I still believe the Phillies are the best option to trade with in terms of McGehee as Rizzotti or Mayberry could be available. I would prefer Rizzotti over Mayberry but I will take what I can get for McGehee at this point. The Narveson trade is more lopsided and in favor of the Brewers that it wouldn't be accepted at all. To get Logan Morrison from the Marlins it is going to cost more than Narveson maybe a Marcum for Morrison could do it but that still seems unlikely. Narveson to the Nationals makes a little bit more sense but the team that makes the most sense would be the Giants or the A's. I am not sure who the Brewers could get for Narveson from the A's or the Giants. I do have the feeling that Kottaras will be traded the Royals, Red Sox, Mets, and Dodgers make the most sense here for Kottaras but what you will get for him is unknown and probably not that much. Furcal makes no sense at all and the Brewers should stay far far far far away from Furcal as he looks like he is done offensively. He looked rather bad with the Cardinals when he wasn't playing against the Brewers. Jerry Hairston will be brought back and I think he will be the super utility guy but I think he is going to get the majority of the starts at 3B. Saito will be fine on a one year deal. Kerry Wood will retire if he is not playing for the Cubs next year so I don't see that as a possibility. Scott Hairston would be nice but would be unnecessary. I would rather sign Wily Mo Pena to be the teams RH platoon option with Gamel. This then gives the Brewers a power bat from the right hand side of the plate on the bench. I believe Hart is also available for a trade but Melvin isn't going to go out and look to trade Hart so that could add some more payroll flexibility for the Brewers to sign someone like Reyes. Marcum will also be available but not shopped like Hart and the same with Greinke.

I wouldn't call Barmes defensively elite. He is above average at SS and definitely not an elite defensive SS. I am also worried that the price for Barmes maybe way to high for the Brewers and Barmes talent level. I am thinking the Twins, Mariners, Tigers, and the Astros are going to drive Barmes price up higher than what he is worth. There is going to be a higher demand for Barmes than there will be for Reyes which I find to be rather funny. I don't see Reyes getting more years than Prince. At a minimum Prince is going to get 6-years while Reyes is probably going to be lucky if he receives anything over 5-years. I believe the market for Reyes is rather small and I don't see the Mets as being a serious contender for Reyes. The Mariners could be but Prince or even Ortiz makes more sense than the Reyes does for them. The Angels are another team but every year they go after a free agent and never go all in on once since they got Torii Hunter. I thought I read that the Angels actually do not have any payroll room to even get Reyes. I think it comes down to three teams for Reyes and that is the Tigers, Cardinals, and the Brewers. Neither of the three teams are going to have that much of player salaries room left to sign Reyes to more than $18m a year. I still believe the team that signs Reyes is going to get him for a rather large discount if Reyes signs a long term deal with that team. I believe the market for Reyes is going to top out at or near a 5-year deal between $80-90m.

I don't see Melvin holding onto Fielder or trading for Greinke if the Brewers would have gotten Beachy for Cain. To me that is more of a building for the next waive of prospects versus going for it this year. So in that scenario the Brewers have nearly all of their prospects. I still think Lawrie would have been traded but for something else than Marcum maybe a starting pitching prospect.

Yuck Jack Wilson. He hasn't been good for a long time now. Jack Wilson is just a better fielding Betancourt without the power. Wilson's slash line .243/.274/.285. If Yuni is a bad SS what does that make Wilson? Plus Wilson is going to be in his mid 30's and he is declining I will pass on Wilson 100% of the time. I would only consider Wilson if he were to be a replacement for Counsell and there are better players out there who will do better offensively than Wilson. Barmes is 100 times better offensively as Wilson and just about his equal defensively. I see no reason why the Brewers should even think about giving Wilson a contract.

Dang forgot about Pence there. If the Phillies also sign Cuddyer this will be very mind boggling.

No it is probably Rizzotti and Mayberry that they hate. I believe the Phillies are going to have Brown play RF and if they signed Cuddyer they would just have Cuddyer in LF to replace Ibanez. Either way Brown is going to be in LF or RF to start next season. If the Phillies do sign Cuddyer that could open up some trade possibilities.

So you would have passed on Colby Lewis because he played in Japan and couldn't find a job in MLB?

You might have to update the drivers the drivers may not have copied over correctly or they may have gotten corrupted. Try downloading from the asus website select WinXP then select audio then click on globaldl or global install drivers and then it should ask you to restart your PC. Sound should work after that. If it doesn't you will have to go through the control panel and uninstall the sound card and then reinstall the drivers you just downloaded.

Interesting as a fan I have the same feelings that there really isn't a big market out there for Reyes. I am starting to wonder if Reyes is going to be had at an almost extreme discount if he signs a long term deal as I don't see many teams looking to give Reyes the money he wants or the years that he will want. I'm thinking the biggest contract that Reyes may see will be 5 years and getting about $75-85m. If the Brewers could get Reyes on a 5-year $75m contract that is at an extreme discount. I don't think Reyes will sign that deal but I could see him taking a one or two year deal to build up some value for the next offseason.

No way do the Brewers get Brown as Brown will be replacing Ibanez next year. Rizzotti would be more likely he would be a good backup plan if Gamel falters.

What if the Shark turns into a zombie?

No definitely not enough. Maybe if the Brewers took on all of Bay's contract also and then that would be pushing it. I know a lot of people are down on Wright and believe he is overrated but when Wright was healthy he was a rather productive player putting up some very impressive numbers. It will take a lot to get Wright and the Brewers do not have the prospects to get him but it is fun to wonder what it would take to get him. In order for your trade proposal to work (I am not even sure this would be enough) the trade would have to look more like this: Brewers trade Green, Hart, Peralta, and GennettMets trade Bay and Wright

Wasn't Marcum originally targeted by Melvin when he made the trade for Bush and Jackson? I can't remember exactly but I do remember that there was some talk about Marcum being in the Overbay trade and the Blue Jays were not going to give him up. I believe Melvin had Marcum targeted for awhile before acquiring him last off season. I am very scared of the Brewers extending Marcum not because Marcum isn't good now but what he will be in the future. Yes he has some very nice control and some very good off speed pitches but his fastball is completely hitable with little to no movement and no velocity. I believe Melvin had Lawrie originally in the trade to acquire Greinke but at that time Greinke didn't want to go to Milwaukee so Melvin went with option B which was Marcum. I do believe Melvin gave up way to much for Marcum as Cain and another prospect should have gotten that deal done. The Blue Jays were looking for a CF at that time and Cain would have filled that hole for them the other prospect probably would have been Rivas or someone like him. I also believe that Lawrie was going to be traded last off season no matter what. To me it was like Lawrie was drafted as a trade chip and nothing more as the Brewers never really looked at Lawrie as having a position with the Brewers. He was blocked at 2B and the Brewers had Gamel at 1B/3B. The OF was another spot to place Lawrie but I am not sure he has the arm to play RF which would mean he would have to play LF which would be fine because if the Brewers lose Fielder you could always move Braun from LF to 1B and put Lawrie in LF. To me the Brewers have been mismanaging their minor league clubs for a long time now. It has been going on for a long time now and I am not sure there is going to be any change unless some major changes happen in the front office and I don't see that happening unless Melvin and company really start losing badly and there looks to be no hope for a turn around. Jack Z, Melvin, and others are to blame for the minor league system for the way that it is.

Jeff Cirillo for the next person either on the radio or on TV please.

My guess on 10 of the free agents. Pujols - Cardinals 8 years $228mFielder - Blue Jays 6 years $132mReyes - Brewers 5 years $90mWilson - Rangers 4 years $70mJackson - Nationals 3 years $45mRollins - Phillies 4 years $65m Ramirez - Red Sox 3 years $39mBeltran - Dodgers 3 years $33mPapelbon - Red Sox 5 years $75mOrtiz - Mariners 2 years $25m

So, you don't think that a sport that has a team salary range between $80 million and $140 million (with the majority of teams falling between the $100-$130 range) is inherently more competitive than a sport who's range is from $40 million to $210 million? No there is no proof that the sport with a salary cap is more competitive. Maybe if there were two baseball leagues and one had a salary cap and the other didn't you could make this argument. By comparing MLB and NFL there is only one comparison and that they are both sports and that is it. The cap in the NFL does not equal parity nor does it create an equal playing field. Why haven't the Browns been competitive if the salary cap is what is making the sport competitive? I can tell you why the Browns are not competitive and it has nothing to do with a salary cap. The reason the Browns haven't been competitive is because they don't have an elite level QB. That is the simple reason it is not because of some mysterious salary cap helping them become competitive. You have yet to even show any proof that a salary cap makes a team competitive let alone the whole league.

No thanks. I would rather go with Chucky Carr than Casey Blake.

Off topic but it sounds French in origin with the "t" being silent but I am not sure that is proper French either. A new and interesting Betancour"t" thread!

I don't know what you are talking about Royce Clayton was awesome and so was Junior Spivey!

I know it is. Still doesn't mean it can't annoy me.So now his name annoys you more than his play?

And for the last couple months of the season it was Betancore. For some reason that really annoyed me That is the correct way to say his last name the "t" is silent in his last name.

Maybe you are correct in regards to QBs being a huge factor in the NFL, but at the same time how are "small market" teams like Indy and GB able to retain these great QBs year after year? That's my argument and I firmly believe the salary cap is a huge part of that. If that's not the answer to why these teams can continue to keep these guys, I'd like to know what is. Why is there never any talk of Green Bay possibly losing Rogers to free agency? How were they able to retain Farve all those years? NFL team salaries pretty much range from $80 million to $140 million with 19 teams being between $100 million and $130 million. Doesn't this sound like a much fairer system than one that has team salaries ranging from $40 million to $210 million. I'm not sure why everyone is eager to find all sorts of reasons why there is greater parity in the NFL that are not payroll related. To me it just seems logical that you are going to have a more level playing field when there is less deviation between the team's payrolls. Why is this so hard to admit? Easy it is one player that they have to lock up and it is a lot easier to lock up one player than it is multiple players. If Rodgers absolutely hates Green Bay he may leave for free agency and will get about the same as he would from any other team in the NFL as he would from the Packers. The only thing that allows Green Bay to do this is because they can afford to tie up 15-25% of their player salaries in one player unlike any other small market team in MLB. If a small market team did this in MLB they would have to rely on their farm system for the holes while in the NFL it really wouldn't matter as they would be relying on that one elite level talent if that talent is a QB. The recipe for success in the NFL is draft or trade for an elite level QB if you do this you will be competitive as long as that QB is healthy. There really isn't a more level playing field in the NFL. If you can prove that there is a level playing field because of the salary cap go ahead and do so but I have found that that the NFL would still have the same recipe for success if it had a salary cap or if it didn't have a salary cap. You are still talking about one player the salary cap doesn't help a team keep a player on their team. How did the salary cap help the Packers keep Farve all those years?

A salary cap in baseball will just not work nor will it ever be a possibility. If MLB wanted to have a salary cap they missed the boat on this one as the best chance to get a salary cap was back in the 1970-1980's. It is way to late for a salary cap now. The only other option that is on the table is for more equal revenue sharing between the large market teams and the small market teams. The Red Sox, Yankees, and other big market teams have an advantage over small market teams in terms of free agents but that is it. Small market teams can take advantage of the large market teams through trades and other maneuvers that they can do. Plus the majority of free agents are passed their prime or just at their prime and will be declining through the majority of their contract. The Rays have been competitive and have actually built a long lasting team that will be better than the Yankees down the road. There are a few ways to build a club in MLB one way is through free agency that is the pricey way another way is through the farm system and trades/free agent signings and yet another is just through your farm system. In the NFL the only way to build a team is to get a great QB through the draft. To me the NFL is really just about the QB if you take Rodgers away from the Packers they will suck and no salary cap is going to fix that. The NFL is a QB league and if you do not have a good to a great QB your team is going to suck. Now also decrease the amount of teams that get into the playoffs for the NFL and you will see even less parity in the league.

If he were to be a every day player I agree. To much of a risk for Sizemore to be counted on to be healthy all year. If he is to be platooned or be a bench bat then the return will be worth the risk.

You can't compare the NFL to MLB at all. The cap in the NFL has very little to do with the parity in the NFL. In the NFL all you need to win is a great QB. Look at the Colts this year without Manning. Salary cap or no salary cap the NFL would be the same. All you need in the NFL is a great QB and you are set. The salary caps have very little to do with a team winning or being competitive.