Polish Falcons

Wanted to revive this thread to show how unpredictable FA signings have been this year. Apart from fairly obvious re-signings Rollins & Ortiz, everybody got everything wrong, including MLBTR. If we have a winner on the brewerfan thread I would say it's radman solely for predicting the Aramis Ramirez signing with the Brewers. Good job. The Top FA left are 2. Prince Fielder 6. Edwin Jackson 15. Hiroki Kuroda 16. Carlos Pena 18. Roy Oswalt

Morgan vs righties Gomez vs lefties

Straight up it might sound like an overpay but I think the Reds can afford to do this because they have a surplus of starting pitchers. Even after trading Travis Wood they still have six quality MLB starters for the 2012 rotation: Latos, Cueto, Arroyo, Bailey, Leake, and I understand they want to move Chapman to the rotation. They need to make room for him. I imagine either Bailey or Leake would have to get bumped to the bullpen. Travis Wood did not have much value as a mid reliever. Sean Marshall was an elite reliever the last two years. He could potentially take over for Cordero at closer, further allowing the move of Chapman from relief to starter. I think it makes sense for the Reds and yes I think they have as good a chance as anybody to compete in the Central next year as a result of these moves they've been making.

2014? i guess my thought on this discussion is that is two years out we could also have guys like Tyler Thornberg, Willy Peralta, Taylor Green, Logan Schafer, Caleb Gindl, Taylor Jungmann, Jed Bradley contributing to the the MLB roster, or some combination of these players and other prospects. I also wouldn't be at all shocked if guys like Morgan and/or Narveson are gone by then. Brewers have a great roster Right Now. They have had a lousy team for practically my entire life. I am not that worried about sacrificing 2014 budget a for an opportunity to succeed in 2012, when the window of opportunity seems better than it's been for decades. That is not to say I'm conceding 2014, I think they could be good then too, but I guess I'm not that worried about the 2014 budget right now. Who knows what the budget amount will even be by then. It seems like every year Brewers fans assume this team is still living in the Selig days, like we don't have any money to spend, but check it out the 2012 payroll is going to be $100M.

Since several are assuming Gamel can't play Left Field, is it out of the question then for Taylor Green to play Left Field vs RHP during the first 50 games??? That would be ideal. Seems to me that less athletic players (Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman, Logan Morrison) make this shift every year, so I'm hoping either Green or Gamel could handle it for a while. First 50 games vs RHP IF Braun is suspended: 1.Morgan, CF 2.Green, LF 3.Weeks, 2B 4.Ramirez, 3B 5.Hart, RF 6.Gamel, 1B 7.Lucroy, C 8.Gonzalez,SS VS LHP Gomez starts in CF and I guess Morgan in Left.

Would it have been smarter to just cut McGehe and sign Saito, rather than trade for Jose Veras? Veras is expected to make $2.5 million through arbitration which is more than Saito's $1.7 salary. I am not trying to be critical because I don't know much about Veras but this was my initial thought on the Saito signing. I guess an important factor is that Veras pitched 71 innings last year so we might see a lot of him in the 6th and 7th inning next year along with Loe and Braddock. Saito is old and odds are he won't be healthy the entire season to log nearly that many innings. Or we couldn't non-tendered Loe and signed Saito for a million less, sheeesh.

Mark Attanasio is really opening up his checkbook for the team. By my math this puts the 25 man roster over $100 million in payroll next year pushing $105 after arbitration salaries. Of course K-Rod or some other players could be traded, Aramis's salary could be deferred, or we might not tender all the arbitration eligibles, but it seems like the payroll will be closer to $100 million+.

Great thread title; Matt Treanor: 12:$0.85M, 13:$0.95M club option ($0.15M buyout) Adam Kennedy: 1 year/$0.8M (2012) Juan Rivera: 12:$4M, 13:$4M club option ($0.5M buyout) Chris Capuano: 12:$3M, 13:$6M, 14:$8M mutual option ($1M buyout) Jerry Hairston Jr: 12 $3M, 13: $3M (plus incentives TBD) Aaron Harnang: TBA soon That's $11.6M in 2012 for 5 pretty mediocre players (or worse), and $10M committed to Capuano & Hairston in 2013, and rumor is they are Closing on a 2 year deal with Aaron Harang for about $12M. What is going on with the Dodgers? Wouldn't it make more sense to sign all this money on a star player rather than a bunch of backups or back end rotation guys who maybe no better than Nathan Eovaldi or Rubby De La Rosa? This seems completely irresponsible with the current ownership situation?

Looks like you may be on an island with that thought http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gifEven if the Cubs aren't interested in Pujols/Fielder it would make sense for them to pretend like they are to potentially drive up cost for their competitor. I think the Red Sox & Yankees were known to do this so I don't see why Epstien would't do it with the Cubs. I don't know if it's the case or not with Prince, and nobody does, but I can see PrincEatMeats point.

I think the DH debate is pretty just about evenly split amongst baseball fans. Based on this, it seems perfect that half the league has the DH and half the league doesn't. People arguing to expand on the DH are just greedy.

I'm pretty sure this is what they are discussing, except every division would play its counterpart every year. So the NL Central would play every team in the AL Central once every year and then they would rotate against the AL East/West every other year.Good to know. Thanks for the info. This is a better plan than the idea I dreamt up (which I thought was more original) in response to kegstand, because it preserves the few rivalries that exist (NY, CHI, "LA") while still giving Brewer fans a chance to see the Yankees, Red Sox, or whichever AL teams they want and on a more regular/predictable basis, while also balancing the schedule more fairly. I like it. Monty57, I think there are a good amount of people who care about a chance to see some AL teams. Sure, most NL fans won't care to see teams like the Royals, Orioles, or A's. But there are a good deal of people who will want a chance to see teams like the Yankees, Rays, Rangers. I'd also be excited to see a team like the Blue Jays, as opposed to another game against the Pirates. People will also like a chance to see individual all star players like Justin Verlander or Felix Hernandez pitch. I can understand opposition to interleague based on tradition, or not wanting to mix the DH, or stuff like that, but to say people don't care really isn't true. The proof is in the attendance numbers. Various reports I've seen say that attendance is 12% to almost 18% higher during interleague play than regular season. For this reason, I don't think interleague play will ever go away. The best thing that MLB could do is think of ways to make the schedule better and add more balance. I do hope they don't get carried away with too much interleague.

Wow, I don't think that's enough to get him ($15M a year). MLBTR also reported Hanley Ramirez "not open to position change" and that this was not discussed with Hanley, as previously reported. It could be that the Marlins might are throwing around all these offers as a PR stunt (it's working), but they may not truly have the money to pay what is needed to get Reyes, Pujols, etc.Meanwhile Reyes is asking for a nice round number of $100 million which would require a 6th year (no thanks).

This is an interesting idea KegStand. I like the idea that they would create a more balanced schedule, and you would get to see AL teams come through town on a more regular and predictable basis. For example, I live in New York and this was the first year that the Brewers came to play at Yankee Stadium since Interleague began in 1997. I don't get how it works out that way. Seems like the scheduling of interleague is just totally random and they need to change that. I also don't like how the Brewers can play the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays one year while the Cards could play the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Rays. It's not really fair Also the whole rivalry thing, where you play one designated rival twice, is kind of silly apart from a few matchups across the league. However, in my opinion your proposal includes too many interleague games. We would be jumping from 18 to 45 interleague games in one year. That would have a pretty big impact on the amount of times we play NL games in and out of division. How about this for an alternative idea: Every year we play one three game series against all teams from two of the three AL divisions. It would rotate every year. So in 2013 the Brewers would play the AL East & Central. In 2014 they'd play the AL Central & West. In 2015 the AL West & East. You would play every team two times in three years, once at home and once away. The scheduling breakout could go as follows:30 Interleague games 60 NL non-division games (one home & away three game series against each AL East/West team.)72 NL division games (18 games against each divisional rival) Every team in the division would have the exact same schedule, the only difference is there would some variation in home/away vs AL teams and possibly home/away vs certain teams within the division too (based on a need to schedule 4 game series'). I don't think they'd ever do something like this (balance the schedule) because a few of the interleague series (Yankees/Mets, Cubs/White Sox, Angels/Dodgers) probably generate a good deal of revenue that they wouldn't want to take away.

1. Albert Pujols - Cardinals. 2. Prince Fielder - Dodgers 3. Jose Reyes - Brewers. 4. C.J. Wilson - Rangers 5. Yu Darvish - Marlins 6. Edwin Jackson - Yankees 7. Jimmy Rollins - Phillies. 8. Aramis Ramirez - Tigers 9. Carlos Beltran - Giants 10. Jonathan Papelbon - Red Sox. 11. Michael Cuddyer - Twins 12. Mark Buehrle - Red Sox 13. David Ortiz - Red Sox 14. Ryan Madson - Phillies. 15. Hiroki Kuroda - Dodgers. 16. Carlos Pena - Pirates. 17. Francisco Rodriguez - Marlins. 18. Roy Oswalt - Nationals 19. Javier Vazquez - Marlins 20. Heath Bell - Padres.

MLBTR reporting The Marlins contacted Reyes one minute into free agency and may have already made an offer. Surely Miami will want to make a free agency splash the first year in their new stadium. Unless they somehow manage to land Fielder or Pujols, I think the Marlins will be the team to drive up Reyes' cost to an unreasonable amount.

I did look at the numbers and stand by my comment that he is a below average shortstop. When I looked at his AVG, OBP, and OPS for the past three years he I found that he was below average every year in every category except going back to 2009 he managed to be merely a league average SS in OPS with the benefit of Coors Field. I understand he is better than Yuniesky Betancourt but at least offensively he is below average. RockCo if Prince & Reyes are going for similar prices then I agree to sign Prince, but I will be shocked if they are close in price unless you consider $5-$7 million more a year plus 2-3 extra years close.

I also think the Brewers might need to add an impact bat to their lineup to be World Series competitors in 2012. I like Gamel and Green but there is a risk that they will not be the solution and if that is the case the 2012 Brewers are in big trouble. Adding a top tier shortstop could mitigate some of that risk and also take some of the pressure off the rookies. The Mets said they would offer 4 years $60 million. Tack on another year at the same amount 5 years $75 million and I think you have your starting point for free agency bidding. I seriously doubt that will do it, and I especially don't think he'd come to Milwaukee for that. With that in mind I would like to see the Brewers reach up to 5 years and $85 million ($17 million per year) with a vesting option for 6 years $102 million based on games played in the final two years. Some other incentives for games played and All-Star appearances could be built in. Anything less than that I don’t think he’ll sign with Milwaukee. Anything more is getting to be too much, if this isn’t already. This would likely put the Brewers 25 man roster in the range of $100 to $105 million in 2012, but it would not shock me to see Attanasio go there after last year’s run. A lot of people suggest Hart or Wolf would need to be traded in order to free up salary to make a Reyes signing possible, but I’m not certain that is the case. I think Attanasio has deep pockets and after 2011 he's going to be hungry. Other off season activity would just be to resign Hairston, Hawkins, and Saito and take care of arbitration eligible players. McGehe and Parra could be non-tender candidates to save a couple million. With Reyes in tact the opening day lineup could be: 1) Reyes SS, 2) Morgan CF, 3) Braun LF, 4) Weeks 2B, 5) Hart RF, 6) Green 3B, 7) Gamel 1B, 8) Lucroy C, 9) Gallardo. In my opinion this lineup is stronger than the 2011 Brewer lineup which included a full year of Betancourt and McGehe. It would be more balanced. Of course Reyes comes with significant injury risk, but if he had a clean health history with no prior injuries then he would cost a lot more and be completely out of the Brewers price range. Not signing Reyes and maintaining the status quo also presents risks for the Brewers; relying on a below average SS (like Clint Barmes) and two guys who are practically rookies (Green & Gamel) to make up for the loss of Prince Fielder could make them an 85 win team in 2012 (no playoffs) and after that is when Grienke, Marcum, and Wolf could be gone. Given all risks involved I like 5 years / $85 million for Reyes. Dump some salary to make it happen if you have to (Wolf) but consider gambling with a high payroll in 2012.

What is K-Rod's estimated arbitration amount? $12, $13 million? If it is in that range I think it is a Win-Win scenario to offer him arby. We already owe him $4 million for a buyout. So, if he accepts arbitration the incremental cost would be $8 to $9 million? In my opinion that would be worth it for him; he was dominant in the 8th inning. I think it would be well worth it if he came back at that price. Of course, the odds are that he wouldn't even accept it, in which case the Brewers get compensation picks.

When is the MLB deadline to decide on Options for guys like Betancourt & Frankie Rodriguez?

I don't know. The brewers bullpen blew 19 leads this year which is around the league average. Part of that is a function of more opportunities, but I would not be surprised if the bullpen maintains a similar level over the coarse of the entire season compared to all of 2011.

Does anybody know how much world series tickets would cost face value up in terrace or bleachers? My friend won the lottery.

Kotsay is currently ranked #3 player of the day on ESPN's daily rankings behind Brandon Inge & Daniel Murphy. Guess I should point out that is formula driven based on his HR/BB, and doesn't account for baserunning miscues or poor outfielding.

I guess my observation is that the in game thread was like that all season long. Pretty much every time the 96 win Brewers lost it was all doom and gloom for a handful of posters. Now that we are in the playoffs, it is just magnified I agree last night’s game was very disappointing but that a loss is a loss. As frustrating as the game was to watch, going forward, it doesn’t really matter if they lost 12-3 or 5-4. All the upcoming games in St Louis are winnable, and this is a very evenly matched series. I also am not as down on Marcum as other people. He made terrible pitches to Pujols but aside from the homerun the other 4 runs Marcum gave up could’ve been avoided with better defense. In the first inning John Jay scored after reaching base on a bunt single which I believe Marcum would have handled and made an out on 9 times out of 10. He made a very rushed throw that wasn’t necessary. Then Edwin Jackson had a bloop single in the 3rd which I believe Morgan should’ve caught whether that was done by holding onto the ball or not playing so unnecessarily deep. Corey Hart also missed a catchable pop fly in foul territory that inning. Those misplays led to two runs. So, Marcum could’ve escaped that game allowing 1 or 2 runs rather than 5 and then it would be a totally different conversation. The 7 pile on runs that the Cards scored after Marcum left the game don’t really indicate anything going forward, because they were all allowed by pitchers who wouldn’t even see playing time in a close game. The Brewers also caught bad breaks on offense with Braun’s ground rule double and the umpire blowing a call on Rickie Weeks double play. Those bad breaks in the bottom of the 5th cost the Brewers at least 2 runs and possibly more. This amounts to a lot of excuses but I guess what I’m trying to say is that it was a winnable game and that people shouldn’t turn the unfortunate results of 1 game, in a 7 game series, and turn that into a discussion about this being Prince’s last game in Milwaukee or how to collect a refund on their parking ticket for game 6.

I love the all the national attention the brewers are getting during the post season. However, these guys on TBS are not very knowledgeable. NBA announcer Craig Saeger called Braun Ryan "Brown" as in the color. Eckersly calls Yo "Ga-ll-ar-do" pronouncing the two LL's. What really got me though is that all 4 pre-game analysts picked the Cards to beat the Brewers tonight at Miller Park.

I'm having trouble entering the chat, for quite a while now. The chat window comes up but it just keeps on saying "reconnect". I used to be able to enter the chat so i don't know what happened. I have a macbook. Any tips? Thanks!