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ESPN's MLB Rumors had this posted by Baseball Prospectus regarding the competition for the final two starter spots: "Scouts who have watched Suppan pitch in Arizona this spring say he is completely cooked and no longer able to get major-league hitters out. The only way he figures to make the Opening Day roster is if the Brewers are unwilling to eat the $14.5 million left on his contract ($12.5 million salary this season with a $2-million buyout for 2011)." - John Perrotto Is it even a choice anymore?

The upgrade would be mostly in the pitching department as Suppan would be gone and we wouldn't have to release or demote someone like Narveson, Parra or Bush. Lowell would add some nice depth to the bench in case McGehee struggles and Gamel is still injured. He would also be the first right handed pinch hitting option as well. This would be a nice move only if they could get rid of Suppan and use Lowell off the bench. If they don't loose Suppan, or plan on starting Lowell, then forget it.

I don't want to see Villaneuva go the way of Seth McClung. When kept strictly in the role of reliever, I think CV's done a nice job. It's when the team starts to "stretch him out" and give him spot starts that things start to get ugly. If he gets sent to AAA, I would hope he could stay in the bullpen so he's ready to go when Suppan gets sent down or cut (wishful thinking). If Suppan is no longer in the rotation or on the team, I would like to see some of the young guns used in the emergency starter role as well. The team would know pretty quickly what they had, and maybe that call up could turn permanent if they catch lightening in a bottle with someone.

I don't think Macha's comments on Narveson indicate he's favoring Suppan over him. He was critical of Suppan in a statement he made last week as well that suggested Suppan's throwing style was not up to par with what Macha discussed with him. I think a lot of it is more motivational than anything. Narveson is a younger pitcher who's trying to win a spot on a team that will require him to pitch above and beyond all the other candidates. Suppan's been around a while and can't be pushed as hard as the younger guys can. It's the "old dog, new tricks" cliche. I'm sure Macha wants to win as badly as all of us this year. And I'm also sure that he realizes, for Narveson to make the rotation over Suppan, he'll have to be nearly flawless this spring.

Do a team audit for the Brewers and look at the VORP of who they lost versus who they gained. Essentially, they're basing their formula on expected runs scored vs. expected runs given up. By their numbers, we lost a god 20 runs by letting Cameron go and even a few by replacing Hardy with Escobar. The pitchers added just about balance out these lost runs, leaving us with a team whose expected runs are about the same as last year's. Cameron's loss really makes a huge difference for this offense. But what about team defense and speed, both of which have been improved (speed more than defense)? I don't believe VORP takes those into account. It just seems like Baseball Prospectus puts such a high value on slugging, and since the Brewers lost that with Cameron and Hardy, suddenly they're towards the bottom of the Central. Are there any accuracy checks out there showing how well they've predicted team records in the past? I know '08 for the Brewers was within 3 wins.

I'm not sure how the Prospectus has the Brewers doing that much worse than they did last year. The pitching has been improved along with a slight improvement on defense. Maybe a half step back was taken on offense, but the team gained speed in exchange for power. What in their formula has the Brewers' outlook seeming so dire?

Leaving Suppan in the rotation, or moving him to the bullpen, actually weakens the team's depth. It would mean they would lose either Bush or Narverson as starters and possibly all together. And it would likely force out a productive member of the bullpen like Stetter or Villanueva to make room for the 6th starter, whether it be Suppan or someone else. I think the only choice the team has is to try and send Suppan to AAA and hope he accepts the assignment. If he doesn't, maybe another team will pick him up for close to league minimum, allowing the team at least a little salary relief. I've always been a bit easier on Suppan than most, but it's clear that he offers nothing better than any of the pitchers fighting for a roster spot at this time. It's best to rip the band aid off quickly.

Jennings is doing one heck of a job fighting through the rookie wall. I'm sure Evans will win the ROY because his stats are better, but Jennings is clearly the most valuable rookie this year. And nodakfan17, I wouldn't worry too much about the Bulls. I'm sure the Clippers will stay true to what they've always prided themselves on -- losing.

So there was the issue last year (or was it the year before?) with Gamel not telling the team about his shoulder injury, and now he injures it again because he did not warm up for batting practice. Makes you wonder if the rumors about maturity are true, and if that factored into his bench time last year. Hopefully they end this season with some nice production out of him.

Milton Bradley is a victim........of his own stupidity.

I was the most impressed with how physical the Bucks were last night. I can't remember that last time I've seen a Bucks team play solid defense and refuse to get pushed around like that. Ever since Redd has been out of the lineup, this team has really gelled nicely and shown some toughness. Salmons has been a great fit, since he plays defense and is not afraid of contact at the other end. Finesse guys like Redd are clearly not the right fit for a Scott Skiles team.

Are the roster updates for 2K10 reflected when you play in franchise mode or just online? I'd like to be able to play a season with the actual rosters for 2010.

Jennings has already played more basketball this year than he has the previous two. I don't expect his shooting to get much better this season as a result, but he is still doing a nice job of helping his team win, and I think Bogut is much better with Jennings on the floor. The two seem to have a nice chemistry. I think with another couple of years of conditioning and being coached by Skiles, Jennings will be a staple at the All Star game.

It's a bit of both. They are definitely making a run at the playoffs, but so far none of the moves appear to hamper their future plans of clearing salary cap space for 2012. Their core of young, talented players is also still intact (Bogut, Jennings, LMAM), and they have extra future draft picks to hopefully add some nice bench talent with.

So along with Salmons, Hammond got the Bulls to give up their '11 and '12 2nd round picks, plus he has the option to swap 1st round picks in the '10 draft if it falls after the 10th spot. Along with the Sixers trade that gets the Bucks a high 2nd round pick in this years draft, they have some nice future picks and trade options. I don't mind seeing Meeks go as he would not get enough minutes this season or next given who is already on the roster.

I can't believe he won. This process is a joke and needs to be changed. What other comparable players were they looking at to justify his salary?

The airport stop in Madison is not a bad idea because this line is meant to be a regional service and not just for southern WI. Bringing the train into Madison will slow it down too much due to the density and heavy cross traffic caused by the isthmus. Also keep in mind that Madison and Dane County have been studying (with growing support) the possibility of building a local light rail system. If high speed rail comes to the airport, a local system (if built) would link up with it and get riders to other parts of the city more efficiently than buses or cabs. This would hold true in Chicago and the Twin Cities since they already have local rail systems. It could be a boost to Milwaukee's attempt to get support for a local rail system as well. As a system like this gets built, ridership will not be robust immediately due to its limited destinations. But as it's expanded, more and more people will use it as an alternative to automobile and plane travel. Oil prices will continue to go up and therefore, create more of a demand for rail travel like this. Another thing to keep in mind is that train travel is not affected as much by weather and traffic, so it a more reliable form of transportation. There are also a growing number of people in this country that are living without cars due to the high cost of owning one. Linking up major populations with one another via high speed rail is a great way to increase those numbers. Edit: One more thing. Yes it's expensive to maintain our roads and it will be costly to maintain additional rail lines (although not nearly as much as it is to maintain roads). But one thing the opponents are forgetting is the cost to continually expand our highways to make them wider. By taking some of the cars off the road with rail travel, we prevent this need in some areas, and at least delay it in others which saves a ton of money and land.

To be fair, Gerut did not give Macha many reasons to play him last year until late August when he finally started hitting. And I don't think Edmonds will get extra at bats if he is struggling and Hart/Gomez/Gerut are not. It could be a season of going with the hot hand in CF and RF unless someone clearly steps up and takes the job. At least they will have a deep outfield to start the year compared to last season.

http://sports.espn.go.com...ick_jerry&id=4859154 After reading the above article, I really like the idea of Rocco Baldelli. I think he would be the perfect 5th OF on this team. He's a right handed bat with some pop who can start once a week, be the main pinch hitter against lefties, and even pinch run on occasion. His medical condition would prevent him from stepping in as a starter if someone went down, but you really don't need that out of the 5th OF spot. He seems to realize what his role needs to be from here on out, and you can't help but root for the guy. I can't imagine it would take much to sign him either.

But Inglett is left handed. Seems to me they would want to sign a right handed back up outfielder to avoid having too many lefties on the bench.

So what's the over/under for the date that Sheets either leaves a game early or misses a game do to injury? I'll go with my son's birthday of June 4th and take the under. Any over takers?

Would Bush for Maine be doable? Too much for the Brewers to give up or not enough?

http://sports.espn.go.com...lb/news/story?id=4848752 The cash amount has not been made official, but this seems like a ridiculous amount of money to pay just to get rid of Matthews. Stokes is not even a prospect that would justify that type of payment. Edit: Fixed spelling in thread title --cc

That's hilarious. If Sheets breaks down again this year I think you should put your son on the fast track to becoming a scout. The kid's got the eye!

Does anyone know about the type of wrist surgeries that Weeks has had? I'm curious now that both wrists are repaired, if he has the same risk of breaking his wrists again or if they are stronger after the surgeries.