kramnoj

Sure, it's fun to dream about but I will seriously quit this board and become a Royals fan with Ben Hendrickson's dad if Gallardo pitches at all during the 2008 regular season or post-season (winter ball is another story, although I highly doubt that, too.) I don't think there's any chance that team medical staff would allow Gallardo to come back if he wasn't ready. But that is certainly months off and as you said not the focus of this thread. Back to CC. Since I haven't said it yet in this thread, this move is incredibly exciting. If I had the money, I would buy whatever ticket package I needed to get the chance to get playoff tickets. I'll have to settle for tv and this site!

Sure Melvin will get a job but he might never get another GM job. He did very little for the Rangers and he would have failed to get the Brewers to the playoffs despite having the best rookie offensive season ever, the youngest player to hit 50 home runs and a top ten pitcher. That's not an answer to the question. Do you think that Melvin made a move, not because he thinks it is the best move for this team right now, but he because he is actively thinking about the possibility of being fired?

Didn't Gallardo himself hope that he could come back in September? If he did, it certainly wouldn't be as a starter, but I can see him coming back as a bullpen guy that is used carefully, ala the Joba rules last fall. I don't think anyone is counting on it, but it's fun to think about.

EDIT:And yes Melvin has to know if he doesn't make the playoffs this year combined with not having Sheets next year making the playoffs in 2009 difficult it might mean unemployment. You think Melvin made this move because he doesn't want to be fired? Melvin is well respected in baseball, he won't have trouble finding a job if his time in Milwaukee ends. I get the feeling that Mark A not only approves this deal, but may be pushing for it to happen. I don't think he's going to blame Melvin for a move that he wanted. This isn't the Wilpons and the Kazmir situation.

Yes they could have and it would have had less of an impact. And the whole two ace thing is really overblown since the variation of one game is so great. This gives you 2-3 games while anyone else would have at best been one game improvement this season. This was to make the playoffs after coming close last year. So you believe this is the thinking of the front office, and that they decided LaPorta was worth the difference of one regular season game?

Why would you be shocked? One thing I've been mulling over is that if teh Brewers make the playoffs the added revenue from the playoffs and next year's attendance would mean being able to sign Sheets. If the Brewers don't make the playoffs, no Sheets next year. In which case makign the playoffs becomes very important. The Brewers could have tried to make a trade for a pitcher to improve the rotation without giving up LaPorta. One of the formulas for postseason success is two ace type pitchers that will make 4 starts in a series. You win those starts, you win the series. As far as playoff revenue, I think some people overestimate that. I read an article that said the Tigers and Cardinals only got about $7 million for making it to the WS.

I would be shocked if LaPorta was given up for the goal of making the playoffs. CC was targeted because he is the only available ace and a playoff rotation of Sheets, CC and Parra as the first 3 is a rotation that can reach the WS. (fixed code--1992)

It seems that Shapiro tried to shop the Brewers offer and realized that Melvin wasn't bluffing, so now they are hammering out the details. We pretty much know three things, CC is coming and LaPorta is leaving and two others in the touchable pool are going as well. I wonder if Melvin is still pushing for a reliever to come over, or if he will be happy with a bullpen strengthened by Bush or McClung joining it.

Tito may be embarrassed, but he didn't make that choice. Tek was voted in by the players. Francona selected Carlos Guillen of the Tigers, catcher Dioner Navarro of the Rays and pitchers George Sherrill of the Orioles, Justin Duchscherer of the A's and Joe Nathan of the Twins. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080706&content_id=3076848&vkey=allstar2008&fext=.jsp

I do think CC is the best available pitcher to help the Brewers win the WS, but I'm glad that Melvin is standing firm. If some other team now knows that LaPorta is available for the right package, and we get someone that will improve this year's rotation as well as being in the rotation next year, that would be good as well.

So, was the bat maple or ash?

I don't know how the shift affects ZR, but presumably Dillon and Weeks are positioned the same, yet Dillon rates better. I don't think anybody is disputing Weeks superior range, but I don't think his spectacular plays outweighs the routine plays he doesn't make. I don't care what the stats say; Dillon is a liability at 2nd I don't think anybody is saying he is good, some are just saying that he has performed better, and in combination with Weeks offensive woes, Dillon wouldn't be a horrible choice to play if Weeks can't turn the season around. Besides, didn't you just put in caps lock in another thread that nothing is more demoralizing to a pitcher than routine plays that don't get made?

Dillon won't bat this bad against righties the whole year but I'm guessing it will be around what Weeks is doing right now. Why would you think that Dillon would bat so horribly if he was given enough ABs? Weeks defense has actually gotten better this year and right now is better than Dillon at 2B right now. It is true that this is the best year that Weeks has had according to ZR, but Dillon still rates better.

I understand that Dillon has had limited playing time and what-not, but Rickie Weeks is still outhitting him this year (although not by much). Dillon so far this year has a higher BA, higher OBP and higher OPS+. If there was some hypothetical one game playoff tomorrow, I would start Counsell or Dillon over Weeks. But I do think it is important that Weeks gets the ABs over the next month to see if he can turn this season around, because there isn't any question that he should be playing better and if he is on, is going to give this team the best shot to make the playoffs and go deep.

I have watched Dillon, more than once. He's not good. He's not as likely to make a great play. But in his limited innings, he has shown that he will make the routine play more often than Weeks.

Dillon is a complete liability defensively at 2B Dillon has played more innings in the majors at 2B than any other position and his ZR there is better than Weeks. It's obviously an incredibly small sample size, but I don't know that you can support a claim of complete liability. You are obviously right in saying that the Brewers feel that Weeks is their best option, but I do think it's possible that Weeks won't be the fulltime 2B if his bat doesn't come around in the next month or so.

And some people want to dump him for another no-hit defensive SS? Wow. Is there someone here who is advocating dumping Hardy? Can you point that out? Besides, Escobar isn't "no-hit". He would be below average right now, but he doesn't project to be the worst hitter at this position.

silversurferr, you are basically speaking as a fan here who loves his player. That's good, that's what fans do. But that's not much of an actual discussion. You are shouting and you are insulting. Hardy right now is a valuable player, the Brewers are a better team for having him. That doesn't mean that he is worthy of an extension and that doesn't mean it's not okay to point out any flaws that he may have. As an average payroll team, the Brewers won't be able to afford the most expensive free agents. One other thing they will have to consider as theymove forward with young talent coming up is how to structure their payroll with players going through arbitration and signing or trading for pitching that they don't have in the farm. Come 2010, the Brewers may have to decide that as good as Hardy is, he just isn't worth $8 million or whatever he would get in his final year of arbitration. Even though he may be expected to be a better player than Escobar, Escobar is probably going to provide more value for the dollar and the Brewers may be able to spend that money to improve themselves elsewhere. Depending on how the offseason goes, that decision could even occur as early as next year.

And Jack Z gets his shot at a GM job - but here rather than somewhere else! I don't understand why there is a push to take Z out of the role at which he excels and put him into a different role. I agree that Jack Z is phenomenal at his job. If I was Mark A, I would pay Z whatever GM's make because he is clearly valuable in his role but keep the current structure.

LaPorta is actually considered to be one of the top 5 prospects in baseball at this time. I am sure that we could get a better return for LaPorta than a guy we are renting for 2 months. How can you be sure that there is a better return that is available right now? Who would be a better return? The team doesn't just want to get a better pitcher to make the playoffs. They want an ace that has a good chance of dominating in the playoffs and going to the WS. Trading away some prospects to get to the playoffs and lose in the first round isn't what the team wants. CC is the best available pitcher in this market, and the Brewers have the best prospects to get him. A playoff rotation of Sheets, CC, and Parra would probably be the best rotation in the playoffs. And if we get incredibly lucky, Gallardo may be available for bullpen help in the playoffs.

Brad Nelson has a 921 OPS in AAA and he plays first. Or, if the Brewers traded away Prince instead of LaPorta, they could probably just move LaPorta up. That doesn't sound like that's a current scenario though.

If Melvin insists on trading him we should be receiving a pitcher like Billingsley or Cain in return. It's easy for us to say that, but those players may not be available. CC is the best pitcher that is on the market right now and there are other teams that want him. We can't compare what CC's value is to past deals, we can only compare his value to what the market currently is. Why this organization is putting it all on the line for one shot is beyond me. Because this is the last year that the Brewers will have Sheets. That they haven't offered an extension to Sheets indicates that they don't intend to make the neccessary offer to keep him once he becomes a FA. One of the formulas for success in the postseason is two dominant pitchers in a short series. CC is probably the most dominant pitcher that will be available for trade. Instead we are mortgaging the future to take one shot and if we fail we will let Sheets go and have no pitching going forward. This is no way to run an organization. It's true that our pitching will be weaker next year, but it's just wrong to say that there will be no pitching going forward. Besides, didn't you just answer your own question? The Brewers know that next season's staff will be weaker, which is why they want to go for it this year. I should also mention that it appears the Brewers are the only team stupid enough to be offering an elite prospect like LaPorta for a rental. LaPorta is probably the only elite prospect that doesn't have a spot on the parent major league team next year, and because of that he gives the best chance for the Brewers to get CC. I think LaPorta's availablility in this trade indicates that the Brewers don't have him in their plans next year. They don't plan on trading away Prince, they don't plan on moving Hart to center. If LaPorta isn't going to make next year's team better, he might as well give this team a better chance of getting to the WS.

It's not common for the scouts that get quoted to be named, but there was one scout quote in one of the recent articles listed about trade rumors that say that Hardy has lost a step defensively.

At this late point, I don't think any trade will be official, but the teams could hammer out the meat of an agreement and it could be leaked still. The commissioner's office has to approve any deal if a certain amount of cash is involved, but that doesn't sound like it's going to be an issue here.

But Weeks doesn't walk enough How often is enough? He is walking about once every other game this year. His OBP isn't low because of a lack of walks, it's because he is hitting .213.