nate82

b/c when you look at Parra against the possible tradeables in Buchholz, Hughes, and Chamberlain Parra doesn't look that good. It looks as though the Brewers do not want to empty the cupboard for 1-year of Halladay and Halladay may just veto a trade to Milwaukee also. Parra just isn't someone the Jays would be looking at if they are offered any of those three pitchers.

Because Suppan's contract is going to be nothing after 2010 compared to Meche's at 12m I believe it is. Plus giving up Lucroy or Salome for Meche would be a bad idea.

I still can not understand why they didn't make a retractable roof stadium. Looks nice but those bleachers look bad especially if you are sitting on the right side you will have no view of center and right field I believe it is.

Not to take this off topic but Rivera will probably cost about $1-2m and I'm not sure the Brewers are willing to pay that for a backup catcher.

b/c most teams only carry two catchers on the roster hardly any teams carry three catchers on the roster unless the 3rd catcher can also play other positions. Speculation here but if the Brewers are looking to save money I believe that Rivera maybe non tendered in favor of Kottaras, Lucroy, or Salome as the backup catcher.

No team gives up picks for Type B free agents. The team that offered the type B free agent arbitration only gets a supplemental pick in the draft no one loses a draft pick by signing a Type B free agent who was offered arbitration.

I wonder if this means Rivera maybe non tendered then. It would make sense since I doubt the Brewers would want to be paying $1-2m to a backup catcher. That would mean either Kottaras, Lucroy, or Salome would be the backup catcher behind Zaun. Hopefully this isn't for more than $3m a year.

I agree but maybe a Hart, Suppan, Dillard, and a PTBNL for Dejesus and Meche could work. I was thinking of having Butler instead of Dillard and removing the PTBNL but that maybe giving up to much for Meche and Dejesus. The Royals benefit from this trade would be losing Meche's contract and only having to buyout Suppan's contract in 2011. Dejesus and Hart would be about a wash salary wise. Dillard and the PTBNL could be either Heether or Iribarren. I doubt this trade would go through since the Royals really wouldn't be gaining all that much and the Brewers really not gaining all that much either. I think the Royals could probably get more for Dejesus on his own but Meche won't bring all that much back.

A trade for Halladay unlikely according to Ash in McCalvy's current blog post. Looks like the rumors are true the Jays are looking for a Major League ready pitcher which the Brewers do not have and a prospect in AA or AAA which the Brewers do have. Unless the Brewers would be willing to trade Gallardo plus a prospect like Gamel or Lawrie for Halladay I don't see a trade for Halladay happening.

All of the other rumors floating around about Mulder signing with the Brewers. I wouldn't expect Mulder to get a shot at the rotation though would be an extremely long shot. But it feels as though it is nearly a certainty that the Brewers will be signing Mulder. I would be shocked if the Brewers do not sign Mulder to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.

We haven't but we probably (more than likely will) will. It is almost a certainty that the Brewers will be signing Mulder.

I'm going to go with Villanueva and Narveson getting a shot at the rotation with Butler, Capuano, and Mulder possibly getting a shot (unlikely though).

There are only 4 holes that I can see. sgtcluels forgot about Narveson who will definitely be back either in the rotation or in the bullpen. I believe Narveson will battle out Suppan for the #5 spot in the rotation in spring training. That leaves 1 catcher, 1 SP, 1 utility player, and 1 OF. There will be only one really expensive hole to fill and that will be a starter. Which will take about $10m. At catcher you will either have Lucroy/Salome/Kottaras/FA the utility player will either bee Iribarren/Heether/Counsell and the reserve OF will probably be either Heether/Iribarren/FA. Cheapest route would be to either have Lucroy/Salome/Kottaras at catcher with Iribarren/Heether taking the utility spot and a FA signing for the 5th OF spot.

Do they have the audio up yet on the site? To lazy to look right now.

There is a difference between TV and radio announcers. TV announcers have the luxury of their audience being able to see the game and they do not have to describe everything in detail like a radio announcer has to do. So when Ueck is doing the "get up, get up, get outta here, caught!" he is conveying the excitement and then the down feeling that the listener can not see but can hear.

It doesn't look like the Blue Jays asking price is coming down. It looks as though the Yankees and the Red Sox may enter into a bidding war for Halladay. I could see the Yankees giving up Hughes plus a low level prospect for Halladay. I could also see the Red Sox giving up Buchholz plus a low level prospect for Halladay. I don't believe the Red Sox or the Yankees will give up two premiere prospects but I wouldn't be surprised if either Hughes, Chamberlain, or Buchholz would be traded for Halladay along with some lower level prospects. The Brewers do not have what it will take to get Halladay. The Blue Jays are looking for pitching in return for Halladay and the Brewers just do not have what the Jays are looking for other than Gallardo.

I came up with about $75.9m as the teams budget with Hall, Looper, Weathers, and Looper all added in. Without Hall, Looper, and Weathers counting towards the teams salary it would be $67.0m. This is assuming Counsell resigns with the Brewers with the same deal he signed last year also with an assumption that the arbitration raises will be at 1.5 to 2.5 times the salary that the players made last year. This does not include Gomez though and I am not sure what Gomez status is since Cot's has his ML service time as 1.141. I believe Gomez is super2 eligible I'm just not 100% sure on that though. Also I have the Brewers retaining Vargas but he could be replaced with either Axford or Butler both would be making about $500k. The Brewers would have about $18m to work with if Hall, Looper, and Weathers money is not counted towards the salary. That should be enough to get two starting pitchers. The bullpen will probably be filled by Axford, Vargas, or Butler. Also Narveson figures to be in the mix for either a rotation spot or a spot in the bullpen more than likely Narveson will be in the bullpen to start the year. My numbers Player Salary Jeff Suppan $12.50 Prince Fielder $10.50 Trevor Hoffman $7.50 David Riske $4.50 David Bush $6.00 Rickie Weeks $4.00 Jody Gerut $2.50 Ryan Braun $1.00 Craig Counsell $1.00 Todd Coffey $3.00 Carlos Villanueva $2.00 Manny Parra $0.50 Mike Rivera $1.50 Yovani Gallardo $0.50 Mitch Stetter $0.50 Mark DiFelice $0.50 Alcides Escobar $0.50 Mat Gamel $0.50 Casey McGehee $0.50 Chris Narveson $0.50 Claudio Vargas $2.50 Corey Hart $4.50 Total $67.00

Now if only Joe Buck and Tim McCarver would get canned. I can't stand either of them. If Pujols and Jeter are in the same World Series the love affair that Buck would have on those two would probably cause Joe Buck's head to explode mine along with his. Joe Buck and Tim McCarver are one of the worst broadcast guys I have ever heard in my life I would rather have Madden call a baseball game and listen to him than Joe Buck any day. I'm actually surprised I am saying this but if I had a choice between Buck and Madden I would pick Madden over him.

Those same fans and critics were also turning a blind eye during 1999. To blame Selig for it but yet not a single reporter at ESPN even questioning it or asked about the steroids. McGwire even had the bottle sitting right in his locker in plain sight for the reporters to see and when it was found it very little reporting was done about it. Also if Selig would have gotten his way when the players union striked that first time there would have been steroid testing in baseball. Would Selig have been looked as a hero of the sport then if that would have happened? I doubt anyone would have changed their minds about Selig then either. Everyone hates Selig for not doing more than what he did but he did all that he could.

Right state wrong team that would have interest in Coffey. I think the Brewers could pry someone away from the Rays if they traded Coffey to the Rays. I don't see the Marlins being interested in trading for Coffey not enough years of control for the Marlins to even think about it.

I wonder if Gamel, Lucroy/Salome, Gindl/Schafer, and Scarpetta/Jeffress/Anundsen. Anundsen and Jeffress would probably not be in the discussion but are the only two other starters that I could think of that would fit into what the Marlins would be looking for. That might be to much to be giving up for 2-years of Johnson but if the Brewers could sign him to an additional 2-years that would be well worth it.

Also I don't believe Hardy would be wanted by the Blue Jays at all. The Jays just wouldn't be controlling Hardy for all that long so no Hardy wouldn't be in a deal that would land Halladay. Hardy would have been a throw in more than likely. No way the Jays would have accepted that trade. Parra wouldn't be enough it would have had to be Gallardo. The Jays are not going to move Halladay for anything less than two great prospects that they can control for a long time. Neither Parra or Hardy fit that bill. I agree. I don't think the Brewers have a chance at Halladay. The Brewers have more of a chance landing Josh Johnson, King Felix, or Lackey than they are likely to get Halladay. The Brewers just do not have the pitching prospects outside of Gallardo to get a trade done for Halladay. I don't even see a possibility where a three team trade would work either. The Brewers should really be targeting younger pitchers in trades right now.

The Red Sox don't really want to give up their two best prospects for Halladay. Rumors are that the Blue Jays are looking to get two really good prospects and a B or C level prospect along with those two. So something like Gamel, Gallardo, and Cain/Schafer would be a starting point that the Blue Jays would be looking at. Names that have been floating around for the Red Sox have been Buchholz and Casey Kelly for Halladay. I doubt the Blue Jays will move Halladay for anything less than that and I believe the Blue Jays will just let Halladay walk after this season if they don't find a trade that they like.

Salome is a better hitter and is more athletic than Lucroy is. By far Salome has the highest potential. If you are talking about Baseball America ranking Salome rather low it is because they don't really like short players and they always do that. Just look at Gindl for another example he was one of the top players in his league but yet he isn't even in the top 10 in their rankings. Salome may not be as good as Lucroy defensively it doesn't make him a horrible catcher defensively either. Salome's big question mark is his defense compared to his offense which is a nearly sure thing. If the Brewers were in the AL or there was a DH rule in the NL Salome would have been on the team this last season as the DH and backup catcher. If Lucroy doesn't stick at catcher offensively he is not that good where he would be a viable option in a corner OF or at a corner IF spot. Although Salome if the Brewers would move him his offense would be good enough at almost any spot. Salome is still the better prospect it doesn't really matter what the lists say. Salome is the better offensive catcher and his defense although questionable is probably still good enough for him to stay there.

No. Gamel is the most likely player to bring back a player like Johnson not Lawrie. Lawrie would bring back someone who has a lot more years that the Brewers would control preferably about the same as Lawrie. I don't see any player of that magnitude being available so no Lawrie will not be traded it will more than likely be Gamel as the Brewers biggest player that they can trade and get pitching back not named Braun or Fielder.