nate82

Are Ken Griffey Jr. and Frank Thomas Hall of Fame bound? During the 90's you would have had to say yes to both Thomas and Griffey. Both were among the top feared hitters in the league with both being able to hit for power and average. I would say that if Griffey and Thomas both wouldn't have gotten injured in their careers they would be absolute locks. Lets look at career stats for both Thomas and Griffey. For Thomas a career .301 AVG, 521 HR's, and 1704 RBI's. Thomas ranks 21st in both Home Runs and RBI's all time. For Griffey a career .288 AVG, 611 HR's, and 1772 RBI's. I believe Griffey will be a 1st ballot Hall of Famer if he retires now but will Thomas be a 1st ballot Hall of Famer? Thomas has the stats to be in the Hall of Fame and so does Griffey to me they are no doubters to go into the Hall of Fame. In the 90's when you have the juicing age you have two players in Griffey and Thomas who have not been connected to steroids in that era.

Penny would be a perfect signing by Melvin if he doesn't trade someone for some pitching help. Penny could be the #3 or #4 pitcher. Penny was already rehabbing from his injury at the end of the season. His agent has said in an article that he has been working out to get in better shape for 2009. I expect Penny to sign to a 1 year contract at a deep discount to stick it to the Dodgers and prove he can still pitch. Penny has as many question marks about injuries as Sheets and Burnett do. The only difference between Penny and Sheets/Burnett is that Penny will cost you less in money and in years. To sign Penny it would take a 1 year $5-8 million contract. How is that not a low risk signing for the Brewers? If Melvin and company took a risk with Gagne at 1 year $10 million I don't see how Penny would be any more riskier than that signing.

Good luck in finding another platoon player that can do this against left handed pitchers. 2008 By Breakdown AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB HBP SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS vs. Left 157 21 48 13 0 7 25 17 1 45 1 4 .306 .371 .522 .893 Last 3 years By Breakdown AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB HBP SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS vs. Left 425 72 124 32 0 24 71 58 1 125 5 10 .292 .374 .536 .910 Possible Free Agents who could replace Hall Rich Aurilia (37) Casey Blake (35) - Type B, offered arb Willie Bloomquist (31) Aaron Boone (36) Craig Counsell (38) Joe Crede (31) Nomar Garciaparra (35) Mike Lamb (33) Mark Loretta (37) - Type B, not offered arb Ramon Martinez (36) Pablo Ozuna (34) Juan Uribe (30) - Type B, not offered arb Ramon Vazquez (32) Looking at the list though I like Ramon Vazquez who could be like Lamb the RHP part of the platoon. Plus Hall gives you some depth at SS, 2B, and OF if someone goes down with an injury or someone needs a day off. You are not going to want to waste Escobar and have him sit on the bench all year. Only Iribarren is as versatile as Hall is and the only plus going for Iribarren is that he is cheaper than Hall. I don't see the Rangers trading away Blalock and I don't see why Blalock would want to come to Milwaukee he would be a starter in Texas and I believe Blalock currently right now in his career is a DH or a 1B and since we already have a player like that in Prince I don't see why the Brewers would trade for Blalock. Considering that the Rangers are probably going to be asking for more than what Blalock is worth it is definitely not worth it to trade for him.

Twins Break off Talks with Casey Blake. The article from the Star Tribune states that the Twins broke off negotiations when they couldn't come to agreement with the third year. The Twins were offering an option for a third year and Casey Blake wants a guaranteed third year.

I don't want to see Hart playing CF at all. I like Dye but I would rather have Hart in RF than Dye. Hart is average defensively in RF what would that make him in CF? I wouldn't trade Hall straight up for Jenks. With the departure of Branyan 3B is really weak and if you trade Hall in this deal you are either relying on Gamel to be playing 3B next year or finding another platoon option for Lamb or someone else. I don't see how this improves the team. I would rather take my chances with Hoffman, Wood, or Fuentes than with Jenks.

I would sign Dunn to that deal and then trade Hart to the Rays for Niemann/Sonnanstine/Jackson and a minor league player. The Rays are looking for a right handed batter to play in the OF and Hart fits that.

I love the Whopper and the Baconator.

That is because the Giants offered Sanchez for Hardy and not Cain. The Giants reportedly wanted Fielder and Hardy for Cain.

They may not be serious on getting better but they sure are serious at getting older.

Lawrie has been playing with a wooden bat since that is what they use in the Olympics and on the national teams. Lawrie isn't like the normal college players who need to adjust to the wooden bat after using an aluminum bat for so long.

That won't work since the Giants want Hardy for Sanchez.

CBS Sports also confirms these figures. http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/11149782/rss

To much for just one year of Giles I'm guessing the starting point would be either Cain or Hart. I like Giles but I would rather have Hart and Cain.

With the rumors that the Braves are willing to give Burnett 5 years I don't see how Sheets can't get a 3-4 year deal from a team especially the Yankees if they are willing to go 4 years with Burnett. I believe Sheets is going to get 4 years around $60 million.

He was "not retained".

No to Dontrelle unless the Tigers would be taking Suppan in the deal. Actually I would prefer Suppan over Willis. Granderson would be nice to have in CF I'm not sure who the Tigers would want in return. The biggest contract is Miggy Cabrera and I don't see the Tigers moving him especially after trading for him and signing him to a long term deal plus we already have someone like Miggy in Prince. Maybe a deal where the Brewers send Jeffries, Cain, and Salome to the Tigers for Verlander and Granderson. I don't think that is enough but it would be a starting point at least. Polanco could be a good add also. If the Tigers are looking to shed payroll the Brewers could send Iribarren and Periard to the Tigers for Polanco. This is probably over paying for Polanco but he does have a nice small contract at $4.6M for next year. Weeks could become a 4th OF or split time with Polanco at 2B. Polanco would make a good 2B and a good leadoff hitter but I am wary of Polanco's OBP being mostly because of his average. Though going from Detroit to Milwaukee may help with that. As for Magglio I would rather sign Dunn or Burrell to a contract than take on Magglio's contract. Ordonez would hit the numbers to get his contracted renewed for 2010 so we would be on the hook for $18M and that is probably more than what Dunn or Burrell would be getting. 05:$6M, 06:$15M, 07:$12M, 08:$15M, 09:$18M, 10:$15M club option ($3M buyout), 11:$15M club option (no buyout) according to Cot's Baseball Contracts. options guaranteed at $18M for 2010 & $15M for 2011 if Ordonez has: [li]135 starts or 540 PAs in 2009, or270 starts or 1,080 PAs in 2008-09 [/li]

I strongly believe that Lawrie should be playing at 3B and not at catcher. It is not that I think he can't make it as a catcher but his bat is extremely more advanced than his defense is and it would slow down his development. I would rather see Lawrie at 2B or 3B than at Catcher because of his bat and the development time it would take for him to fully develop as a catcher compared to 2B or 3B. I would rather have someone who is average at 2B or 3B than have someone behind the plate being average defensively.

If he wanted more playing time I'm not sure what Melvin could have offered him. More money? But why would you do that? I believe Branyan just took what was best for him. Melvin couldn't offer Branyan what he wanted in playing time while the Mariners could.

Chris Bosio named as the pitching coach also. Do a lot of other teams sign former players as coaches in their systems? It seems as though the Brewers sign a lot of former players that have played for the Brewers to coaching positions. I'm just curious about that.

I don't think Wood has the endurance any more to be a starter and he is to much of a health risk to consider as a starter again. I wouldn't put Wood as a starter anymore and I believe this is the reason why the Cubs made Wood into their closer.

Our defense just took a nose dive. Abreu isn't as good as Hart is in LF or RF and Hart isn't as good as Cameron is in CF. The offense that we would be gaining with Abreu would be offset by his defense. I would rather take on Dunn over Abreu with Dunn you can at least move him to 1B and trade Fielder in the 2009 off season and get a stud young pitcher in return.

I believe there needs to be more stations like 97.3 in Milwaukee.

That is actually what I was thinking. You could sign Dunn to a 4 or 5 year deal and have him play LF this upcoming season and then have him play 1B in 2010 and trade Fielder for a young stud pitcher. By 2010 Gamel should either be at 3B or in the OF plus having Cain and others the OF should be set with a Braun, Cain, and Gamel OF. But we would be giving up on Hart at least for this upcoming season. Hart wouldn't be a bad option as a 4th OF giving Cameron and Dunn days off here and there.

No arbitration offer for Wood

I would go with: Bert Blyleven, Rickey Henderson, and Ron Gant. OK maybe not Ron Gant but wow I remember back in the late 80's and early 90's when the Braves were making their run Gant was talked about as being a sure bet Hall of Famer. Then he injured himself in the offseason and was never the same after that.