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I'd rather see Bonafacio make the roster over Bianchi. Aside from playing SS Bianchi what value does he bring to the team? He can't hit either LH or RH pitching so he can't platoon. He can't hit for power and is a liability on the base paths. If you replaced Bianchi with Bonafacio you could keep a platoon at 1st, 2nd and even Caleb Gindl off the bench if LF needed a platoon. C Maldonado 1B Reynolds/Francisco/Overbay 2B Gennett/Weeks OF Gindl 2B/SS/3B/LF/CF/RF Bonafacio Seems like a no brainer to me.

I would love to add Bonafacio to our bench. I've been hoping a utility player who could play SS/CF would fall from the sky.

Marmols value is tied to his HR rate and last year was a BAD SIGN. I wouldn't want any part of him at Miller Park. Way too much stress on a fanbase that has had to deal with Turnbow, Hoffman, Axford and others melting down. Just say no Doug! JUST SAY NO!!

The more I think about it the more I'm convinced that the Brewers are done making moves at 1B. I'd love to add a solid LH bat that can hit somewhere in the 4-5-6 spot in the lineup against RHP but that guy isn't available without blowing a hole elsewhere on our team. If the Mariners added Cruz and or Morales in FA they would be targeting a top of the rotation guy (Lohse/Gallardo or better) which would kill the Brewers chances of making a run this year. I'd consider moving Estrada in a deal for a 1B but only if we are able to sign a suitable replacement for him in FA. It's nice having Tyler Thornburg because he gives you some flexibility on if you want to sign a starter like Johan with upside or a reliable back end reliever like KRod. Now risking a major dropoff in pitching to find a slight improvement at 1B seems silly but there's also a chance that Smoak dominates away from Safeco and Johan comes back midseason and gives us a much needed LH starter with top of the rotation ability. All of this is probably way too much of a risk for an organization that doesn't take many risks so it's much more likely we take our lumps this year with one of Overbay/Francisco in a platoon with Reynolds. Our best hope is probably Morris stepping up but if that doesn't happen we will probably just sign Adam Dunn in FA next year.

Oh they'd take an arm for sure. The back end of their rotation is wide open. Not that I'd deal an Estrada straight up for Ackley. Maybe package Estrada with a prospect for Smoak and Ackley. I can't see the Mariners trading both Smoak and Ackley even after they signed Nelson Cruz. Right now they have Smoak, Morrison, Hart, Ackley and Saunders to play 1B/LF/CF/RF/DH. Adding Cruz or bringing back Morales frees one of them to trade in a package with a guy like Nick Franklin who's now blocked from the Robinson Cano signing. I don't know if that's what I'd be looking for if I was gonna trade Estrada but it's tempting.

But if you really want Gennett to be the guy, you don't put training wheels on him. They just signed two vets to minor league deals, Pete Orr and Joe Thurston who between them have played 191 major league games at second base. Taylor Green has also played there. The White Sox would give them Jeff Keppinger for a song and there's already a thread about Dustin Ackley likely to be shopped in Seattle. Not great alternatives but neither is the Weeks we've seen the last couple years. What if Weeks does take over 2 months into the year and hits around .160 again for his first 200 AB's for the third straight season? To me that's far more likely than Gennett falling completely on his face. You keep the training wheels on Gennett because he's proven over the course of his minor and major league career that he can't hit LHP. Scooter vs LHP 2013 MLB - .154/.175/.154/.329 2013 AAA - .235/.262/.330/.592 2012 AA - .241/.271/.335/.607 2011 A+ - .282/.325/.342/.667 I know Weeks is overpaid and hated around here but people need to just grasp that Scooter is a platoon player and needs a RHH compliment on the roster. Since Weeks is already a sunk cost I see no reason to jettison him off unless you're getting some substantial salary relief and even then I wouldn't do it unless I could guarantee getting someone like Jeff Baker as a replacement.

Maybe Mark Kotsay

I was hoping to sign a UT bat that can handle SS and CF kind of like Jerry Hairston specialized in. I just don't know whats out there after Chone Figgins signed a minor league deal. My main reasoning for wanting the UT player is because I'd like to see Gindl make the team as a possible platoon option with Khris Davis if he falters. However the only way you can really stick Gindl on the bench is if you can find someone who can handle CF. As a guy who's never been on the Bianchi bandwagon I think this is where the opening would fit. I just don't have a clue who that mystery player could be. Maldonado C Reynolds / Francisco 1B/3B Weeks / Gennett 2B Gindl/Davis LF/RF Mystery player SS/CF

The only legitimate offer for Fielder that I can remember revolved around Daniel Hudson and hes recovering from his 2nd Tommy John surgery. Some how I don't think that trade would have put us in a better position this season... And can we please stop with the Thompson to Melvin comparisons? People have been trying to make that same comparison for years and its just ridiculous! First off the NFL gets "instant gratification" with their draft picks meanwhile it takes YEARS to develop in baseball. Second and most importantly Green Bay is playing with something called a "salary cap" and there's no such thing in baseball. Do you honestly think we would have lost both Greinke and Fielder if there was a cap in place? Do you think GB keeps all their core players if the Dallas Yankees or the Washington Redsox came calling with blank checks? You continue to say how the Brewers don't have a plan and all this but what you fail to mention is how injuries/ineffectiveness/scandal devastated this team. What would you say if Rodgers went down with an injury or got suspended for nearly half of the season? Do you think GB comes close to winning the division if we were left with Graham Harrell or Vince Young? Would you blame TT for "not having a plan" or would you give him a pass? Like you I'm frustrated with this season but its because I felt we were so close to having a team that would be right in the hunt if Melvin didn't sleep all offseason until the last week of spring training. This team needed to replace 2 starters (Greinke and Marcum) but only signed 1 because they were doped into believing a couple mid and late season call ups were the real deal. Well I knew Fiers was a fluke and never trusted Rogers, Narveson, Estrada and Fiers as anything more than a #5 starter with their lack of velocity or command. I hate to play the 20 20 hindsight game but I know I'm not the only one around here who campaigned for Francisco Liriano (talking about you JohnBriggs) because of his combination of stuff and switching leagues. Melvin then failed all of us as fans when he didn't sign a 1B replacement when both Hart and Gamel went down with injuries. I know I'm not the only one again who called for Melvin to trade recently DFA'd Mike Carp but instead he decided to go with a couple of RH hitting SS's with terrible OBP's for even SS standards as his double RH hitting platoon at 1B. I'm not saying those two moves would have put us in the playoffs since both Gallardo pitched like his name was Jeff Suppan and Wily Peralta's started the year out with a sophomore slump but my attitude going into the season would have been a lot different.

Saying we should have put all of our money from the past into scouting and the draft is kind of pointless now because there's caps on how much you can spend. We're obviously gonna spend all of our allotted slot money so these long diatribes are severely outdated. Everything down to draft pick compensation has been changed so saying you want to follow the Rays model is fine and dandy but how do you do that playing on an even playing field as everyone else in the league? Basically if you want to rebuild these days you gotta finish near dead last like were doing because it gives you the most money to use in both the draft and international market. Do I wish the Brewers would have invested more money into past draft classes and international FA? Of course I do but I also see the team making major strides in international FA (signing 2 top 30 prospects) with the rule changes. Next year were gonna have a lot more money to work with which should translate into a nice haul.

I'll get ripped apart for this, but I agree with everything you just said. I think Braun took something (most likely to heal after a long 2011 season filled with injuries), but I would bet that he didn't take a PED. Mark McGwire, between his rookie year and 1998, when he hit 70 home runs, bulked up by 37 pounds. Ryan Braun, between 2007 and 2012, added 8 pounds. His rookie year, he averaged a home run every 14.4 at bats. In 2012, he averaged a home run every 14.55 at bats (those numbers are from memory earlier this evening.) Where's the gains from these steroids he's supposedly taking? Braun was a top 100 amateur talent per Baseball America. He was an All-American at Miami. Are we supposed to believe he was juicing in high school? Couple things. 1. Braun was using synthetic testosterone. Let's not confuse what he was using with anabolic steroids like Winstrol that was so popular in the 80's. 2. Whats to say Braun wasn't using this stuff from Paul Bosch back to his Miami days? You even said his numbers have stayed the same the entire time. It's not hard to beat MLB's testing as long as you keep your T/E levels under 4-1. Braun most likely failed his test in 2011 because he just took his dosage which explains the 20-1 level he had.

I just watched the highlights of Skaggs start last night and I'm even more unsure about him now than I was before. He topped at 90 MPH and was sitting 89 from the 3rd inning on last night. He has an amazing curveball but that FB is gonna struggle to get by hitters if they're looking for it. I hope the Indians are serious about their rumored interest in Gallardo. I'd rather take a package built around Trevor Bauer or Francisco Lindor than Tyer Skaggs TBH.

Marcum like FB...? Where did you get that scouting report? Everything I've read this year says that he works more like Gallardo did at that age, 91-94 and topping out in the mid 90s. Skaggs velocity has increased each of the last 2 seasons, he's from the some Angles draft class as Mike Trout. You might be looking at a draft day report? Fangraphs has his average FB at 89.8. That's right in line with all the other soft tossers we've masqueraded as starting pitchers the last decade under Melvin.

The team that makes the most sense to me is the Padres. Will Venable is starting in RF with a Yuni like .265 OBP. Say what you want about Nori's power but his OBP is about 100 points higher than Venable's and he's versatile enough to play CF. Throw in not being a rental and his cheap contract and it should be enough to snag a highly regarded arm as the featured part of the trade. I think people are undervaluing Aoki a bit in this thread. He's not a superstar but he should be able to bring back at least what a reliever like Mike Adams brought back in a trade a few years ago. If the Padres can get Joe Wieland and Robbie Erlan then why can't Aoki bring back a package headlined by one of Matt Wisler, Zach Eflin or Joe Ross?

San Diego could put one heck of a package together if we were willing to wait a bit longer for the talent to arrive in Milwaukee. They are loaded with pitching prospects and could be used as leverage to force Arizona to give up Holmberg and Davidson in addition to Skaggs if they really want Gallardo. We're in a great position with a bidding war possibly breaking out between all the NL West teams.

Witrado wrote an article about Yovani and mentioned the Orioles, Giants, Indians, Redsox, Rangers and the Padres as teams that could be interested. Which got me thinking about a possible deal with the Indians. Would you guys trade Gallardo for a package around Trevor Bauer? I know it would still depend on the other pieces coming our way but that would be a nice start...

I posted this in the other thread but its better suited here. "@jonmorosi Scouts will watch Tigers prospect Jordan Lennerton at Futures Game. He is a LH-hitting 1B. Detroit has one of those. #TradeChip" Seems like a realistic option for a half season rental who would most likely be non tendered.

"‏@jonmorosi Scouts will watch Tigers prospect Jordan Lennerton at Futures Game. He is a LH-hitting 1B. Detroit has one of those. #TradeChip" Got a feeling this guy might end up in Milwaukee in a trade for Axford or KRod just because he's Canadian.

The Orioles are a team that might be a match for Kyle Lohse.

Have you seen the returns we've gotten on that Greinke trade? We made the right choice and if the Rangers are [sore about it, too bad.]

Xander Bogaerts Matt Barnes Anthony Ranaudo Garin Cecchini That sounds fair to me.

The more I see this kind of chatter, the more open I think I'd be to moving Yo. Maybe the Tigers wouldn't want to move Castellanos for Axford, but I wonder what they'd be willing to add to Castellanos for Gallardo plus Axford. I love Castellanos but if I'm trading 2.5 years of Gallardo then I NEED a cheap controllable front line starting pitcher in return. I realize you could trade Castellanos for an elite pitching prospect so I guess getting the best value in return is what counts. I just remember the Rays got Wil Myers and Jake Odorizzi for James Shields and Wade Davis so it seems like we should be getting back more in return.

"but it'd be even nicer in a year in which we're almost certainly not going to make the playoffs to increase the value of Lohse and then turn him for a nice prospect." Don't get the point of this post much less that quote when the Brewers have been on the kind of run they have with no Aramis Ramirez or Corey Hart.

I'm not particularly found of Mr. Lucroy at the moment.

What do you guys think about putting a claim in on Russ Canzler? He's got a 1.086 OPS against LHP in a very small sample size and plays 1B and the OF. There's not many other options as far as RH 1B/OF'ers go. I think Carlos Lee might be the only one left on the market and he's not gonna play for peanuts (his standards).