nate82

I am not surprised that Lucroy is now ahead of Salome. Defensively Lucroy is better than Salome and with the bat Lucroy is behind Salome but Lucroy's defense doesn't kill his offensive value compared to Salome where his defense could nearly kill all of his offensive value. I'm not sure it would be a good idea though to bring up Lucroy to the MLB level even if he does have a great spring. If he flounders in MLB or doesn't get much playing time with the Brewers that could really hurt his development. I would rather Corporan be the backup catcher next year with Rivera getting the majority of the starts.

No. If DM signs both Davis and Washburn our rotation wouldn't be any better than it was this year. Washburn is washed up and shouldn't be pitching in a hitters friendly ballpark just look what he did in Detroit compared to what he did in Seattle. Washburn should be pitching in a pitchers friendly park only and not for Milwaukee. I could live with Davis if he was the FA signing and another player was brought in in a trade. If the Brewers could get Lowe and Davis I would be fine with that but I would rather go with the injury reconstruction rotation than going with Lowe and Davis that would cost a lot of resources for the Brewers. I still believe a deal with Sheets could be done where Sheets could earn up to $15m in incentives with a base salary around $4-7m. Webb would be harder to get because he will be looking to get around what he would be getting if his option was picked up or more so you are looking at something around $8-10m for him which teams like the Dodgers, Angels, and even the Red Sox would be looking to take on not much of a risk for them with that kind of a contract for them. Webb would be a long shot to get for the Brewers I believe Escobar and Sheets are probably more likely than Webb and Lackey is probably even more likely than the Brewers getting Webb.

I'm sorry but Blackburn shouldn't even be in the discussion for a trade for Gamel. Blackburn is more like Bush and that is not a #1 or #2 type of a pitcher that you could get for Gamel. A Bumgarner type of a prospect is what the Brewers would be looking at to get for Gamel not Blackburn that would be a horrible trade.

In Haudricourt's blog today he had this, So DM wants to get two starting pitchers and Suppan is not guaranteed a spot in the rotation. Also I believe you can rule out trading Fielder or Braun for pitching or for anything for that matter. I think DM believes he will not be able to get the return he would like for Fielder or Braun never mind the fans expectations for what they would think would be a good haul for either Braun or Fielder. So who will DM be targeting? At the top of the list for free agency you have Lackey, Harden, Webb (possibly), Hudson (unlikely with the way Atlanta is thinking), Piniero (no thanks), Davis, Sheets, Escobar, and the rest are just not that great. With Lackey it will all depend on how much the Mets, Angels, and a mystery team would be willing to pay for Lackey. I think the Brewers could come in and get Lackey but at what cost? For the trade front you have Lowe, Vazquez, Halladay, Nolasco, Johnson, Sanchez, and there others but those are the big names that are out there. I think you could cross off Lowe (too expensive if the Brewers sign a FA pitcher), Halladay, Nolasco, and Sanchez from the list. Which leaves you with Johnson and Vazquez both of whom would cost a lot in terms of prospects and money (Vazquez). So if you figure one pitcher from free agency that assumes McClung and Looper are not resigned along with Kendall and Cameron. That means the Brewers would have about $15m to bring in a new pitcher from free agency. If the Brewers could get Lackey on a $15m a year deal (I highly doubt it) or sign a pitcher like Harden, Sheets, Escobar, or Webb to a 1-year deal around $8-12m then Melvin could go and get Lowe. I would assume that Lowe would probably cost Gamel and not much more remember Lowe is owed $15m per year over the next 3 years so you have to take that into consideration Atlanta will not be getting a lot in terms of talent unless they eat some of that contract. Now Lowe may not even want to come to Milwaukee. He doesn't have a no trade clause though so that is a plus. In order for Atlanta to get Gamel and a minor prospect they would have to eat some of the contract owed to Lowe. If Atlanta did a straight up deal it would more than likely include McGehee than it would include Gamel though. McGehee, Green, plus another player would be close to what would be offered there and that would be about fair for both sides if Atlanta won't be eating part of Lowe's salary that is. This is all before taking into account Hardy gets traded and/or Hart also gets traded.

AL central 1 Gamer: Twins over Tigers (Momentum is in the Twins favor here) ALDS: Yankees over Twins in 3 and Angels over Red Sox in 5 ALCS: Angels over Yankees in 6 (Vlad MVP) NLDS: Dodgers over Cardinals in 3 and Phillies over Rockies in 4 NLCS: Dodgers over Phillies in 7 (Ramirez MVP) World Series: Dodgers over Angels in 6 (Manny Ramirez MVP)

1. Braun 2. Fielder 3. Weeks 4. Escobar 5. McGehee 6. Rivera 7. Counsell 8. Gamel 9. Gerut 10. Cameron 11. Heether 12. Corporan 13. Katin 14. Gallardo 15. Parra 16. Suppan 17. Lackey 18. Bush 19. Villanueva 20. Difelice 21. Coffey 22. Hoffman 23. Stetter 24. Narveson 25. Vargas Both Macha and Melvin will be back.

Why does it even matter?

Might be a driver problem then. I would go to the manufacturers website and download the recent video card drivers for the laptop.

Actually for the most part GMs salaries are usually kept a secret. Look over at Cot's blog and try to find a salary number for any GM you won't find many. Also when a new GM signs with a team watch the news on it and you will see that the GMs salary is very rarely ever stated. What GMs make is a very secretive thing so you really can't say managers make more than GMs because you have no idea what the GMs are really making.

They also denied them home field advantage in the playoffs.

Is power save mode on?

Oh now that is funny.

I am going to go with one of the young OF prospects the Brewers have. Schafer, Cain, or Gindl could be a sleeper trade for a good young starting pitcher in the AA or AAA level. Don't forget about Salome and Lucroy also but those two are extremely unlikely to be moved. Cain would have the lowest value of the three outfielders though with him coming off of an injury. These players wouldn't be the main players going to somewhere but they are someone that some people won't think about going in a deal that either sends Hardy or Hart for some pitching.

I agree with everything but the buy-low part. The Reds would be foolish to let Bailey go for nothing. It would take at least a Escobar/Gamel/Lawrie to get Bailey.

To me it is not his arm or his athletic ability that I would be worried about it would be his tracking of fly balls and running to spots in the OF that will be a problem a huge problem. If you make an error in CF that is an automatic triple or an inside the park home run unless the hitter was a Molina. I would be very afraid of Weeks in CF by how he takes routes to simple pop ups. I would be very afraid of line drives and long pop flies in the OF. Hart and Braun are bad enough in the OF as it is now you want to put Weeks out there also? That would be the worst OF in baseball.

No not necessarily. Rogers would probably be included in that group for 2011 along with Rivas I was just going with players that I know would have a 100% chance of being in the rotation by 2011. It is the same reason why I didn't put Arnett in there all three have a possibility of starting in 2011 but the chances of that happening are less than Narveson and Butler.

Logan Schafer is just as good as Cain in the OF with Schafer probably being a better defender in CF than Cain. Cain has more upside but I would rather have Ely than Cain to be honest. The Brewers have a lot of OF prospects we don't need another Braun or Fielder from them they just need to be average especially if you are trading one for a pitcher. Ely would be a great addition to the Brewers 2011 rotation. You could possibly have a rotation in 2011 that would consist of: Gallardo, Parra, Ely, Narveson, and Butler. That is not including any free agent pitcher or pitcher acquired through a trade. You could probably remove Butler or Narveson from the list and add a free agent pitcher to there. Lets say the Brewers somehow sign Webb to a 2-year deal that rotation would look like Webb, Gallardo, Parra, Ely, and Narveson/Butler which would be more than adequate for the Brewers offense. Yes you would be counting on some young arms to pull you through the season but that starting rotation wouldn't be any worse than the 2008 or 2009 Phillies rotation.

I was looking over the White Sox and looking at their team and them possibly not picking up Dye's option for next year. If they do that the White Sox are going to need an OF. I was wondering if a Corey Hart, Lorenzo Cain, and a pitcher for John Ely and a minor prospect would be possible. Ely wouldn't really help the Brewers next year but he looks to be a legitimate #2 or #3 pitcher probably more along the lines of a #3 or a #4 pitcher though. I think the White Sox may take a Cain + Ely though it would depend on who the other prospects are though. I believe the White Sox would want the Hart + deal though because of how soft the AL Central is. This would be somewhat of a long shot for a trade but I think it could be done. The Brewers have what the White Sox need (young OF) and the White Sox have what the Brewers need (young starting pitching). I don't think the White Sox will trade any of their current MLB pitchers because of the soft division they play in. I don't believe this would be enough though for Ely. I just can't think of anyone else the White Sox would want maybe Schafer/Cain plus a pitcher would get it done or Hart, Gindl, and a pitcher like Axford would get it done. I know the White Sox will need a corner OF or a CF next year with only Quentin and Rios being in the mix next year realistically so the White Sox are going to have to trade or sign a free agent. There really isn't any young free agent OF's in free agency though so the White Sox would have to choose between an older player or trading for a younger OF player like Hart or Cain. John Ely Ely's stats this year Season Team W L ERA G GS CG ShO SV BS IP TBF H R ER HR BB IBB HBP WP BK SO 2007 White Sox (R) 6 1 3.86 13 12 0 0 0 56.0 230 55 26 24 6 14 0 3 1 0 56 2008 White Sox (A+) 10 12 4.71 27 27 0 0 0 145.1 610 142 83 76 18 46 0 5 6 3 134 2009 White Sox (AA) 14 2 2.82 27 27 1 0 0 156.1 638 140 63 49 9 50 0 1 6 0 125 Season Team K/9 BB/9 K/BB HR/9 AVG WHIP BABIP LOB% FIP 2007 White Sox (R) 9.00 2.25 4.00 0.96 .258 1.23 .325 72.3 % 3.50 2008 White Sox (A+) 8.30 2.85 2.91 1.11 .257 1.29 .310 65.6 % 4.02 2009 White Sox (AA) 7.20 2.88 2.50 0.52 .241 1.22 .293 71.8 % 3.33

I still wouldn't want Bailey. I don't trust him and I don't want to give up the farm just to get him. He won't be a #2 type pitcher next year or a #1 type pitcher next year which the Brewers need. He is young though and the Reds are not going to let Bailey go for garbage. Gamel, Escobar, and Lawrie should be off the table for a trade like that. I would rather just pick up a free agent pitcher or someone else for what it would cost to get Bailey.

I want to hear Powell call some more games so I am going to go with the Braves and Polish Falcons did you watch any Brewers games last year b/c if you did you should know who that is but if you didn't that is Trenni Kusnierek. She was the Brewers sideline reporter last year and is a MLB Network reporter this year.

Webb has no intention on taking less money for next year. So if the D'backs don't pick up their option on Webb for next year the possibility of them bringing him back would be really low because they wouldn't be getting him back at a reduced rate. I don't think Webb could be an option for the Brewers though. I would like to see the Brewers go after Harden, Lackey, Escobar, Sheets, Hudson, or Webb in the off season. Hudson more so than any of the other guys but Lackey wouldn't be a bad fit either. I have a feeling that Melvin is going to go hard after Lackey, Harden, or Pineiro. I really hope the Brewers do not end up with Pineiro though I just don't believe he will be as good as he was this year ever again. I would rather see Sheets or Harden pitching for Milwaukee than Pineiro. I believe the Brewers will get 1 pitcher from a trade either that be a AA/AAA player or a player like Guthrie and 1 player from a free agency signing. I could see Hart and Hardy being traded along with a small chance that McGehee gets traded.

The biggest wart the Twins have had is not going for it when they should have been going for it. As others have pointed out their GM was hesitant on trading away their young talent when they had a legitimate shot at the World Series. I'm not sure we should be modeling ourselves after the Twins or the Marlins. The White Sox and even the Dodgers are good models to follow. I don't believe the Twins would ever make a big trade like the Brewers did last year with Sabathia. I just don't see them parting with their young talent unless it is for young talent. That is the biggest wart the Twins have/had.

Except that the Cubs are rumored to not even wanting to extend him. There were some rumors out there that the Cubs are only going to be offering Harden a 1-year deal and Lilly will be a free agent after next year which is who they really should be resigning.

Kawakami would become the 2nd best pitcher on the Brewers staff. With a FIP of 4.24 only Gallardo has a better FIP than that on the Brewers. Hart only had a WAR of 0.7 and we only have Hart for next year so trading Hart for a pitcher that the Brewers would have locked up for the next few years compared to 1 year of Hart. I'm sorry but I am taking that all day long. At worst Kawakami would be Looper with a better ERA. The only bad month Kawakami put up was in April and that was his first time through MLB he will only get better. Yes he is not a hard thrower but he also doesn't walk that many guys and still has 111 K's so far this year with only 55 walks. I don't know who you would expect to get Hart in return for but it is not going to be anyone better than Kawakami. Hart for Kawakami is probably not even enough for the Braves to move Kawakami though. If it would take more than Hart and a B/C type prospect then I wouldn't do it. But if it is Hart and Dykstra/Axford for Kawakami I would be fine with it. There are plenty of players the Brewers could get to platoon with Gerut in RF if they wanted to go out and get someone. Byrnes would actually be a good platoon player with Gerut if the Dbacks just release Byrnes that is.

Easy solution if you are uncomfortable on taking on the new debt don't take out the full amount. I believe you have an option to take a partial amount of the funds available to you. This would leave you with enough for an emergency fund that you are now paying for your education. Why use the cash you have now if you can pay for the loan almost immediately after graduating? The interest rates on the student loans are actually rather small and you don't have to take out the full amount if you don't need it. I took out a student loan in college even though I didn't need it because I wanted to buy a new computer which I could have afforded with the cash I had. I am glad I didn't pay for the computer with the cash I had because about a month or two later my car had broken down and I had to pay for that and luckily I had the cash to pay for that. To me it is an easy decision take out the student loan and then repay it back when you graduate. You have 6-months I believe before interest payments start. Plus you also get a tax write off with any interest you pay on the loan. Not to make that sound like a good thing but the loan is probably the best way to go because as you said if there is an emergency how are you going to pay for it? Keep your cash that you have and take out the stafford loan and be at ease you will be able to pay for any emergency that comes your way like your car breaking down or getting into an accident. You can't plan for these things but you can prepare for them. I know I am going to sound like a broken record but do the student loan and keep your excess cash for yourself inc ase you really need it for an emergency.