piccione88

I could also see Gillespie moved though this off-season because of our depth.

Gamel: I think you have to give him another year at 3B. He made alot of progress this year defensivley, and he has the range to play third, where Braun did not obviously. If things dont work out at third next year, then I would move him to right field, where his bat could still be one of the best at the postion, and his athletic ability would not be wasted. To me he just does not have the power to be a top 10 player at first base, more of a Lyle Overbay type. ETA: mid to late 2009 Escobar: I want him to be Milwaukee's starting shortsop to start next year, whether Hardy is here or not. Escobar will be able to put up a league average shortstop line in my opinion. With his defense that is all he will need to do in his first year. ETA:2009 Salome: Definatley needs another year to work out his defensive problems. ETA:mid to late 2010 Gillespie: Does not get the attention he deserves because of the depth that the Brewers have in the farm system. Gillespie is a very well rounded hitter, who takes walks at a very good rate, hits for a decent average, and has good pop. I think he will be a very good 4th outfielder to start 2010, and could be starting for us or another team not too far after that. ETA:late 2010, with a look in september next year. Cain: I belive he is the future centerfielder for the Brewers. His ceiling is higher than any other Brewer in my opinion, as he is really the only 5 tool player that is close. I think he will be starting for us in 2010. Green: He will be starting for someone at second base by 2011, hopefully he is a brewer still. Jeffress: I do not think he will be a starter, as he has a tendency to get worn down quickly. His ceiling is so high though that obviously the Brewers have to give him every shot to increase his stamina because he could be a top of the rotation guy. I think that he will be closing for the Brewers though. The latest I think he comes up is 2011

Eddie B at tigers thoughts has his final elias rankings for national league relievers up. According to him Gagne and Shouse both are type B's. I wonder if Shouse would turn down arbitration. Also not that it is a suprise Mota missed the cut, but not by much, if he is right.

Glaus is a perrenial 850 OPS hitter, with a career OBP of 360. I do not think Hardy is the hitter Glaus is just yet. Hardy is closer to Blake than Glaus esspecially when you consider how valuable on base percentage is. Hardy defensivley would be far supperior to Blake however, so he is more valuable, but not quite on Glaus' level.

I am higher than Blackburn than most people so maybe that was not the best example to use. The point I was trying to get across is that the Brewers will not get young top of the rotation starters for Hardy. In my opinion Hardy will fetch either a couple very good young pitching prospects along the lines of Mazzaro, a good young #3 type starter, or a shutdown closer. Shortstops are in high demand, but starting pitching, esspecially young good starting pitching is in even higher demand.

The reason Craig was brought up was to make a point about the affect of slugging on OBP. I do not think that dadofandrew was trying to say that craig is an all-star, just that he draws walks despite having poor power.

I would love the deal, but I am not so sure the Rays would like it. Even with the 6 million going the rays way 35 year old Ordonez would cost them 12 million, which would make him their highest paid player. The rays do have alot of depth, but starting pitching is at a premium, so they could probably get a player that is close to Ordonez in production, at a younger age, and less money. If the Brewers move Hardy I think the return is more along the lines of Blackburn plus a mid level prospect. Or a Huston Street if they go bullpen. Too bad the Tigers do not have the pitching to pull off a deal with us straight up.

It is not like Sabathia played every day. The Brewers sold out just about every game for a while there, we did not sell out only on days that CC was starting. The first couple of days that CC pitched alot of fans probably came out to see him in person, but after that I do not know how much he helps put people in the seats other than winning games.

Yes Counsell is very good at drawing walks and does not have much pop, but he is rare in that respect. I dont think anyone said it was impossible for Brantley to have a good BB rate in the majors, he very well could be one of the rare players that draws walks at a very good clip without having much power. My point was that it will be very difficult. It is not that common for players to draw alot of walks without the power, craig is one of the exceptions. If you look at the top players in the majors for walks just about everyone of them has at least 10-15 homerun power. There are only 3 players in the top 25 for BB that did not hit 10 homeruns this year, those are B.J. Upton who hit 24 last year, Joe Mauer, and Brian Roberts, all of them had 9 homeruns. Not to mention that Brantley really does not even hit doubles.

If the Brewers do not re-sign Branyan I would like to see Nelson as a 4C reserve. I am not sure about his defense at 3B and in the outfield corners, but he will not be playing in the field much anyway. Nelson draws alot of walks, has pretty good pop, and is left handed to boot. You could do much worse than Brad Nelson for more money.

Sabernomics posted an article today which theorized that CC will be worth 6 years 144 million on the open market. That is more than Santana's 138 million dollar deal, I just dont see how a market like Milwaukee can afford a deal like that and not be handcuffed in just about every other deal they make.

I actually think that pitching is one of the strengths of the A's, that Beane may be looking to move some of his pitchers this off-season. The A's are right on the verge of being a powerhouse with all of the prospects they picked up this year, esspecially pitchers. The A's have in my opinion one of the best young pitching prospects in the game in Vince Mazzaro. Mazzaro has a great sinking fastball, and slider, he posted an ERA of 1.90, in over 137 innings in AA midland this year, while only walking 36 and striking out 104. The best thing about Mazzaro is that he did not give up homeruns this year he only gave up 3 homeruns in 137 innings. On top of Mazzaro and the guys you mentioned like Eveland, and Gio Gonzalez, the A's have Brett Anderson, James Simmons, Trevor Cahill their organizational pitcher of the year, and Joshua Outman could all help the big club next year. I see the A's looking more for some up the middle help esspecially if Ellis leaves, and a DH that can play 3B since Chavez cannot be counted on. However I agree with you that they might go after a 1 year deal type pitcher, to bridge the gap. I just hope he is not an injured player, because this injured players are undervalued philosophy Beane has going does not seem to be working.

I have to believe that Blalock will be very available. All the buzz is that his option will be picked up with the hopes that the rangers can trade him for some pitching. First base, or DH is the fallback plan.

Who is more responsible for picking up undrafted free agents? Is it the GM, Scouting Director, or is it mainly an individual scout?

With the year just about over, we have had a whole year to see how the moves that were made this last off-season have turned out so far. I am wondering who you think had the best off-season, was it the A's,maybe the rays, or another team? Also who had the worst off-season?

Not sure if you can answer this agent if not I understand, but was Brantley the guy you thought would be going?

I am not so convinced that Green will not post an OBP higher than Brantley in the majors. Brantley improved his ISO power this year but he is still very weak in terms of power, so weak that it will be much more difficult for him to draw walks in the major leagues. Pitchers will not be afraid to throw one down the chute if they know Brantley cannot hurt them big.

Not to turn this into a what to do about third base thread, but what about casey blake. 4 out of the last 5 seasons Blake has had on OBP of .340 or higher, and slugs at a decent clip. His defense is a little shaky, and would probably require a two year deal, but is the best option to me if we were to move Hardy. Beltre, and Blalock would require players, Blake only requires money. Plus Blake is one of the best utility guys in the game, so he would be useful in 2010 as well.

To clarify that was me that threw those teams out there not Rosenthal. I agree that if the brewers cannot find a third baseman, then it would not be a bad idea to hang onto hardy. There is just such a demand for shortstop this year, and not a whole in the free agent market. The brewers could get a nice haul for Hardy obviously.

regular: mlbtraderumors hard ball times brewerfan.net, not sure if this would qualify as a blog. semi regular: brew crew ball athletics nation baseball think factory occasional: fire joe morgan js online

Rosenthal said that Fielder may be available this winter, and he very well might be, though it is very unlikely. This column seems more concrete that Hardy will be. I am not saying that Rosenthal is always right, and saying that coffey would be on the post-season roster was obvioulsy a mistake. Rosentahl however has access to more info than I do, and it is just something to think about. As far as the move to second, if the brewers are going to move him and diminish his value, third base is a better option to me. Hardy has a very strong arm, which is better utilized at third.

Buster Olney wrote an article for ESPN, whcih says that there is a chance that Sabathia will be back. I am not an insider so I cannot read the article but a snippet from mlbtraderumors.com quotes the article with saying " Others in the Brewer's orginazation say milwaukee owner Mark Attanasio will try to make it very difficult for Sabathia to leave-- maybe to the point of risking a colossal mistake" I am not for signing any player esspecially a pitcher to that big of a chunk of your payroll. Sabathia has been abused the last couple of years, and is not in great shape so injury has to be a concern.

I am sad to see Brantley go, I think he will be a nice player. But if I had to chose between Green, and Brantley I would prefer Brantley go.

Ken Rosenthal's latest column has a blurb about J.J. Hardy's future with the club. In the article Rosenthal says "The brewers' J.J. Hardy is realistic about his future with the club, knowing he will likely be traded to make room at shortstop for Alcides Escobar, one of the game's top shortstop prospects." If we are going to start Alcides at short in my opinion a trade is the best way to go. If you move Hardy to third he could be one of the top defenders there, but he will be in the middle of the pack offensivley, which really hurts his value in a trade. Some teams that could be interested in a shortstop are the Dodgers, Twins, Tigers, A's, Blue Jays, Royals, and Giants.

If derek lowe prefers to play out east, that does not mean that he will not play anywhere else. Cameron was supposed to be dead set on playing in atlanta, but he ended up here. All you can do is offer a competitive deal and hope he takes it. I also think he went up from 3/45, but I think that 3/52 could get it done, esspecially with a club option with a nice buy out number.