piccione88

I think this should be in the minor league section.

I put the wrong information in the my original post. It was the average team carried 1.7 right handers who did not go over 1 inning. The brewers carried twice the league average, still largley, but you are right not entirley due to playing the matchups. If you bring a guy like Shouse in to go less than 2/3 of an inning, that is obviously going to make you use more guys in a game.

I do not want to give Ned another loogy. Last year, only Carlos Villanueva, and Chris Spurling averaged over 1 inning per appearance. The league average for teams, with right handed relievers who did not go over 1 inning was 1.7 per team, the brewers carried 4-5 at a time. This is largley because Ned loves to play the matchups, Shouse averaged .65 innings, and we were 7 games under .500 in games which he appeared. It would be nice to get a lefty who can get righties out as well, so that we dont have to use up so many guys. Adding another loogy, will only hurt this team more in my opinion. EDIT: originally had right handed relievers averaged 1.7 per game

"you're relying on Turnbow to excel...but only if we set him in the best possible, low-pressure situations. " I do not see that as the case. If we are facing the heart of the opposing teams order, I would feel comfortable with Turnbow in there. Turnbow's inability to pitch with men on base, and on back to back days is certainly a big problem. That does not however relegate him strictly to mop up duty.

I worded that very poorly. What I was trying to say is that when Turnbow comes in with no men on base he is dominant, when he comes in with men on base he is very bad. The key is if he starts the inning, or if he is thrown in there with men already on base.

According to arizona's main site he still works for them , not sure why he was not there though. "One of baseball's best young broadcasters enters his second season with the Diamondbacks in 2008 as the club's primary play-by-play announcer on television. "

I dont thinnk Turnbow's performance had anything to do with how critical the situation was. I would trust Turnbow more than anyone in our pen other than maybe Gagne, if Ned would realize his shortcomings. I cant find the numbers, but given an off day, and if no men are on base Turnbow is flat out dominant, if Turnbow is pitching back to back days, and if men are on base, he flat out stinks.

"As it turns out, Wes Helms got traded for $1. That is all the Marlins had to give the Phillies, who agreed to pay his $2.4 million salary this season. (He is under contract next season, though the Marlins could buy him out.)" They do not have to pay anything this year. Next year however, Helms had a 750 K buy out attached to his 3.75 million dollar deal. The marlins will have to pay for that. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/baseball/marlins/sfl-flspmarnot08sbapr08,0,7715317.story?track=rss

Nope he completley shaved it off.

I did not here that one. I know the Nationals kept asking for Weeks, in return for Chad Cordero.

Scott Spiezio got all of 21 at bats in for the Richmond Braves, before they cut him loose. Frank Wren the Braves GM, said that there were 3 things they wanted him to do 1)continue treatment 2)continue getting tested, and 3)show up ready to play. Frank Wren said that Spiezio was not ready to play, when he showed up to the ballpark. Wren would not comment on exactly why he was not ready to play, http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/stories/2008/04/12/spiezio_0412.html

I dont think second base is the best fit either. Where are you going to move him to though? I would love to see him in the outfield, with his speed, and arm strength he could really be a plus defender, out there. However with Cameron here, and Laporta coming within the next year or two, that is not an option. Third Base could have been an option, because you see less action, and Rickie's lack of range would not hurt as much, but I dont see that as a good fit. Bill Hall has had experience at third, whereas with Rickie would have a steeper learning curve, and his bat would not be nearly as valuable there. The way the defense is aligned now is probably the best fit, for the here and now. It is way too early to call Rickie a bust. He has shown that he is capable of great things, the problem has been consistency. Last year over the last month, Rickie looked to me better than I, have ever seen him. I am biased since Rickie, and Corey Hart are my two favorite current brewers, but I truly belive that if he stays healthy he is going to have a monster year.

I cannot belive that I did not notice the year that Hoffpauir had. I looked up his stats from last season, very similar to Jack Cust's number's in 2006, if you strip away 3/4 of the walks. Maybe the Giants would be interested in taking a flyer on him, seeing as the cubs for some strange reason seem to be content with Ward filling the 1B, emergency corner outfield spot. Just curious if you know how his defense is in the outfield, as baseballreference shows he has played 70 games there. I cannot imagine he could be half as bad as Ward is out there.

That was what I was thinking, Hosmer from everything I have heard, has tremendous potential. One scout, by the name of David Rawnsley, goes so far as to say he is one of if not the best high school prospect in the last twenty years, and compares him to the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Josh Hamilton, and Delmon Young. http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/2007/columnists/davidrawnsley/weeklycolumn/hosmer_special_hitter.aspx That is just one scout, but I have heard nothing but great things about this kid. There are other things to consider though. First like colbyjack said, the Brewers have historically not gone this route. Also I am not sure what kind of talent, there will be in next years draft compared to this one. It would really be a bad idea to take a risk like that, and be drafting from a weaker talent pool next year. I do not know that much about this draft class, and next to nothing about the 09 class. In the end, Boras will get close to what he wants anyway, and if he does agree to less money he will likely be off the board by the time our pick comes around anyway. I would love to see the Brewers just throw down the 7 mil, instead of spending it on middle relief, or something like that. At this point it is just a pipe dream.

The Cubs have a bunch of very interesting guys down in Iowa. Matt Murton is there, catcher JD Closser formerly with the brewers, pitchers Pignatiello, Neil Cotts, and starter Sean Gallagher who is ranked by baseball america as the cubs #5 prospect all have seen time in the majors. As far as prospects go, I know of a few they have down there. Eric Patterson, Corey's little brother plays for them, but seems will never get a shot with the big club, but he deserves it. Baseball Prospectus describes Eric as a less athletic version of Corey, but with good plate discipline. Sam Fuld is down there, he is probably never going to be much more than a backup, he is completley lacking in the power department, but he is fun to watch in the outfield, and has great plate discipline. I like Jake Fox, he plays first, corner outfield, and this year they are trying him more at catcher. Fox has great power, and absolutley kills lefty's. That is all that I know of, or that I would really be interested in.

Colby, you think there is any way Hosmer would fall to us? I know we dont need another 1st baseman, with Fielder, and Laporta able to make the switch in the future, should Fielder leave. Hosmer is from what I have heard a terrific talent, with a great swing and power potential. If he falls to us is their anyway the Brewers take him, if their is a 7 million dollar tag on him?

Yes he does. I am not sure if you caught it, but the last game during the Giants series after he grounded out to first, he was very angry. The camera cut to him in the dugout, and he looked like he was having a seizure, he was pounding his fists all over the place.

Vanderbilt thirdbaseman Pedro Alveraz, who is considered a top pick in 2008, is being represented by Scott Boras. According to Kiley Mcdaniel from saberscouting.com, Boras is now asking 9.5 million and a major league deal. The article also states that Boras is asking for a 7 million dollar bonus for Florida high school 1st baseman Eric Hosmer, who is considered, or was a top 10 first pick. It will be interesting to see if how far these guys slip, if these are indeed the money teams will need to sign them. http://saberscouting.com/2008/04/07/borasclientprice/

What happened to Steve Moss. Colbyjack expected him to be on the Brevard County roster, since he wasnt on the Sounds, or Stars roster. Is it possible he got cut, or suspended without an announcment being made? Or is it just a mistake, I cant believe that Freddy Parejo is more deserving of a spot than him.

Tony Gwynn, and Bill Hall are not even in the same league. Bill Hall has the ability to hit 20+ homeruns in a season, and is a doubles machine. Tony Gwynn will be lucky if he can ever slug 100 points higher than his batting average. Tony Gwynn is a 4th outfielder at best. Even if Bill Hall only puts up his career average line this year which is, .264/.320/.467, that is better than Gwynn will ever do.

I dont see how you could want Gwynn over Roberts. At his best Gwynn will give you a line of .280/.350/.340, and even that might be a stretch. Roberts who had his worst year in recent memory, and should be able to improve on that by a little bit sill posted an OPS of 695 which is the best you can expect from Gwynn. When you take into account their contracts Gwynn is clearly the better deal, but all things equal I would take Roberts over Gwynn in a heart beat for 2008. If this trade was really actually going to happen, if the right prospects were coming back, I would not mind at all.

If that is true, there is no way the brewers would have had to pay the whole thing. If it did go down the giants probably would have to take on at least half of the contracts, so Roberts would make 3.25 in 08, and 09. Pecota projects him to have a line of .278/.345/.382, while Gwynn is projected at a line of .251/.321/.344. Projection's are not gospel, but even looking at what these two have done in the past I think it is a safe bet to assume that Roberts is somewhat of an upgrade in the fifth outfield spot over Gwynn, or Kapler. When you take Dillon out of the lineup it makes us worse offensively, but if the right prospects were thrown in, it might not have been that bad of an idea to take on half of Robert's bad contract for the next couple of years, and lose Dillon's bat. Melvin found Villanueva in the Giants system so maybe he could have done it again.

Thanks alot to both of you.

I was reading an article from the hardballtimes that was comparing Girardi, and Joe Torre. One of the subjects it touched on was the type of lineup system they used a set lineup, or rotate their guys. The article said that Girardi used 75 lineups in 2006 with the marlins, and that 75 was actually pretty standard. This got me wondering about how many different lineups Yost used in 2007, I googled it and could not find anything so I was wondering if any of you know, or can find it.

AL West 1Angels(4) 2)Seattle 3) Oakland 4)Texas Even with Escobar out for the year, and Lackey not being healthy, the Angels will win the division pretty easy. The Mariners are old, and performed way over their heads in 2007. Oakland is in rebuilding mode. The Rangers have a decent offense, but an absolutley terrible starting rotation. AL Central 1)Indians(2) 2)Tigers 3)Royals 4)White Sox 5)Twins I give a slight edge to the indians, over the tigers, because I expect Hafner to have a big year, and their pitching is still far better than the Tigers who have a bad banged up pen. The Royals are the only other team that has a shot to get to .500. AL East 1)Yankees(1) 2)Red Sox(3WC) 3)Toronto 4)Tampa Bay 5Baltimore The Yankees scored almost 6 runs a game last year. I expect their young pitchers to come through big this year, if that happens they will win over 100 games. The Red Sox will get the wild card. The Rays are still a year away from breaking the 500 mark, and at least two years away from competing in a very tough AL east. NL West 1)Dodgers(4) 2)Arizona 3)Rockies 4)Padres 5)Giants The addition of Andruw Jones should help them put some runs on the board. I dont expect much out of any of these teams but the dodgers are the best out of a very mediocre group. Arizona played way over their heads last year, but with the addition of Dan Harren, and the young group of players progressing, I expect them to compete with the dodgers, I say they get 84 wins, and the dodgers get 86. I dont trust the Rockies pitching beyond Jeff Francis, and their offensive numbers look much worse on the road. THe Giants are just a mess, and will compete with Baltimore, and Florida for the worst record in baseball. NL Central 1)Brewers(2) 2)Cubs 3)Cincinatti 4)St. Louis 5)Pittsburgh 6)Houston I think that some of the concerns of our younger guys regressing will come true mainly Ryan Braun, and certainly J.J. Hardy. With that said Weeks could stay healthy, and finally realize his potential over a whole season, Billy Hall should bounce back, since most of his problems were just luck, and our defense will be improved, so the pitching should therefore be improved. This is still a pretty close one, and I just cant pick against the Brewers. NL East 1)Mets(1) 2)Phillies(3WC) 3)Braves 4Nationals 5)Marlins The Mets will win this one pretty handily. The Phillies have a great offense, but their pitching does not come close to what the Mets have. With John Smoltz not 100%, and a complete lack of depth in the rotation, I dont see the Braves as too much of a threat. With all that is made of how weak the central is, I could see the second place having the best shot at knocking off the Phillies for the Wild Card, but I do think the Phillies get the Wild Card spot. NLDS Mets over dodgers Phillies over Brewers ALDS Yankees over Angels Indians over Red Sox NLCS Mets over Phillies Yankees over Indians World Series Yankees over Mets