nate82

I would definitely do a trade where Gamel would be the key player going to the Marlins for Johnson. I would just have to know who else we would be giving up also. Definitely Escobar wouldn't be in this deal because Hanley Ramirez is already playing SS for the Marlins and that would be redundant for the Marlins to trade for Escobar when they have Ramirez for a long time. If the Marlins are getting Gamel then Lawrie would be off the table. Salome and Lucroy would be possibilities also I would hope that Salome would be traded instead of Lucroy though. Scarpetta, Odorizzi, or Rivas could be the pitchers in the deal along with Butler or Axford being in the deal to be the MLB ready pitchers. Axford doesn't make much sense with Ceda in the Marlins organization what a steal that was by the Marlins trading Gregg for Ceda.

I believe the Brewers should just leave Salome and Lucroy at their current minor league clubs. What I don't want to see is Lucroy and Salome both in AAA at the same time. This does no good for either of them. I want Lucroy and Salome to be playing nearly everyday and that can not happen when you have two good catchers on the same team. One of them will get shafted for playing time and I just do not want to see Salome or Lucroy sitting on the bench when they could be a level lower playing. I am hoping the Brewers do not put both of them in AAA which I believe would be a big mistake.

It would cost something the Brewers do not have that is for sure. Salome/Lucroy, Gamel, and a pitcher would probably be the starting point. Also Crawford doesn't have more value than Upton does. Upton is younger and is cheaper while Crawford is older and costs a lot more than Upton does. Plus Upton has more upside left than Crawford does.

After managing the Braves since the dinosaurs were roaming the Earth Bobby Cox is finally ready to retire. Probably one of the greatest managers in the last decade and recent history. The 90's era of baseball is starting to come to an end. ESPN's story on Bobby Cox retiring.

If the Brewers are going to be spending $15m a year on one pitcher that pitcher better be Lackey or even Harden. Spending $15m a year on Pineiro would be a bad move by the Brewers. I wouldn't even spend $10m a year on Pineiro something about him screams fluke and that he will regress back to where he was before this year. The only pitcher on the Cardinals staff right now that is worth $15m a year is Wainwright. Pineiro is not worth $15m a year nor is he worth a $60m contract. That would just be a bad bad bad move by Melvin to sign Pineiro. I would rather see Sheets, Escobar, or Harden signed by the Brewers for that kind of a contract before Pineiro.

Not going to happen. Oswalt and Berkman are life long Astros as long as they want to play baseball or the Astros owner will make sure they will stay there. I don't see the Astros even entertaining the idea of trading either Berkman or Oswalt and possibly even Lee. The Astros probably should trade Oswalt but they won't.

All while pitching in a pitching friendly ballpark in Seattle and the AL West where the only place that isn't a pitchers haven is in Texas. You put Suppan in a pitchers ballpark and he will have better numbers than what he puts up in the NL Central. Washburn talent wise = Suppan. I don't care what WAR says because their talent levels are about the same.

Suppan is a great #5 pitcher actually he is the definition of what a #5 pitcher is. The only thing wrong with Suppan is that he is overpaid for what he is and that is a #5 pitcher. Suppan's job is to go out there every 5 days and take the ball and pitch which the Brewers needed when they signed him and it is what he has done the last few years he has been with the team. Is Suppan the best pitcher on the staff? No not even close but he is a #5 starter in almost every rotation in the NL and even some in the AL. Washburn is very much like Suppan and people were and still are clamoring that the Brewers should have traded for him or to sign him in the offseason. That would be redundant though since the Brewers already have Suppan who in my opinion is better than Washburn. Bradley just can't stay healthy to be an everyday OF. If the Brewers were in the AL I would love to have Bradley on the team. I think Bradley really needs to be on a small market team where the media isn't going to be hounding him everyday and where the expectations on him won't be that high. I still believe Bradley is a lot like Moss and Owens. Randy Moss was considered a club house cancer after he was trading away from the Vikings and the again when he was traded away from the Raiders. Now you don't even hear a word from him all that much. That has more to do with the veteran leadership on the Patriots than anything else though. If Bradley can get on a team with some good players that are already leaders and they are not looking at Bradley to be the guy to lead them then he will be fine. I'm just not convinced Bradley will be healthy for a whole season and that is the reason why I wouldn't do a Bradley for Suppan trade.

From the reports I have been reading on Parra it sounds as though he will be lucky to be back to be pitching in the bullpen this year let alone starting. I think Butler will at least get to start one game.

Bradley didn't say much when he was with the Rangers. It maybe that there really isn't any leadership for the Cubs. Look at the Zambrano and Barret incident. The Cubs have Zambrano, Soriano, Ramirez, and Lee there for veteran leadership only Lee is someone I could see being a solid leader in the clubhouse. Now mix in all of those personalities with Bradley and you had to know this was going to happen. I believe Bradley is more like Moss and if he can get on a team with some very strong veteran leadership and where he is not being counted on to perform everyday he would do good. Last year Bradley only made a stink later in the year when he wanted to play and they were not playing him because of injury concerns or something along those lines. I don't believe the Brewers would be a good fit for Bradley though way too much risk for the Brewers to take on even if it was a Suppan for Bradley trade.

Since the beginning of the season or a month or two after it I believe.

I'm not sure Liriano is really a viable option for the Brewers. I wouldn't mind a Liriano for Hardy deal but there are question marks surrounding Liriano. Mainly he needs to find a third pitch again. With the TJ surgery his slider hasn't been the same and that was his out pitch and his velocity is down on his fastball. That leaves Liriano with a Fastball, a Change Up, and a Slider. Liriano's slider right now just is not good enough to get hitters out consistently and that is one of the main reasons why he has been struggling this year. He basically has to hit the corners with his fastball and his change up to get hitters out right now. His fastball is still good and his change is rather good still yet but he doesn't have that third pitch in his slider that he can throw effectively anymore. Maybe next year will be different for Liriano and he will be able to throw his slider more effectively Liriano also had problems with his elbow this year again but he is looking to be coming back sometime this year in the bullpen. Liriano has increased his speed on his slider this year from last year. I don't see the Twins giving up on Liriano though but both Liriano and Hardy would be great buy low candidates.

I would rather go with a low guaranteed amount which is what Sheets has to expect to be getting for not playing for a whole year. Sheets is going to get an incentive laden deal. Something like what I proposed plus all of the other stuff that is thrown into the deal like $500k for finishing in the top 3 for the Cy Young award, $2m for winning the Cy Young award, $5m for MVP, $2m for NLCS MVP, $2m for WS MVP, and All Star bonus. Giving Sheets $4m guaranteed is a big risk for the Brewers especially with Sheets injury past. Having a deal where it pays more for the more innings he pitches is a good thing and having the other incentives that every other player has will be even better for Sheets and the Brewers. If Sheets hits the 200 IP mark $10m would be a bargain because you are probably getting the 3.00 - 3.500 ERA Sheets then with a bunch of complete games. That is worth the $10m or so you would be paying Sheets with all those incentives. You couldn't find a pitcher in free agency for as that little of a contract the Brewers could also add in a clause where if Sheets pitches 200 innings an option is automatically triggered for next year at $15-17m. Which I believe Sheets would probably turn down because if Sheets pitches 200 IP next year and has a 4.00 ERA or less he will be getting somewhere around $15-18m on a 3 or 5 year deal. That $7m plus $2m in incentives is kind of low balling there. You know Sheets and his agent will be looking for at least $10m+ when all of the incentives are done.

I think a Fielder for Smoak, Holland, and Perez would be a good Haul for Fielder. Holland would be a 1 or 1a type of a pitcher Smoak has been compared to be like a Teixeira type and Perez would be a wild card in the mix. This would be close to what Texas got when they traded Teixeira away. Info on Smoak, Holland, and Perez. That might be asking to much for Fielder but it is rather close to what his value is.

I wonder what it would take to get Crawford from the Rays. I believe a Hart for Crawford deal is out of the question probably would have been best for both the Brewers and Rays to do last year. Obviously it would have taken more than just Hart to get Crawford this last off season. I am wondering if the Rays would take a Hart, Axford/Villanueva, and B/C prospect for Crawford and Talbot. That is probably not enough if Talbot is included in the trade though. Maybe have both Villanueva and Axford in the deal. If the Brewers would add Salome to that deal I think it would get done. Salome wouldn't be any worse than what Navarro was this year for the Rays behind the plate. The Rays need relief pitching and they need it badly. Villanueva and Axford are probably the Brewers best young relief pitchers and the two that will cost the least for the Rays. The Brewers really need a pitcher to be included in the deal for it to work for them. Talbot is probably the only young pitcher that would be available for the Brewers to get. Hart would just be a stepping stone for Jennings who will be a starting OF for the Rays in 2011 in one way or the other. I don't think the Rays would trade Upton though and if they did just like if Granderson were to be put on the market teams would be lining up around the block to get him. Would be rather costly for the Brewers to get Upton.

If they are really huge files it will take awhile. If they are really big files upload them when you have something else to do. It is probably a compression problem that is making your files really big or you have a poor upload speed to their server.

From fangraphs Season Team FB SL CT CB CH SF KN XX PO Total - - - 65.1% (93.0) 19.1% (83.9) 0.0% (85.0) 5.5% (74.4) 10.4% (84.3) 1.9% 0.1% 2004 Indians 80.1% (91.9) 4.5% (84.0) 0.6% (85.0) 12.5% (79.8) 2.3% (80.7) 0.6% 2005 Indians 76.5% (93.1) 4.9% (85.3) 12.3% (75.9) 6.2% (81.8) 1.2% 2006 Indians 70.4% (93.0) 13.4% (84.7) 7.0% (76.3) 9.1% (81.5) 8.4% 2007 Orioles 67.8% (93.4) 22.4% (83.7) 4.5% (74.9) 5.3% (82.8) 1.8% 0.4% 2008 Orioles 64.1% (93.2) 18.1% (84.3) 6.3% (73.9) 11.4% (84.9) 1.7% 2009 Orioles 61.7% (92.5) 19.1% (83.6) 4.6% (73.6) 14.6% (84.4) 1.5%

I wouldn't mind Sheets back on the Brewers with an incentive laden deal. Something like $4m guaranteed with $500k for 100 IP, $2m for 150 IP, and $4m for 200 IP. That would all add up to $6.5m in incentives for Sheets making his 1-year contract a possible $10.5m deal which is more than what Sheets would be able to get from any other team on the market. I believe this would be a safe buy low risk for the Brewers. Even at $10.5m for Sheets for 1-year that is a steal for what you would be getting. At $10.5m you are not going to get a #2 or a #3 pitcher in free agency.

Manny Parra has a F-Strike% of 57.3% and Gallardo has a F-strike% of 52.3%. Looper and Burns have the best percentage of first pitch strikes at 68.1%(Burns) and 60.8%(Looper). To compare Gallardo and Parra to other young pitchers this is what you have: Lincecum at 56.6%, Jorge de La Rosa at 55.8%, Kershaw at 55.5%, Lester at 55.5%, Garza at 56.5%, and Felix Hernandez at 57.8%. They are not deathly afraid of strike one if they were deathly afraid of strike one then Looper and Burns are both better than Parra and Gallardo right? Because they throw a lot of first pitch strikes. F-Strike% (first pitch strike percentage): The percentage of plate appearances (for batters) or batters faced (for pitchers) that the first pitch was a strike. This includes anytime that the count after the first pitch was 0-1, or anytime the ball was put into play on the first pitch of a plate appearance.

Texas is also on the list for the home game against the AL teams. The schedule so far doesn't look to be too difficult in one month or too easy in one month either.

First Matsui can't play the OF anymore he is a DH only right now. Matsui has played a total of 24 games in the OF this year and Matsui's UZR/150 is -30.5 this year and he has been worse the previous years. Matsui isn't an OF anymore in his career plus there has been rumors that Matsui would like to play with Ichiro out in Seattle next year if the Yankees do not offer him a contract. I'm not sure the Giants will trade any of their young players away at this time. With Buster Posey being on the team next year that is a huge upgrade offensively for the Giants. The Giants may just go with a free agent acquisition which there are a lot of quality players who could play 1B or corner OF for them. From Cot's blog 2010 free agents: Outfielders Bobby Abreu LAA Garret Anderson ATL Rick Ankiel STL Rocco Baldelli BOS Jason Bay BOS Marlon Byrd TEX Mike Cameron MIL Frank Catalanotto TEX Endy Chavez SEA Coco Crisp * KC Carl Crawford * TB Johnny Damon NYY David Dellucci CLE Jermaine Dye * CWS Darin Erstad HOU Cliff Floyd SD Ryan Freel TEX Brian Giles SD Ken Griffey Jr. SEA Vladimir Guerrero LAA Matt Holliday STL Geoff Jenkins * PHI Reed Johnson CHC Andruw Jones TEX Austin Kearns * WAS Hideki Matusi NYY Jason Michaels CLE Xavier Nady NYY Magglio Ordonez * DET Manny Ramirez * LAD Dave Roberts SF Gary Sheffield DET Randy Winn SF First Basemen Russell Branyan SEA Carlos Delgado NYM Jason Giambi COL Ross Gload * FLA Aubrey Huff DET Nick Johnson WAS Adam LaRoche ATL Robb Quinlan LAA Matt Stairs PHI Mike Sweeney SEA Jim Thome LAD Chad Tracy ARZ Not to mention that the Giants could also turn Molina into the backup catcher and have him play 1B when he is not at catcher or just have him be their 1B. Not an ideal situation but wouldn't be the worst idea for the Giants. I just don't see the Giants parting with Bumgarner especially with Cain hitting free agency soon. I like the Vazquez move though. I'm not sure the Braves are interested in Hart though anymore with Heyward, Diaz, and Church all being as good or better than Hart. At best that would be a lateral movement for the Braves. I also don't understand why the Braves would extend Hudson and trade away Vazquez it just doesn't make any sense. Why rely on an injured pitcher when you have someone who is healthy and is your #1 guy this year. It just doesn't make any sense to me. I wouldn't mind kicking the tires and seeing what the Dbacks would want for Webb though.

I highly doubt Suppan will be able to do what he did his first year with the Brewers which was a good year for him that year. We will probably see something similar to this year or last year.

OK then how about MLB puts in a NHL like salary cap system? Which would be the only one the MLBPA would accept. That means there would be a salary floor along with a salary ceiling. Their is no guarantee that the Brewers could resign Prince in this model either actually they would probably have to let him go because of salary cap limitations. OK lets say the salary cap for 2010 will be $110m and the salary floor will be $70m. The Brewers project to have a salary of $80-85m without paying for a free agent next year. So they would be above the salary floor. Now that means a total of 7 teams would have to raise their payroll in order to get to the salary floor. So instead of players like Kendall getting smaller deals around $1-2m they will be getting around $4-8m a year. Teams would have to get their payrolls up to the salary floor which wouldn't really hurt the teams paying above the salary cap. The teams that are already above the salary cap would just pay a fine until all of their contracts from the past expire that put them over the salary cap. This would be the only way to get a salary cap in MLB. Without the salary floor you will never get it past the union nor past the large market owners. The salary cap would have to be high enough that the large market teams wouldn't be penalized to much for being over the new cap also. I just don't see this ever happening though. The time for a salary cap has passed by MLB and it is way to late for a salary cap to ever be put in force in MLB. The only thing I see happening is more revenue sharing and maybe MLB taking over all of the TV contracts and redistributing all of the revenue from that to all of the teams equally.

I have no problem with Macha playing McGehee over Gamel. McGehee deserves to be playing over Gamel right now. What I do not get is why they are not playing Gamel in RF to platoon with Hart. Yeah I know that is not Gamel's spot where he has played in the minors so what if it gets him playing time he should be playing wherever he can play. Gamel in RF would be fine with me since we are not playing for a playoff spot right now and making Gamel more valuable to the Brewers. Gamel being able to play RF next year would help out the Brewers more than having him playing 3B next year. Yes McGehee can play all sorts of positions but with that knee surgery possible in the offseason that may limit McGehee's options of where he can play. While you have a young player in Gamel he can afford to move positions it is not like no one has ever been moved from a position they were at in the minors when they come up to the majors. I am actually glad that the Brewers didn't call up Salome and other players because they just wouldn't get any playing time at all anyways. Gamel needs to be playing either that be in the OF, pinch hitter, or at 3rd base I don't care. Gamel needs to be playing right now and he should be playing wherever there is a spot open. With Hart just returning from a long period off playing Gamel against righties and sitting Hart would be the perfect option. So what if Gamel has some miscues in RF we are not playing for anything and it will give the Brewers a possibility to see if Gamel could play RF next year and if he can't you keep Hart and try to trade either Gamel or McGehee whoever brings the best player back you trade and keep the other.

It is not that Boston doesn't have enough to get Fielder it is just that they will not be willing to give up what Melvin would want in return which is pretty close to what you are suggesting.