nate82

I completely agree with Macha on this. Your base stealers should be batting lower in the lineup this is when you need those extra base hits more with your weakest part of the lineup up and in the NL having the pitcher batting 9th. A caught stealing with the pitcher or #8 hitter up won't hurt you as much as being caught stealing when your #3, #4, and #5 hitters are up. I would rather see the players who can steal bases batting in the 6th, 7th, and 8th spot of the lineup. A leadoff hitter who can steal is a plus but is not something you absolutely need at the leadoff spot. Your #3 and #4 hitter more than likely will be able to hit that player home with them standing on 1B. Going from 1B to 2B shouldn't increase the odds of a leadoff hitter scoring with a teams #3 and #4 hitter at the plate.

But there is no one really available for the Brewers to get. The only ones who would be available to the Brewers are Lackey, Escobar, and Bedard. All three have their warts some of them bigger than others. I don't see who the Brewers could trade for someone that will be in the top of the rotation for the Brewers in 2010. The Brewers will hold onto Fielder for the next two years because they will probably not get the value they are looking for that will be better than the two picks they would receive. I just don't see the Brewers trading Fielder unless a can't miss trade comes the Brewers way and I just do not see a team doing a Teixeira or Miguel Cabrera type of a trade for Fielder which is what the Brewers will be looking for. I just don't see any teams giving up that much for Fielder right now. 2010 will be another downish year for the Brewers with 2011 being a year where the Brewers make it back to the playoffs. There just won't be the pitching the Brewers will need to get over the hump in 2010 for the players the Brewers are willing to trade. Hardy alone will not get you a top flight pitcher and neither will Hardy and McGehee/Hart. If you trade Fielder you are also looking at 2011 being the year you will be competing for a playoff spot. I just don't see any pitching available that the Brewers will be able to acquire that will help for 2010 there just isn't any out there. You could get Halladay but that is going to cost Gamel/Escobar plus more. I don't see Melvin trading Escobar or Gamel for anything really maybe Gamel/Escobar for someone like Bumgarner but thats about it. The only way the Brewers are going to be able to improve the rotation in 2010 is through free agency. Maybe Lackey will be available for the Brewers to pick up or Harden or Escobar.

Fielder will be around beyond 2010 unless the Brewers are completely out of it in 2010 and a can't miss trade comes around for Fielder. Otherwise Fielder will be here until the 2011 trade deadline. 2011 is Fielder's last year before free agency. It does help Baltimore in three years. McGehee will still be there and I'm assuming Hardy will sign a deal to be there beyond the 2012 season. Remember Hardy has two more years before he is a free agent. Hardy and McGehee help the Orioles be competitive for the next immediate 3 years and improves their 2010 team by a lot while only having to give up one good pitching prospect. The Orioles would jump all over that deal. 2010 is probably not the year the Brewers will be contending. It will be in 2011 the last year that Fielder will be with the Brewers that the Brewers will be able to make the playoffs again. I just do not see the Brewers competing next year unless they get a #1 or #2 type starter and there is no one available for the Brewers to get for 2010.

I wonder if a McGehee and Hardy trade to the Orioles for Arrieta and a PTBNL could be a possibility. The Orioles need a SS and a 3B and the Orioles have been looking to acquire Hardy and with Hardy's value down right now the Brewers would have to add in someone like McGehee or Hart in order to get a good pitching prospect in return. McGehee makes more sense than Hart since the Orioles already have Pie, Jones, and Markakis in the OF. While Pie is not the greatest player he is still very serviceable for the Orioles and has more service time available than Hart does. I believe this is a fair deal for the Orioles getting a MLB SS who is still probably in the top 10 of all MLB SS in the games right now and McGehee who will be a cheap option at 3B for the next couple of years.

I wouldn't mind McGehee/Gamel in RF next year though I believe LF would be the best spot for McGehee. If McGehee would have to be traded along with Hardy I would be fine with that but I would rather see a lineup of Weeks, Gamel, Braun, Fielder, McGehee next year over a Weeks, Gamel, Braun, Fielder, Hart lineup. I could see McGehee/Hart and Hardy being a package to bring in some pitching. A McGehee and Hardy trade to Baltimore would make a lot of sense for both teams. Baltimore needs a SS and a 3B McGehee and Hardy would both bring a lot of value to the Orioles and the Brewers would get a better pitcher putting McGehee in a trade along with Hardy.

Doug could try and sell high but I doubt there will be that many GM's lining up to trade for McGehee. It is easy to say Doug should sell high on McGehee yeah Doug could do that but Doug still needs to find a buyer to buy high on someone like McGehee.

I wouldn't trade for a veteran pitcher unless it is for Halladay or Webb and I'm not so sure on Webb. Escobar should be a cheap upgrade over Looper, Bush, and Parra and is a veteran. Since Escobar has been injured for the past two years his contract won't be that long or that high. There is huge risk with Escobar, Lackey, and other older pitchers with injury especially with Escobar. If the Brewers could get Escobar and Davis/Pineiro/Marquis for relatively cheap in free agency the rotation would be fixed. If Cameron is serious about coming back at a cheaper rate the Brewers have to jump all over that. If you can get a player like Cameron for below market you take that 1000 times out of 100 times. Gallardo, Bush, and Parra should be in the rotation next year and those are locks. What the Brewers need is a #1 or #2 and a #3 or #4 type pitcher. I believe Escobar could be the #1 in Milwaukee pushing Gallardo to the #2 spot while Davis could be a #3 moving Bush to the #4 spot and having Parra at the #5 spot. I don't see much in the trade market for the Brewers to get maybe Millwood or Meche could be had but the Royals never part with anyone until they are completely worthless to them. Maybe a Suppan for Meche deal could be worked out. The Royals would be saving $9.5m on that deal. Meche is owed $12m for the next two years while Suppan is only owed $12.5m next year and a $2m buy out the following year. It would make sense for the Royals to do that deal since the Royals won't be competing next year again and in 2011 they will have a lot of money coming off the books.

I still can't understand why unions have not yet adapted to the global market it is like the unions are stuck in the 1960's and 1970's mentality. A lot of the manufacturing jobs will be leaving the U.S. quicker and quicker Stillwater is only a stepping stone for Mercury Marine and they will then move their plants off of the U.S. soil. Now I'm not saying the people working for unions shouldn't be paid a fair wage they should and they have earned that and deserve that. The unions just do not understand the global market for whatever reason. It is one of the reasons why all of the manufacturing jobs are moving out of the U.S. there is no stopping this until the unions and other parts of the government start to step in and start to stop this. No taxing the companies that leave will not help it will only make things worse. A lot of the environmental taxes, corporate taxes, and the unions inability to adapt to the global market are driving manufacturing jobs away from the U.S. and it is only going to get worse. I wouldn't be surprised to see the employment for manufacturing to be as low as 10% in the next 5-10 years with the service sectors increasing. A nice article from 2007 on the Manufacturing industry According to the CIA World Factbook Labor force - by occupation: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2048.html?countryName=United%20States&countryCode=us&regionCode=naus farming, forestry, and fishing 0.6%, manufacturing, extraction, transportation, and crafts 22.6%, managerial, professional, and technical 35.5%, sales and office 24.8%, other services 16.5%

I would bet on Kendall having a lower OPS for the year.

I would rather trade Fielder to the Rangers than to the Red Sox. Yes you probably won't get as many pitching prospects in return for Fielder from the Rangers as you would from the Red Sox but the Rangers do have someone the Brewers could really use and that is Justin Smoak. Fielder to the Rangers for Smoak, Derek Holland, and Michael Main/Martin Perez. That is close to a Teixeira like haul that the Rangers got from the Braves. Smoak would replace Fielder at 1B maybe not next year but the year after definitely. Holland would be in the rotation next year and Main or Perez will be available in 2011 or 2012 the earliest. I doubt Fielder will get traded though.

The aquarium is also nice to visit. I loved Denver when I was there visiting with my dad. That city is rather easy to get around in for as big of a city it is.

I definitely wouldn't want him to be a key part of the rotation but as a #6, 7, 8, or 9th option is something the Brewers need to look at.

I could have sworn when we got him he was pitching in the mid 90's but I could be wrong I kind of forgotten about him. But De La Rosa is not a soft tossing player though. I guess you could put Vargas in there also. Others you can add to the list: Jose Capellan, Greg Aquino, Seth McClung, Danny Kolb, Scott Linebrink, and Francisco Cordero you could also add Justin Lehr to the list when the Brewers acquired him he had an average fastball of 92.7. All of these players are hard throwers and Not all of the players Melvin has gotten are soft-tossing, knows how to pitch, pitch to contact guys.

I don't believe this is sustainable right now and I'm not sure there is enough data yet to say if it will or will not be. We should get more of a picture of where the economy is going when we get the 4th quarter numbers of this year the holiday season being the key. I'm going to be pessimistic on the economy and believe that we will see another holiday season like last year. Lots of discount deals but the retailers not really making much of a profit.

Not true at all. De La Rosa and Zach Jackson both weren't who know how to pitch type of pitchers. De La Rosa definitely didn't have average stuff it was his command that was below average. Phil Hughes types will take a Gamel or a Escobar to get and I'm not sure the Brewers should trade someone like that. Especially Gamel with no replacement for Fielder in sight in the minors.

The value in free agency is not as low as some people think it is. There are plenty of good buy low candidates that Melvin could get in free agency some are very risky while others are only moderately risky. In free agency next year you have Lackey (the best pitcher in free agency), Escobar, Harden, Bedard, and Sheets as the top 5 pitchers in free agency. You can probably eliminate Lackey and Sheets from the list of possible players coming to Milwaukee in free agency. You can put a question mark behind Harden and Escobar and you can put a million questions marks depending on Bedard's health in coming to Milwaukee. Escobar is probably the more logical player that the Brewers could sign a Gagne like contract to Escobar would be a good move by Melvin and rather shrewd also. Since Escobar has been injured the last two years I doubt he will get a lot of attention in the off season as he should. The Brewers maybe able to steal him away with a high dollar amount and low years. If he has a great year he can leave for free agency the next year and get a bigger contract. Harden will probably cost way to much in years and dollars for the Brewers to be able to get him especially with his injury concerns. It would be like signing Sheets to an extension last off season. Too many injury concerns for the Brewers to lock up someone like that for such a long period of time. Both the Cubs and the Angels may not be able to resign their players that are leaving for free agency. The Angels will definitely not be able to resign both Lackey and Escobar and I have my doubts on the ability of the Cubs retaining Harden. With the Angels getting Kazmir and his contract that is a sign to me that the Angels believe they will not be able to sign Lackey and Vlad and they would have to make a decision on those two and I believe the Angels are going to go with Vlad over Lackey now that they have Kazmir. This should be an interesting off season though.

Don't forget Ian Kennedy who is currently blocked from the rotation in New York.

Shields signed an extension with the Rays and isn't arby eligible and he is cheap until his final option with the Rays. Iwamura the Rays current 2B just came off the DL I believe and the Rays have an option on him for next year or a $250K buyout. Iwamura's option is cheap though and he would get more in free agency though Hardy/Hart maybe a better fit for the Rays than McGehee. Bartlett is kind of old but the Rays have him under control for the next couple of years this is only his 3rd year of service time. So Hardy may not fit and with the Rays dumping Kazmir I'm not sure they will be dumping Crawford also. But if they would get Hart they would probably dump Crawford for some pitching depth. I don't see the Rays trading Shields since he is rather inexpensive he will only cost the Rays $2.5M next year. Sonnanstine probably won't get that much of an increase in an arby raise than what he is getting now which will probably be around the 500K mark. The Marlins are a nice team to look at and get pitching in return. I wouldn't mind Andrew Miller he is like Parra and I don't see the Marlins trading away Nolasco. Johnson is probably the most likely player to be traded. If the Brewers could swing a McGehee, Salome, Scarpetta/Anundsen, and a PTBNL for Johnson that would be a perfect trade for the Brewers and the Marlins. Johnson is going to cost a lot in arbitration for the Marlins and we all know how the Marlins hate paying a lot for the last few years of a players arbitration especially when they are going to get a big payday increase. Uggla will also be gone from the Marlins so that will probably open up a hole at 2B for them and depending on what they get in return for Uggla that could make Johnson, Nolasco, Miller, and Sanchez expendable. One of those four will probably be gone from the Marlins. Another candidate for a trade is Ian Kennedy. Yes I have some kind of man crush on Ian Kennedy for some strange reason but he looks to be completely blocked in New York and it doesn't look like the Yankees really trust in his stuff anymore. Kennedy would probably be another Dave Bush type of a pitcher but at a cheaper price. I'm not sure what the Yankees would want in return in a trade for Kennedy though.

You act like the Brewers could have traded for either of those players. Who would be traded for those two players? For Jackson Hart does not even equal the value the Rays got for Jackson he is well below what they got for Jackson. So who other than Hart would you have traded for Jackson? Jurrjens again would have taken more than Hart to get him in the off season. Now who else would you add into that deal. Now what if Jackson or Jurrjens had a year like Looper is having and Hart is having a year like he had in 2007? What would you have thought of that trade then? You can suggest all the trades you want until you are blue in the face it doesn't mean the other team is going to accept it. The Brewers do not have anyone in their system that were like the players the Rays got for Kazmir either. Only Taylor Green projects as well as Sweeney does other than that I don't see the Brewers being able to get Kazmir because of the lack of pitching prospects which can be blamed on Jack Z and Melvin. There are free agents out there that the Brewers can get like Escobar, Pavano, and others. The Brewers either need to trade Braun, Fielder, Gamel, Escobar, or Lawrie in order to get some good pitching in return. You can't trade Gamel, Escobar, or Lawrie really unless you are getting a stud pitcher in return. With Braun and Fielder you would be expecting a Teixeira type of a haul and not that many teams will be willing to give up that kind of a haul in prospects. So are Melvin's hands tied? Yes they are somewhat and the only way the Brewers will get the good pitching next year is through free agency I don't see many teams trading away pitching at least MLB level pitching away next year. The Brewers are either going to have to do a Gagne or a Suppan type of a deal for a player in free agency. Is Lackey, Escobar, or Harden really worth those kind of deals? I'm not sure they are especially with each of those players having injury concerns. If the Brewers trade Hardy or Hart for pitching it will be of the AAA or AA variety I would rather take the AA pitcher over the AAA pitcher though. I just don't see who the Brewers could get in a trade for Hardy or Hart even last year. The Giants wanted both Hardy and Hart for Sanchez last off season. Everyone forgets that Melvin tried to trade one of Hardy or Hart to the Giants last year but the Giants were not interested in either Hart or Hardy for Cain. It probably would have taken Hardy and Fielder just to get Cain last year from the Giants and the Giants would probably have asked for Hart and another player in return.

Suppan for Meche would be my ideal trade to the Royals.

The deal is done. The Angels get Kazmir for Sweeney, Torres, and a PTBNL. I am going to guess it is Trumbo since the Angels really don't have a need for him he is blocked at every position he could play in the Angels organization and he would fit perfectly into the Rays lineup in 2011 when Pena is gone.

Yes it can be on the 40 man roster if the player is in the minors. I can't find anything that says the PTBNL can't be on the 40 man roster the only two rules I can find are that the player must be traded within 6 months and the player must be traded between leagues. IE NL----->AL or Minors ------->Majors. It is the same situation as the Mets and Red Sox Chris Carter is now a PTBNL instead of being out right traded to the Mets. Chris Carter was on the Red Sox 40 man but was playing for their AAA affiliate I believe it was. Now that I remember that it can't be O'Sullivan so it is probably Trumbo or Wood. Trumbo is in AA and Wood I believe is in AAA. Unless you can point me to where it says you can't do a PTBNL on the teams 40 man roster.

Apparently there is or there might be a player to be named later which makes sense. Source. I'm going to guess it is one of the players on the Angels 40 man roster and they don't want to do what the Red Sox did and have to put that player through waivers. I'm going to guess it is someone like O'Sullivan, Kendrick, Trumbo, or Wood. If it is someone like O'Sullivan as the player to be named later the Brewers never really wouldn't have stood a chance. The only player on the Brewers roster who is like O'Sullivan is Gallardo. It makes sense that the Rays will be getting someone who is MLB ready to replace Kazmir. The Angels still need to be able to make room for Kazmir on their 40 man roster though. So I wouldn't be surprised if it is either Trumbo, Kendrick, O'Sullivan, or Ortega. I'm going to go with O'Sullivan.

The reason why most stocks have soared lately is because they are showing a profit but these are false profits when you start to look into their books. You will notice that their expenses for employees is a lot lower than it was just one year ago. Layoffs and not hiring new people is a reason why some companies are showing a profit. I expect unemployment to continue where it is for the next two or three quarters at least. The majority of the stimulus won't hit until 2011 or 2012 depending on who you believe. This is also not taking into consideration that most of the stimulus money is pork spending and won't have a positive effect on the economy. If you want to judge the economy I would look at is the GDP for the year. An interesting fact public debt accounted for 60.8% of GDP in 2007 that probably should have been a warning sign but these figures usually lag behind by a year or two and only are estimated.

Looks like the Angels will only be bringing back one or none of Lackey and Escobar next year. Though I wish the Brewers would have gotten in on this trade it is still a good thing for the Brewers. This now means probably that Lackey and Escobar will not be signed by the Angels (I'm hoping here). If Lackey and Escobar are not brought back by the Angels that is a lot of good arms available in free agency with Bedard, Lackey, Escobar, Harden, and others. That is 10 times better than last years free agent pitchers at least ones that the Brewers will have a shot at.