JustABitOutside

I think being competitive year in and year out is more important for the Brewers than winning one World Series, especially from the fans perspective. I want my team playing competitive baseball in August and September. That is what makes it fun. If the Brewers are out of it by the All-Star break, I will still follow the team, but you can sure bet the casuals who support the team when the team is good won't be going through the gates. The Brewers as a small market team need to keep the fans interested year long in order to support a high payroll. A CC Sabathia trade won't occur every year, and there is no reason to sell the farm this year to try to get there. The performance of a player like Halladay would be an improvement over Bush/Parra; but there is no guarantee it would be a difference from the playoffs and not. The current team could make the playoffs without another pitcher; I know that isn't the popular opinion, as everyone wants a better pitcher. Or if the Brewers trade away the future for a Halladay type, he could get injured, or not perform to expectations, and still miss the playoffs, with next year being the teams last shot in the 8-10 years (if Escobar/Gamel are gone). In 2011/2012 the Brewers have a good chance to make the playoffs as well; and I as a fan would prefer 6 years of playoff contention, to 2 years of being a playoff contender and a slight increase in the probability of a World Series ring. Maybe I am in the minority on this issue, but with baseball being such a long season, I can't take 100 loss seasons. Recent history with the Cardinals in 2006 show you don't need to be the best team to win it all, just get to playing important games in September, and things can roll your way.

I am suggesting patience in this situation for not only Brewer fans, but Ryan as well. It may be Ryan's opinion, and fans as well, but it may make the Brewers seem desperate, which is not a good position to be in for a team possibly trying negotiating a trade. With the recent demotion of Parra and Bush's injury, the staff has two temporary replacements it seems for the time being. Parra looks on track in AAA and Bush will be back after the All-Star game. Making a move could be detrimental to a small market team that already has given up a lot of minor league talent in the past 2 years. With a lack of an obvious player that differentiates this team, I don't think a move is the wise thing to do. Cost will be high, with so many teams with needs, and so few teams out of the playoff race.