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I'd go after Andruw Jones to play LF while Braun is out then when he returns you can platoon Jones and Gamel together. You just have to be creative and move Hart to 1B on days we play LHP.

This idea makes a lot more sense than going after Carlos Pena and another RH platoon bat or two.

Welcome to my world http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif

I hate to do a double post but I wanted to share these articles that do a good job explaining TRT and how easily it can be exploited. http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=ki-iole_marquardt_trt_commissions_070611 http://www.fightopinion.com/2011/11/21/victor-conte-improving-drug-testing/

No question he's not hypogonadic but we both know that doesn't matter to a corrupt doctor. All Braun has to do is rattle off a couple symptons that can't be proven otherwise and he's got the medical OK to take it.

With Braun's strong stance on his innocence I see him claiming he suffers from Hypogonadism and is prescribed the TRT by his doctor. Now if he actually suffers from it is another question but claiming he suffers from some of these symptons is enough to get a corrupt doctor in Cali to prescribe you with the treatment. Poor libido (Low sexual desire)Fatigue (medical) always tiredMuscle loss/atrophyErectile DysfunctionIncreasing abdominal fatGlucose intolerance (early diabetes)High Cholesterol/LipidPoor sleepDifficulty concentratingMemory Loss-difficulty in choosing words in languageShynessDepressionAnxietyPsychological and relationship problemsGynecomastiaHot flashesDecrease in growth of, or loss of, beard and body hairLoss of bone mass (osteoporosis)[3][/sup]IrritabilityInfertilityShrinking of the testiclesDecrease in firmness of testiclesFrequent urination (polyuria) without infection; waking at night to urinate ([nocturia])Achy musclesLiquid stoolsNight sweatsDry skin and/or cracking nailsReduced Quality of Life There's such a fine line between cheating and taking TRT for legit medical reasons that Ryan Braun has a great chance of getting his name cleared.

Yes

But why would Braun do that? He's not over 40 years old, and he's not a teenage boy with developmental problems.Because it's an easy way for athletes to use steroids. Tons of fighters use it to get around the rules.Ding Ding Ding

I suggest everyone to google "MMA" and "TRT" and brush up on a couple articles like these - http://mmajunkie.com/news/24201/medical-beat-in-mma-testosterone-replacement-therapy-is-too-ripe-for-abuse.mma I can almost guarantee this is what Braun is got caught with.

Were a Ryan Braun suspension away from rebuilding. I think we have to consider putting everyone on the market after this fiasco.

This organizational philosophy brought to you by the Pittsburgh Pirates.Ramirez isn't that good. He's a butcher afield, and no spring chicken who has been known for having big contract years. The odds of him hitting 30 homers in a given season for the Brewers are probably substantially less than the odds of him missing 30 games. There is a reason that the Cubs paid him to go away. They didn't want to commit even one more season to him, that should tell you something. The guy didn't even want to play for a winner last season unless substantial money was involved, so I question his motivations. I will grant that he is better than any option that the Brewers currently have at third, but if Melvin gives him, say 4 year/$45-50 million, he will almost certainly regret it. This is why I would give him two years, tops. If Ramirez was that hot a target, he'd be gone already. My point was that Melvin is letting great bang for the buck type players slip away for a few million. (He appears to be in the process of this now with Saito as well) I'm not saying that these guys would be starters, but they would be better than the mostly garbage bench that the Brewers had last season. If he is playing hardball with them, why wouldn't he for even more money? Knowing the Brewers luck with injuries, do you really want a bench of minimum salary guys? The Cubs exercised their part of the $16M option and Ramirez opted out which goes against everything you said in your little rant. http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/7172437/agent-says-chicago-cubs-picked-option-aramis-ramirez-opt-out

Sheets should go the Kerry Woods route and turn into a reliever.

At 35 I'm not so confident about a "rebound with the bat". Also the drop off at UZR as he ages is a bit concerning. UZR doesn't coincide with Rdrs which rated him as the 2nd best defensive SS a year ago. Brendan Ryan = +18Alex Gonzalez = +15Elvis Andrus = +13Clint Barmes = +12Troy Tulowitzski = +11Ronny Cedeno = +8Alexei Ramirez = +7Alcides Escobar = +5Yunel Escobar = +5JJ Hardy = +3Marco Scutaro = +1Jhonny Peralta = 0Erick Aybar = 0Jimmy Rollins = -2Ian Desmond = -2Rafael Furcal = -4Yuniesky Betancourt = -6Cliff Pennington = -7Jason Bartlett = -8Jose Reyes = -11Starlin Castro = -16Derek Jeter = -18

Do you really want Bartlett? He's been pretty bad the last two years (after a great 2009). I really haven't seen him play, so I can't say much about his defense (he's had negative fielding values in UZR the last three years). I think he's due $5.5 million - and a $1.5 million buyout for the following year (or $5.5 million in 2013). At 32, we've probably seen his peak performance. Not against him - I just don't really know much about him. Compared to Yuni he seems like an all star.

With an Aramis signing looking more likely I wonder if we could fit Jason Bartlett into our budget?

Dotel makes a ton of sense after the new changes to FA compensation. Before he would've costed us our 1st pick but now its nothing. Plus we would steal him from St Louis so it would be like killing 2 birds with one stone.

Octavio Dotel became a lot more attractive with the new CBA eliminating Type A status from relievers.

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I love how you always mention Yuni's 2nd half where he hit .270 and had a .700 OPS but never mention how Greinke absolutely dominated in the 2nd half. 9-3 2.59 ERA 97.1 IP 102 Ks 1.161 WHIP is about as ACE like as you can get. Where was this "ACE" in the postseason? 23 hits, 15 runs, 12 ER, 1.620 WHIP in 23 IP. Greinke can thank Marcum for us ignoring his failures. Of those 9 second half wins, 6 of them came against the woeful Astros, Pirates, and Cubs and you won't find teams like that to play in October. I'd extend Greinke in a heartbeat for what he's worth. I never said he was a bad pitcher. But he's not worth $85-90 million and that's what he's going to want based on his 2009 Cy Young.. I think he's worth about what Ryan Dempster got from the Cubs prior to 2009. That was $52 million over 4 years. To me Greinke is on Dempster's level and that type of deal is livable for a team like the Brewers. Dempster was coming off an ace-quality year in 08, but he's never really been on that level. Do I have to invoke names like John Lackey, A J Burnett, Carlos Zambrano, Carl Pavano, to get my point across? All those guys had stretches of ACE quality pitching before signing big deals. They weren't ACES though and within 2 years, not able to be moved. My comment on Betancourt was that he was a starting quality major league SS. I wouldn't over pay him either. But he's not going to affect the future ability of this team to improve itself. Signing Greinke to a huge deal could. These aren't the Yankees, Red Sox or even the Cubs or Phillies. They need to build pitching staffs from their system ala Arizona, Tampa Bay and even SF. Sure if they are short on young arms, finding guys like Greinke and Marcum for the short term is a fine idea, but that's where it should end. Theres something called a small sample size. Look at what Justin Verlander did in the playoffs and get back to me. And yes I know were not a big market club but I look at how a team like the Braves built their rotation and I see us following a similar path with Greinke and Gallardo being the veterans at the top with a bunch of home grown guys who project as a #3 or higher filling out the rest of the rotation.

Yeah because when we had Prince but no Greinke or Marcum we were making the NLCS really consistently. Pitching wins in this league. There's nothing stopping them from getting pitching if they don't extend Greinke and Marcum. A year ago they had neither. The issue is whether it's smart to tie up two guys for multiple years at a high salary. If these guys aren't good, you can cripple the franchise. Greinke allowed a slugging percentage higher than Narveson last year. You really want to commit $75 million over 5 years for this guy? I don't and that's likely the minimum it would take. Marcum had one of the worst postseasons in recent memory. Why on earth would you consider extending him now? By the way, it wasn't starting pitching that won for them last year. The bullpen was the best in the league for half the season. The offense had two MVP candidates who both were much better than they were in 2010. The staters were at best 5th or 6th in the NL. I'm all for extending Axford. He's more of a reason they won last year than either Greinke or Marcum. I love how you always mention Yuni's 2nd half where he hit .270 and had a .700 OPS but never mention how Greinke absolutely dominated in the 2nd half. 9-3 2.59 ERA 97.1 IP 102 Ks 1.161 WHIP is about as ACE like as you can get.

I think you meant he'll have an OBP in the .270 range

I like him as a platoon partner for Gamel along with our primary pinch hitter off the bench.

Whenever I see a post by John Briggs I know there's a 90% chance he's bashing Zack Greinke in some sort of way.

Sherman said a young defensive minded CFer plus an arm or two could do it. I wonder how far off an offer of Logan Schafer, Wily Peralta and one of Mike Mclendon or Brandon Kintzler would be.

$5.9 million is way too much for a RH platoon bat that can't hit LHP and a reliever you can't trust in critical situations. I'd bring back Saito and sign a RH platoon bat like Juan Rivera or Casey Blake for a fraction of the cost.